Still Waiting. Should I email them?

[Rachel B]

I'm still waiting on one more admissions decision and unfortunately the school is my top choice. I turned in my application in early February following a successful campus visit. My application was turned over to the admissions committee in early March and after following up with a member of the committee I was told that it was likely I would receive my decision via email by the end of March. It's now almost the second week in April and I haven't heard anything. I did contact their office last week and the secretary didn't know the status of the decisions and referred me to the same admissions committee member.

At this point I'm not sure what to do. On one hand April 15 is quickly approaching and I have other offers to respond to. Oppositely, I don't want to annoy this person into rejecting me. I realize the second outcome might be kind of ridiculous, but I figure if they're still deciding it may just be because there are several strong applicants, myself included and bugging him won't help.

Any advice? Should I email him again? If so, what should I say without coming off as impatient? Should I emphasize that the school is still my top choice?

[DrChops]

If you have to respond to other offers before the 15th, then it is completely acceptable for you to email them. It's only reasonable for them to get the decision out before most other school's deadlines.

[eponine10642]

Just say that that you would like to know the status of your application since you are very interested in their program but the April 15th deadline is quickly approaching. You're not out of line at all to be asking at this point in time, you have every right to know. Seeing as we're like one week away, I don't think that screams "impatient" to any remotely sane individual.

[imonedaful]

I went back and forth on the same thing you did. I hadn't heard from 2/3 schools I applied to yet and did not know if it was appropriate to e-mail them. I was thinking in my mind about what it would be like to be on an admission committee or the head of the department and hundreds of applicants are e-mailing you for status updates. But I decided to go ahead a shoot over a short e-mail that DID NOT sound impatient. I just asked for a time frame on when decisions would be made so that I could plan my life accordingly. Now, let's see if I get a response.

[imonedaful]

I got replies back from my two school. One was very vague and told me I should hear within the next few weeks (that could be awhile). The other said somebody else at such-and-such department has my application and they do not know when they will make their final decision. He also went on to tell me that he believes my test scores, although meet their admission standards are low and may be an issue in my acceptance. This does not sound very promising.

[ab2003]

We're probably in the leftover pile (aka waitlisted), they just don't know whether they should pick us up from the floor and slap us on a dinner plate or toss us in the trash instead. Either way, I feel like a bruised carrot from this experience.

Edited April 11, 2012 by ab2003

[sansao]

We're probably in the leftover pile (aka waitlisted), they just don't know whether they should pick us up from the floor and slap us on a dinner plate or toss us in the trash instead. Either way, I feel like a bruised carrot from this experience.

Yeah, it's been pretty rough. I love the way people are getting acceptances, rejections, and waitlist notifications to the programs I applied to. I'm starting to think my application may have been forwarded to the unofficial department of ambiguity.