asking POI's or graduate office for updates

[kierkegoth]

Hey guys,

First of all, congrats to everyone who has received invites thus far. I can feel the positivity in the forums, and its uplifting. I've been thinking about a question to ask ya'll that I believe a lot of people could benefit from information or first-hand accounts on. As people who have seen my application post know, I applied to some competitive schools (probably the most) and I haven't seen updates on the grad cafe forums about those programs yet. Would it seem too impatient to email a POI or the program directly for updates? Has anyone does so before? even more so, have people emailed POI's who they have or have not been in contact with before the application cycle for an update? I'm itching to ask professors from my alma mater if they need any research associates or even volunteer for more experience. Or, to begin re-studying for my gre while I still have subscriptions. 

[Clinapp2017]

Don’t email POIs about this. My current PhD mentor and old mentor at my undergrad have both commented on this making you look impatient. 

 

If you really must know, email the grad admissions coordinator. Having gone through this process last year myself, I get the anxiety. However, you don’t really benefit at all by asking: you either learn you’re rejected or that you still need to wait. You can still work on building a backup plan without knowing your status. 

 

I’ll also add several top programs don’t send out invites until mid to late January. The program I’m attending didn’t email me until late January last year to invite me to interview in February because they receive an extremely high number of applicants because of prestige and location.  

 

Best of luck with everything! The process sucks, but resiliency and patience are important traits for the road ahead. 

[Psychologyandpizza]

I honestly think it really depends on the circumstance. I was in continuous contact with my POI at one university who also happens to be the DCT, and felt that it was appropriate to email her and ask if interviews had been extended, if not yet when they would be meeting, and when their interview day would be. I prefaced this by explaining that I am currently booking flights for other interview invitations and wanted to minimize the conflict with that university because it is one of my top choices. 

In this situation, she seemed very excited to hear from me, let me know when they would be reviewing applications and when their interview day is planned for. This helped immensely because now I know that I can wait to hear from them because I should be notified a few days before I need to reply to another school about an interview that is on the same exact day. However, I chose to not email another school that I am waiting to hear from and have not seen results posted for because it didn't feel like the appropriate thing to do in that situation. 

In your situation, I would probably say to wait because (a) it doesn't sound like it is faculty you have been in contact with and (b) it doesn't sound like they have sent out invitations yet. I would probably give it another two weeks to wait and see because some schools don't host interviews until later in February. Though, I do understand the waiting game. If you still haven't heard at that point, I would suggest reaching out to the program assistant, DCT, or coordinator rather than your POI. 

[lewin]

On 1/10/2018 at 3:11 PM, kierkegoth said:

 Would it seem too impatient to email a POI or the program directly for updates? 

Yes. Learning how to wait for news (grants, awards, reviews) is part and parcel of academia.

[FeministPsychologist]

I'm wondering about this too. I had a phone interview with a POI on 12/27, and was told I would hear back by the end of the following week. I still haven't heard back. Any advice? Obviously, it's not like they forgot about me. But I am wondering if I should reach out or just let it be. 

[SarahTonin]

4 minutes ago, FeministPsychologist said:

I'm wondering about this too. I had a phone interview with a POI on 12/27, and was told I would hear back by the end of the following week. I still haven't heard back. Any advice? Obviously, it's not like they forgot about me. But I am wondering if I should reach out or just let it be. 

The same thing happened to me. I decided to assume rejection since I saw others get interview invites for that school. Unless you really feel like you need the closure, I'd say let it be. 

[FeministPsychologist]

2 minutes ago, mip239 said:

The same thing happened to me. I decided to assume rejection since I saw others get interview invites for that school. Unless you really feel like you need the closure, I'd say let it be. 

Thanks for the input! I'm sorry that it happened to you as well. 

[Stauce]

6 minutes ago, FeministPsychologist said:

I'm wondering about this too. I had a phone interview with a POI on 12/27, and was told I would hear back by the end of the following week. I still haven't heard back. Any advice? Obviously, it's not like they forgot about me. But I am wondering if I should reach out or just let it be. 

Honestly, I personally think it would be fine to reach out to the POI since you had been in contact with him/her. Only a select amount of people are interviewed informally anyways, so I don't think it's out of the blue. If you were one applicant out of hundreds without any contact with POI, I think it would be different. I think you could also mention that you like the program a lot and are just looking for some clarity when booking weekends for particular schools.

[FeministPsychologist]

6 minutes ago, Stauce said:

Honestly, I personally think it would be fine to reach out to the POI since you had been in contact with him/her. Only a select amount of people are interviewed informally anyways, so I don't think it's out of the blue. If you were one applicant out of hundreds without any contact with POI, I think it would be different. I think you could also mention that you like the program a lot and are just looking for some clarity when booking weekends for particular schools.

That's definitely true. I guess I don't want to come off as impatient, especially because I assume they would have told me if I were out of the running? I may be overthinking it though. 

[Stauce]

2 minutes ago, FeministPsychologist said:

That's definitely true. I guess I don't want to come off as impatient, especially because I assume they would have told me if I were out of the running? I may be overthinking it though. 

I think it could come off that way and it may be a bit of a risk. I would discourage doing it if it is just for peace of mind. If that's the case, you can just wait.

 

However, if you are asking so that you can comfortably reserve weekends for other schools, I think that is totally worthwhile. Lastly, if they like you as a candidate, I highly doubt they would rescind your invitation because you emailed them. If they don't plan on inviting you, there's no harm. Just be polite about it.

[FeministPsychologist]

7 minutes ago, Stauce said:

I think it could come off that way and it may be a bit of a risk. I would discourage doing it if it is just for peace of mind. If that's the case, you can just wait.

 

However, if you are asking so that you can comfortably reserve weekends for other schools, I think that is totally worthwhile. Lastly, if they like you as a candidate, I highly doubt they would rescind your invitation because you emailed them. If they don't plan on inviting you, there's no harm. Just be polite about it.

It's definitely just for peace of mind . You're right about the invitation thing though. Thanks for your input