Earlier Better? Any Pattern?

[0000000000AAA]

I've been looking at last years results surveys and it seems like there's no pattern for when people get in. Some schools seem to notify over the course of a month. Why? Are they offering admission to some, then waiting to here back, and then offering more based on if people decided to come? It would seem like they could notify all their admits via phone in a single day and all of the rejects/wait lists in a single email (bcc'ed please!).

One more question:

Am I losing my mind? Yes.

[Jane_Eyre]

I honestly think it depends on the school. I've been obsessing over the results surveys, too, and some schools I applied to seem to follow a clear "acceptances, rejections, waitlists" pattern, while others do not. And, yes, mind is totally lost at this point. AGH!!

[Grunty DaGnome]

I would guess that, in winnowing down the applicant pool, the ad com votes and some applicants get a unanimous vote right away, while other applications need further discussion and evaluation. So, to keep things moving, I assume programs notify those candidates they know will get offers, rather than hold up the offers while they resolve their debates about other candidates.

I imagine, too, that many candidates fall on the MA offer or MA PhD all at once offer, while others might be on the line between MA offer and rejection. I was on that line for several schools before I started my MA. My rejection to two schools never came, because I accepted an MA offer and withdrew my applications. Both admin offices explicitly told me at that my application was still being considered for the MA, but not the PhD.

On the other hand, there are a bunch of people notified right away that they won't get in. While no one likes to be in this pile, in some ways, it is more merciful.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Grunty DaGnome

[lolopixie]

On the other hand, there are a bunch of people notified right away that they won't get in. While no one likes to be in this pile, in some ways, it is more merciful.

It is more merciful. Brown does this. They notify everyone on the same day. Well at least they did last year.

[indalomena]

oh wow, I should NOT read that results board!! I will get way too obsessed. Seems like some places have very clear patterns repeated year after year (Yale, eg: phone the admits mid-February, email the rejects late February..), and others are a bit more unpredictable. Phoning the admits seems pretty common, though I wonder if that's only US applicants? (I'm international..)

I don't want to go in an immediate-reject pile.. *sigh*

[Jbarks]

When I applied last time (three years ago), I checked at least twenty times a day. It was pathetic and unheathly. This time around, once February hits, I'm not ckecking at all. I will still continue to check the forums and post things, but I refuse to check the results board. It sometimes skews your perception. My acceptances to MA programs didn't arrive until late March, and, but that time, I had ruled everything out because I kept seeing all of the acceptances/rejections in late February/early March.

Anyway, for the month of February, I bought some Good Luck incense. I plan to burn one a day for the whole month. That's how I'm doing it. No results board...just incense.

[indalomena]

ahhhhhh that's a lovely idea. Sadly my boyfriend is allergic to incense, but I'll try to do something similar

*sigh* My MA applications were totally half-assed, I sort of gave up halfway through. Worked out very well for me in the end, but I was lucky. For the PhD, I have really worked hard, which is probably why I'm so much more obsessive/nervous...

[marlowe]

I will say, however, that knowing that acceptance calls went out - and that I did not receive one - did prepare me well for the eventual rejection.

[ComeBackZinc]

Totally depends on the school. In my department, admissions go out over a period of months. In part this is because they are selecting people who have different research interests; they need to build a new cohort that has the correct range.

[JeremiahParadise]

Totally depends on the school. In my department, admissions go out over a period of months. In part this is because they are selecting people who have different research interests; they need to build a new cohort that has the correct range.

It'd be nice to know ahead of time which holes in their "range" each university was trying to fill! Son of a.

[thestage]

It'd be nice to know ahead of time which holes in their "range" each university was trying to fill! Son of a.

supply and demand. there are hundreds of us hopeless fools for every 5 spots at any respectable instutition, ergo the schools are afforded the luxury of doing whatever they please, however they please to do it, while we are afforded the luxury of being treated like detestable nobodies under the misguided premise that it might show who "wants it more" or some such nonsense. even then I think it'd be handled more acceptably if the schools had people (or, heaven forbid, third party services) dedicated to the admissions process and the overall direction of the school's research interests. as it stands, the people sifting over the applications and drawing up the admissions FAQs are the same people engaged in their own research, teaching classes (hah! yeah right...), and working closely with the people they admitted 1, 3, 5 years ago. they understandably have a list of priorities. you and I ain't on that list.

Edited January 21, 2012 by thestage