impending

Um, it does come off as a direct criticism, and I don't think by accident. I was just passing along the advice I received from a professor--this isn't something I completely made up by myself as an uninformed potential student. Obviously you are entitled to disagree with that advice...but I don't really appreciate the tone. Plus, as someone who used to be the person who received those emails (I answered my department's generic grad email address), I had no problem at all giving nervous prospective students some peace of mind, nor did the "secretary," (ahem, talk about making allies...I don't think many graduate program/department coordinators appreciate this antiquated title). In fact, the students who kept in touch with her, even about decision progress, were the ones she looked out for the most. Anyway, my mentor didn't say I should nag professors about when they'll finish already, but that I should email the graduate program coordinators just to see if they had an idea about where they were in the process. I apologize for that lack of clarity, but even without I think your reaction was, uh, harsh.