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Posted (edited)

Hi guys,

Sorry for the long story, but I would like to get some opinions from you on this peculiar situation!!

I was accepted by Stanford's M.S. in statistics for fall 2010. The deadline was 4/15. I was spending a lot of time deciding between my options, and ironically I was stupid enough to miss the deadline by 32 minutes. (I submitted my reply at 00:32 a.m. on 4/16). I naively assumed that the department had received my response, but I was curious why I was never contacted by the department in the past 1 week.

It is not until yesterday that I learned my spot was offered to people who were on the waitlist, which came as a total shock to me (though this is completely my mistake!). The secretary told me that since I didn't reply through the stanford online reply system (i.e. Axess), she assumed that I was not going to attend the program so gave my spot away. She also said typically they would give an extra 24 hours for people to reply, but since I didn't reply through their system, she assume I was not going to go.

She also told me that at this point the best I can do is to hope that someone would decide not to attend the university, and that is the only way I can fill in again. (basically I am on a single person waitlist with very small chance of being accepted again).

I asked her if I could talk to the professors, and she said that these kind of things backfires the student and she wouldn't encourage me to do so. At that point I felt quite helpless, because not only my reply was 30 minutes late, it was not sent through the proper channel.

And Today.....

I tried to re-read the acceptance email today, and it says:

"You may respond to our offer of admission online via Axess at http://studentaffair...ssions/admitted..."

It is not until then that I realized the email did not specify a specific way of replying, which let me believe that sending an admission reply by email should also be feasible. It is not until then I started to speculate if the secretary even read my email (even though it was late).

I also sent her an email last week, and she did not reply. She also suggested me not to talk to the professors, is this normal? I felt like if the department is willing to take the time to review a student's profile and is willing to accept him/her, they would at least try to inform the student that the spot is going away even if the student didn't reply properly by the deadline.

Do you guys think I have a chance to ask for them to make an exception? What should I do?

Edited by singer
Posted

Hi guys,

Sorry for the long story, but I would like to get some opinions from you on this peculiar situation!!

I was accepted by Stanford's M.S. in statistics for fall 2010. The deadline was 4/15. I was spending a lot of time deciding between my options, and ironically I was stupid enough to miss the deadline by 32 minutes. (I submitted my reply at 00:32 a.m. on 4/16). I naively assumed that the department had received my response, but I was curious why I was never contacted by the department in the past 1 week.

It is not until yesterday that I learned my spot was offered to people who were on the waitlist, which came as a total shock to me (though this is completely my mistake!). The secretary told me that since I didn't reply through the stanford online reply system (i.e. Axess), she assumed that I was not going to attend the program so gave my spot away. She also said typically they would give an extra 24 hours for people to reply, but since I didn't reply through their system, she assume I was not going to go.

She also told me that at this point the best I can do is to hope that someone would decide not to attend the university, and that is the only way I can fill in again. (basically I am on a single person waitlist with very small chance of being accepted again).

I asked her if I could talk to the professors, and she said that these kind of things backfires the student and she wouldn't encourage me to do so. At that point I felt quite helpless, because not only my reply was 30 minutes late, it was not sent through the proper channel.

And Today.....

I tried to re-read the acceptance email today, and it says:

"You may respond to our offer of admission online via Axess at http://studentaffair...ssions/admitted..."

It is not until then that I realized the email did not specify a specific way of replying, which let me believe that sending an admission reply by email should also be feasible. It is not until then I started to speculate if the secretary even read my email (even though it was late).

I also sent her an email last week, and she did not reply. She also suggested me not to talk to the professors, is this normal? I felt like if the department is willing to take the time to review a student's profile and is willing to accept him/her, they would at least try to inform the student that the spot is going away even if the student didn't reply properly by the deadline.

Do you guys think I have a chance to ask for them to make an exception? What should I do?

I think you should definitely talk to the professors. I don't really see how this can backfire. What do you have to lose?

If there is a professor you have been in touch with, talk to him/her as discreetly as possible. If my understanding is correct, there might have been some negligence on the lady's part, so perhaps she simply does not want the faculty to know and get into trouble. Just make sure to phrase your email carefully not to get her into too much trouble since you want to maintain a decent relationship with her. The problem with Stanford's system is that it takes up to 24 hours to generate an account to be able to submit your reply, so if they had not sufficiently explained the mechanics in advance, this is something you might be able to use as a reason for your late reply.

Perhaps you should also consider the other offers you have received. You can always go back to Stanford for your doctoral degree.

Posted

That sucks....There was error on both sides. I can see it both ways. While you may have been a tiny bit late and did not use the preferred method of acceptance..if the secretary actually reads/replies to emails, the next day (the 16th) she should have emailed and been like: Thanks for accepting our offer by email, now can you do the same on the website?

It sounds like the spot that was yours and given away..well, it's gone until the person who received it decides what to do with it. Depending on the dept and its funding/openings, they may not be able to create a new slot for you but it really has to come down to the person who got your initial spot.

I can understand why the secretary would tell you that it's not worth contacting professors..but you may as well. But do it in a way that keeps a good relationship with her.

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