When you don't hear from a school...at all

[Kayla123]

Have you had a school that you didn't hear from?  Either good, bad, or ugly?

I only ask because I dropped $85 on a school's application, and I haven't heard a thing from them.  I called their admissions department several times and they said my application was processing.  I just can't believe I paid that much money to not hear anything back from them by the deadline.

[nomatterwho]

UNC did so badly on this year's admission

 

Congratulations on all your offers

Edited April 15, 2013 by nomatterwho

[Kayla123]

Hm.  No chance I could get a refund, is there?

I figure it's a shot in the dark, but when I shell out as much as $85, I believe I have a right to deserve a reply from the school.

[greatlord]

Since they are saying that your application is stil being processed, I think you are in their unofficial waitlist. It's not the hard and fast rule by an university to give you an decision by April 15. You will hear from them by May.

[nackteziege]

I was equally frustrated with UNC this year.  I finally heard last Thursday at some obscure time like 9 PM.  It's incredible that they charge $85 and then essentially ignore their applicants.

 

I want to write an E-mail but I don't want to burn bridges...

[phmhjh85]

Actually when you think about it , UNC cost is more that-for me it was 85$ app+45$ sophas+43 $ ETS for GRE /toefl = 173 $!!!! And after several emails over 6 weeks, I get a 5-word email-literally , "you will hear by Tuesday"! Which was april 9th! And still nothing . This is really frustrating and only surpassed by UMD -which needs a whole other post to describe how screwed up their process is. What happened with UNC ? How come they are the no.1 public school in PH when they treat prospective students this way? I second you that you deserve a reply if not a refund as well

[Chai_latte]

One of the schools I applied to tried to pull a number like that.  After contacting the department ~4x, I went all out and called the director of graduate admissions (or studies?).  I think ignoring an applicant is just rude.  Needless to say, after I told administration on them, I got a response that evening.  It was a rejection, of course...plus an apology (apparently it was an unofficial waitlist thing with me as well).

[Sryahmay]

I think often schools have unofficial wait lists for whatever reason, so they tell you "you're application is still being processed" really just means you're on the wait list and we haven't made a decision either way. I'm not sure why they don't just tell you this I'm sure they have their reasons but getting them to force their hand might back fire on you if its a school you're interested in. Its definitely annoying and schools should respect applicants enough to update you about your status but sometimes you just have to wait the process out you don't want to force schools to make a decision when really they are just sitting on your application for whatever reason. 

[nackteziege]

The problem isn't even having an unofficial waitlist.  It's, after months of waiting and multiple attempts at communication, a complete failure on their part to respond.  They are one of the best schools in my field; I was not going to make a decision until I heard back...but honestly, the way they handled it made me pretty resolved to not attend even if they eventually gave me an offer.

[rising_star]

The same thing happens when you apply to academic jobs.

[Quant_Liz_Lemon]

Still waiting on UNC as well. WTF! Anyway, I'm counting it as an unofficial waitlist, because it makes me feel better. 

[esotericorigin]

Still waiting on UNC as well. WTF! Anyway, I'm counting it as an unofficial waitlist, because it makes me feel better. 

 

 

ditto. kind of lame of them to not give any decision before the 15th.

[Kayla123]

wow.  Had no idea UNC dropped the ball so badly.

I've officially made my decision to attend Johns Hopkins.  UNC was my top pick but after the way they handled my application, not anymore.  As for the concern about burning bridges...I'm not even too worried about it.  I'll make the call tomorrow.  I figured if they responded today, at least they were on the deadline.

[MadScience]

UNC is the one school that I never heard back from as well. I think it's pretty rude to not give any notification of status at all, especially when we paid out a significant sum to apply. It doesn't matter at this point though, I've made up my mind and will be going to a school that didn't give me the run around!

 

But I would still just like to know..you know?

[MammaD]

Wow! UNC is the school I'm waiting for an answer from, too! I emailed around March 19 and was told I had been wait-listed. It's a teeny tiny program so I figured I'd hear something by yesterday but, no. If it were just me and an apartment/lease situation I might be more flexible but I have a house to sell if I'm moving, a house to buy down there, 3 kids to uproot and get settled before school starts ... I'm considering withdrawing my application if there's no decision by Friday but I don't want to ruin my chances for admission next year. Such a quandary!

[HarmonyMisc]

Hmm...in a weird way, I'm kind of relieved that I am not the only one in this position.  I submitted my application back in January, and still have not heard back.  Just the typical "still in review" response.  I also paid $85--I wish if being waitlisted were the case, they'd at least tell me.  I'm losing my mind not hearing ANYTHING back..."you're waitlisted" would be a relief at this point!

[Varangian]

I am still waiting to hear from the University of Illinois at Chicago. I called them last week and they said they were still going through applications, though I saw on the results search that at least 1 person got an acceptance. I don't know what it means. It would be nice if it was some kind of unofficial waitlist, they told you you. 

 

Michigan State emailed me to tell me I'm waitlisted and I haven't heard back yet. People are waiting until last minute to make their decisions. 

[Kayla123]

I'll call their admissions department in a few to complain.  Might go ahead and call the administration.  Knowing that it's not just my application that sort of fell through the system, but a bunch (and if so many of us on this site are having this problem, I'm sure there are a lot of others as well) really aggravates me.  $85 is a huge chunk of money at this point in my life.  I look forward to the day when that isn't the case.  

 

Regardless, we all deserve to hear something from the university, even if it is "unofficial waitlist."  I didn't hear that.  I didn't hear anything.

[HarmonyMisc]

I see you applied to UNC--just to be clear--I applied to USC; although, I've read so many posts on multiple forums that schools do this.  SO frustrating!

[ltvg4g]

Someone should make a site, or an extension of this site, that rates a schools admission process and gives a summary of what to expect to applicants.

 

 

This is a service that applicants pay for and they should know that their application fee is worth it.

[Kayla123]

I was equally frustrated with UNC this year.  I finally heard last Thursday at some obscure time like 9 PM.  It's incredible that they charge $85 and then essentially ignore their applicants.

 

I want to write an E-mail but I don't want to burn bridges...

 

Well, glad I didn't make that call after all.  Just got a nice research offer from them.  Now the question is whether I like it enough to back out of Hopkins...smeh.

[queenleblanc]

The problem at UNC appears to be the grad departments delaying on the decision process... Actually, the real problem is the entity that sends out the official decisions. Many of the grad departments are not allowed to send out the decisions themselves; instead they issue a decision to the graduate school who then sends it to you. It is a darn shame but with the budget cuts NC has experienced in the past few years at the university level, all of those "extra" personnel that helped to make application season run more smoothly are now out of a job. If the way the grad school handles this process is enough to make you turn them down even if offered admission, its too bad... But from what I have been told, the professors and admissions people in each department or school are equally frustrated. I had to call four times about getting my application status and the department person told me they had sent out all offers of admission but that the graduate school was the only way they were allowed to communicate those offers, and I should be hearing shortly. After my fourth call /email, my decision was finally made available on the online site, and there is no evidence that my calls had anything to do with it actually being made available at that time, either.

It's sad that a department of mostly clerical staff, not related to the academic disciplines for which we apply, have so much affect on admissions and in turn, may cost them some great MA and PhD students.

[mux127]

yes it is really frustrating when you pay 170$ (normally it is $70 but due to their mistake in semester period i paid $100 before and they asked me to pay correct $70 again). anyway i paid that much money in 10/2013 and finished everything. it has been 4 months and nothing!!!

i am really angry, frustrated and disappointed since i was expecting an acceptance... i guess it is just life...

Edited February 19, 2014 by mux127

[DeleteMePlease]

yes it is really frustrating when you pay 170$ (normally it is $70 but due to their mistake in semester period i paid $100 before and they asked me to pay correct $70 again). anyway i paid that much money in 10/2013 and finished everything. it has been 4 months and nothing!!!

i am really angry, frustrated and disappointed since i was expecting an acceptance... i guess it is just life...

 

If you apply for Fall there is still a lot of time... I have received a reply from 1 out of 9 schools so far...

[roguesenna]

yeah, I see this thread is revived from 2013. be patient mux. It's not even March.