No contact from graduate schools - when should I start to worry?

[alialkhatib]

Hey everyone, hope you’re all doing well.

 

It’s been about 1.5 to 2 months since I applied to PhD programs, and I’m beginning to worry about having not heard anything back from universities. I got some immediate contact from universities confirming that my applications were complete, but I haven’t heard from them since then.

 

I think my academic profile is pretty good (GRE Quant: 160 / Verbal: 164 / Writing: 5.5 ; GPA ~3.7 (Anthro: 3.96, Informatics 3.5), individual research in my intended domain), and I’m reasonably confident about my letters of recommendation. Nevertheless, the "radio silence" is making me worry that I might not be as strong a candidate as I thought.

 

From what I’ve read and heard, departments send out acceptances to their first round of choices (with some probability applied; if the department can take 10 people and 75% of admitted students historically take a department’s offer, the department might offer to accept 12 students, expecting 9 to come), then work their way down the list from there until they're full. I understand that in some programs the process doesn’t look like this, but in Anthropology, at least at my UG institution, that’s roughly how it works.

 

If that’s all really horribly mistaken, feel free to derail this thread and set me straight. If that’s pretty much right, then does this mean that, if anything, I’m sort of in the “middle of the pack”? Or do the universities/programs I’ve applied to typically take longer than a month to turn around with PhD decisions? I'm seeing people who have applied to programs with similar deadlines hearing back positively, and it's making me impatient.

 

Clearly I’m stressing about this, probably more than I should. Definitely more than I should (whatever happens will happen in time, and this isn’t helping, right?), but I would like to figure out where I am in all this.

Edited February 5, 2014 by alialkhatib

[geographyrocks]

Have you checked your universities and programs on the results pages for past results?  That could give you an indication of when they generally start sending out emails. 

[EngineerGrad]

I now is easier said than done, but hang in there!

 

I would start contacting the schools and just ask when you should expect the decision to be made.

 

Good luck!

[ihatepencils]

I wouldn't start contacting schools until a few days you see some posts on gradcafe -- but that's just my opinion. I'm in the same boat where I'm not hearing anything and I'm super tempted to ask all of my schools haha. 

[sarab]

I recommend checking the results page to get an idea of when universities send out their decisions. Just search "anthropology" and then the university name. Good luck!

[McKenna]

Last year a lot of STEM majors waited it out until well into April due to the budget sequester.  This too shall pass.  Hang in there!

[iphi]

Hey everyone, hope you’re all doing well.

 

It’s been about 1.5 to 2 months since I applied to PhD programs, and I’m beginning to worry about having not heard anything back from universities. I got some immediate contact from universities confirming that my applications were complete, but I haven’t heard from them since then.

...

Or do the universities/programs I’ve applied to typically take longer than a month to turn around with PhD decisions? I'm seeing people who have applied to programs with similar deadlines hearing back positively, and it's making me impatient.

 

Chill out, the programs you applied to don't seem to do interviews, so there is no reason why they would get back to you so soon. Having to wait sucks, but it is very normal. Here are the response times for your programs from previous years:

 

• U Chicago Sociology - response early March
• U Michigan Information - anywhere from mid-February (for acceptances) to April (for rejections)
• UC Berkeley Information - mid-February
• MIT Anthropolgy - the HASTS program? Looks like February or March
• Stanford CS - I assume CS is Computer Science? If so, people in past years have been notified in March, but there are already several acceptances for this year that happened in January. I would email or call this program (but only this program!) and ask about the status of your application. Unfortunately it is not a good sign.

 

TL;DR: Too early to contact anyone except Stanford.

[aurora_nova]

I'm in the same boat. I haven't heard anything yet from any of the schools I applied to- not even a request for an interview- and there's already acceptances on the board for most of them. Needless to say, I'm approaching full-blown panic mode... I did apply fairly late in the game, so I'm hoping that maybe that has something to do with the silence, but I was already doubting my ability to get in anywhere, so not hearing anything is doing nothing to relieve my fears.

[Don't Panic]

I haven't heard anything from any of the universities yet. No acceptance, no rejection. Whether that's good or bad I don't know. 

 

Last year a lot of STEM majors waited it out until well into April due to the budget sequester.  This too shall pass.  Hang in there!

 

Do you know I have made a screensaver with the quote, "This too shall pass."? Made it myself and have been using it ever since this waiting game started.  

Edited February 7, 2014 by Don't Panic

[alialkhatib]

Okay, so a few things:

1. You all are incredible. Thank you for the reassuring words (and the brisk slaps in the face to "chill" for a bit
2. I looked through the board and found a few (but enough) past applicants and they confirmed what iphi found from the same review he must have done. I meant to post what I found the night I made this thread, but got distracted by some things.

And... I just got a call today from Stanford. Things are looking good, but I'm not calling it confirmed until I'm looking at an offer. He said they were just now contacting people, so they got to me more or less as soon as they could (he might have been talking about himself and the other advisor I wanted to work with, since some of you are pointing out that acceptances have been rolling out since late January).

 

Thanks again for the suggestions to trust in the past results and the timeline of events. I think that just knowing my SoP and everything else was received well (ie it resonated well with another academic) gives me a lot more confidence that I didn't completely miss the point of something. Best of luck to everyone else still waiting. I'd like to say "just have patience!" to anyone still waiting, but I feel like a hypocrite saying that, heh.