POI on Sabbatical

[Seanish]

The thought just occured to me that I may be in a rough spot. My POI at one of the schools I've applied to (and mentioned in my SOP) is on Sabbatical until July. I'm guessing its safe to assume she will not be involved on the admission comittee at all. Will this hurt my chances? Should I contact her or the department? We corresponded months back and she seemed open and thought my research interests were good. I'm lost now though, I feel like I will be written off if no one can speak on my behalf.

Edited February 17, 2012 by Seanish

[talific]

I'm in exactly the same boat!! I'm not sure if she's in town or not.. maybe she is around for admissions? She did email me saying "admissions are going at snail's pace as usual, I'll let you know if I hear anything"....

[ksalt]

I don't think you need to worry. If they're looking to take on new students, I'm sure they are going to pull for you to be admitted. If you mentioned that you were in correspondence with them on your app, I would think the committee would take that into consideration...