PhD decisions? It's almost April

[georgemk]

Hi Guys,

It's almost April and I still haven't heard back from 10 schools regarding my PhD application for Fall 2016 (Biomedical Engineering).

Deadlines were ranging from Dec 15th-Feb 1st (depending on the school).

There is one school that interviewed me in late January, then sent me an email telling me that they selected me as a potential candidate for admissions and that the deadline is April 15th, and they asked me to tell them if I accept other offers. I still haven't heard a single thing to date. 

I have seen many applicants sharing their decisions results via here, but I haven't seen anything posted from many of the schools that I have applied to.

Is that normal? I am starting to get worried and assuming that I have been rejected ....

[ClassApp]

First, let me preface this by saying that I am in the Humanities, so there may be differences (and anyone should feel free to correct me!), but I want to at least provide a peer's thoughts on the topic. I would say that not hearing back from a couple schools is annoying but normal. However, not hearing back from 10 schools seems extremely unusual to me. That being said--how many programs did you apply to? What percentage of your schools have you heard back from? And were those rejections or acceptances? And finally, have you checked their websites/online portals? 

Since we are just two and a half weeks away from the April 15th deadline, I would encourage you to email the graduate advisers of your programs asking for an update about the status of the application (though maybe wait a couple days for the Feb 1st apps, since I've heard that 2 months is when it's polite to ask). Your other option (and what I did for the one school I hadn't heard back from) is to call the department administrator and ask whether acceptances/waitlists/rejections have been sent out yet. It's extremely likely that the first wave of offers have already been made by all of the programs. They may send rejections out late in the game (why schools do this, I do not know), or you may be on a silent waitlist. Either way, a polite email or phone call to the appropriate people in the departments will answer your questions. Good luck!

[georgemk]

2 hours ago, ClassApp said:

First, let me preface this by saying that I am in the Humanities, so there may be differences (and anyone should feel free to correct me!), but I want to at least provide a peer's thoughts on the topic. I would say that not hearing back from a couple schools is annoying but normal. However, not hearing back from 10 schools seems extremely unusual to me. That being said--how many programs did you apply to? What percentage of your schools have you heard back from? And were those rejections or acceptances? And finally, have you checked their websites/online portals? 

Since we are just two and a half weeks away from the April 15th deadline, I would encourage you to email the graduate advisers of your programs asking for an update about the status of the application (though maybe wait a couple days for the Feb 1st apps, since I've heard that 2 months is when it's polite to ask). Your other option (and what I did for the one school I hadn't heard back from) is to call the department administrator and ask whether acceptances/waitlists/rejections have been sent out yet. It's extremely likely that the first wave of offers have already been made by all of the programs. They may send rejections out late in the game (why schools do this, I do not know), or you may be on a silent waitlist. Either way, a polite email or phone call to the appropriate people in the departments will answer your questions. Good luck!

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question! I have applied to 14 programs in all and received 2 acceptances and 2 rejections. One program has interviewed me in January and told me that they selected me as a potential candidate and to inform them when i accept other offers, which i still haven't. Thank you again and good luck!