Are late deadlines killing you too?

[lab ratta-tat-tat]

The January 15th deadline is pissing me off. I am unsure why a school would want a deadline so late. Everybody else in my field had the december 1 or 15th option and has heard something back. I even turned my materials in early (like December 15th-early)

Does anyone else have a late deadline and get a little upset when they see others in their field already getting invites but you are sitting around waiting??? If so please explain your situation or just vent here- relieve some pent up stress.

However- Once the January 15th deadlines have passed, I am sure the tables will turn and this deadline won't be pissing me off but right now..... it's annoying.

[newms]

Yeah, I know that feeling, but at least for me I haven't seen any Computer Science results yet on the survey page. I'm looking forward to February and not expecting to hear anything at all this month, so that helps a bit.

[phusion]

most of my deadlines are not until mid-February...?

[sputnik]

I tell you what's pissing me off: My first application was due Dec 1. I see that school doesn't reply until the END OF MARCH! That's 4 Months! That's 1/3 of a year to wait! Conversely, my last school was due Jan 10, and they report in February!!! WTF!

For us, the average wait (it appears) is 3 months. I mean, seriously! C'mon people!

[lab ratta-tat-tat]

Sputnik-

I feel like a complete jerk for complaining about waiting until January vs. December after I hear how long you have to wait.

I don't understand why it is so hard? Seriously. Just set a deadline, meet the day after (or on the deadline) and make a decision. I feel like it is not that difficult of a process, what the hell?! Maybe I am naive or completely fed up with the entire process I cannot feel compassion or sorry for adcom members and it comes off as mean but once you introduced me to your situation... I'd be pretty fed up too!

After you said we wait 1/4 of a year it kind of shocked me, I did not even think of it in those terms/numbers. Holy crap-they need to speed this process up!!!

[Oh the waiting game]

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I had a couple January 15th deadlines but one school contacted me about a week after I submitted my app(December 17th) and scheduled an interview. So maybe they will get on it before the deadline.....hopefully. I just want it all to be over, I'm tired of constantly checking my email! Good Luck!

[lechatgris]

I think a lot of programs set late deadlines to allow applicants to polish their statements, take the GRE, etc., over the winter break (knowing that most faculty won't be able to begin reading until they too return from break mid-January). That said, I applied last year and my latest deadlines were definitely not the last schools I heard from. One school had a Dec.1 deadline and didn't reject me until April 1! Another took only 3 weeks to dash my hopes. I suppose it depends on the size of the applicant pool and the number of application readers available, among other things.

[cheshirey]

i actually have 2 deadlines April 1st! Maybe thats just M.A. Music programs

[neuropsych76]

My deadlines range from December 1st to February 1st so yes I know what you're going through!!

I should (I hope) hear from Dec 1 schools in the next few weeks. But then it will be another couple months for the Jan and Feb schools...

[EricaMarie]

I, too, have a January 15th deadline--two of them, actually. But from what I've seen, that's par for the course for my program. Even so, I'd really prefer to know earlier than "late February-early March" because this waiting game is KILLING ME!!! :wacko:

[taha]

on jan1st a school with a 15 dec deadline notified me that they have not recieved my transcripts although the mailing service told me they have recieved it on dec 10. I called them to solve the problem and they first answered that we have not yet filed recieved documents!!! (then who knows why they send notification of incomplete application!!). then i asked the coordinator to check whether they have recieved my package, the primary answer was a "no". when i said I can see your signature scan for recieving she said, wait!, then oops! yes your application package is here!!! so for those who ask why it takes so long, I have to say that all it takes for a decision is just 3-4 weeks, the rest refers to talented and hardworking coordinators at admission offices.

[Tex]

i actually have 2 deadlines April 1st! Maybe thats just M.A. Music programs

Perhaps it's just M.A. music programs. I'm applying to musicology PhD programs and I think I had one application deadline late like that. But for that same school I found deadlines that were much earlier for assistantships and fellowships. So instead of April or March, I was aiming for January 2nd. Two other schools I'm applying to also had an earlier deadline for "priority" [one school's term] consideration for financial aid.

January 2nd was my latest deadline, by the way. Earliest was December 1st.

You should try to find if there are any deadlines set by the music school/department or even by the university for fellowship and assistantships. Then again, you might already have all of your applications in.

Best of luck!

[sputnik]

I have to say that all it takes for a decision is just 3-4 weeks, the rest refers to talented and hardworking coordinators at admission offices.

LOL I had a similiar experience with one school. They sent me a letter saying they didn't get 2 of my transcripts. I called one of my Universities and the awesome lady there looked into and said, "They receive electronically. Would you like the name, email and time the person who received it signed off on it?" Absolutely. I wrote them back with that information, and suddenly, my application was all set. This app was due Jan 1. They got my transcript December 18th, and sent me that email January 10th!!

So, yeah. I am thinking those offices are most likely overworked, understaffed, etc. But it sure is frustrating.

[sputnik]

I think a lot of programs set late deadlines to allow applicants to polish their statements, take the GRE, etc., over the winter break (knowing that most faculty won't be able to begin reading until they too return from break mid-January). That said, I applied last year and my latest deadlines were definitely not the last schools I heard from. One school had a Dec.1 deadline and didn't reject me until April 1! Another took only 3 weeks to dash my hopes. I suppose it depends on the size of the applicant pool and the number of application readers available, among other things.

I just wish that if they know they aren't going to get around to reading them until late January, the deadlines weren't until late January. As it stands, a couple of applications really got in the way of my end-of-semester grading, paper writing, etc. I know they haven't even looked at the apps yet. Making them due early just messes up everything else and adds to the wait time. Wish we could change it, but then that's just a silly wish. Sigh.

[2am_frosty]

Sputnik-

I feel like a complete jerk for complaining about waiting until January vs. December after I hear how long you have to wait.

I don't understand why it is so hard? Seriously. Just set a deadline, meet the day after (or on the deadline) and make a decision. I feel like it is not that difficult of a process, what the hell?! Maybe I am naive or completely fed up with the entire process I cannot feel compassion or sorry for adcom members and it comes off as mean but once you introduced me to your situation... I'd be pretty fed up too!

After you said we wait 1/4 of a year it kind of shocked me, I did not even think of it in those terms/numbers. Holy crap-they need to speed this process up!!!

speaking as a mature, patient, soon-to-be-phD candidate (hopefully) on behalf of the biological/life sciences:

most universities have program-specific departments (Molec & cell, neuro, pharm, etc) which tend to have earlier deadlines (dec.1-dec 15), in addition to broad/multidisciplinary programs (biology/bio sci) which have the later deadlines that you mention (after jan 1). usually the addcom meets soon after the application deadline (within a week) and chooses the first set of interviewees (~30-40). they send out these invites either before the holidays, or the first 2 weeks of january. after these specific departments have "matched" potential students with potential faculty, they asses the need of the remaining faculty (need for students or just more students in that department who can offer a multidiscp. approach). this will then influence the decisions of the more broad program (like biology), which of course may affect who is invited to interview (usually within 2 weeks of the deadline). top 10 programs either 1) reject you at the same time interviews are made (UCSF), or 2) wait until april, with no (helpful) assistance until then, to reject you. My logic for reason #1 is that the majority of students interviewed and offered admissions will accept (meaning they don't need to keep a "back-up" applicant list); for reason #2, many rejected students may feel the need to e-mail/call/whatever addcoms asking "WHY?!" or "WHAT CAN I DO TO INCREASE MY CHANCES?", and so forth. considering the reputation of the school, they want to appeal to the public and look like they care about all their applicants-- meaning they must put in a lot of time and energy to make recruitment week the best it can possibly be and tend to the needs of students invited to interview. Thus, they save the rejections until the very end where they actually have the time to answer rejectee's questions. non top-10 programs will reject students that obviously aren't well suited for the program and/or grad study in general. but considering the pool of applicants these days, the majority of people who do apply are quite qualified. these qualified, but not overly qualified students get put on an unofficial wait list. if many of the offers they extend are rejected (or people decline recruitment week), then they pull a couple people off this wait list-- one by one until all their spots are full.

but lets be real. i am in the same boat as you so this is what i actually feel (right now): what the F*%*!!!! why the H-E-double hockey sticks does it take so long to make a decision? just accept or REJECT us already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and where the h3LL are my documents that i submitted 2 months ago? why is it that everytime i check the status, something different is missing. one school even DELETED my entire application because they had some technical problem with payment processing. if i wasn't OCD and didn't check my application every 5 minutes, this would of totally went unnoticed and I wouldn't even be CONSIDERED for admissions. don't tell me "please send all questions to unhelpfulperson@superduperschool.edu" if no one even plans on responding to my simple questions (ie. are some documents in my file actually missing or is this page just here for decoration and never actually updated). why do the applications insist on asking the SAME questions in different wording? example: please state your research, professional and/or other relevant experiences--- and then asks me to submit my CV within the limits of some file size too small in special-your-computer-probably-doesnt-have-it format. and one app even asked what high school i went to (i'm sure you guys can guess which school asked this)... because your high school makes such a huge impact on your abilities to do well in grad school. RIGHT.

on the brighter side of things, i did get 1 interview so far... but you know whats ironic about this? this school was the LAST one i applied to with the latest deadline (jan 1). HAH! can't wait till this entire process is done so i can move on with my life and stop creeping around on gradcafe & collegeconfidential.

phew. i feel much better

[lab ratta-tat-tat]

2am frosty- Congrats on the invite! That is great! would you mind telling where you got your invite or where you applied.

The application process is ridiculous in my opinion and very annoying. The politics behind it are also annoying-referring to your comment about upholding the public image. Also, I have found that schools with later deadlines do this because they are trying to snatch up the rejects (who are extremely qualified individuals) from top tier universities. to be honest, i don't give a BEEP why they are doing it, just accept or reject us quickly please. UGHHHHH!!!!

[DariaIRL]

I don't understand why it is so hard? Seriously. Just set a deadline, meet the day after (or on the deadline) and make a decision. I feel like it is not that difficult of a process, what the hell?! Maybe I am naive or completely fed up with the entire process I cannot feel compassion or sorry for adcom members and it comes off as mean but once you introduced me to your situation... I'd be pretty fed up too!

Depending on how the program receives and processes application materials (online, paper, a combo of both), it wouldn't be possible to meet and discuss the day after the application deadline. If anything, there is a ~2wk period after the deadline, where paper mail is checked in, test scores linked to a submitted application and generally time to check to make sure an application is complete before being released to reviewing committees. Don't forget the online application systems that won't send a recommendation email request until AFTER an application is submitted and paid for.

[emmm]

So funny, but true.

Thanks!