Falsity in the decision process

[otakupaul]

Now I don't want to go as far as to call the fine institutions we are applying to liars, but I have been disturbed at the apparent gap between what these institutions say in their decision letters, and reality. For example, in my first rejection I was told that decisions are only sent by snail mail. The reality is that a number of people who received acceptances from the same College received notification by email. While I certainly would not want to accuse an institution of giving out incorrect information based on the results here at thegradcafe, it does not seem to be isolated to this one college.

So, do you think the colleges justified in doing this? Is it defensible?

Personally I do not like this. I was obviously not happy about receiving a rejection but I accepted it and continue to stay positive. I would rather be told the truth, no matter how ugly it is, rather than told something false. For example, if they said "sorry otakupaul you will have to wait for the letter." Thats fine, but to tell me they only send letters when they don't just seems like frustrating pampering. Maybe its to stop hissy fits but it just seems pointless to me.

Whats your opinion?

[SpacePope]

Graduate departments are infamous for their systematic financial exploitation of naive young scholars via deceit and extortion, so why expect them to treat applicants any differently? The problem is the whole culture of professional academia, which becomes more and more like the business world every year. I don't think it's justified, but it has its roots in an economy that has (even in good times) devalued the contributions of academia to an extreme degree.

[fortiesgirl]

I do agree with you and I understand your point of view. To put it bluntly, it is lying, and I think they should be upfront and state what they plan to do. I actually earned my M.A. at one of those institutions that claims it only sends notifications via snail mail, and let me tell you, they called me personally to notify me of my acceptance at the time. I think depts do this for several reasons, and while on the surface it is indeed a lie, I think I can clarify their reasoning behind it. First, they want the person to attend, and they therefore want to personally notify the individual. It's just a nice gesture. Second, there's the possibility that the acceptance letter could get lost in the mail. That letter obviously contains valuable information, and neither the candidate nor the university would want that to happen. A simple phone call or email could alleviate this. Finally, sometimes decisions regarding financial aid (fellowships, TA, RA, etc) are not made at the point of admission because they need to be approved by the Dean, another academic committee, etc. It really depends on the school and/or department. I happen to be in this situation at the present moment. So a chair or an advisor may contact you so you know you've been accepted and they may sort of let you know that you're "being considered" for money. I think they might do this so you keep their program in mind and don't settle on another program that may have offered a huge chunk of money along with an offer of admission. I guess I was sort of hoping to put your mind at ease.

Now for my gripe...The one thing that really bugs me is that I paid upwards of $100 (or more) for each application and so far my rejections have been sent via email. I mean, a letter on watermarked stationary would have been nice.

[chillofrito]

We are all unhappy with the application process but ultimately They are in charge so I suppose they can pretty much do whatever they want, and I wouldn't dwell on it too much if I were you.

[slowbro]

We are all unhappy with the application process but ultimately They are in charge so I suppose they can pretty much do whatever they want, and I wouldn't dwell on it too much if I were you.

On the other hand, we'll soon be in a position to change the admissions process -- or so we hope, anyway -- so I think it's good to consider what could go better or what would make the process easier. For example, some programs have started up admissions blogs, which is a great idea: not only does it allow the programs to reach out to applicants, but it also reduces the number of calls and e-mails the staff receive.