Status Inquiry Ettiqette

[RestorationJunkie]

What is the best way to ask a graduate school about my admissions status? I know that people have been accepted to this program already, but I haven't hear from them. Should I email or call? And what should I say? I know that waiting is probably better, but I'm going crazy...which is not good during midterms week!

[newms]

Either emailing or calling is fine if you really can't wait - what you can do is explain that you're an applicant and ask if decisions have been made and when you can expect to hear back from them.

[rainbowworrier]

Is it ok to call the department? I actually don't know if anybody else has been contacted, because there are no records on here from previous years.

The last thing I want to seem is impatient and bothersome. I know for a fact that my information was forwarded to the department 5 weeks ago. How long do admissions committees usually take before deciding who they are going to interview/reject?

[newms]

Is it ok to call the department? I actually don't know if anybody else has been contacted, because there are no records on here from previous years.

The last thing I want to seem is impatient and bothersome. I know for a fact that my information was forwarded to the department 5 weeks ago. How long do admissions committees usually take before deciding who they are going to interview/reject?

It is ok to call - I've called a few of my schools during the process and most were friendly. Of course, you don't want to ask frivolous questions or call too soon after applying, once you have confirmation that they've received all your application materials. 5 weeks doesn't seem too long for the adcomm to make a decision though - some departments take 2-3 months to process all the materials and for the adcomm to start making decisions. So perhaps you could wait until the middle of this month to contact them. In the OP's case - the adcomm seems to have made some decisions already and the OP hasn't heard anything yet about their application.

[jagssss]

Is it ok to call the department? I actually don't know if anybody else has been contacted, because there are no records on here from previous years.

The last thing I want to seem is impatient and bothersome. I know for a fact that my information was forwarded to the department 5 weeks ago. How long do admissions committees usually take before deciding who they are going to interview/reject?

like 4 to 6weeks,waiting for decisions too.

[RestorationJunkie]

So I'm pretty sure the two are unrelated, but I got an acceptance letter from the school just a few hours after emailing for a status check. Now I look quite impatient! Oh well.

[newms]

So I'm pretty sure the two are unrelated, but I got an acceptance letter from the school just a few hours after emailing for a status check. Now I look quite impatient! Oh well.

Sweet. Congratulations!

[MsAussie23]

Most schools I've applied to are good about returning e-mails. This is what I sent to Columbia and they got back to me 2 hours later.

Dear Sir/Madame,

I am writing to inquire about the status of my submission. I am really sorry to bother you, but my status on my application still says Complete/At Department, and I am getting anxious. If you could please e-mail me back to just let me know where in the process I am I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

(Your Name)

You might want to add your contact info. Mine's embedded in my e-mail.<br clear="all">

[revivalarch]

Most schools I've applied to are good about returning e-mails. This is what I sent to Columbia and they got back to me 2 hours later.

Dear Sir/Madame,

I am writing to inquire about the status of my submission. I am really sorry to bother you, but my status on my application still says Complete/At Department, and I am getting anxious. If you could please e-mail me back to just let me know where in the process I am I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

(Your Name)

You might want to add your contact info. Mine's embedded in my e-mail.<br clear="all">

Thank you for sending this along! I'm in a bit of a pickle. I have been accepted to a couple of programs, both with great funding packages, but I am hoping to get into School C, which doesn't usually send out acceptances until mid-March (and even so, funding decisions come later). Do you think it's worth the wait? I went ahead and emailed my POI.

[tragicomix]

I sent out an e-mail that was a lot more terse than MsAussie23 and got a reply immediately. I think the programs are used to this.

[revivalarch]

I sent out an e-mail that was a lot more terse than MsAussie23 and got a reply immediately. I think the programs are used to this.

Thanks! I did as well. I also indicated that other programs are putting a bit of pressure on me to make a decision. My POI is leave this semester, but he sent an email to the admissions committee.

Thanks!

[TMP]

If you can look up the graduate secretary/assistant's names, all the MUCH better as to treat them like human beings than just some random face for customer service. With DGS, that's just obvious.

[logaritym]

I sent few status inquiries one week ago, but didn't receive any answers:(

I started some of the e-mails with "Hello!" (because I couldn't find the name of the secretary/professor) and probably now my applications are in the piles, called "Bores, who will be rejected on 15.04".

However, there is only one week left until mid-March, so in all cases we'll have plenty of information until then...

Edited March 6, 2011 by logaritym