IOgradstudent

That is not a bad idea at all. I did this last year for a few of my top schools. One did give me a vague response of "we are still reviewing applicants" but they also told me that my POI was not accepting grad students so that sort of gave me an idea that I wouldn't be accepted there (and I wasn't). Another program ended up calling me within a couple days to let me know they were still in the review process but they really liked my application (I was later accepted to this program). The last program e-mailed me back within a week or so to let me know I was wait listed. With the last two programs mentioned, I really doubt that me e-mailing them led to my acceptance or wait-list status but it did give me a little peace of mind to hear back from them. Hope this helps!