Accepted... then heard nothing

[molfe]

On March 10th, I was accepted into my top choice program at ASU. I was beyond ecstatic! But, that feeling has slowly dissipated as after the initial emil, I have not heard at all from the program. The acceptance letter had no additional information.

I have been notified by the graduate school about immunization records (that I subsequently sent) and I asked them about possible funding (but they don't deal with that and advised be to contact to department). I have emailed the department a twice about the acceptance and questions about funding information, but have had no response. I have contacted professors there and potential advisors who have responded enthusiastically,

I don't want to be seen as obsessive (just as yet). How long should I give them to provide additional information? Would calling on top of the emails seem pushy?

Thank you!

[Daniela]

On March 10th, I was accepted into my top choice program at ASU. I was beyond ecstatic! But, that feeling has slowly dissipated as after the initial emil, I have not heard at all from the program. The acceptance letter had no additional information.

I have been notified by the graduate school about immunization records (that I subsequently sent) and I asked them about possible funding (but they don't deal with that and advised be to contact to department). I have emailed the department a twice about the acceptance and questions about funding information, but have had no response. I have contacted professors there and potential advisors who have responded enthusiastically,

I don't want to be seen as obsessive (just as yet). How long should I give them to provide additional information? Would calling on top of the emails seem pushy?

Thank you!

How long ago were the emails sent?

[matcha]

Same thing happened to me. After the email accepting me, I got nothing. Not even an official letter. When I called to find out, they told me that was all the information I would be receiving. I was beyond disappointed and it made my decision NOT to attend very easy.

If they didn't care enough to stay in contact, how would they treat me as a student?

[fuzzylogician]

I was beyond disappointed and it made my decision NOT to attend very easy.

If they didn't care enough to stay in contact, how would they treat me as a student?

After accepting my offer (late March) I had virtually no contact with my new department until I arrived in the States (late August). My POC for the 1-2 things I did need--visa/funding related issue and such--was a junior office administrator. Since the year started I've had just about no contact with her, and furthermore I am being treated wonderfully by the department as a whole. I wouldn't make too many assumptions about how the professors and administrative staff will treat you once you start the program based on random contact with one office person 6 months before you actually start.

[skiergirl24]

The SAME thing has happened to me. One school I checked online and it said my app was 'pending' so I called. They told me I had been accepted....and that there must have been something wrong with the website. Odd. i did not get funding.

I got into UCONN last week but have heard NOTHING about funding. I called and spoke with the grad director who told me funding letters won't go out for a couple of weeks...yet they want to know asap whether or not I will attend. What if I don't hear about funding til after 4/15?!

I still haven't heard back from 3 schools and despire me calling them...they won't call me back!!

Everyone I talk to is like "I've never heard of anything like that."

[fuzzylogician]

The SAME thing has happened to me. One school I checked online and it said my app was 'pending' so I called. They told me I had been accepted....and that there must have been something wrong with the website. Odd. i did not get funding.

I got into UCONN last week but have heard NOTHING about funding. I called and spoke with the grad director who told me funding letters won't go out for a couple of weeks...yet they want to know asap whether or not I will attend. What if I don't hear about funding til after 4/15?!

I still haven't heard back from 3 schools and despire me calling them...they won't call me back!!

Everyone I talk to is like "I've never heard of anything like that."

For the last two admissions cycles, funding has been problematic in a lot of places. Many schools, mostly public schools, take longer to figure out their budget for next year and can't decide on funding for new students until they do that. For some departments it means that decisions as a whole are being delayed, others admit people first and make funding decisions later. It is unusual compared to graduate admissions in previous years, but not too unusual compared to how it's been since the financial crisis started.

The April 15 deadline is only for funded offers. If you didn't receive any funding, it doesn't apply to you. You should get in touch with schools to ask about your funding situation every so often (I'd suggest once a week) just so they know you're still interested. Unfortunately there's not much you can do but wait.

[ilikemoney]

Call them! Listen -- they've admitted you. They're not going not to fund you because you called. Your call may be the most important thing in your day... but just one more thing for the administrator who takes it. They won't think twice. It's just going to show you're interested. Time is running out! Call -- call -- call.

[molfe]

Thank you for the advice everyone!

I am going to wait it out past Easter and then call and see. The emails I sent were about three weeks ago and one week ago. I realized the spring break for them was in the middle of all that.

A part of this is that I have long awaited this acceptance (like everyone else) and now that I have it I want to move on and start.

[Postbib Yeshuist]

Have you tried calling?

This is a key point. If all you've been doing is e-mail, step it up. And resist voicemail if possible. Aim to get the actual person on the line with "Can you tell me when they'll be back in so I can call back?" E-mail/voicemail is easy to avoid if you're busy. Someone actually hearing you say "Hello?" means you're caught!