Sending an e-mail to the program director

[incuvent114]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum so I apologize if this question has already been asked. I was wondering if it was worth it to send an e-mail to the department asking about the status of my application. I check the status at least 10 times a day, especially after seeing people being accepted into my program/school on the results page. With that being said, I've looked over the rejections over the years and saw that usually an e-mail prompted a rejection from the school. What are your thoughts on this? Has anyone done it within the past week or so? Did it get you anywhere?

[UFGator]

I think that as long as you have seen that the school is giving out decisions for this cycle, it would be more appropriate to contact the graduate secretary in the department than the program director.

[anonacademic]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum so I apologize if this question has already been asked.

No worries - but there is a search function

I was wondering if it was worth it to send an e-mail to the department asking about the status of my application. I check the status at least 10 times a day, especially after seeing people being accepted into my program/school on the results page. With that being said, I've looked over the rejections over the years and saw that usually an e-mail prompted a rejection from the school. What are your thoughts on this? Has anyone done it within the past week or so? Did it get you anywhere?

Personally, I wouldn't email them - schools are absolutely swamped with applications and I imagine they don't want to answer emails of this sort, unless you're concerned your file is incomplete and want to check on that. Patience (Trust me, I know it's hard.) Don't freak out yet - it's possible your schools notify in waves. That would be a trend worth investigating. Perhaps you're on the waitlist, or will be accepted soon. Nothing's done until they notify you.

Good luck!

[wanderlust07]

Welcome incuvent!

A few thoughts:

I generally choose not to inquire about the status of my applications, if only because bad news will get here soon enough and--were it my job--I would soon get tired of applicants hitting me up for status updates. Plenty of people do inquire, with widely varying results.

BUT:

1. Any request for a status check (should you choose to make one) is better done through the dept. secretary or administrator than the director--both because the secretary is more likely to have easy access to the answer and because it's more his/her job to deal with applicants (check the program page--sometimes the directory will list an aide who deals specifically with graduate admissions).

2. My impression (I'm in English lit, so I could easily be wrong) is that most rhet/comp programs haven't started issuing decisions yet, so it might be worth waiting (keep in mind that there's often spam on the boards, and some early acceptances are fellowship recipients; early rejects could be the earliest round of cuts. No news is no news, not necessarily bad.

3. It is fallacious to suppose that sending an email and "getting the bad news" as some ppl post on the results board, prompted the bad news--the adcom is not going to throw you in the reject pile just for asking about the status. In all likelihood, these applicants have inquired about decisions already made and just not yet released.

This is all by way of saying, waiting sucks. There's nothing wrong with politely calling or emailing for an update (although some schools specifically ask you not to email...I imagine you would already know if this were the case here). Just be polite rather than pushy and join us all here on the waiting it out forum instead of the results board!!! We are all going similarly stir-crazy.

Good luck!

[Strangefox]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum so I apologize if this question has already been asked. I was wondering if it was worth it to send an e-mail to the department asking about the status of my application. I check the status at least 10 times a day, especially after seeing people being accepted into my program/school on the results page. With that being said, I've looked over the rejections over the years and saw that usually an e-mail prompted a rejection from the school. What are your thoughts on this? Has anyone done it within the past week or so? Did it get you anywhere?

I am sure you will not be rejected just because you've asked about your app status And I mean - if you do it politely and are not too persistent. You can send a letter to a grad secretary - if there is no answer, do not senf follow-ups. A short and polite letter - there can be no harm in that.

[EricaMarie]

I haven't contacted the department, mostly because, for me, if it's bad news, I don't want to hear it from a person. If it's good news, hooray, but at the same time, if it's good news, I'd rather have something in hand (an email or a letter) to show people so they don't think I'm just screwing with them (which, in my family, isn't outside the realm of possibility).

I'd wait it out for a bit longer. It's still early in the decision making process.

[Vacuum]

if the school states they make decisions around a certain time, wait until that time passes before emailing. Nothing is more annoying than having 100 emails saying 'I haven't heard anything yet blah blah blah'. I think they will just start to ignore them. It is bad to admit, but I've done it in the past when I worked in admissions hahah. An alternative is that you might just get a snappy response like 'check the website to see the release dates of acceptances'.

Imagine everyone on this site who has written an 'I am going crazy waiting' post. Now imagine them all submitting an email to the schools you applied to and to the exact same program. Now imagine the people working in admissions turning green and smashing their computers while tearing up your file. Don't send the email.

[Lola80]

Last week when I saw someone accepted to the program that I applied to, I sent a very short email to the program and got a response telling me that my application is complete. No other information was given. I now have seen two acceptances and I have yet to hear a thing. I won't be emailing back. Now, I will just wait it out and hope for good news. (I only applied to one program and this all or nothing thing, stinks!!)

[incuvent114]

Imagine everyone on this site who has written an 'I am going crazy waiting' post. Now imagine them all submitting an email to the schools you applied to and to the exact same program. Now imagine the people working in admissions turning green and smashing their computers while tearing up your file. Don't send the email.

Thank you for the much needed laugh!

[NadaJ]

Last week when I saw someone accepted to the program that I applied to, I sent a very short email to the program and got a response telling me that my application is complete. No other information was given. I now have seen two acceptances and I have yet to hear a thing. I won't be emailing back. Now, I will just wait it out and hope for good news. (I only applied to one program and this all or nothing thing, stinks!!)

I also applied to only one program. At the time it seemed like the right decision, now I'm not so sure. Next year I'm applying to at least 3 programs.

[joops]

I email the graduate secretary at a school where two positive responses were given on the results page. She was quite polite about it and said that "The completed applications are now ready for the Committee to review. I do not have the dates as to when the Committee will be meeting."

I'm wondering about the discrepancy, but as fall as I can tell, I'm still in the running. Thoughts?

[bee kel]

I also applied to only one program. At the time it seemed like the right decision, now I'm not so sure. Next year I'm applying to at least 3 programs.

I think about 5 or 6 is average, just for reference. Nothing wrong with trying more!

(though I certainly hope you get in this year and don't have to even worry about it!)

[micromajor2011]

So I emailed one of the progrmas to see my chances of getting an invitation to an interview and I was told that my application has been reviewed and ive been placed on a interview waitlist. My question is has anyone else been in a similar situation? im glad its not an out right reject but is it really a chance ill still get an interview?

Here is what the email reply stated: We have reviewed your application, and right now we have you in the Interview Wait List. We are waiting to see how many applicants we can invite in for interviews, which are required for admission. I hope to be able to tell you something definitive by March 1. There is still a chance that you will be invited in, but right now it is hard to say what that chance is, as we have many more applications to review.

Edited February 8, 2011 by micromajor2011

[awvish]

I had an interview with the Director of Graduate Studies and he told me I'd hear back from him last Thursday. I gave him until today, then e-mailed a general "Hi, curious about my status, any updates, had halfway expected to hear from you last Thursday," type e-mail. He got back to me within the hour, telling me he was glad I'd e-mailed, and gave me an unofficial, but very very clear acceptance (first one!).

This is a special case, because it was both my POI and my interviewer (and he said he'd get back to me and didn't), but sometimes it can have good results.

Good luck, everyone!