Penn State English 2016

[klader]

I heard back on Tuesday with my rejection! If you haven't heard anything yet, it might be a good sign since maybe they're dealing with waitlists and such?

Good luck to everyone and congratulations to everyone who got in!

[1ady1azarus]

Welp, it's March 15th and I've heard absolutely nothing still. My application status just says it's been received. I'm a pretty patient person and haven't contacted anyone yet, but at this point I think it may be necessary 

[hbr93]

2 hours ago, 1ady1azarus said:

Welp, it's March 15th and I've heard absolutely nothing still. My application status just says it's been received. I'm a pretty patient person and haven't contacted anyone yet, but at this point I think it may be necessary 

I contacted them, all they told me was they're still reviewing applications...

[mk-8]

Got my rejection. Pretty relieved about it, to be honest. Good luck to everyone waiting!

[1ady1azarus]

51 minutes ago, hbr93 said:

I contacted them, all they told me was they're still reviewing applications...

Drats... I really want to commit to a program. Plus at this rate I have no idea how I would be able to schedule a visit out there before the national deadline with such short notice if I did get accepted...

Hopefully we hear back soon.

[Little Earthquakes]

2 hours ago, hbr93 said:

I contacted them, all they told me was they're still reviewing applications...

I was kind of thinking this might be the case since there still are people here (myself included) who haven't heard anything yet. Thanks for letting us know! 

[A blighted one]

Cheryl Mohr told me just this morning that, "The Graduate Studies Committee is still reviewing applications.  You will either receive a telephone call or an email once a decision is made."

Sigh

Edited March 15, 2016 by A blighted one

[bhr]

They've sent out notifications, so if you are still waiting I wouldn't expect to hear anything until right around the deadline

[renea]

Just an update. Emailed Cheryl Mohr and she gave me the whole, "if you haven't heard anything then we're still considering your application." Emailed Debra Hawhee, it did take a couple weeks to hear back and while she was incredibly nice she informed me that all offers have been extended and accepted, so they aren't planning on sending anymore but for some reason have decided not to officially reject people. I assumed this, but if you're still holding out, here's the answer

[Dr. Old Bill]

2 hours ago, renea said:

Just an update. Emailed Cheryl Mohr and she gave me the whole, "if you haven't heard anything then we're still considering your application." Emailed Debra Hawhee, it did take a couple weeks to hear back and while she was incredibly nice she informed me that all offers have been extended and accepted, so they aren't planning on sending anymore but for some reason have decided not to officially reject people. I assumed this, but if you're still holding out, here's the answer

I swear...Penn State has a great program etc., but they're going to start losing a sizable number of potential repeat applicants with this policy, if they haven't already. Penn State is a program I would consider a second time were it not for this same lack of response last application season. It's reprehensible, really, and there's NO good reason for it. They've been doing it for a few years now, and I'd love to see whether there's a correlation between this policy and a perceptible drop in applications...

 

[klader]

See, this is so weird because I got a formal rejection back on March 8th... maybe it's because I applied for comp/rhet? Maybe because I was a weaker applicant? Maybe they do it differently according to tracks?

[ewzz]

21 hours ago, renea said:

Just an update. Emailed Cheryl Mohr and she gave me the whole, "if you haven't heard anything then we're still considering your application." Emailed Debra Hawhee, it did take a couple weeks to hear back and while she was incredibly nice she informed me that all offers have been extended and accepted, so they aren't planning on sending anymore but for some reason have decided not to officially reject people. I assumed this, but if you're still holding out, here's the answer

I already assumed as much, as I haven't heard back from Penn State yet either... very strange policy! Glad I already gave up on them and am not completely without offers

[acciodoctorate]

On 4/2/2016 at 9:08 AM, renea said:

Just an update. Emailed Cheryl Mohr and she gave me the whole, "if you haven't heard anything then we're still considering your application." Emailed Debra Hawhee, it did take a couple weeks to hear back and while she was incredibly nice she informed me that all offers have been extended and accepted, so they aren't planning on sending anymore but for some reason have decided not to officially reject people. I assumed this, but if you're still holding out, here's the answer

Wow.  I hate to bad-mouth a program, but this is ridiculous.  I have a school I prefer over Penn State waiting for me to accept their offer, but thought I should wait until I heard from every program I applied to just be be safe.  I emailed Cheryl a week ago and have heard nothing from them.  I figured an official rejection (or a reply to my email) was sort of the least they could do, since we're all paying applicants.  Honestly, this gives me a very bad feel for their program, even if I were accepted.

Edited April 4, 2016 by underwater

[echo449]

I would just say that, for the most part, Penn State is filled with wonderful, open people. The complications of admissions, as weirdly as they handle it, is not a reason to make some of the judgements I've seen in this thread. I was both accepted and denied from Penn State in my own applications, and I agree they handle the latter poorly. But, if you are applying with a BA, Penn State is a good program with good people, and I hope, if any of you are reapplying, you won't hold this against them.

(I'm not currently at Penn State)

[Dr. Old Bill]

7 hours ago, echo449 said:

I would just say that, for the most part, Penn State is filled with wonderful, open people. The complications of admissions, as weirdly as they handle it, is not a reason to make some of the judgements I've seen in this thread.
 

I respectfully disagree. The way I see it, applicants sink at least one hundred dollars on average to each program, then have to go through months of anxiety waiting for acceptances and rejections. Even though that money is a tiny drop in a very large bucket to the school, it's usually quite significant to the applicant. Even beyond the money, think of the time and effort spent researching schools, personalizing SOPs, and just generally drinking a program's Kool-aid. For a program to take all of that and not even have the courtesy to say "no" in a timely fashion is downright cruel -- impersonal, to be sure, but cruel nonetheless. For me, that's enough to turn me completely off of a program.

[klader]

Again, I am very, very confused on what their rejection policy is because I received this email from Cheryl on March 8th:

I am sorry to report that we will not be able to offer you admission to our graduate program next Fall. The Graduate Studies Committee reviewed dossiers from an extremely strong pool of applicants. Needless to say, we are frustrated that we can’t offer places to all the applicants whom we would like to admit.

Please be assured that we read your application with care and interest.  My colleagues and I hope you will be in a position to make other choices and to accept admission in other programs that fit with your plans and interests.

They got back to me in a timely fashion without me probing first, so why would they say that they weren't going to officially reject people?

Was I maybe on a soft waiting list and they let me know after their offers were accepted?

And while I agree that it's pretty inconsiderate to make people wait like that and not even inform them of a rejection (even though I was informed?), I don't think it's fair to judge an entire program by this. Sure, maybe we can judge their timeliness and administrative strengths, but I feel like this isn't enough to "snub" them. 

I have no hard feelings and I very well may apply again during my PhD application season in a couple years.

Edited April 5, 2016 by klader

[Dr. Old Bill]

54 minutes ago, klader said:

nconsiderate to make people wait like that and not even inform them of a rejection (even though I was informed?), I don't think it's fair to judge an entire program by this. Sure, maybe we can judge their timeliness and administrative strengths, but I feel like this isn't enough to "snub" them.

To each their own! And I mean that sincerely. I can 100% understand why this wouldn't be a snub-worthy policy for some people.

I will only say this: Penn State has been doing this for a few years. If you take a look at the results board from 2014, you will see some seriously disturbing comments about how applicants were treated. For my own part, last year I was informed on April 16th -- again, even though I know this stuff is impersonal, I couldn't help but shake my head at the timing. Imagine if I wasn't someone as keyed into the trends and didn't know what I know thanks to GradCafe. I might have been holding off on other offers until the April 15th deadline, completely unsure about my chances at Penn State. There is a VERY strong chance that there would have been a ripple effect -- other programs would be affected adversely because I was holding off on a decision, and that would have affected other hopeful students at other programs... This is the legitimate potential fallout of Penn State's haphazard notification policy.

[EmmaJava]

2 hours ago, Wyatt's Terps said:

To each their own!

Couldn't agree more - but look, the simple fact is that this reflects poorly, that's it! It might only be a minor poor reflection, depending on your perspective, but even there, it sure ain't good. And WT mentions the ripple effect that, to me, doesn't get enough press, in a full-on ethical sense, let alone in a good-business sense. If I may divulge, I currently work a job where I have daily interaction with faculty across North America. My company services campus offices, along with their faculty, and I get the full dose of administrative bureaucracy mixed with academic posturing in a potent cocktail of hyper unprofessionalism.  I've worked on campuses at home and abroad, and I've seen just about every facet of educational administration, and I can't tell you how motivated I am to make some change from within, should I ever be blessed enough to get the chance. And my motivation stems from stuff just like this - the kind of stuff that would literally cost me my job if it were my performance. I have no vested interest in this school that you're all discussing - didn't even apply to Penn State - but it still sickens me because it magnifies the hypocrisy that is higher education, the corporate university employing the state's cushiest workers who are hiding behind anti-corporate academics and all with zero accountability. It becomes especially acute once you step off campus and see people working, meeting deadlines, working overtime, failing to meet deadlines, being evaluated, getting fired, etc. Campuses are weird places and this is unattractive. I can totally see downplaying it, but I can't see any positive spin, and so I say: fix it.

[Dr. Old Bill]

EmmaJava, if there were such a thing as President of Academic Reform, and you were running, I would vote for you. Brava!

 

[klader]

You both offer valid, important points, @EmmaJava and @Wyatt's Terps! I hadn't thought of it that way. I agree that it does have a ripple effect if you're left waiting in the dust, and that really is a major problem.

I guess I was just trying to say how I'm sure Penn State still has a good program despite its strange application notifications and how I don't think strong applicants should not apply solely due to the potential of not hearing back quickly enough. It's still a practice in professionalism (as you both said), though, and definitely needs to be considered if one plans to attend there (i.e., gets accepted). I read the horror stories of years past as well but decided to apply anyway because I didn't want to miss a possibility (however slight) of acceptance.

I guess it's suckers like me who keep applying and keep padding the English department's budget!!

[EmmaJava]

13 minutes ago, klader said:

I guess I was just trying to say how I'm sure Penn State still has a good program despite its strange application notifications and how I don't think strong applicants should not apply solely due to the potential of not hearing back quickly enough.

I'm with you 100%.

[renea]

On 4/3/2016 at 8:22 PM, klader said:

See, this is so weird because I got a formal rejection back on March 8th... maybe it's because I applied for comp/rhet? Maybe because I was a weaker applicant? Maybe they do it differently according to tracks?

I'm honestly not sure, I'm rhet/comp too. Dr. Hawhee told me my application was strong and that they had already filled their spots. Perhaps this means lit spots are still open but I highly doubt it. I'm honestly not sure why they send out some rejections but don't send out others, Penn State was my long shot so I never legitimately thought that I would get in, but at the same time having them wait so close to the deadline made me have second doubts of "what ifs" .... ie: "what if I was waitlisted, what if I got accepted last minute?" I do agree that it's unnecessary anxiety and they need a better system, but they are most definitely not the only offenders. Purdue holds a similar policy, they however skirt around it by insisting they do not have a waitlist (which I'm sure is not true). Additionally, Syracuse actually had the audacity to tell me in the middle of March that they hadn't decided on any candidates yet (which is clearly a lie)- so Penn State is certainly not the worst. These back and forths are unfortunately part of the game, and I think we all knew this going in. Look back into any of the postings from years before and it's clear that Penn State has always done this, and they will probably continue to do so. They're program is strong, their faculty is phenomenal, hence why we all sent in apps well knowing we probably wouldn't hear back unless we were accepted. Frustrating.. yes. Unforeseeable.. no...

[renea]

21 hours ago, klader said:

Again, I am very, very confused on what their rejection policy is because I received this email from Cheryl on March 8th:

I am sorry to report that we will not be able to offer you admission to our graduate program next Fall. The Graduate Studies Committee reviewed dossiers from an extremely strong pool of applicants. Needless to say, we are frustrated that we can’t offer places to all the applicants whom we would like to admit.

Please be assured that we read your application with care and interest.  My colleagues and I hope you will be in a position to make other choices and to accept admission in other programs that fit with your plans and interests.

They got back to me in a timely fashion without me probing first, so why would they say that they weren't going to officially reject people?

Was I maybe on a soft waiting list and they let me know after their offers were accepted?

And while I agree that it's pretty inconsiderate to make people wait like that and not even inform them of a rejection (even though I was informed?), I don't think it's fair to judge an entire program by this. Sure, maybe we can judge their timeliness and administrative strengths, but I feel like this isn't enough to "snub" them. 

I have no hard feelings and I very well may apply again during my PhD application season in a couple years.

Let me be clear, they in no way said "we have decided not to send out official rejections." I stated that even though they literally have no spots left, they have for some reason (unknown to me) not sent out official rejection letters to a large number of applicants. I will say Cheryl Mohr told me the first round of rejections went out in early March, I'm very confused why they have rounds of rejections when all their spots have been accepted. Perhaps it's a safety net for the emergency of an applicant backing out last minute? (which would be highly unlikely considering the prestige of their program, but still possible) I feel that it would be more fair to have a small waitlist and notify everyone else of the rejection rather than only responding to people who email multiple times. I just want to be clear that no one at Penn State told me word for word that they had decided to not formally reject people. This is my own deduction based on my email from Debra Hawhee, I posted because this answer was different from what their graduate secretary told me, and that many people on this thread had been emailing her and were still holding out. 

[Aloice]

On 2016/4/6 at 11:46 AM, renea said:

I'm honestly not sure, I'm rhet/comp too. Dr. Hawhee told me my application was strong and that they had already filled their spots. Perhaps this means lit spots are still open but I highly doubt it. I'm honestly not sure why they send out some rejections but don't send out others, Penn State was my long shot so I never legitimately thought that I would get in, but at the same time having them wait so close to the deadline made me have second doubts of "what ifs" .... ie: "what if I was waitlisted, what if I got accepted last minute?" I do agree that it's unnecessary anxiety and they need a better system, but they are most definitely not the only offenders. Purdue holds a similar policy, they however skirt around it by insisting they do not have a waitlist (which I'm sure is not true). Additionally, Syracuse actually had the audacity to tell me in the middle of March that they hadn't decided on any candidates yet (which is clearly a lie)- so Penn State is certainly not the worst. These back and forths are unfortunately part of the game, and I think we all knew this going in. Look back into any of the postings from years before and it's clear that Penn State has always done this, and they will probably continue to do so. They're program is strong, their faculty is phenomenal, hence why we all sent in apps well knowing we probably wouldn't hear back unless we were accepted. Frustrating.. yes. Unforeseeable.. no...

If it helps, I had a funded offer from Penn State and I just turned it down, so at least my spot will be opening up?

[dunord]

This is all so weird. I applied to the MA in English and decided to email last week to see why I hadn't heard anything at all. I was told exactly what everyone else seems to be getting, something like "still in review."  Honestly, at this point if it's not a hard no and I've explicitly asked for a response, it's pretty unprofessional to just leave it open. It's such a great program, but this is just ridiculous.