Is this a BAD sign?

[PhDinPublicHealthHopeful]

Hi All!

My ideal school's due date was Jan. 15th. SOPHAS delayed things so they didn't get my app until Feb 8th. 

I was told that I would hear back last week or early this week. Of course I'm really impatient, and am worried that I didn't get in seeing that 3 other people have gotten in already and been notified.

This is my first attempt at grad school, and am wondering if sometimes a later notification can be a good or bad thing?

[Familiar Heron]

In general, later notifications are more likely to be rejections than acceptances or waitlists. This is particularly true for large programs that want several students to matriculate in the fall. It wouldn't make sense to notify one batch of admitted students at one point, and then to notify more admitted pool of applicants later on, given that students have visit schools, turn down offers, organize funding (if needed), etc., all by April 15. However, I know that some smaller programs that allow rolling admissions and have soft funding (that is, students are funded by faculty grants, not by the school itself) do admit, waitlist, and reject students irregularly throughout the process.