No luck with responses!

[ankita100]

It's been a while since all the deadlines have passed. I applied to seven Universities in the US for a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering. I had two interviews with faculty (for the same school). I've been checking my email every five seconds for the past month, and individual applications every ten minutes.

The University websites which offer vague timelines of their inner workings mention that hey send out offers/rejections around mid-February/early March. Well, that time's come and gone. So I wrote to the professors I had interviews with. He wrote back, I didn't get in. That leaves six Universities, and at least one rejection letter from that school. Still nothing. Then I wrote to the Graduate Student Coordination, Admissions Office, or equivalent of each department I applied to, politely asking the status of my application. Not one reply!

Does this mean I am being rejected, or being wait-listed? Will I be getting offers after April 15th? How does it work after that?

[ChrisTOEFert]

How long have you been waiting for a response?  If it is less than a week then I would not get concerned.  They are busy, a lot of them are on spring breaks right now and/or finalizing offers for students.  It sounds like (based off the fact you keep checking every 10 minutes, I would check twice a day...once around 10am their time and then again around 5:30pm their time...not every 10-20 minutes) that you probably haven't been waiting that long.  So you have 1 rejection so far, so what?  Just wait it out and stay positive.  If they say early March, that is still until the end of this week, maybe creeping into next week.  Check the results board for acceptances too. 

To be the bearer of bad news, if you see a lot of acceptances and no rejections it probably means you are rejected.  However, if you see a mix of both, it could mean you are on a waitlist potentially.  If you don't hear anything by Saturday morning your time (I see you are India...is that right?) that means you are probably about 9+ hours ahead of everyone in the U.S./Canada depending on where you applied.  So come say 11am your time on Saturday morning, send e-mails directly to the profs whom you applied under.  Keep this in mind though, they are under absolutely no obligation to reply back to you yet.  As long as you get an answer by September 1, when most programs start, they are technically filling their end of the bargain....albeit much later than hoped...but they aren't duping you out of your application fee.  A lot of people confound an application fee with the idea that you will hear a firm yes/no by April 16th or something.  That is not the case, it is just used to help pay for the review of all the applications as it takes a lot of manpower to sift through 300+ applications every year and to rank them.

So be patient, wait until Saturday, or ideally the end of next week, and then send a soft, nudging email to your POI asking about the position.  Some may get back to you, others may not.  If they don't, do not email them again nor do you email the department heads, SGS, grad co-ordinator etc.  Just let it be and be patient as much as it sucks.

Edited March 10, 2016 by ChrisTOEFert

[ankita100]

13 hours ago, ChrisTOEFert said:

How long have you been waiting for a response?  If it is less than a week then I would not get concerned.  They are busy, a lot of them are on spring breaks right now and/or finalizing offers for students.  It sounds like (based off the fact you keep checking every 10 minutes, I would check twice a day...once around 10am their time and then again around 5:30pm their time...not every 10-20 minutes) that you probably haven't been waiting that long.  So you have 1 rejection so far, so what?  Just wait it out and stay positive.  If they say early March, that is still until the end of this week, maybe creeping into next week.  Check the results board for acceptances too. 

To be the bearer of bad news, if you see a lot of acceptances and no rejections it probably means you are rejected.  However, if you see a mix of both, it could mean you are on a waitlist potentially.  If you don't hear anything by Saturday morning your time (I see you are India...is that right?) that means you are probably about 9+ hours ahead of everyone in the U.S./Canada depending on where you applied.  So come say 11am your time on Saturday morning, send e-mails directly to the profs whom you applied under.  Keep this in mind though, they are under absolutely no obligation to reply back to you yet.  As long as you get an answer by September 1, when most programs start, they are technically filling their end of the bargain....albeit much later than hoped...but they aren't duping you out of your application fee.  A lot of people confound an application fee with the idea that you will hear a firm yes/no by April 16th or something.  That is not the case, it is just used to help pay for the review of all the applications as it takes a lot of manpower to sift through 300+ applications every year and to rank them.

So be patient, wait until Saturday, or ideally the end of next week, and then send a soft, nudging email to your POI asking about the position.  Some may get back to you, others may not.  If they don't, do not email them again nor do you email the department heads, SGS, grad co-ordinator etc.  Just let it be and be patient as much as it sucks.

Thanks for your advice. Yes. I am in India, GMT+5:30, so I'm adjusting times accordingly.

[vandemataram]

2 hours ago, ankita100 said:

Thanks for your advice. Yes. I am in India, GMT+5:30, so I'm adjusting times accordingly.

A bit off-topic, but I'm also in India and the time difference makes this whole process even more nerve-wracking! Trying to schedule interviews, potentially hearing back in the middle of the night, trying not to send emails or submit applications at strange hours in the US... it's not easy!