Should I mail/call again?

[caramel_geek]

So I mailed the department's grad admin personnel last week (Apr 14th to be exact) and this is what I wrote:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have applied to your department's PhD program for Fall 2010. Just today, I have called to inquire about my application status and was redirected by the Graduate & Professional Admission office to you.

According to the Graduate & Professional Admission office, my record on their system shows that my application is still under departmental review. So, I was wondering if you'd know approximately when would a decision be made? Or if there is any update on the status of my application.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

And this is what they replied:

There is no update. Once a decision is made you will be notified via email by the Grad & Professional Admissions or you can view it online via status page.

From the reply, I'm getting the impression that I shouldn't mail/call again. Am I just over-analyzing it?

Since it's been more than a week since that mail, should I call or mail again? Or should I just wait quietly? Help??

Calling them doesn't help much, cause it always ends up with an automated message asking people to email them. And to be honest, they're not really responsive to emails either (they only reply me after 3 emails).

It's like the 23rd of Apr already, and they still haven't given me an answer. Not even a simple "you're in our waitlist". I don't even know if I'm in the waitlist or just plain being ignored. Or is it safe to assume that I'm in the waitlist (since it's already so late into the decision season)? Sigh. This is so frustrating.

[Lantern]

Do you have a connection with any professors at the school (either from a visit or an earlier e-mail contact)? To me it seems like they're just blowing you off in a very general manner. Kind of like, "when we know, we'll let you know, now stop bothering us". Obviously this is just my interpretation, but it seems like having a personal contact with a specific professor might be the only way to get a helpful answer. I can't imagine how frustrating that must be at this late date. Good luck!

[Yyaman]

I also want to ask if I should call or not, rather than replying to this thread.

I recieved an email from the program administrator on April 2nd, she says that "The commitee will make the final decisions in the new few days and I'll let you know with one of three program decisions: admission, decline or waitlist"

I said ok, if that is the case, then it is fine, I can wait.. So I waited and waited until 3 whole weeks have passed and I emailed the administrator last week but she didn't reply my inquiry since then. This is my top choice :/ I also wrote in my email that the program is my top choice and I wait their decision.

I don't want to act rude or pushy, or I don't want to give any negative impression but do you guys think I should email her again? Or calling is a better option? But I'm so stressed out, it is almost May and I want to know where I'm going for Fall '10 for my PhD.

[DariaIRL]

Do either of these programs explicitly follow the April 15 deadline for all decisions? Or do they have kind of a lax admission where it's nice if they can tell everyone by April 15, but they don't have to.

Like Lantern said, email a prof if you've had prior contact to see if you can get an answer. If you've been emailing the secretary, they don't make the decisions. So the reply you received, while unhelpful, was probably accurate.

[LucKy_StriKe]

In my case they never ever replied to my mails/calls, i've callled a bunch of times. Now i'm freaked. sigh!