AnxiousUrbanPlanner Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I am the quintessential freak-out type, and as much as I know it won't help, I have been checking my e-mail 10x per day and anxiously waiting letters in the mail. To help calm my crazy, I ask the forum: In your experience, when will universities start sending out responses? Is January wishful thinking? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agrizz Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I think it depends on where you've applied and when. I've perused the results section for the last several years' entries for some of my programs and have seen that some applicants are notified of interviews as early as December or as late as Februrary. That said, it does seem like January is a busy time for interview notifications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lab ratta-tat-tat Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 @ AnxiousUrbanPlanner- Sorry to hear your freaking out, a lot of people are now, so it's actually quite normal. Let me remind you that a lot of schools are just getting back from break. Adcoms will probably meet this week (if they haven't met before the break) to discuss applicants and their materials, and send out notification this or next week, but this can differ from program to program. If you are worried you are not hearing back because of material not being there you could always politely send an email saying "I am just emailing to confirm all my application materials have been received, if not please let me know which materials have not so I may rectify the situation". Good luck and hang in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kara.spinney Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I feel your pain. I'm also checking my e-mail an unhealthy amount through the day, and it feels awful. Fingers crossed for news soon! JoePianist 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujubea Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Me too! Going crazy with excitement and anxiousness and excitement and dread and excitement and... Really though - it depends where you applied. Have you looked at the "Results Search" on this website yet? You can look up your schools and programs and see, historically, when they have begun to notify students of things like interviews, acceptances, funding, rejections. Some of the top comm schools are already getting notices now for both interviews and acceptances. But, for example, I know that at least one of my schools won't be getting back to anyone until at least mid-February. So it depends on your school and program!' Hang tight! Good luck! It'll all be over soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grad_wannabe Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 One of my gmail tabs today lit up with an email from "The UC Berkeley School of Information." My heart leaped into my throat as I clicked on it. It was a spammy 'happy new year' email from the larger program in general. womp womp. Page228, museum_geek and FinallyAccepted 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiqui74 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 One of my gmail tabs today lit up with an email from "The UC Berkeley School of Information." My heart leaped into my throat as I clicked on it. It was a spammy 'happy new year' email from the larger program in general. womp womp. That happened to me with the University of Rochester! I should have known though, since their deadline hasn't even come up yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacket24 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Depending on the program and field, it could be any time between now and April 15th, or later for Master's applicants and waitlisted students. You may try compiling historic notification dates from all of your applied programs based on the Results Search. I did this to occupy/distract myself and made a spreadsheet which showed some pretty clear trends. The average for my field hovers somewhere around mid-March with rejections generally coming slightly later. The Results page actually has some pretty useful search tools so you can look specifically for your programs all at once. I used a Chrome extension that notified me any time a result was posted at one of my programs. In hindsight, this probably only made me more anxious so I probably won't be doing it again this season...at least until next month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
braindump Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Depending on the program and field, it could be any time between now and April 15th, or later for Master's applicants and waitlisted students. You may try compiling historic notification dates from all of your applied programs based on the Results Search. I did this to occupy/distract myself and made a spreadsheet which showed some pretty clear trends. The average for my field hovers somewhere around mid-March with rejections generally coming slightly later. So waitlisted students can get acceptances after April 15th? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacket24 Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 So waitlisted students can get acceptances after April 15th? April 15th is the "unofficial official" deadline (set by the Council of Graduate Schools, and agreed to by a large number of institutions, but not all) for students to respond to funding offers. If those students choose to attend elsewhere and decline funded offers, they effectively leave money on the table for other applicants. Since each student can only attend one program and some get multiple offers, it is likely that the 2nd and 3rd choices will then have access to those opportunities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnxiousUrbanPlanner Posted January 14, 2015 Author Share Posted January 14, 2015 The only meh part of that agreement is if you're applying to schools in multiple countries (say, US and Canada). Canadian universities often respond with funding offers after April 15th, so unless you're offered a good package before that date, you may have to give a definitive yes to a US institution before your Canadian choices even send out funding results. This date should be WORLDWIDE!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathCat Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 The only meh part of that agreement is if you're applying to schools in multiple countries (say, US and Canada). Canadian universities often respond with funding offers after April 15th, so unless you're offered a good package before that date, you may have to give a definitive yes to a US institution before your Canadian choices even send out funding results. This date should be WORLDWIDE!!!! Or there's the reverse problem... I got an early Canadian offer with funding that has a deadline to decide before my top choice US schools will start making offers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grad_wannabe Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Or there's the reverse problem... I got an early Canadian offer with funding that has a deadline to decide before my top choice US schools will start making offers. Oh man -- talk about the horns of a dilemma! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoMex Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 I'm getting so anxious, I don't know if the Unis I applied to send interview mails. The earlist date I've seen in the results is Jan 17, which is close, most of them are in february, but I'm still getting so anxious. All three of them have 1 month separate deadlines so if I get bad news from the first I'll have to wait one month to know from the next one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujubea Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Agony! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoggyAnhinga Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 I just got an email from one of the school's POI yesterday to verify whether I'm still interested in the program, and for a phone conversation - so I'd say mid-January is around the beginning of responses period. This is mostly the case for program with December deadlines. Some schools, however, won't even get back to you until late February or March, even for interviews. I know, it is a real pain I often wish that schools send out rejections sooner to put us out of misery instead of making us wait until sending out rejection in late March or early April (very cruel). One of these days I hope grad schools will stop this cruel practice... As for the programs with early or mid-January deadlines, you might not start hearing back until late February or early March. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacket24 Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 The waiting really is painful but it's a bit of a double-edged sword. I think we would all question the thoroughness of the process and be pretty upset if they sent out rejections a couple of days after the deadline. At least we know that adcoms are (hopefully) taking the time to review our application materials thoroughly and make informed decisions. That's what I'm telling myself to pass the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoggyAnhinga Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 The waiting really is painful but it's a bit of a double-edged sword. I think we would all question the thoroughness of the process and be pretty upset if they sent out rejections a couple of days after the deadline. At least we know that adcoms are (hopefully) taking the time to review our application materials thoroughly and make informed decisions. That's what I'm telling myself to pass the time. Yep - at least they are taking all of our applications seriously that's what I think to myself to stay positive throughout this waiting process. If a program accepted my application very quickly with very little review of my academic background or research background, I might be happy but also feel suspicious, especially wondering if this program has accepted me due to dearth of students or popularity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujubea Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Ok, so how about time of day? What time of day does word come in, if it's via phonecall or e-mail ?? Evenings? Mornings? Mid-days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoggyAnhinga Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Ok, so how about time of day? What time of day does word come in, if it's via phonecall or e-mail ?? Evenings? Mornings? Mid-days? If it's a personal email from your POI, it completely depends on what time he/she responds or writes emails. Many professors have VERY busy schedules and often spend time emailing or responding to emails throughout the day, from morning to as late as midnight (the advent of smartphones made email responses very easy these days after all!). So if it's an email from your POI, it can be any time, maybe except between 12am-6am. Now if it's an unofficial or official email from the school's gradcom, then it's likely during 9am-5pm (their local time) on weekdays, since these emails are sent out by staff members of the graduate admission committee, and they usually respond to emails or work on their emails only at work from 8am-5pm on weekdays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jatx Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Ok, so how about time of day? What time of day does word come in, if it's via phonecall or e-mail ?? Evenings? Mornings? Mid-days? It's pretty random. I've gotten emails and calls from early in the morning to late in the evening (at the gym in my case). Also, some schools sent out interviews immediately after deadlines in December, it shocked me how fast they were. Other schools like NYU take their time and I probably won't hear form them until February, so there really is no pattern. Personally, I like the surprise. My strategy is to forget that I even applied and be surprised (whether positive or negative) when the results come in. Helps time go by faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacket24 Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Ok, so how about time of day? What time of day does word come in, if it's via phonecall or e-mail ?? Evenings? Mornings? Mid-days? It would be reasonable to expect responses to come during the business hours for the time zone of the program. There is no hard and fast rule though, as I got some decision e-mails later in the evening when applying for Master's programs. As with everything in this process, the real answer is "...it depends." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujubea Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 (edited) It's pretty random. I've gotten emails and calls from early in the morning to late in the evening (at the gym in my case). Also, some schools sent out interviews immediately after deadlines in December, it shocked me how fast they were. Other schools like NYU take their time and I probably won't hear form them until February, so there really is no pattern. Personally, I like the surprise. My strategy is to forget that I even applied and be surprised (whether positive or negative) when the results come in. Helps time go by faster. I like it! -- and congrats on your acceptance btw! Edited January 14, 2015 by jujubea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jatx Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 I like it! -- and congrats on your acceptance btw! Thanks, good luck with yours, sending good vibes your way. This is a stressful time for everyone, so any positive support we can all get/give is helpful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathCat Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Ok, so how about time of day? What time of day does word come in, if it's via phonecall or e-mail ?? Evenings? Mornings? Mid-days? Average 4:17pm, local time of university. This is based on my sample size of n = 2. agrizz, kwaddy, jujubea and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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