So...is no news better than bad news?

[danielcharles87]

I'm sure many of you are in the same boat so I was wondering what everyone's take was.

I applied this year to NYU, UCLA, Emory, UMD, CUNY Graduate Center, UPenn, USC, and Brandeis. I've only heard from one school (CUNY - rejection) and nothing else. The things is, I've noticed that Emory has sent out both rejections and acceptances. I also spoke with the coordinator at Maryland who said that all acceptances aren't out yet.

The trend appears to be that it isn't black and white with acceptances/rejections. That is, not all acceptances go out one day and all rejections go out another. This makes it REALLY hard to track the possibility of acceptance if you haven't heard anything yet! Is it time to start assuming if we've seen rejections AND acceptances sent out, that we might be stuck on a waiting list?

[finknottle]

I'm sure you know the answer to that before hand, which is, 'Not really'. There is no point speculating really. Even if you are on a waiting list, knowing so doesn't change much unless you know the exact rank by which you are waitlisted. That is, the wait-list pool can be huge and you can be anywhere in it.

[ohhello]

^ In other words, at least it's not an outright rejection.

[heulwen]

I wish.

[Sociograd]

Yeah, I'm still waiting on a decision from Madison. They sent out a bunch of acceptances/rejections about two weeks ago. I don't know what this means. I called but the graduate coordinator doesn't return until Monday.

[panasic]

Do you think it's a good idea to call? I am waiting, too...

[Chuck]

Sociograd & panasic, I'm sorry that Wisconsin hasn't gotten back to you. That seems bizarre to me! I don't know why they would think it appropriate to keep people waiting. I really think you should call. At this point, they're pushing the envelope on being a bit rude and unprofessional.

Unfortunately (though I could very well be wrong) my sense is that all the acceptances have been sent out. The department is having a visit day on March 9th. The usual courtesy for visit days is that logistics like flights and hotels and time off from work need to be arranged several weeks in advance. As was the case last year, it appears that the department sends out all its decisions in one wave at the beginning of February. I think some people on this board received official notice of wait-list status at that time(?) Of course, I'm just connecting the dots here and don't really have any insider information. Let's hope I'm wrong? Maybe they're still putting together an extended wait list? I've heard tails (though at another school) of especially diligent and pushy wait-listed applicants charming the department into accepting them outright by convincing the department that the department really is their #1 fit. At this point, don't underestimate the amount by which a department really wants you to want them.

[panasic]

Chuck: thanks... not waiting on Madison though. I was considering writing an email detailing how much I want to be at the school...

[Chuck]

oh, sorry panasic. Well, I still think you should write whichever department it is you're talking about!

I'm having a strange experience now at a school where I've been accepted. It's really starting to become apparent to me that, as much as we agonize over which departments "want" us, the departments are doing a very similar thing on the other end. They know that many of us have applied to 10+ places, and they're constantly looking for clues as to our real level of interest in them and whether or not we would actually come if they took the time and expended the effort to actually admit us.

[panasic]

Chuck, thanks. Do you think I should just inquire about the status of my application or write a full-on "I really think we're a great match and I would go there in a heartbeat" letter?

[sciencegirl]

@panasic - Have you not heard back from either of the schools? Or are you just waiting on one?

[Chuck]

I would write a polite letter inquiring about your application status. Then mention that you have other offers on the table, but school x is your #1 choice. This shows that you're already a successful and savvy applicant. Remember, you're flattering them/wanting them without appearing desperate. Personalize the letter by mentioning any contact you've had with professors/students/the department (hey, they have 100's of applicants, they're likely not going to remember you well). Don't gush too much. Be professional and direct. If you feel up to it, pick a couple of major themes out of your SOP to remind them why they are a perfect match for you.

Writing the letter will help you feel better about having done everything you absolutely can to get into your dream school. But... don't get your hopes up too too much. Keep in mind that this process is highly stochastic. This even goes for applicants who appear to walk on water. You just really really don't know what's going on in the department, on the admissions committee, and with other applicants. There is a very big chance that even the most qualified candidate will be rejected from any program- due to the balance of sub-disciplines in the department, which professors are taking on advisees, who is on the admissions committee, who else is applying, what the funding situation is like... the list goes on and on. All you can do is give it your best shot. Good luck!!

[quantitative]

I have been waiting for 3 schools (with visits in 2-3 weeks) for what seems like forever. I just heard from one after a long delay since they sent out acceptances... I'm thinking that no news is impending bad news. Plus, even if you were admitted too close to actually visit/after the admit weekend, realistically would you accept the offer without ever seeing the school?

Chuck has a good idea. However, it may be too late if they've sent out what seems like a number of acceptances.

Apologies for my sour mood...rejections tend to do that.

Edited February 17, 2012 by quantitative

[Darth.Vegan]

I have been waiting for 3 schools (with visits in 2-3 weeks) for what seems like forever. I just heard from one after a long delay since they sent out acceptances... I'm thinking that no news is impending bad news. Plus, even if you were admitted too close to actually visit/after the admit weekend, realistically would you accept the offer without ever seeing the school?

Chuck has a good idea. However, it may be too late if they've sent out what seems like a number of acceptances.

I would accept at Madison, NYU, Stanford or Cornell without ever seeing the school. In a heartbeat actually.

[Chuck]

Absent a truly astronomical airfare price, I would travel to any school I was about to commit 5-9 years of my life to. All the prestige and research fit in the world won't make up for a bad vibe from a department.

[Darth.Vegan]

Absent a truly astronomical airfare price, I would travel to any school I was about to commit 5-9 years of my life to. All the prestige and research fit in the world won't make up for a bad vibe from a department.

Yeah, I live in Hawaii. Outside of the west coast (where I am only applying to 3 schools) traveling on my own coin would be prohibitively expensive.

And yes I know, I live in Hawaii, boohoo for me LOL.

[jacib]

x-posted in the Acceptances/Rejections/Decisions thread, but this can happen:

This is less common in sociology, but the most frustrating case scenario for large public universities is something along the lines of what happened to my ex who was applying to creative writing programs. Iowa, the most prestigious school in the field, let in a bunch of people in February, so my ex assumed that she had been rejected. As the rejections, even from mediocre places, rolled in, she became really disheartened. She had a crisis of conscience--"Oh my G-d is this field right for me? Am I delusional about my abilities? If I don't do this, what will I do? I f I don't do this, who am I?" etc. Finally, at the very end of March she gets waitlisted at Virgina, generally considered the second best fiction program, and for the first time in two months doesn't feel crazy. Even though she probably won't get in off the waitlist, she feels validated. She works on Plan B. And then on Plan C. Then, at the very beginning of April, she hears from Iowa, and they say, basically, "Oh, yeah sorry--we knew we were accepted you in February, but we didn't know exactly what funding we were going to give you so we waited. The people whose fellowships are through Iowa Review heard in February, but people like you with teaching experience, we needed to figure out exactly what you were going to teach, and in which department (Lit or Creative Writing), before we informed you of your acceptance."

It's rare, but of the 13 or 14 places she applied to, my ex got into only one (the most highly ranked), and waitlisted at one more (the second most highly ranked), and got 11 or 12 rejections before she heard from either of them.

I think this is more likely to happen at PUBLIC schools where funding might be cobbled together from various sources (department, research grants, school as a whole, etc.). At PRIVATE schools (particularly larger ones), information might trickle out to a few people with an inside scoop (past relationship with the department, someone who would work as an RA on a specific project, or just a very excited potential adviser), but the general impression I get is that there is a 8 to 48 hour period when the admits are notified. If you miss that, it's bad news. At Columbia and Chicago, you might not hear back for a while because of their masters programs. Not only schools even have waitlists, but the ones that do might hold off rejecting people until they have a better idea of who's coming. I don't know how common waitlists are--I know at my program we don't have them, but it still took the adcomm more than a month to formally reject people, which is a little obnoxious, yes, but that's the way it is.

I think Chuck's idea is a responsible one, but keep the letter short and very polite, because the DGS will get a lot of them, and they will be mostly from people checking this website.

[Sociograd]

x-posted in the Acceptances/Rejections/Decisions thread, but this can happen:

I think this is more likely to happen at PUBLIC schools where funding might be cobbled together from various sources (department, research grants, school as a whole, etc.). At PRIVATE schools (particularly larger ones), information might trickle out to a few people with an inside scoop (past relationship with the department, someone who would work as an RA on a specific project, or just a very excited potential adviser), but the general impression I get is that there is a 8 to 48 hour period when the admits are notified. If you miss that, it's bad news. At Columbia and Chicago, you might not hear back for a while because of their masters programs. Not only schools even have waitlists, but the ones that do might hold off rejecting people until they have a better idea of who's coming. I don't know how common waitlists are--I know at my program we don't have them, but it still took the adcomm more than a month to formally reject people, which is a little obnoxious, yes, but that's the way it is.

I think Chuck's idea is a responsible one, but keep the letter short and very polite, because the DGS will get a lot of them, and they will be mostly from people checking this website.

Well, I'm hoping this is what is going on for me at Madison. It's been two weeks since the decisions and the way it seems on these forums is that everybody else has already heard. Thanks for the post jacib: it's uplifting!

[kbirch]

I hate how schools do the "trickle out" of acceptances and rejections! I know that I'm not in at Emory, because I wasn't invited to their weekend, but I still haven't gotten my rejection email. Send it already!!

[sociologygradgirl]

In MA program, when the comittee meets there is a group of those that are 100% in and those they know they are not taking. Then there's a group in the middle. They usually wait until they know EXCATLY how much funding there is to start contacting these people. Also, by that point, some of the initial offers are rejected, which frees up a few spaces.

I'm at an R1 public school and they do not know the exact funding yet, nor have they sent all of the acceptances.

[avee]

I feel in the same spot as DanielCharles87. I applied to several programs that others have already heard back from, and I have yet to hear anything. I'm wondering where I belong in the sea of rejection and acceptance. I guess we just have to.... wait :\

[largo]

Hey guys, I'm really glad that someone opened a topic like this, because this is exactly my situation. I applied to a great number of schools, because I wanted to make sure that I'd definitely get in somewhere. But I guess the schools I chose were beyond my reach, though I'm the top student at the best university in my country (I applied to the phd programs in sociology at Duke, Columbia, Princeton, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Rutgers, UPenn, Brown, Yale, NYU, Cornell, UMass, Boston, Northeastern, York and McGill). Apart from Princeton and Brown, which told me I was rejected, I haven't heard from any other university that I applied. You all know that Rutgers called people out for interviews and I guess started to send out acceptances, NYU even notified waitlists, there seems to be couple of acceptances to Yale, UMass and UPenn, if I'm not mistaken. I don't really know how I should interpret this silence. I tend to be pessimistic and accept them as possible rejects, but people tell me that I simply can not deduce anything from the situation unless there's a statement for sure. Well, I just wanted to share and see what you'd think about my situation. Congrats to all that are accepted and patience to all who're the same with me.

Edited February 18, 2012 by largo

[chibuku]

Ya, I'm thinking with a couple NYU waitlists sent out that I'm probably out of the running there already....