Emailing POI to Inquire about Decisions

[Jezzlin]

What do folks out there think about emailing your POI to ask about admission decisions? My POI at UT Austin informally interviewed me on Skype before I applied and seemed to be vouching for me within the History Department--got me in touch with other professors too.

 

I know Austin has made decisions for PhD applicants in History because some received invites to Recruitment Weekend and two others posted decisions that were conveyed to them informally (POI email, got a grad student to talk to their POI etc.). Officially my application remains in "In Review" on the status page.

 

So is it wise to email your POI or is it better to simply wait it out? I can't imagine it'll be too long from now before I know.

[SocialHealth]

You could first contact the graduate director or the graduate secretary of your department to inquire about the status of you application. That's how I found out about a rejection unfortunately. 

[thissiteispoison]

I emailed a professor I'd been in touch with to ask yesterday because I was getting super anxious, and he emailed back that he was about to email me and that I'm in. My previous professor at my undergrad also told me I'm in by email informally.

 

I'd say it depends on your relationship with the POI though. I know those two professors pretty well and they're both super friendly. I wouldn't ask, say, the professor from MIT who interviewed me last week, since I'd never spoken to him before that.

[dr. t]

If you've already established a rapport, I think it's a great way to express interest in a program (and maybe ease your stress level). If not, I wouldn't think it would hurt, but it is a bit weird.

[juiceboxrampage]

I personally like calling the department or the graduate coordinator and just asking when they're sending out notifications. They can tell you the date that they're letting everyone know and you don't have to worry about having your name being attached to it.

[dragonage]

I'm interested in this topic as well. 

 

Yesterday my advisor strongly suggested that I "wait patiently" (as if that was possible...ahhh!) rather than contacting my POI or the grad admissions people. 

 

I'm not sure why there is such a stigma against contacting POIs during the waiting period, but it seems like most of the professors in my dept. advise against it.

 

I personally like calling the department or the graduate coordinator and just asking when they're sending out notifications. They can tell you the date that they're letting everyone know and you don't have to worry about having your name being attached to it.

 

^THIS sounds like the best way to go, especially if you can get some info in a semi-anonymous way. 

 

I also keep seeing people post that they were notified of rejection when they called, which is kind of making me scared to call at all.... I guess I'm just a big chicken.

[cogsciphdreams]

I'm also not sure if I should do this or not, although it seems like the general consensus is to avoid contacting the POI directly at this point. My advisor also suggested I definitely not contact POIs at this time.

 

Has anyone had past experience with this? Has anyone (who did not contact POIs) later receive some good news? Or is it so late in the cycle at this point that it wouldn't matter that we reached out? 

 

Also (kind of) off topic, but is it still possible to be waitlisted if we did not receive an invite to interview? Could the POI simply think they already know us well enough from our previous communications that we didn't need a formal interview? Thanks for the advice, sort of desperate at this point. 

[juiceboxrampage]

I'm interested in this topic as well. 

 

Yesterday my advisor strongly suggested that I "wait patiently" (as if that was possible...ahhh!) rather than contacting my POI or the grad admissions people. 

 

I'm not sure why there is such a stigma against contacting POIs during the waiting period, but it seems like most of the professors in my dept. advise against it.

 

 

^THIS sounds like the best way to go, especially if you can get some info in a semi-anonymous way. 

 

I also keep seeing people post that they were notified of rejection when they called, which is kind of making me scared to call at all.... I guess I'm just a big chicken.

 

 

I've called a few schools and they didn't ask me for my name or anything. I just asked when they're sending out notifications, they quickly told me the date, I said thanks, and we hung up. If you tell them your name and your application number, yeah they'll look you up personally, but you don't need to if you just want to know when you'll get an email.

 

I think the stigma is because they're so busy, and it's probably annoying having a million students calling asking for updates? Especially if a professor has no control over the departmental stuff that determines when notifications get sent out.

[AfricanScholar]

I am also very interested in this topic. My situation is similar to the situation of Jezzlin. I had been in contact with my POI for One Year and Three Months before I officially submitted an application. Throughout our period of communication, my POI was very supportive and he showed a lot of interest in my research. He got me in touch with other professors, shared my articles with them and even went further to apply for an external fellowship on my behalf. After I submitted my application, I communicated with him and he assured me that he will try his best with the support of other professors to get me in but he told me he is not sure what other faculty members will do. He also emphasized the fact that he is not ethically permitted to tell me the outcome of the application only the official word of the department can do so. Now I am super anxious for many reasons: (a) I did not score super grades in my GRE, but my POI told me that I will be fine and he assured me to proceed with the application ( My POI informed me that selection is January 21 after the January 15 deadline for submission of application © I only applied to one school (d) After I submitted my application, I emailed my POI about the recent developments in my area of specialization and he replied excellently, but I was unable to read meaning of either ACCEPTANCE or REJECTION from his reply (e) I called the departmental coordinator with an anonymous number and she replied that those applicants shortlisted will receive an email from next week up to the end of February while others will receive an email (possible an email of rejection) by April (f) Now I am constantly refreshing my emails, dreaming and confuse about whether or not I should contact my POI again because this waiting period has almost consumed me   

[thissiteispoison]

I personally like calling the department or the graduate coordinator and just asking when they're sending out notifications. They can tell you the date that they're letting everyone know and you don't have to worry about having your name being attached to it.

 

The one problem with this is that not every school has an automated process. So a school might make a decision on a Monday, then email a bunch of professors to inform students. Some of those professors won't read the email right away, or will read it and then forget about it, or will email one student and then think about emailing the second one but not actually do that until a couple of days later. 

[rooney_rocks]

I do agree with most of you Ph.D applicants here that the wait is definitely nerve-wrecking . I sent emails to almost all my POIs in the universities I applied . One of them replied back saying that he asked the admissions to send me an acceptance. He also added that he will need a brief call regarding the funding scenario. I replied him back expressing my excitement to hear the news and sharing my contact details. This was on this Monday (2nd Feb). However, since then, I haven't heard back from either the Prof. or the Grad. Admissions. I called up their dept. to mention what the Prof. said (yeah, I was pretty anxious at this point). They said that the Prof. can only make a recommendation regarding which student he wants. After that, also the application goes to some Chairman, who makes the final call. She finally said that I can expect to hear back in 2 weeks time. So, let me know your thoughts guys regarding my situation with this university.

[Jezzlin]

Thanks for all the responses guys. Seems a lot of us are having to confront this issue in some way.

 

And yeah, while I did interact a fair bit with my POI prior to submitting my application, one obviously maintains some distance during the application review process, so perhaps it would be a bit odd to email them now to ask about the decision. I think the best way to go about this is to call up the grad coordinator and ask them when the department will be sending out notifications. I'm going to try the waiting game a wee bit longer though

 

Good luck NigerianScholar and rooney_rocks! My POI also told me they would pull the trigger for admission but that my application would have to speak for itself. So my understanding is that once the faculty member has made the recommendation, they have done so with knowledge that their recommendation will be honored at the decision-making level.

[AfricanScholar]

So today I summoned the courage to call my POI to inquire from him not the admission result, but the exact time I should be expecting a message about my application from the department. Before now I have developed a very good relationship with my POI and I was convinced of his interest to work with me. When I introduced myself on the phone, he was so happy to hear from me and he started by asking me of how far I am moving with my research which I responded positively. We discussed some recent developments in my country before I proceeded with my questions. Firstly, I told him I am aware that he has previously informed me that only the dean can inform me of the final outcome of my application, but I asked him if he is aware of the timeframe when applicants should expect their results from the dean. He responded by telling me that he will inquire from the department and email me with a response. Secondly, I asked him whether or not the department take into consideration the need for applicants to have either an undergraduate or masters degree in the field before they apply for the Ph.D. He responded that what is most important is that a prospective applicant should have a good and novel research project with a POI who is very interested to work with him or her. I proceeded with discussion about some of the recent steps I took to pursue my research and he commended me for my initiative and also offer some very good advice. He told me he would have loved for us to keep discussing, but he has a class to attend. However, he promise to get back to me via email about the exact date the department will inform the applicants. We laughed in the course of our discussion and he advised me to always stay safe. Although I pray to be admitted to the graduate program and I am becoming more optimistic by the day, however, should in case I do not make it I will always love and appreciate my POI. Despite the fact that I have never met in person, the support and mentorship I received from him has contributed greatly to my career and academic research. Just when I was about to post this message, I received am email from my POI that applicants will get their results in a week. NOW THE WAITING GAME CONTINUES WITH DREAMS AND ANXIETIES!!!!!!!