Should you keep a consistent conversation with schools who have your app?

[robertayala]

Let's say you haven't emailed/spoken with admissions or your direct contact at the school of your choice in a little over two weeks. Does that warrant a "touch base" or similar email? Or do you just wait and let patience be master? And if emailing is a good idea, how do you approach that email?

Let's say you are super interested in their program and because of the two weeks of your silence you fear they may think you've become uninterested. Is this a thing? I want to email but don't want to be a overkill, especially with ... well, you know ... health concerns.

I've been searching for answers to these questions.

[cropop]

They're not going to think you're uninterested because of no contact for a few weeks, unless they explicitly asked you to respond to something (acceptance notice, follow-up, interview request, etc). In general, it's normal to not have contact with schools for months.

One circumstance that I might email them for is if you see that other students have received notifications from the school (acceptances, denials, etc) and you haven't (after a few weeks). You can email them and ask for a status update. Another would be if you received unofficial notice that you were accepted (as with the other post you made) and it's been 2-3 weeks and you're still waiting on an official notice. However, note that it is somewhat normal for official notices to take some time (especially with many campuses closing due to COVID-19). But, it can't hurt to check in on things after those few weeks.

[robertayala]

cropop, you are my guiding light. Thank you, my friend! I will consider an email next week's end if I haven't heard anything. Clearly you can see I'm both excited and nervous about this whole thing. I've realized that combination causes an interesting type of anxiety.

Thank you, again!

[JBeezWriter]

Well, there's a fine line. Maybe check in once a month. But not every week. No bombardment.

The main thing to remember is, universities are in the same holding pattern waiting for the applicants who've gotten offers already to respond. And those applicants are waiting to hear back from School #1 top choice before committing to the other places where offers were received. It'll be a mad scramble up to the 15th, then things will move at rapid speed. (I've been on the departmental admissions end and seen it from the inside.)

Now, how COVID will affect things, I don't know, other than the sad fact that international applicants who aren't already in the US may be SOL. (If one has been doing a Masters and has the Visa all set, they might be able to come to a PhD program, but those coming straight from another country are screwed.) I do know that all of the universities are in a panic, scrambling to put coursework online, figure out how to handle courses that don't translate to online (like Art, labs, performance), figure out how to handle grading, figure out whether to continue the semester or suspend it, figure out commencement issues, figure out how to deal with on-campus students... it's kind of a nightmare. 

So... we have to just hang in there. But definitely it's OK to check in now to see if the cohort situations for Fall have been affected in any way by the virus. It's fair to know if a university is moving forward as if all will be well come Fall, or doing what one Ohio smaller university did, that I heard about--pulled the funding, so some with offers who'd accepted won't get a stipend or scholarship if they attend.