Let's Take a Poll - Most and Least Responsive Programs

[aba1984]

Since we're sitting around waiting.......................

 

There's some programs that don't reply, no matter what, yet there's some that are answering every question you have.

I wanna know: Which program were you most disappointed in and which went above and beyond to answer your questions?

 

Best ______________

Worst _____________

[aba1984]

Mine:

 

Best: Washington University in St. Louis (within 10 minutes, fixed a glitch and emailed me back, very nice)

Worst: Vanderbilt University (very nice before I applied and then just no response after applying - already know what that means)

[ERR_Alpha]

I've had good experiences emailing Boston U, UConn, and Johns Hopkins. Harvard has a good system set up to check on GRE scores. Yale was a nightmare trying to get in touch with graduate admissions.

 

I only reached out to check on GRE scores, so it might've been different if I was contacting about other information.

[perfectionist]

I emailed NYU (Sackler) early in the season (like september or october I think) and they took 3 weeks to answer my question. 

 

Edit: I just double checked. They actually took a month and 3 days to respond.

Edited January 3, 2014 by perfectionist

[username1824]

I have a very small sample size but:

Best: UCSD or UC-Berkeley (emailed them about my missing GRE scores and it was fixed within the hour)

Worst: Wisconsin (Emailed three different people about the same missing GRE scores, didn't hear back for a week, had to call them and they didn't have them at all, they were the only school that didn't have them, so I'm thinking it was an error on there part)

[CanRes]

Best:  Sloan Kettering replied to me next day every time I emailed them, so I think they're pretty great.

Worst:  I had no need to contact anyone else, so I guess I can't really say much here.

[0908]

Best: WashU replied the next day to my emails even after applications were due

Worst: Vanderbilt stil hasn't replied to me, its been over 3 weeks. Guess I know what that means.

[katethekitcat]

Best: University of Iowa. Not only did they answer my question, they followed up a few weeks later to check the applicaiton process was going smoothly.

Worst: Tied. University X lost my application fee (found it later) but were super helpful (and funny) via Twitter; University Y gave me conflicting information and frequently misspelled my name.

 

Poll: We always worry when we misspell a professor's name or make a typo. Do you hold it against a univerity if their communication is poorly written and riddled with errors? I will admit I have been biased against programs when receiving such e-mails.

[tuckbro]

Great experiences with all except UMich and Ga Tech .

I have confirmation from my school that transcript was mailed a month before deadline to Mich. As of dec 24 still not showing as received. I have my school send a Etranscript which was picked up by Mich that morning. Took another 10 days and multiple unanswered emails to show as received.

Didn't apply to GaTech as they would not respond to my question about when recommendation letters were due; sent me on the endless loop of referring me to one place, they refer me back, phone number given disconnected etc... I gave up. Website very unclear.

On the whole, I thought the majority were responsive and organized.

[Leuco]

Best: Haven't had too much back-and-forth problems, but almost all of the universities this year have been pretty awesome.

 

Worst: UCLA.  I applied last application cycle, didn't get my rejection notice until August.

[aberrant]

Better: I thought Vandy was pretty helpful since (the people who are responsible for the corresponding graduate program) replies my e-mail very quickly. I was applying to 2 programs at Vandy and I got to communicate with them closely. That's also true for Purdue, where they make me a recommendation to apply another program for better fit (although I didn't not and eventually was rejected).

 

I applied to a lot of schools for Fall 2012, and I find it difficult to pick which ones are the best, but I do remember the worst:

 

Yale -- I was actually trying to switch program (from BBS) after submission due to a POI recommendation, but they replied my e-mail response late (weeks). The BBS people are OK, graduate admission are the worst. Hardly provide any meaningful response. I, at some point, was suspecting that the person who replied my e-mail was a cynical undergrad.

 

Columbia -- Sofa king slow response (~ 2 months). Actually, they wouldn't send me a rejection letter until June, after I inquired about my application status (given that I knew the interview weekend(s) dates).

[knightrunner]

Best:  Washington University in St. Louis- they even respond during the Sunday night that applications are due; University of Iowa- quick responses and usually answer questions

Worst:  Biology@Princeton- No word from them or email   Stanford Genetic Department- No emails, and never answer phone calls

[somanyphage]

worst weill cornell - emailed PI after open house - no response. emailed and called about status of application - no response, and only found out i was rejected through gradcafe!

[aba1984]

Aberrant, do you remember the names of the people at Vanderbilt you send your emails to? I sent my emails to the IGP director and administrator, but maybe there is someone else I should be emailing?

[aberrant]

Aberrant, do you remember the names of the people at Vanderbilt you send your emails to? I sent my emails to the IGP director and administrator, but maybe there is someone else I should be emailing?

 

For IGP, I would suggest you to contact the program coordinator (IGP Program Coordinator) instead of the director / admin. Typically, director / admin don't response to e-mail from applicants.

[Monochrome Spring]

Best: Michigan State University (answered every little annoying question I had within 2 days)

Worst: None

 

The rest were either average, or I didn't have a lot to ask.

[mbiochem]

WUSTL has been super responsive and really friendly

[Justin123]

Best: Yale (super super nice on the phone+emails), Cold Spring Harbor (very nice and all, but I didn't contact them before I got an interview, so I don't know how they were before they sent out the interview), Davis (responded in less than an hour every time I contacted them (I had various problems with my application). I was really impressed)

 

Worst: MIT (didn't reply to any of my emails, didn't pick up the phone and I really hated their application website)

[hashirama]

 

Worst: MIT (didn't reply to any of my emails, didn't pick up the phone and I really hated their application website)

I second this.

[poweredbycoldfusion]

Worst: UCLA by far. The other 6 were all roughly equal in responsiveness, but UCLA sent me all of these generic emails about my status, and when I inquired as to whether they were missing something in my application--nothing. Yet they kept sending me emails that indicated something wasn't done with my application. I checked everything I sent them and determined everything should've been in on my end, but I have no idea what has happened with that application.

[ballwera]

Best: University of Cincinnati, Tennessee 

Worst: Case Western

[kimmibeans]

Best: U Penn Biomedical Sciences by far. They answered me very quickly, and they are the only school where all the POIs I contacted actually responded back to me. Unfortunately, I screwed up the application

 

Worst: Stony Brook MGM. They took forever to get back to me with an interview and I had to reach out to them several times for the same question. On top of that, they never spoke to me after my interview until I called (at the end of March) and they told me I was waitlisted. I know they email you about rejections, because I know people who were rejected.

[BiochemMom]

Best: UGA--extremely communicative with no fake out subject lines. Fast turn around on application. Fast itinerary schedule for visit. Easy to reach by phone or email.

Almost tied for best: UNC--also communicative and easy to reach but didn't provide updates like UGA does on their own accord.

Worst: Duke. Radio silence the whole time. I feel like it's a take my money and don't give a crap. Doesn't bother notify rejections until all acceptances are taken even for people not selected for interviews.

Ga Tech has been pretty silent too except the POI and one email confirming they got all my stuff. Impossible to reach grad office by phone, grad office turn around on emails is almost a week.

Emory was really good too but not above and beyond good. I do appreciate the immediate notification after interviews scheduled that I was waitlisted then fast notification everyone accepted interviews and I was rejected.

[gliaful]

Most responsive: University of Iowa/CU Denver

Worst: University of Washington

 

Here are some better explanations:

 

Iowa- this was the first school that contacted me for an interview. They do rolling admissions, with a preferred deadline of Dec 5 and an actual deadline of Jan 1. I heard back on Dec 9 at ~7pm Iowa-time. I accepted the offer the next day and was replied to in less than 20 minutes. The coordinator is one of the friendliest program coordinators I've spoken to. She's very accommodating and understanding, and she always responded to my emails within a couple hours.

 

CU Denver- their application is a little different than most, so I had a few questions along the way. Also a very responsive, friendly, accommodating coordinator -- response times within an hour. Interview invite and acceptance were both via phone with follow-up email. I think of the phone calls as counting toward "responsiveness" because they feel more personal, like I haven't been reduced to a set of stats.

 

University of Washington- Responsive? I guess, sorta. Actually read my emails? Dubious. When I was invited to interview (via email), two dates were offered: Feb 2-5 or Feb 3-6 (yeah, talk about "alternate" dates). I emailed back to explain that I had committed to an interview and had a Feb 5 conflict, and I asked if there were any other dates available to interview. The response I got back was "Great! You'll be in the Feb 2-5 group" (that was the ENTIRE email response). So I wrote back and restated that I had a Feb 5 conflict. This time, I was told that I could leave the morning of the 4th. I thought I was in the clear.

A few days passed, and I was given instructions (mass email) to find a flight time and book it. I found a flight that left the morning of the 4th and sent an email to the coordinator, reminding her that I was leaving the morning of the 4th. She responded with, "You can't leave on the 4th, you'll miss half of the interview." At that point, I formally emailed her to decline the interview.    

Edited February 28, 2015 by pasteltomato

[notsaxophones]

Best: University of Washington: MCB let me change my interview weekend so i could just make one round-trip to seattle and they did so immediately when i called.

Worst: None were particularly bad