Unsure what to think about results I've seen. Opinions, please?

[Elanti]

Hello all,

 

Like many of you, I somewhat obsessively check the results page for programs that I expect to be sending out admission decisions soon. Recently, I saw the first result come back for the Master's program I applied to and the applicant that posted said they got accepted last Friday without completing their application. The applicant was as confused as I was. I didn't think programs accepted people with incomplete applications. I'm pretty much worried sick at this point and I'm thinking that they sent all of their acceptance emails Monday and they're likely waiting to hear back from their applicants/waitlist candidates before sending out rejection emails. I just don't know what to think of the whole situation. I mean, if they're accepting someone who didn't complete their application then I feel like I'm pretty much done for. Has anyone had this sort of issue before? Any advice?

[themmases]

I would just contact the department and ask about the status of your application. If they accepted someone with an incomplete application, I think the most likely explanation is that they're a little disorganized (or get a huge volume of applications) and didn't notice that a less-essential piece was missing. A department disorganized enough to do that is probably also disorganized enough to have made a decision about your application and just not communicated it to you yet.

[Crucial BBQ]

Keep in mind that not everyone who applies to graduate school also hangs around gradcafe.  In terms of what is actually going on with admissions, I'd take the Results page with a grain of salt.