My latest irrational fear

[rainbowworrier]

Initially, I was worried I would get rejected on Valentine's Day. That has passed.

Then, I was worried I would get rejected on my Birthday, which also passed safely.

My current fear is that I will never hear anything at all.

Let me explain. A million years ago (ok more like 10 years ago), straight out of undergrad, I applied for many jobs. In more than one case, after interviewing, I never heard back. Certainly I was not accepted for said jobs, but would it have killed them to call, or send an email or postal mail rejection?

Has it ever happened that a school just ignores an application, never sends a rejection at all? I'm not typically this neurotic, but somehow this application process has given me more angst than anything ever has before.

thoughts?

[Bukharan]

Unfortunately, this sometimes happens. But rarely, very rarely.

In case they remain silent, just ring them up and ask about the decision.

OFTEN, however, candidates hear from their schools. It takes time and plenty of patience. They will get back to you! In the meantime, all the best with your applications!

[newms]

Unfortunately some programs are pretty bad at this. There was a thread on here last year where an applicant got his rejection for the Fall in August and he replied with an angry email. They're like that date that tells you they're gonna call you, but they don't. This is rare though, and you will most likely hear back from them (hopefully positive news). Good luck!

[rainbowworrier]

What is a good date to call if I've heard nothing? April 15?

[GI1]

Maybe a little bit sooner, but April 15 seems ok, it depends on your program. Good Luck!

[newms]

What is a good date to call if I've heard nothing? April 15?

I would say even earlier - say mid March. April 15 would be too late if you already have another offer on the table, since you have until April 15 to accept funded offers.

[ShaEnYsi]

It always pays to inquire. Last year, I applied to NYU for Fall 2010 and discovered that most of my peers for the same program had already heard back. Frustrated with the wait, I sent an email to the admissions team with a basic inquiry about admitted students and registration procedures. (I never indicated whether I had received a decision from them or not, I only asked what the next step for admitted students was) My email was forwarded to the head of the department I applied to. Meanwhile, I continued to take matters into my own hands by attempting to activate my student ID via NYU's account management system. I became cautiously optimistic when the registration was successful.

Finally, I heard back from the academic department coordinator indicating that they had sent all registration information along with my acceptance letter. ( ! ) "what acceptance letter?"

Turns out they had gotten my email address wrong and sent the letter to someone else (who apparently lives in Italy). mama mia! I deferred admission.

[rainbowworrier]

ok, so one program had a february 1st deadline, one March 1st, one April 1st (but apparently they review long before that date).

My documents were all in long before the deadlines, which is probably part of my frustration.

Based on those deadlines, when would you suggest I call?

[eklavya]

In case they remain silent, just ring them up and ask about the decision.

see, this is where i disagree. we PAID $$$; needless to mention SWEATED and CRIED over the whole process and have been spending the past few months in complete ANXIETY and FEAR. they should let you know of the news - good or bad - because it is a responsibility thing. of course we are interested in that school, and the research. but that doesn't mean we have to knocking on their doors for a freaking 'yes' or 'no'. if schools aren't serious about being punctual regarding the admission and decision processes, it doesn't leave a good impression... at least for me.

[GI1]

ok, so one program had a february 1st deadline, one March 1st, one April 1st (but apparently they review long before that date).

My documents were all in long before the deadlines, which is probably part of my frustration.

Based on those deadlines, when would you suggest I call?

I suggest that you see the gradcafe results in 2011, 2010 and 2009 and decide, one of the schools I have applied had a march 1st deadline but has already given admission results and is giving out results till probably April 1st, in your case, you can call them late march. The one with April first deadline, mid April seems good, but check to see when they usually give out results.

[Bumblebee]

I know of a person who was admitted to a program with funding, decided to go somewhere else and got an official rejection in the Fall when she was already attending this other program.

So basically, you CAN get rejections in the Fall

Edited February 26, 2011 by Bumblebee

[rainbowworrier]

I suggest that you see the gradcafe results in 2011, 2010 and 2009 and decide, one of the schools I have applied had a march 1st deadline but has already given admission results and is giving out results till probably April 1st, in your case, you can call them late march. The one with April first deadline, mid April seems good, but check to see when they usually give out results.

I searched, and from what I can tell, nobody has ever posted anything about these programs at these schools, so I have no frame of ref...

[ShaEnYsi]

I searched, and from what I can tell, nobody has ever posted anything about these programs at these schools, so I have no frame of ref...

My advice would be to give it 2 more weeks, approximately until the week of March 14th. Continue to be diligent in checking for other acceptances/rejections to your program or school in general so that you can try to gauge a timeframe. Verify your school's policy and procedures on admission decisions and keep checking the website.

[Bukharan]

see, this is where i disagree. we PAID $$; needless to mention SWEATED and CRIED over the whole process and have been spending the past few months in complete ANXIETY and FEAR. they should let you know of the news - good or bad - because it is a responsibility thing. of course we are interested in that school, and the research. but that doesn't mean we have to knocking on their doors for a freaking 'yes' or 'no'. if schools aren't serious about being punctual regarding the admission and decision processes, it doesn't leave a good impression... at least for me.

Bhikhaari, do not get me wrong!

I never said it was fine for schools to do something like this (or to be more precise... not to do anything).

It is outrageous if after a $70+ fee some of them do not respond to us or get our last names wrong or send us a rejection letter saying 'Dear applicant'.

However, if a school does not communicate, there is not much left for us but call them up and ask 'So what's up guys?' That's all I was saying. No, not sending a nice cordial e-mail to applicants is definitely not fine.

[eklavya]

Bhikhaari, do not get me wrong!

NO!! am not arguing with you or trying to prove you wrong. i was simply ranting over how some schools (immaturely) handle the whole application and admission process. sorry for the confusion.

you are basically right, but my intuition strongly discourages to contact the schools that seemingly don't care about us! all they do is take our money, and poof - disappear into thin air! that's totally inhumane, don't you think? i mean, poor and helpless as we are, we still have hearts that suffer when schools we so much care about don't think it's necessary to give us the whereabouts of our applications.

almost like someone whom you give roses, they take it, and few months later, you find out that they've decided to bond with someone else! this hurts bro.. cuts very deep

[kotov]

Bhikhaari, do not get me wrong!

I never said it was fine for schools to do something like this (or to be more precise... not to do anything).

It is outrageous if after a $70+ fee some of them do not respond to us or get our last names wrong or send us a rejection letter saying 'Dear applicant'.

However, if a school does not communicate, there is not much left for us but call them up and ask 'So what's up guys?' That's all I was saying. No, not sending a nice cordial e-mail to applicants is definitely not fine.

Or in my case, address me as "Ms." and then reject me. My name isn't even ambiguous. wtf

[Bukharan]

Or in my case, address me as "Ms." and then reject me. My name isn't even ambiguous. wtf

lol. This can be a new low. Seriously? Some school messed up your gender?

What are they thinking of?

[rainbowworrier]

My advice would be to give it 2 more weeks, approximately until the week of March 14th. Continue to be diligent in checking for other acceptances/rejections to your program or school in general so that you can try to gauge a timeframe. Verify your school's policy and procedures on admission decisions and keep checking the website.

Where would I find the policies and procedures on admissions decisions?

[ShaEnYsi]

Where would I find the policies and procedures on admissions decisions?

That might depend on how transparent your prospective schools are about their admissions process. If possible, review the application site/sheet that you applied with and check to see if there is information about decision notification there. You can also try to find this information by reading over the site's Terms and Conditions (trust me, you find out a lot of information by reading through all that nonsense)

One of my schools, for example, specifies on their admissions website and in their application packet how they go about notifying students of their decisions. This school let me know when they had received my application and all supporting materials and continues to post updates regarding the admissions process. Another school, I applied to specifies nothing and doesn't even confirm if they received my application; so it really depends on the school you're concerned with.

[rainbowworrier]

That might depend on how transparent your prospective schools are about their admissions process. If possible, review the application site/sheet that you applied with and check to see if there is information about decision notification there. You can also try to find this information by reading over the site's Terms and Conditions (trust me, you find out a lot of information by reading through all that nonsense)

One of my schools, for example, specifies on their admissions website and in their application packet how they go about notifying students of their decisions. This school let me know when they had received my application and all supporting materials and continues to post updates regarding the admissions process. Another school, I applied to specifies nothing and doesn't even confirm if they received my application; so it really depends on the school you're concerned with.

Ok I'm going to do some digging and see what I can find. It amuses me how different each school is, in terms of procedures. But here is what I know so far:

School F (feb deadline): I recieved emails when each LOR arrived, and when my paperwork was forwarded to the dept. The online status still says "incomplete/items outstanding" even though I have confirmed with Graduate Admissions that they have everything. I was told that since it involves a person physically changing a status in the computer, to get it to stop saying that, that it isn't a priority. This is also the school that I recieved a random email from the undergrad admissions department, inviting me to register for orientation. Heartwrenching.

School M: I have recieved emails every step of the way (application recieved, payment recieved, here is your logon and password to check status, hi I'm from the dept, and here is what we are still missing). I also know approximately how many they let in to this program each year, mean scores and such, so more than I know about the other programs.

School A: I recieved an email reminding me to pay after I had submitted my online application (money was tight at that moment). I am able to check online to see if they have everything except for LORs as those go to the dept directly. I know one has arrived. I also know roughly how many others (and who!) have applied to this program so far, since we all got an email that the sender forgot to bcc us on...yeesh. This program also says that they encourage applicants to send their items well ahead of the deadline, since they will be considered earlier. However, upon speaking with the dept coordinator, it appears that no, they don't look until April 1. Odd.

Ok, I'm off to do more "research". Thanks everybody.

[neuropsychosocial]

t is outrageous if after a $70+ fee some of them do not respond to us or get our last names wrong or send us a rejection letter saying 'Dear applicant'.

If the Graduate Admissions Office doesn't know how to use mail merge, is it really a school that I want to attend?

[rainbowworrier]

If the Graduate Admissions Office doesn't know how to use mail merge, is it really a school that I want to attend?

or the names of other universities. I went to a top 20 private university for undergrad, we have multiple nobel prize winners, and are notoriously hard to get in to. The admissions lady at one of my schools (granted, probably a secretary) said she had never heard of it, and wondered if it was a junior college...

(not bragging about where I went, because I know it won't help me get in, just saying, it was mind blowing she had never heard of it, when it is less than 500 miles away).

[keymash]

My first round of applications a few years back, I emailed one school that I hadn't heard from to say that I had funded offers elsewhere and to take me out of the running if they were still reviewing. This was early April, and it was by far the least prestigious and competitive program of all that I applied to. I had two funded PhD offers at my top two choices, and a funded Master's at another highly selective program that I ended up taking because I decided I wasn't quite ready to commit to a PhD. The school wrote me back to say that they some piece of my application had been lost (though the online system said it was fully complete), and rather than informing me so that I could get them another copy, decided not to do anything. They told me that they flat out just didn't review my application, didn't feel the need to inform of me this fact. Just cashed my check and called it a day. I wouldn't have know if I hadn't emailed them.

So yeah, ridiculous stuff like this happens, but I don't think it's common. If you're concerned, a short email just to confirm that your materials have been received probably wouldn't go amiss. Again, I wouldn't be too concerned about it because I really don't think what happened in my case is a normal occurrence, but if it'll put your mind at ease, admissions offices I've found are pretty understanding about letting you know that your application is complete and under review if you ask.

[MoJingly]

A good friend of mine got a rejection letter from a school in JUNE. He had already accepted an offer, of course, and when he got that letter he couldn't do anything but laugh.

June, seriously? wtf

[rainbowworrier]

Patience was worth it - I now have an interview!