Pumpkinpasty

Well, I said what I wanted to say the way I wanted to say it. It's not personal; it's an opinion. As for "pointing out everything that others are doing wrong"? All I've done here is suggest that we not call departments the first week of February because one acceptance appears on the board. That's all.

I completely understand the desire for peace of mind and the madness of anxiety, but I still feel that a phone call should be a last resort -- for example, once a slew of rejections and acceptances have gone out, and you haven't heard anything. Not this early in the season, with one or two acceptances on the board. Obviously, more responses are coming. What benefit is there to getting a general answer like "responses will be out in February"? Anyway, that information can usually be gleaned from past years. One phone call might not make a big deal, but you also might not be the only one calling/emailing. These people are usually overworked and swamped with tasks, especially at this time of year. I don't see the need in interrupting them with a phone call, even if it's just a minute, just because the waiting is painful. I agree with whoever mentioned upthread that patience is a sign of maturity. If you felt the call wasn't a big deal to you or them, OK. Cool. But personally, I don't think I will share any more info on the boards, at least not early info like that. I didn't really think of the consequences; I just thought it would provide helpful info, not make people more stressed. You can't control what people will do or how they'll react, so sometimes the best course of action is no action.

Sigh. So, I understand people are anxious, but I think it is very inappropriate to call a department - especially based on one or two acceptances this early in the season. I definitely regret posting my acceptances to the board because one led to someone calling the department, which is a) bothersome to the staff and b ) reflects poorly on the accepted applicants who shared their results. My board acceptance also included information on the department's status in getting news out, which is why I don't understand the need to call and pester. My intention in sharing results was never to result in more stress among applicants or more calls for the department to handle -- which, honestly, is just time taken away from the actual administration of grad apps.

I just wanted to say thank you all for your responses -- and proflorax, thanks for the link to that thread. I must have scrolled right over it. I had my phone call today and it went well! It helped to have that list of questions right there. So thanks everyone!

Hi Gradcafe! Popping out of lurkdom because I need some help. This forum has been a godsend throughout the process, helping me keep my sanity, so I'm hoping it can help me out now. I've been accepted by a very good school whose department I'm really excited about. I'm not decided on anything yet, since I'm waiting to hear from 11 other schools, plus about funding from this specific school. I recently got an email from a professor there (someone whose work interested me, and who I mentioned in my SoP) asking to set up a time to talk on the phone, to answer questions and just talk about my work in general. So I guess my question is, what can I expect from a call like this? I'm kind of nervous, even though he was very friendly and complimentary on the phone. I've been so focused on applications that I didn't think much about what I'd do if I got in (didn't want to jinx it!). Also, I come from a small, regional state school. This department is large, well respected, and I'm a little intimidated, honestly. I think I'm just so stunned about even getting in that I'm having a hard time thinking of questions to ask! I mean, I could ask about funding/teaching. but what other types of things should I be asking at this stage? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated! I'm blanking and I don't want to mess this up.