the success rate of inquiring about one's status via email?

[frankdux]

i hear about people emailing to find out, and it seems like its mostly either bad news or no news.

so what has been YOUR success rate of inquiring via email? or of your friends?

[vern23]

well i emailed 7 of my 10 schools today, so far heard back from 2. One was a very weird unclear and impersonal i think rejecting me. The other was a very nicely worded in depth response basically telling me im on the waitlist and have a good chance of getting in in the second round. My friend had emailed one of his schools and the response told him he was in and they had just sent out the acceptance in the mail.

I think a positive response is definitely possible but at least late in the game its less likely. The two most likely things are you've been rejected and they haven't sent out notifications yet or you're waitlisted and they usually don't notify waitlists until they know something for sure. Or it could be something else but i think those are the two most likely. But at this point I say do it, because even if its a rejection I'd rather know sooner rather than later so you can move on and cross it off the list ya know.

[rocket_queen]

I wrote to three of the six schools I am still waiting on and I got no responses from two and one from another saying that the committee had my file, so the person could not say what the status was on it. They were very nice.

I am waiting until the 15th to email all of the programs, just to get an update and see what they say.

I tend to think more highly of the programs that take the time to reply to my inquires.

Good luck!

[peppermintgal]

I still haven't heard from some schools, including NYU and just wanted to ask who I should direct acceptance questions to...? I think I'd rather know now, even if it means hearing I was rejected.

[vern23]

So update: it is possible to get good news this late in the game via email inquiry. I heard back from one of the schools i emailed today (my top choice) and it was an acceptance- no details but said they had reviewed my app and was recommending admission to the graduate school and more details to come in the mail. YAY my first acceptance, im so glad i emailed!!!

[poscme]

I am batting .500 with this. I have received 2 rejections and 2 acceptances via e-mail replies. Either way, it didn't hurt to know. I have blitzed the others this morning in an effort to bring this whole shitty process to a close.

[liszt85]

I have a 100% reject rate via email Berkeley just sent me an email after I prodded them with 2-3 emails. They had initially said that they'd only send the letters by post. I just had to know.. to be able to move on with my life. I knew it had to be a rejection but I needed quicker confirmation. So I pushed them.

[MyshkinLit]

Because I had not been in contact with anyone at my schools, I today sent emails out to the schools from which I have yet to hear decisions. With one exception, I heard back from all of them that decisions have not been finalized and I will be notified when they are. So, not good or bad, although I think bad for me since I have been only rejected thus far. I do not think it hurts to email -- if anything, you will receive a decision date (which they gave me as being next week and the week after), which might calm you down a bit. The "exception" was no response at all; University of Chicago has been weak with its communications.

[frankdux]

^^^ thank you for that. i'm guessing the majority of my programs must be on a similar timeline considering i've heard ZERO from any of them at this point.

[nandelle]

I swore I wasn't going to e-mail until the end of next week...

But then I was sitting here and thought I can't TAKE it anymore! So I sent nice e-mails to the people who helped me get LORs there, and just said #1 - thank you for your help and #2 - do you know when I can expect a decision?

heard back within 5 minutes from Oregon, saying that all decisions should go out in the first two weeks of march.

I strongly suspect that theirs will come by post...so it's down to check the mail for me!

[habu987]

I'm waiting to hear one way or the other from UNC for History. I noticed on Friday that one person posted that they had been notified via email that they were accepted, and then saw one person a couple days ago post that they received a rejection via post. Haven't seen any more people posting one way or the other since then. I've heard from various sources that UNC should notify at the end of March/beginning of April, within two or three weeks, and the beginning of March. As it is the beginning of March and I'm getting very antsy about this, what do y'all recommend?

Should I shoot off an email to the department politely asking what's up? Or should I sit on my hands and hope that I can keep from freaking out while I wait for something in the mail?

[Jakrabite]

] I do not think it hurts to email -- if anything, you will receive a decision date (which they gave me as being next week and the week after), which might calm you down a bit.

Yeah. I finally called 3 of my remaining 7 apps. One told me to check back on March 15th. Others told me that no decision had been made yet and that I'd have to wait till April to hear from them, which sounds decisively negative. I thought brobama was bringing hope?!

[poscme]

I am batting .500 with this. I have received 2 rejections and 2 acceptances via e-mail replies. Either way, it didn't hurt to know. I have blitzed the others this morning in an effort to bring this whole shitty process to a close.

So to recap, today I e-mailed my remaining programs. I am waitlisted at one and the others haven't gotten finished with their reviews yet. So I still say it can't hurt.

[Tinyboss]

I emailed a polite and concise inquiry to my top choice (deadline 1/15, first round offers out) and got this:

Dear Tinyboss,

I wish I could give you a clear answer, but right now you're in no-man's-land. That is, your file was rated highly, but not highly enough to get a first-round offer. I have asked the committee to help me draw a clear line between the highest handful of backups, who have a reasonable chance of admission in late March or early April, and the others, who I can notify immediately of their rejection.

Hopefully I will know more in a few days.

Dr. xxxx xxxx,

Graduate Advisor

Very friendly and as helpful as it could be at this point. That was Friday, six days ago. I wish I knew how many "a few days" will be. I'm not going to email again.