Would it kill the schools to reject us?

[0000000000AAA]

There are three schools now that I can reasonably assume I've been rejected by (Duke, Stanford, Chicago). I'm okay with that. I just wish they'd let me know!

[Pynchonette]

There are three schools now that I can reasonably assume I've been rejected by (Duke, Stanford, Chicago). I'm okay with that. I just wish they'd let me know!

DITTO. Just put us out of our misery!

[MichaelK]

I don't get the logic behind sending notifications first and rejections weeks later. If these schools had tons of applicants turning their offers down immediately, I'd understand: they need to keep the reject list unofficial in case they have to go back to it. But out of 20-25 total waitlist/accept notifications, how many students immediately say, "No thanks"? It just seems like the schools need to be more patient and professional...wait till you're ready to send every notification. Then blast 'em.

[MichaelK]

Of course, our anxiety and perception of unprofessionalism is due to this website, which allows information that departments think is staying private (acceptances/waitlists) to go public. So I can't really blame them. Dammit.

[0000000000AAA]

Of course, our anxiety and perception of unprofessionalism is due to this website, which allows information that departments think is staying private (acceptances/waitlists) to go public. So I can't really blame them. Dammit.

While I may have started this post, I couldn't agree more with you MichaelK (a Coetzee reference?).

[anthropologygeek]

That's why the wait is so long. People take their time so they have an unofficial waitlist and just want to send all rejections at the same time.

Edited February 7, 2012 by anthropologygeek

[rising_star]

Just to be clear, plenty of departments know about this site, but it doesn't change their timeline. Also, there are a bunch of reasons that acceptances/rejections don't all go out at once. At my MA university, they admitted outstanding candidates they wanted to nominate for university-wide fellowships first, then went through the regular admissions, and then evaluated students applying for the PhD from their own MA program. So, I actually heard that I was officially admitted to the PhD program almost two full months after acceptances started cropping up here. In fact, students admitted with funding were visiting before they'd even read my application. All of that is a way of saying that having to wait doesn't always mean bad news.

[ComeBackZinc]

That's a point I've been trying to make. My situation was very similar. And note that at some schools, later in the process doesn't mean you are a worse candidate, lower priority, or anything of the sort. In my program specifically (as opposed to the whole department), they work very hard on balancing a cohort with different interests, in terms of subject, methodology, tradition.... And the process through which they select different candidates is staggered by individual focus. It just depends.

I have a close friend at a very high profile English PhD program (think about as high profile as it gets) who was admitted over a month after the first admit showed up on this board.

[MichaelK]

Just to be clear, plenty of departments know about this site, but it doesn't change their timeline. Also, there are a bunch of reasons that acceptances/rejections don't all go out at once. At my MA university, they admitted outstanding candidates they wanted to nominate for university-wide fellowships first, then went through the regular admissions, and then evaluated students applying for the PhD from their own MA program. So, I actually heard that I was officially admitted to the PhD program almost two full months after acceptances started cropping up here. In fact, students admitted with funding were visiting before they'd even read my application. All of that is a way of saying that having to wait doesn't always mean bad news.

Thanks for the insight, rising_star and ComeBackZinc. Nice to have the inside perspective on this.

[marlowe]

I think it is important to point out that these admissions committees are not meeting every day!

We may sit here fretting over every day that passes without notification, but if the committee is only meeting once every three weeks, it makes a lot of sense to release their notifications periodically.

[Grunty DaGnome]

Yes, it feels like it's taking forever, but really, it's only early February, so realistically, there's a month or so more of this, one way or the other, and then I'm going on vacation.

[rainy_day]

That's a point I've been trying to make. My situation was very similar. And note that at some schools, later in the process doesn't mean you are a worse candidate, lower priority, or anything of the sort. In my program specifically (as opposed to the whole department), they work very hard on balancing a cohort with different interests, in terms of subject, methodology, tradition.... And the process through which they select different candidates is staggered by individual focus. It just depends.

I have a close friend at a very high profile English PhD program (think about as high profile as it gets) who was admitted over a month after the first admit showed up on this board.

Two of my good friends currently enrolled in a PhD program insist "good news comes late"

[HaruNoKaze]

Two of my good friends currently enrolled in a PhD program insist "good news comes late"

This made me think of a pregnancy indicator test... however, pregnancy test would provide instant notification... which makes my brain hurt...

I've seen some notifications on the Results page for programs I applied to and I got to admit, I'm really just want to be rejected already.

[Julianne Pigoon]

I hope good news comes late, but I know as far as Vanderbilt is concerned, I feel like no news is bad news. I think many schools eventually get back to their applicants, but this one, apparently not. There have been both acceptances and wait‒lists on the survey and board, but no rejections. I would be elated if they got back to me, honestly, with a message that said OH YEAH, YOU. THANKS BUT NO THANKS.

[Julianne Pigoon]

This made me think of a pregnancy indicator test... however, pregnancy test would provide instant notification... which makes my brain hurt...

I've seen some notifications on the Results page for programs I applied to and I got to admit, I'm really just want to be rejected already.

Also, this comparison is funny. There's like a whole list of reasons there might be a false positive in the instructions, so it's kind of the same as really hoping you haven't been rejected. I know because I've been there, too.