Typical wait before decision

[Casper14]

I am applying to a variety of PhD programs in EECS for admission Fall 2013. What is the expected time that I will have to wait before hearing about the decision? Some are rolling admission, but others have a deadline of December 15.

Is it too optimistic to expect the first decisions during January?

My problem is that I have been accepted at my home university, but that I will have to accept/decline that offer by late January. Naturally, I would prefer knowing what my options elsewhere are before making that decision.

[Bearcat1]

Check the "Results" section of the site. You can enter the name of the programs to which you've applied and see when decisions have been received in past cycles. That should give you at least some idea of when to expect any kind of news.

[wildviolet]

Yes, the results sections was fairly accurate +/- one week. The only exception for me was my first acceptance, which was in very early January (the deadline was Dec 1).

[Casper14]

Thanks! It seems that I will have to be very fortunate to hear before the end of January... The next two months are going to be very stressful