Rejections

[MegMill]

If they know that you're simply and plainly not up to snuff, why not go ahead and reject us in december/january? I dont understand why they hold on to those like me that apply to Harvard when there's no way in hell they'd admit them...

??

[Strangefox]

If they know that you're simply and plainly not up to snuff, why not go ahead and reject us in december/january? I dont understand why they hold on to those like me that apply to Harvard when there's no way in hell they'd admit them...

??

May be they are going to accept you!

Anyway, I guess some admission committees just have not met yet - and will do so only in the beginning of 2011.

[Medievalmaniac]

May be they are going to accept you!

Anyway, I guess some admission committees just have not met yet - and will do so only in the beginning of 2011.

That. Unless a university has a rolling admissions policy (and there are many that do) the ad comms are not going to be meeting until after break at this point. From here until then, the admissions office is screening applications for completeness, for minimum requirements, and so forth. Department ad comms will get them next year.

[DrFaustus666]

Also, for example, there may be 5 slots, 2 of which are funded and the other 3 are not funded.

The AdComm may have "preferred" candidates for the 2 funded slots, and they won't announce anything (except to the "preferred" people, and if necessary, to other less preferred people) until those two slots are confirmed as acceptances.

[Zouzax]

i know what you mean, I wish they'd just send the letter & take me out of my misery!

I miss the efficiency of the european university system. When I applied for my Masters, I gave in my application on July 30th, took the entrance exam on September 4th, received an interview invitation on the 5th, had an interview on the 7th and found out I was admitted the following week who can beat that???

[history_PhD]

Remember, it's finals week. Although applications are due in December, the professors are probably not going to start looking through them until January. I had this discussion with my professor today; students aren't the only ones with a tendency to procrastinate. . . .

[Strangefox]

students aren't the only ones with a tendency to procrastinate. . . .

Or, to put it in other words, procrastinating students grow into procrastinating profs

[eklavya]

but seriously guys, i look at the 'results' section, and i see that schools i have applied to have started giving out decisions, albeit in other majors/programs. still, the first thing i can think of is 'GODDAAAAMMMMITT!!! why the hell haven't the adcomm for my program met yet!?!'

i wish there was a 'poke' feature in our applications - we could poke all day all week long till they finally give up and start reviewing!

[Strangefox]

i wish there was a 'poke' feature in our applications - we could poke all day all week long till they finally give up and start reviewing!

I'm afraid if all applicants are poking poor adcoms, they will soon get furious and decide to admit no one as a terrible revengre

[eklavya]

I'm afraid if all applicants are poking poor adcoms, they will soon get furious and decide to admit no one as a terrible revengre

oh no, they can't do that. we grad students are their cheap work horses. think how much it costs them to hire a full time employee. they can get 3 grad students for that price!

and what about all the fun they have in humiliating us, deprecating our work, and making jokes outta us? they certainly don't want to miss this!! that's why they take in grad students.

[DrFaustus666]

I'm afraid if all applicants are poking poor adcoms, they will soon get furious and decide to admit no one as a terrible revengre

oh no, they can't do that. we grad students are their cheap work horses. think how much it costs them to hire a full time employee. they can get 3 grad students for that price!

and what about all the fun they have in humiliating us, deprecating our work, and making jokes outta us? they certainly don't want to miss this!! that's why they take in grad students.

And I thought the only reason they took on grad students was to create a layer of insulation between themselves and the undergraduates. Silly me

[Strangefox]

And I thought the only reason they took on grad students was to create a layer of insulation between themselves and the undergraduates. Silly me

[Eigen]

i know what you mean, I wish they'd just send the letter & take me out of my misery!

I miss the efficiency of the european university system. When I applied for my Masters, I gave in my application on July 30th, took the entrance exam on September 4th, received an interview invitation on the 5th, had an interview on the 7th and found out I was admitted the following week who can beat that???

There are US schools that do that.

I submitted my app to Penn State by 7am sometime in late October... And got a call by 12pm that same day saying I was accepted and that a funding offer was on the way. It's the wonder of rolling admissions, and as mentioned above, there are lots of schools that do them- but sadly, there are also lots that don't.

And as someone else mentioned above, departments within the school can even differ on rolling admissions/not.

But yeah, adcoms are out of business now until early January, imo. I know most of our prof's are taking some time off, reviewing grants, catching up on all the stuff they had to throw out of the way for finals. Most are planning to resume business as normal around New Years.

Edited December 17, 2010 by Eigen

[Zouzax]

There are US schools that do that.

I submitted my app to Penn State by 7am sometime in late October... And got a call by 12pm that same day saying I was accepted and that a funding offer was on the way. It's the wonder of rolling admissions, and as mentioned above, there are lots of schools that do them- but sadly, there are also lots that don't.

And as someone else mentioned above, departments within the school can even differ on rolling admissions/not.

But yeah, adcoms are out of business now until early January, imo. I know most of our prof's are taking some time off, reviewing grants, catching up on all the stuff they had to throw out of the way for finals. Most are planning to resume business as normal around New Years.

Wow ... that Penn State story is amazing. Wish I applied to one or two schools with rolling admissions. Thankfully my semester doesn't end until late January, so just when I'm over finals & starting to get antsy, I'll (hopefully, cross my fingers, knock on wood, plus any other kind of good luck gesture) start hearing about interviews, etc.