So mad...

[tweeter]

I applied to a certain school, had all my stuff submitted by the deadline in January. Called the admissions office up a week after the deadline to make sure they had all my stuff. They said it was too soon, they needed a couple weeks to process my materials. They said they would call me if I was missing anything. I didn't hear anything, so I figured everything was ok. I called admissions again today because I noticed some people were receiving admits and rejects. Guess what? There was some an error on their end and my application was not marked as complete even though I submitted everything. They told me they would would fix it now.

Problem is the department has probably given out all their admits at this point. This school wasn't my last chance, I still have other applications pending, but I thought it was my best fit and best chance. Feel like I'm going to be sick

[felicidad]

That's awful. :/ I truly feel bad for you, because you clearly did exactly what you were supposed to do - you followed up to make sure your application was complete and were given bad information.

It's good that this wasn't your last chance. You might be surprised at how well you fit somewhere else.

[We regret to inform you]

Oh man, this is every applicant's worst nightmare. I'm so sorry it happened to you. If you have no chance of being accepted at this point you should call them up and ask for a refund on your application, since it was entirely their fault.

[tweeter]

I feel like emailing someone higher up or maybe someone in the department I applied to. It's going to seem like I applied late. There are actually a number of problems I ran into with this school besides this. I fear though making waves won't help my chances. I'm probably going to ask them move my application to next year (second times a charm?) because I don't have a good feeling about my remaining applications.

Edited March 9, 2012 by tweeter

[MediaMom]

I would email the department chair/graduate studies chair. Don't point the finger or bad mouth the admissions office. Just say that you've just spoken with admissions and discovered that your file was mis-marked and was not forwarded to the department for their review as it should have been. Ask if all decisions have been made, and if they have not, if the department would be willing to look at your application now. Even if all of the offers have gone out, they may choose to wait-list you. Also, I know that the majority of programs do not offer spring admission, but it can't hurt to ask them if they'd be willing to consider you for a spring admission given the error.

And if it's absolutely a no-win situation and you decide not to ask them to hold the application for next year, then yes, definitely ask for your application fee back. If you're never even considered by the department and it's their error, they have no right to keep your money.

Good luck.

[Sigaba]

MOO, you should grin and bear it, save your venting for your personal journal, and chalk this experience up to lessons learned.

The mistake you made was not to call back the following week--and the week after that--and the next week, until you received absolute confirmation that all your materials had been received and everything was up to date. To paraphrase President Reagan, trust but verify.

After all is said and done, a student bears ultimate accountability for making sure the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed.

[snes]

MOO, you should grin and bear it, save your venting for your personal journal, and chalk this experience up to lessons learned.

The mistake you made was not to call back the following week--and the week after that--and the next week, until you received absolute confirmation that all your materials had been received and everything was up to date. To paraphrase President Reagan, trust but verify.

After all is said and done, a student bears ultimate accountability for making sure the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed.

Well, yeah, it's our responsibility, but a lot of schools make it clear that they don't like applicants checking in, and if they need anything, THEY'LL contact US.

I also thought that "MOO" just was an emphatic cow moo and it made me laugh pretty bad.

And what is this site but the perfect place for venting about these things? Nobody IRL cares about my contacting-schools-too-much anxieties, and I'm pretty sure any personal journal would also be like "the eff is this? Where's the boyfriend angst?" Or is that just my mother?

Edited March 10, 2012 by snes

[Sigaba]

And what is this site but the perfect place for venting about these things? Nobody IRL cares about my contacting-schools-too-much anxieties, and I'm pretty sure any personal journal would also be like "the eff is this? Where's the boyfriend angst?" Or is that just my mother?

This is an open source site. The Ivory Tower is much smaller than you think and in it are established professional academics who are much more vindicitive than you realize. (If you doubt this, read some of the other threads in which people talk about the kind of issues they're having with POIs and other professors.) You are at the beginning of a path in which you are forming your professional identity.

If you want to scoff at the two cents, that's your right. However, before you do, I recommend you bring something to the conversation other than spark and inexperience.

[crazygirl2012]

I applied to a certain school, had all my stuff submitted by the deadline in January. Called the admissions office up a week after the deadline to make sure they had all my stuff. They said it was too soon, they needed a couple weeks to process my materials. They said they would call me if I was missing anything. I didn't hear anything, so I figured everything was ok. I called admissions again today because I noticed some people were receiving admits and rejects. Guess what? There was some an error on their end and my application was not marked as complete even though I submitted everything. They told me they would would fix it now.

Problem is the department has probably given out all their admits at this point. This school wasn't my last chance, I still have other applications pending, but I thought it was my best fit and best chance. Feel like I'm going to be sick

That's terrible! You have every right to be mad. It sounds like you really like this program, but the fact that you've had multiple problems like this may be a red flag. Over time, as a student there, you might get increasingly frustrated with it.

[snes]

This is an open source site. The Ivory Tower is much smaller than you think and in it are established professional academics who are much more vindicitive than you realize. (If you doubt this, read some of the other threads in which people talk about the kind of issues they're having with POIs and other professors.) You are at the beginning of a path in which you are forming your professional identity.

If you want to scoff at the two cents, that's your right. However, before you do, I recommend you bring something to the conversation other than spark and inexperience.

I don't doubt this, but my sense is that these fora could use some levity (and maybe even compassion!) along with the wonderful and serious advice that I've only been able to find here. Most of us keep a very anonymous profile here. My sig info alone would probably identify me with some digging, but I'm not posting anything on here I wouldn't say in real life, including all of the "spark and inexperience" (snark?) that comes from being a burnt-out, neurotic pre-academic.

[MediaMom]

Well, yeah, it's our responsibility, but a lot of schools make it clear that they don't like applicants checking in, and if they need anything, THEY'LL contact US.

I also thought that "MOO" just was an emphatic cow moo and it made me laugh pretty bad.

And what is this site but the perfect place for venting about these things? Nobody IRL cares about my contacting-schools-too-much anxieties, and I'm pretty sure any personal journal would also be like "the eff is this? Where's the boyfriend angst?" Or is that just my mother?

Agreed - I called all of my schools to check on the status of my materials and the people in admission were rude to me at all but one school. I got the, "We'll call YOU, leave us alone and be patient" speech at three of the four schools I contacted. It was made very clear to me that applicants calling to check up on them was just not "how it was done." So I suppose I'm just lucky that none of those schools ended up effing up my applications.

And this is the place to vent these frustrations, absolutely.

[nari27]

Yikes! Maybe you don't want to go someplace that loses paperwork and doesn't have their act together!! Every program I applied to sent me an email after my application was complete. If you didn't get one, I would have called sooner. Sorry that happened. :-( I believe everything happens for a reason though, good and bad.