When does following up on an interview request become bugging?

[jpain3]

Hi all! I received a request for an interview with a PhD program that I am extremely interested in on Monday morning. I responded within an hour with a list of available times later in the week, per the email's request. However, I haven't heard back from the Professor who sent the email since (it's Wednesday afternoon now). I waited all of Tuesday, and finally sent a follow up this morning asking if any of the times I suggested would work. Still no response so far.

So, how should I proceed? Do I send another email? Call the Professor? I know the contact information for the director of the PhD program and could contact him directly, but that seems like I'm side-stepping the Professor that requested the interview.

At this point, I'm concerned that I've either been forgotten about, or the Professor has had some sort of personal issue that is preventing his response (but hasn't told any colleague that he reached out to me).

I don't want to seem like I'm bothersome, but at the same time I'm very anxious to move forward with this program!

I've also already heard back from two other programs that this program would potentially 'beat' if I gained admission. It's a good problem to have for sure, but I don't want to add any unnecessary delay in my response to the programs who have already reached out to me with acceptances.

Thanks to this great group for your help and thoughts!

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

You have already followed up once and it's still the day you sent the follow-up. Do not go to the DGS. It sucks, but you need to be patient. Professors get (potentially) hundreds of emails a day and they may have a self-imposed specific time set aside to answer them. I had a professor request an interview yesterday who didn't get back immediately with confirmation of my suggested time and it freaks you out, but they will get back (now, if it's been a week and they haven't gotten back to you, feel free to follow-up again). Also emailed a different professor with a question on Monday and they got back to me today. It really depends on the professor and what all they have going on.

[TakeruK]

I think you are being too impatient. I don't mean it to be a judgemental statement, just a truth that I hope helps you. Was there a RSVP date to respond for the interview? If so, wait until 2 days after this date to ask. If not, then I would wait until at least next Monday before contacting the prof again. If the profs have sent interview requests to a large number of candidates, they need to wait until everyone has responded before they can start scheduling people, if their goal is to interview as many people as they can. So it would not make sense for them to assign you a timeslot now, even if you respond within the hour, since they want to hear from everyone first. (Note: some schools assign slots first-come first-serve, so you should always be expedient in responding to these emails but that doesn't mean you will get a speedy confirmation).

As for the other two programs, it's not clear to me if you mean they have accepted you and waiting for a reply, or if they want to interview you too. If they are waiting for you to decide whether or not to accept them, then you should check how long you have to make your decision. If it's a long way away for both, then you might want to decide between those two and decline the less preferred one. If they both want you to decide ASAP then I guess hold onto them until you find out about your top choice since maybe only one of these other 2 programs will let you keep waiting.

If the other two programs are wanting to interview you, again, see when they want you to send interview preferences. If it's soon or if it's first-come, first-serve, then select a time and hope it doesn't conflict with your top choice. If it does, then you have to see if either one can reschedule.

[jpain3]

Thank you all! I agree I'm being too impatient and need to slow down.

The Professor specifically asked for my availability this week, so I was hoping to hear back a bit quicker, but understand I need to calm down. This has helped tremendously (at minimum provided a forum for me to express my concerns and hear a strong "chill out" back!)