TTPB: I agree. I was one of the people who emailed asking for a status update. I got rejected but it had nothing to do with my email. I obviously knew I was getting rejected (since its march 18th), but just wanted to be sure so I could commit to a different school (still waiting on others xD). Literally everyone today that got an email got rejected, so they clearly knew the status of me (and many others). I totally agree this lack of transparency is cruel. If they knew they were going to reject me they should have let me know right away, not make me wait. Same with all schools. You should not have to wait until like April.

Generic rejection email (copy paste), it was expected ofc. I think I had a strong case, but I think that they look at your university status before anything. The one thing that bothered me is that a lot of people asked about their status for the past two weeks and no answer was given to them (they were already rejected) I think it is cruel to make people wait for rejection with small hope, they should have told us as soon as they made up their mind which was obviously a while back.

apparently March 18th counts as "early March" 🤡

4 years of post-BSc research experience with 4 Journals and 2 Conference Publications, all IEEE. Dear XXX: We are very sorry to inform you that we are unable to admit you into our PhD program for 2021. As you may have anticipated, we receive hundreds of excellent applications such as yours, but yet we are only able to admit a limited number. We know this decision is a disappointment. However, we are confident that you have other wonderful options for your graduate education. We wish you much continued success in all of your academic and professional endeavors. Most importantly, we wish you good health and hope that you remain safe from the Corona-19 virus.

"We are very sorry to inform you that we are unable to admit you into our PhD program for 2021." Didn't expect admission to be honest.

TTPB: Hydrology and Hydroclimatology SM Track

Generic email reject. Web portal still shows no update.

No prior interview.

Completely expected!

No matter how much research you do, obviously, you can't get in unless you are born privilaged and attended the top schools.

ASU undergrad with 3.71 GPA, 2 NASA internships, a few other internships, 2 papers, 1 first author, another in progress. My letter writers are somewhat connected with MIT and likely wrote decent recs. Obviously it's MIT so very competitive.. Luckily I have a good offer at ASU! "We are very sorry to inform you that we are unable to admit you into our PhD program for 2021. As you may have anticipated, we receive hundreds of excellent applications such as yours, but yet we are only able to admit a limited number. We know this decision is a disappointment. However, we are confident that you have other wonderful options for your graduate education. We wish you much continued success in all of your academic and professional endeavors. Most importantly, we wish you good health and hope that you remain safe from the Corona-19 virus."

As expected, a failure fails everyday

Generic email. "We know this decision is a disappointment. However, we are confident that you have other wonderful options for your graduate education.", Many qualified applicants, etc etc

4.24/4.30 GPA, 3 co-authored papers, 2 years research experience, supposedly wonderful LoRs. It's MIT though, can't say I'm surprised. Sucks to think about the possibility for 4 months just to get a 1 paragrah email though!