polarscribe Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 So, I woke up this morning to a Facebook friend request from... the official page of a department I applied to. This brings up some interesting scenarios. One is that they could just be mass-friending everyone who applied. But... that kind of doesn't make sense because a bunch of those people are going to end up getting rejected and then, why would they want to be friends with a department that didn't want them? If I get rejected from this department, it's going to be like... "I don't like you that way, so let's just be friends." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neshmi Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 oh my! that is a really interesting scenario! I'd certainly put off accepting until you know more from them... they may mass friend people to boost their stats, but on the other hand, it would be really cruel to friend people they are rejecting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newms Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Think of it this way - while you're waiting at least you'll get updates from the department through fb. If they reject you, then you can just unfriend them. kotov 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnceAndFutureGrad Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 If they reject you, then you can just unfriend them. Booyah! That most grievous of Facebook insults! I have no idea what to say to the OP. I'd say that that's good news...but...grad schools seem to live on giving false hope to applicants. I have many friends in the department of one of the schools where I've applied, which means that my POIs keep showing up in the "People You May Know" sidebar. They know me well enough that sending a request wouldn't be TOO weird (well, maybe a little, in this scary in-between period). But when their faces pop up I want to shout, "X! Y! I am merely on Facebook to share scholarly information with my colleagues! Stop looking at me!! Okay, I will go back to reading now!!!" Moxie42 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamianD Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Face it,... you get a reject and friending you just means "I'm sorry dude but it is probably for the best if we stay friends than continu as lovers..." J/k, it is a pretty weird situation, I don't know what to think of it. I would consider it as a positive thing but probably send them a message like whatsup and why are you friending me....?? DamianD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
communications13 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 (edited) If your profile is private maybe they are trying to vet your page, see what kind of person you are in real life and not on an application form. Or maybe I'm just parinoid And if you get accepted to they ask you to be in a relationship? Edited February 2, 2011 by communications13 diggergurl 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medievalmaniac Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 If your profile is private maybe they are trying to vet your page, see what kind of person you are in real life and not on an application form. Or maybe I'm just parinoid And if you get accepted to they ask you to be in a relationship? I think it is acceptable to message them back and check it out. I would word it something like, "I am always happy to receive new friend requests! However, it seems odd that I receive one from the admissions office of a university to which I have applied. While I certainly have nothing to hide and will gladly provide you with access to my Facebook account, I would like to verify first that this request was made by an officer or employee in your graduate office and not by a robot or spammer. Thank you, XXXX" Then, the ball is in their court. But I think as long as you make it clear you are just verifying this is "for real" and not trying to hide anything from them, you're good. Also, depending upon your privacy settings, their requesting you as a friend is all it takes to get your profile information and friends list made available to them. MoJingly, Deletethis2020, Moxie42 and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoJingly Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 (edited) I'm not sure what I would do in that situation, but here are some things I considered and then decided would not be your best solution (if it helps at all): 1. Accept the friend request and immediately make your status "OMG! FOR REALZ!! Look at my new friend!!" 2. Accept the friend request and send 50,573 Farmville requests 3. Accept the friend request and quickly invite your school to be in a relationship. 4. Send an invitation to your next "CEOs and Office Hoes" keg party in celebration of finishing grad schools applications. 5. Send this bumper sticker: Just some thoughts. Edited February 2, 2011 by MoJingly kotov, Langoustine, arkel and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarscribe Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 (edited) I should ask the department to click on my cow 40,000,000 times. Also, there's a PHD Comic for that: Edited February 2, 2011 by polarscribe communications13 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
space-cat Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 2. Accept the friend request and send 50,573 Farmville requests Love. It. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarscribe Posted February 9, 2011 Author Share Posted February 9, 2011 Postscript: they weren't being cruel. Got an acceptance letter from the school, dated the day before the friending Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoJingly Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Postscript: they weren't being cruel. Got an acceptance letter from the school, dated the day before the friending Yay! Congratulations! So are you accepting the request? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjc86 Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Congrats! If you hadn't gotten in, though, it may have felt pretty good to "defriend" them anyway. Like sending them a rejection letter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaxzwolf Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Dang, now along with my voicemail and email, I'm checking my FB to see if any of my schools have requested my friendship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliciaw Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Great. I just deactivated my Facebook account... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keymash Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I just had something similar occur -- a very prominent professor in one of the programs I applied to just started following me on twitter. After the immediate freak-out of "oh my god, what were my last five tweets about?" I've been going back and forth about whether or not I should send a DM . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banana21 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 (edited) Bumping. I just received a Twitter request from my potential grad school. I feel like I'm being lulled into a false sense of hope, especially when they will be releasing their admissions results sometime now! To add to that, they deliver this news via postal service only and I live approximately 3 weeks away :/ Anyone else being tortured this way too? (I checked, no Facebook request :/) Edited March 7, 2011 by banana21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now