Faux pas to call a department for information on admission decisions?

[Elanti]

Hey all,

 

I'm applying to an I/O Psych M.S. and one of the schools I chose doesn't have any information about how applicants will be notified of the application decision or any idea of when the decision will be made. I know the latter varies based on the number of applications they receive each year, so I'm not too worried about that. I've check the results section of Grad Cafe and there aren't many for the school I've chosen (only about 4-5 in the last few years). Would it be bad if I called the department to inquire about the things I mentioned above? If so, how long should I be waiting from the application deadline? Thanks!

[nugget]

Did you have an interview for this program? If you attended an interview that would have been a good opportunity to inquire about such things. In that case, I would probably wait until April 15. If an interview isn't required, I see no harm in politely asking these questions in a brief phone conversation.

[Elanti]

As far as I know, they don't conduct interviews in this particular program. Thanks for the feedback!

[*Jenny*]

I think it's appropriate to call the coordinator for admissions or whoever the administrator is. I called just over a week ago as I also have heard nothing from my program. My application was submitted in mid-October for a December 1 deadline (no decisions have gone out yet!) When was your application deadline?

[Munashi]

I don't think a polite phone call or email would hurt either.  It's not as if you're demanding an answer right then and there.  A simple question about the process timeline is not unreasonable.

[Elanti]

Oh, it was March 1st, so I have awhile till I call, but I had a few issues with the department earlier in the application process, so I wanted to ask what people on GradCafe thought, since I'm a bit wary of the department at the moment. 

A few weeks ago, I called to make sure they had received a letter of recommendation from one of my professors who had sent their letter via USPS. The girl that answered the phone informed me that they had received it, but she doubted I would be accepted because the application deadline was Feb 1st. (I called around Feb 20th). Turns out they had put my letter with the "Clinical Psychology" applications even though there was no indication in the letter or any of my materials that I was interested in clinical. I shudder what to think would have happened if they had finished their clinical reviews. Would they have thrown my letter away? So yeah...

[Elanti]

I don't think a polite phone call or email would hurt either.  It's not as if you're demanding an answer right then and there.  A simple question about the process timeline is not unreasonable.

The email they listed on their website bounced the one email I've sent, so I'm in the process of finding another email address.