One less thing to obsessively check: Application website?

[Bryan]

I'm curious, has anyone else received any information through their application website? I compulsively check this along with a group of other things I watch, and I'm curious to know if it's even worth my time to check. Do they ever put anything up on there aside from a receipt notification of your materials (albeit very later)? What kind of information do they put up there? Is this entire purpose of the site to tell you that you were rejected a month after decision time?

[socialpsych]

Last year, while a few of my decisions came through the app website eventually, I think in all those cases I already knew what it would be through email. Even one school that said "The decision will ONLY be posted on the website, and we AREN'T going to send you an email" did so anyway.

My sense is that if you get an offer, they will not wait for you to check the website; they will make sure you know right away. If you are rejected, I think there is more of a chance you will find out on the website. Many schools also send you an email when a decision is posted, though, to tell you to check, so you still won't have to be checking the website itself constantly.

[Summit_Bid]

I agree with the above poster. They will tell you via email or snail mail that you got in. Or, they will email you and tell you to check the application status page to find your results so you don't really need to check.

Some schools/departments, while they have these update pages to let you know what's been recieved and what hasn't, they don't use them or only use them to post something like GRE scores that's been recieved. When they do update them, it's after you've recieved your acceptance or rejection sometimes!

Some schools do use them so you can check on those schools. There is usually a date on those pages that says when they've been updated so if the date is 10/1, you know they aren't really using it.

In general, I wait for schools to email me that I got in or am missing something.

[downtownchick]

I called UW today because their website says they don't have a lot of my stuff. Turns out, they have it. Lesson: don't sweat the website.

2nd. 90% of the departments I apply to do not update on the application sites. They all say nothing was received while on email the secretaries say everything arrived.