Unresponsive school turn you off/make you change your mind?

[golonghorns]

My top choice has failed to respond to 3 emails of mine sent more than a week ago....all to different email addresses/people at the program. Although I know this is a minor thing, I just keep comparing their behavior to my second choice, which responds within one day. Would an unresponsive/uncommunicative school make you change your mind? Keep in mind my first choice is much better for my interests and a better location....

[fuzzylogician]

Depends. Is it your potential adviser who is ignoring you or someone else? Is this the only thing that's keeping you from saying 'yes'? Have you tried contacting current grads and asking them what they think about the school's communication style? I've had several professors (usually of the older variety ) who respond to emails weeks after they are sent, if at all. But they're great in person and I just needed to figure out that you have to drop by their office or ask their secretary if you need anything urgent. So, if the school is your top choice, is better for your interests and is in a better location than your second choice, and the only thing going against it is not responding to a few emails, I'd say go for it.

[optimistic09]

I think the program not responding says a little about the size of the program. For me I prefer a school where I am able to quickly have a problem solved. One of the schools I was accepted at was very impressive during the visit, however I contacted some of the faculty and not all of them responded, which did turn me off a little.

For me it was important to feel that the school was as excited to have me as I was to be there. But, many times the staff do have to field many emails, so you just might want to get more creative with your subject lines.

[liszt85]

My top choice has failed to respond to 3 emails of mine sent more than a week ago....all to different email addresses/people at the program. Although I know this is a minor thing, I just keep comparing their behavior to my second choice, which responds within one day. Would an unresponsive/uncommunicative school make you change your mind? Keep in mind my first choice is much better for my interests and a better location....

I have also found that some professors take a lot of time to respond but that just means that they don't check their emails too often. My MSc thesis adviser here is around 65 yrs old and has a severe eyesight issue. So he doesn't check mail at all! He has an assistant who sometimes does it for him. He prefers that we call him and he's given his personal mobile phone number to all his students. So a person not replying to emails does not necessarily mean that he's cold and unresponsive.

Now, when multiple people do that, it might be a concern. A professor at Mac was interested in my application and had recommended my name for admission (but I was rejected by the committee) and I seldom got a timely reply from her. There were some 3-4 emails that went unanswered but she became more responsive as the decision deadline approached. Recently (after I'd been rejected) I emailed her asking her for some advice regarding my univ selection and she was in Europe and had just landed but still took the time to reply (albeit a short one) though she really didn't have to. Both she and I however know that I might apply to be a postdoc at her lab later on. So it is really difficult to read into such situations..

Around this time, they should really be checking their emails regularly and should try to reply to emails from their prospective grad students. However, I do not know if you should read too much into it. Maybe you should..

[stilesg57]

This was the last nail in the coffin on UCLA for me.

[golonghorns]

This was the last nail in the coffin on UCLA for me.

what did ucla do (or not do i should say?)

[Stories]

If it's that important, CALL. Email is super casual, anyway.

[stilesg57]

^^^It's a little hard to call when their office was only open from 9:30am-noon/2pm-4pm and I'm 15 time zones away I still managed to call several times and never got in touch with anyone I wanted to talk to or who could answer my questions. Boo.

FWIW, I had a similar experience last year when I was applying to UCLA's PoliSci Phd.

As for the email situation, I emailed the director of student services (after being referred to him specifically by Nancy) Maciek three times over the course of two weeks about career services questions and never heard back. By contrast, Michigan people always got back to me within three days and Duke people always got back with me immediately. I literally have emails time stamped at 7:03am EST from Chuck Pringle answers questions I sent in the night before. Elizabeth Gill and Donna Dyer also got back with me immediately and answered all my questions thoroughly. Even the one person I emailed at Pitt got back to me within a day.

The only school that was worse with communication than UCLA was U Washington (Evans School). I withdrew my application there due to problems with the admissions office.

[TulipOHare]

I was going to apply to one school, but after having this exchange with the department, I decided they could f*$% themselves.

[Website said "E-mail if you have any questions!" -- so I e-mailed.]

Me: Hi, (question).

Them: Check the website kthxbye.

Me: I can't find it, very sorry. (Question again).

Them: Yes it is. Look harder and don't e-mail us about stuff that's on the website.

Me: (calls with question)

Them: Don't call us with those questions. E-mail us.

Me: (asks again by e-mail)

Them: We can't answer that by e-mail. You have to come to one of our open houses.

... again, this was before I'd even applied, and it wasn't even the day before the deadline -- it was about six weeks before. I figured that if they were going to be this much of a pain in the ass to start with, it wasn't going to get much better if I became a student.

Interestingly, this school also had the highest application fee of all the schools I was considering.

[Reinventing]

Yes, I figured if I was getting headaches now, it might not get any better with them. Ironically, the fastest response I received was to my "Thanks, but sorry" e-mail.

[nab190]

^^^It's a little hard to call when their office was only open from 9:30am-noon/2pm-4pm and I'm 15 time zones away I still managed to call several times and never got in touch with anyone I wanted to talk to or who could answer my questions. Boo.

FWIW, I had a similar experience last year when I was applying to UCLA's PoliSci Phd.

As for the email situation, I emailed the director of student services (after being referred to him specifically by Nancy) Maciek three times over the course of two weeks about career services questions and never heard back. By contrast, Michigan people always got back to me within three days and Duke people always got back with me immediately. I literally have emails time stamped at 7:03am EST from Chuck Pringle answers questions I sent in the night before. Elizabeth Gill and Donna Dyer also got back with me immediately and answered all my questions thoroughly. Even the one person I emailed at Pitt got back to me within a day.

The only school that was worse with communication than UCLA was U Washington (Evans School). I withdrew my application there due to problems with the admissions office.

i've had problems with u washington too, public affairs. i STILL haven't heard back from them regarding a decision. i emailed, got no response. called, no one was there. its kinda ridiculous. i put in my application at the beginning of january and while i patiently waited through out the month of march, it is now well into april and still nothing.

[golonghorns]

nab....that IS ridiculous! did they ever communicate with you, letting you know when you could expect a decision?

update on my status: thanks everyone for the responses. it is pretty shocking how unprofessional some schools are. too bad they don't realize how many potential students they are losing due to unresponsive practices. i am no longer going to my unresponsive top choice since i got full funding + stipend at another school. yes, it is much lower ranked, but i truly believe for the public sector...debt is just not worth it. plus if you have no debt....you can always go back for another degree or further education later on.

[fuzzylogician]

Congratulations on the funded offer and the decision!

I agree that it's not worth going into debt, especially not for a school that cannot bother itself to answer your emails

[nab190]

golonghorns,

i got a generic email from them back in late january/february saying that admission decisions would be made in march. i just assume that i haven't gotten in at this point, but its still annoying to hear nothing. uw wasn't my top choice, but had i gotten in my decision would be more difficult. oh well. i'm happy enough with my other acceptances.