When do the committees actually meet?

[All About The Bones]

I know there have been several 'how long must we suffer?' posts, but I thought I would add my own, and am wondering if any one knows when the committees start meeting now things are beginning to get up and running again? Does anyone out there who is already attending know?

I am trying so hard to concentrate on my essays due horribly soon, but I keep getting distracted by trying to find timetables and the like. I thought starting a topic would at least give me something else to check on a regular basis!

Good luck to everyone waiting

[rogue]

I think it really depends on the school. I heard some initial reviews started before the holidays for programs with December deadlines.

[socialcomm]

You could check in the results search to see when people started to hear in previous years. Or, if you've established any relationships with current students, send them a note to see when they heard back? But I agree, I think it'd depend on the school and what their own processes are. Good luck!

[Summit_Bid]

It does depend on the school. I don't think most schools have one specific time they meet. They meet multiple times during and after the app deadline.

[jlee306]

I don't really have an answer for you but I am wondering the same thing! I really hope they start meeting soon!

[Deleted]

They actually do not meet.

They draw a circle on the ground, climb on top of their building and throw the applications in the air. All applications within the circle qualify for the next round. Then they repeat the game until the desired number of candidates has been reached.

In more traditional schools they make paper planes with the applications and the ones which fly further are selected. That's why I tried to do as much as possible online, so that my aircraft is lighter and thus flies better. This is why some people with lots of published papers get rejected if they send the papers along with their app: it just makes the plane crash.

[Victorianna]

Nice

[All About The Bones]

They actually do not meet.

They draw a circle on the ground, climb on top of their building and throw the applications in the air. All applications within the circle qualify for the next round. Then they repeat the game until the desired number of candidates has been reached.

In more traditional schools they make paper planes with the applications and the ones which fly further are selected. That's why I tried to do as much as possible online, so that my aircraft is lighter and thus flies better. This is why some people with lots of published papers get rejected if they send the papers along with their app: it just makes the plane crash.

Love it!

On a related but not note, at Cambridge university they give out the final exam results by throwing them off a balcony and you have to catch it. Of course you can wait until they put the up on a board for the whole world to see (this is also after they have read them out in grade order to everyone gathered). I love tradition.

Thanks for everyones help, I have been looking at last years results, I was kinda hoping someone had some magic answers

[socialpsych]

Sorry, no magic answers...but they will not keep you in suspense for long after they know themselves. Last year, at the one school where I happen to know what day that final meeting was, I got a phone call later the same day. If it's taking them a while, it's because they're busy with other stuff, not because they want to torture you!

Edited January 4, 2010 by socialpsych

[fuzzylogician]

They actually do not meet.

They draw a circle on the ground, climb on top of their building and throw the applications in the air. All applications within the circle qualify for the next round. Then they repeat the game until the desired number of candidates has been reached.

In more traditional schools they make paper planes with the applications and the ones which fly further are selected. That's why I tried to do as much as possible online, so that my aircraft is lighter and thus flies better. This is why some people with lots of published papers get rejected if they send the papers along with their app: it just makes the plane crash.

http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/12/a_guide_to_grad.html

[All About The Bones]

Sorry, no magic answers...but they will not keep you in suspense for long after they know themselves. Last year, at the one school where I happen to know what day that final meeting was, I got a phone call later the same day. If it's taking them a while, it's because they're busy with other stuff, not because they want to torture you!

I guess you are right about them not wanting to torture us! It is my own fault really that I am getting so stressed from waiting as I handed in all my apps at the beginning of November so they didnt interfere with my MSc. However, the waiting panicing mania is now massively distracting me from said MSc. You live and learn (although I am only doing this app thing once so I guess I live to pass the knowledge on)

Again, thanks for everyones help

[Bryan]

I recall while I was preparing my application, I mentioned to my professor that I wanted to get my applications in about a week or two early. She rebutted, telling me that when the deadline roles around, they probably won't look at it until a week or two afterward. Especially schools with December deadlines (like bio programs...i know you masters and engineers have unusual deadlines) since that's finals season for most schools. Perhaps this is the case for her experience, i'm sure it doesn't speak for all school...but I felt that this was a realistic assessment.

[alexis]

Even though I know for a fact that three of my programs won't even MEET until late Jan/Feb at the earliest, and the others don't send out interview invites until at least late January, it still doesn't keep me from checking my email every day and hoping that the adcoms will magically convene earlier.

[King Henry]

Some schools make decisions on a rolling base. Most of my schools will review materials after 15 Jan.

[hellopsy]

Even though I know for a fact that three of my programs won't even MEET until late Jan/Feb at the earliest, and the others don't send out interview invites until at least late January, it still doesn't keep me from checking my email every day and hoping that the adcoms will magically convene earlier.

Yesss! I'm expecting a similar timeline but still hold my breath in anticipation when I check my email every morning.

[shai]

They actually do not meet.

They draw a circle on the ground, climb on top of their building and throw the applications in the air. All applications within the circle qualify for the next round. Then they repeat the game until the desired number of candidates has been reached.

In more traditional schools they make paper planes with the applications and the ones which fly further are selected. That's why I tried to do as much as possible online, so that my aircraft is lighter and thus flies better. This is why some people with lots of published papers get rejected if they send the papers along with their app: it just makes the plane crash.

I heard that at interview weekends they pour gasoline over applicants and light them up. Those that burn and die are accepted to the school.

[Anita]

You guys are soooo wrong in making fun of the serious efforts committees put into reading applications. In reality, they always try to be as objective and unbiased as possible so that no application is unfairly favored. In fact, they go to such lengths as to outsource the selection process to an independent decision-maker who does the dirty work of rejecting applicants. To minimize personal and subjective involvement with the process, all the committee does is assign numbers to applications. Then a RA naive to the application contents feeds the numbers to the randomizer, and the first 20 numbers that come out are accepted. Thus, we can be sure the decisions are not based on such irrelevant human factors as the committee members' mood or whether the air conditioning in the meeting room is out of order again. It's a wonderfully perfected system, the fruits of many years of carefully controlled experiments, and not to be spoken lightly of by the likes of you insignificant lab rat-wannabes!