a week ? two weeks?

[jambromr]

How long before they send emails requesting interviews, or acceptance e-mails, or rejection emails?

I am seriously checking my mail 10 times a day although I know that it's too early - my application was only completed a week ago ,some, just three days ago

but how long do pple usually receive some kind of email from the schools?

This is going to be the gloomiest christmas ever - i'm eating my heart out boohoo

[joro]

I think I received my first rejection notices in February. Was not a happy month for me. Probably will not be a good month for me again this following year if my LOR isn't submitted on time.

[fuzzylogician]

It seems science programs are usually quicker than Humanities programs, but of course it changes from school to school.

The common wisdom is that very strong and very weak applicants tend to hear early and as time passes schools make decisions about the applicants in the middle. It could take as long as April 15th or later, since some people are put on unofficial waitlists and are made to wait until after the first round of admitted applicants make their choice. FWIW I heard back from all of my schools between late January and late February; some of the schools had open house days in early-mid March so they had to get word out before then. Around that same time accepted applicants visited the other schools they were accepted to as well. I met several people more than once in different places - it seems that's visiting-season for linguistics programs and everybody was set up to house and schmooze the prospies at around that time. My guess would be that other fields also have these unofficial dates by which they make their decisions.

Check out the results page -- I found it was very accurate, I got notified on the same week as people in the previous two years. The results page could also tell you if/when your schools have interviews and visit days so you'll know around when to start checking your email

[peppermint.beatnik]

I'm in humanities. I had first response in early March, last in early April.

[socialpsych]

It can be several weeks, sorry to say. Do check the results page. I for one had mostly December deadlines and heard from most programs around early to mid February. Seems to vary by field, too.

[rising_star]

When I applied to MA programs, I applied for Jan 1 and Jan 15 deadlines and had two acceptances before Feb 1...

[whereiscarmen]

Rising star when did you submit your applications?

[rising_star]

Never more than 4 days before the deadline (aka, enough time for them to arrive by the deadline when sent via priority mail).

[whereiscarmen]

Did you hear from a Jan 15 deadline by February 1?

[rising_star]

For a Jan 15 deadline:

My online application was completed Jan 10. This didn't include recommendations (or the SOP, if memory serves).

On Feb 8, they contacted me about an incomplete recommendation because the recommender didn't include the required form. The next day, I found out they were interested in nominating me for a University fellowship.

My inbox doesn't have the date of the acceptance...

Oh wait, I found it in my journal:

"Status: Congratulations| On JANUARY 30, 2006 you were admitted to the university. You will receive further information by mail as well as a request for final transcript(s) with degree statements."

Here's the one from the Jan 1 deadline:

Acceptance letter dated Jan 26

Received this email from the DGS on Jan 5: "From glancing at your record, I believe your application is extremely competitive. You are almost certain of being admitted and should be competitive for funding from departmental and/or university sources."

-----------------

Okay, all of those were for MA programs, which I applied to for Fall 2006 entry. Here's some info from when I applied to PhD programs for Fall 2008 entry.

- Rejection dated Feb 4 for a Jan 1 deadline (they later apologized for sending me the rejection and admitted me, but that took a couple more months)

- Jan 1 deadline, accepted March 14 (took forever but I know why, and would've taken less time if I weren't already a student there)

- Jan 15 deadline, March 4 acceptance

- Deadline was Jan 15 (can't remember), accepted Feb 11. Had a massive LOR problem with one person having to send the letter three or four times (he ended up emailing it directly to the DGS and apologizing to me for the trouble)

- Jan 1 deadline, Feb 8 acceptance.

- Jan 15 deadline, Jan 23 acceptance. They were missing 2 of 3 recommendation letters and official transcripts (they had unofficial) when I got the acceptance, which they told me to send because they needed them to nominate me for a University fellowship.

- Jan 15 deadline, late March acceptance. And no, I wasn't on a waitlist. They just notify super-late compared to other programs in my discipline.

That's all of them for the PhD.

What does this show? That you can get accepted even with late latters; that you can get accepted before all of your materials have arrived; and that this whole thing is completely unpredictable.

Edited December 26, 2009 by rising_star
to add more details

[coyabean]

For a Jan 15 deadline:

My online application was completed Jan 10. This didn't include recommendations (or the SOP, if memory serves).

On Feb 8, they contacted me about an incomplete recommendation because the recommender didn't include the required form. The next day, I found out they were interested in nominating me for a University fellowship.

My inbox doesn't have the date of the acceptance...

Oh wait, I found it in my journal:

"Status: Congratulations| On JANUARY 30, 2006 you were admitted to the university. You will receive further information by mail as well as a request for final transcript(s) with degree statements."

Here's the one from the Jan 1 deadline:

Acceptance letter dated Jan 26

Received this email from the DGS on Jan 5: "From glancing at your record, I believe your application is extremely competitive. You are almost certain of being admitted and should be competitive for funding from departmental and/or university sources."

-----------------

Okay, all of those were for MA programs, which I applied to for Fall 2006 entry. Here's some info from when I applied to PhD programs for Fall 2008 entry.

- Rejection dated Feb 4 for a Jan 1 deadline (they later apologized for sending me the rejection and admitted me, but that took a couple more months)

- Jan 1 deadline, accepted March 14 (took forever but I know why, and would've taken less time if I weren't already a student there)

- Jan 15 deadline, March 4 acceptance

- Deadline was Jan 15 (can't remember), accepted Feb 11. Had a massive LOR problem with one person having to send the letter three or four times (he ended up emailing it directly to the DGS and apologizing to me for the trouble)

- Jan 1 deadline, Feb 8 acceptance.

- Jan 15 deadline, Jan 23 acceptance. They were missing 2 of 3 recommendation letters and official transcripts (they had unofficial) when I got the acceptance, which they told me to send because they needed them to nominate me for a University fellowship.

- Jan 15 deadline, late March acceptance. And no, I wasn't on a waitlist. They just notify super-late compared to other programs in my discipline.

That's all of them for the PhD.

What does this show? That you can get accepted even with late latters; that you can get accepted before all of your materials have arrived; and that this whole thing is completely unpredictable.

I kind of love you. Details like this appeal to all of my OCD tendencies. So, really, thank you, thank you, thank you.

[captiv8ed]

rising_star, did you get accepted at every school you applied to?

[rising_star]

captiv8ted, for PhD programs, I got accepted to all 7 programs to which I applied. For MA programs, I was accepted to 4 out of 6 programs.

coyabean, glad I could help. If you want more specifics, just PM me. I got lazy and decided to stop looking for additional schools and acceptance/rejection info.

[captiv8ed]

That is so awesome! Nice work!

[whereiscarmen]

Very helpful!

So you don't think applying near the deadline.. especially if it's a January one is always a bad thing?

I'm contemplating turning in my app before 2010 and rushing my personal statement a bit, or turning my app in early January, with more time to polish my essay.

Edited December 29, 2009 by whereiscarmen