Has my mentor already lost interest in me?

[green8715]

I was excited to accept at my first choice 2 weeks ago and up to that point had a good interview with my now mentor, and before officially accepting had exchanged a few email conversations back-and-forth that helped sway me to work with this particular POI. However - I recently was advised to get in contact with my mentor so I could register for classes in the Fall (a lot are already full!!), but have yet to receive any response back about talking to figure out what courses I should register for. To be fair, I emailed 2 days ago, so not too much time has lapsed, but now I am worried my pickings will be slim and am not sure if/when to re-email my mentor - or what I should say!

I hope she hasn't lost interest in her new grad student now that I've officially accepted!

[nhyn]

...it's only been 2 days. Relax. If you dont hear back in a week or two, email her again. She might be away, busy, or forgot to reply, simple as that.

[newms]

Way too soon to freak out. It's only two days and perhaps the prof was busy. Give it a day or two more and you could try to remind the prof. Good luck.

[green8715]

Ok...thanks I feel better. My main concern is classes filling up so quickly for Fall - but I'm sure it'll all work out.

[LJK]

The 15th is the major commit by date and it isn't quite here yet so some of the incoming class may not even know they are attending this school as of right now! Departments are usually good about making sure first year students are able to get the classes they need. While it is good to be proactive, it is definitely not freak out time

[robot_hamster]

If there is a class that your really want/need to take that is already full, you could always ask the professor teaching it if they will let you in.

[green8715]

The 15th is the major commit by date and it isn't quite here yet so some of the incoming class may not even know they are attending this school as of right now! Departments are usually good about making sure first year students are able to get the classes they need. While it is good to be proactive, it is definitely not freak out time

Good point - I forgot all about the april 15 deadline since I accepted.

[Eigen]

I really wouldn't worry about classes filling up. It's routine here for grad students to register the week before/first week of classes, and in fact as incoming first years, you *can't* register until the day before classes start.

I have yet to hear of any grad student not getting a seat in a class they want/need to take... Professors usually make room.

[michpc]

Another thing to keep in mind is that we're rapidly coming up on the end of the academic year at many universities, and professors/staff are dealing with theses, final papers, exams, etc. I had a similar feeling of "but wait, why hasn't he replied to me!" earlier this week, then double checked my future school's academic calendar and saw that classes end in 2 weeks, so I certainly don't expect to a priority on anyone's email reply list right now!

[StrangeLight]

our grad courses always fill up before the first-year students are even allowed to register. they just get forced into the class. it's simple bureaucratic procedure.

this time of year, your advisor is probably trying to court the remaining hold-outs for admission, sitting on thesis/comps/overview/dissertation committees, and wading through end-of-the-year grading.

when you're actually IN grad school, it can take your advisor a week to get back to you by email if they're busy enough. calm the eff down.

[green8715]

when you're actually IN grad school, it can take your advisor a week to get back to you by email if they're busy enough. calm the eff down.

I am currently IN grad school for a masters and my experience has just been a little different in terms of responses from current faculty members I work with which is why I wanted to ask my initial question - thanks everyone for the advice!