Does not being contacted by the dept at all by now mean denied...

[ReadytoStart]

I have been mostly lurking on this forum but now I am in dire need of information that will calm my nerves and provide hope:) You all provide great advice so I am looking forward to reading your comments.

I applied to a few PhD programs for admission Fall of 2010 and most of the departments are releasing decision by the beginning of March. None of the programs I applied to advised that interviews were required but some people on this forum have said they have been contacted by these departments for interviews. SO my question is if the department has not reached out to an applicant at all at this point does that mean rejection?

[keylimekai]

I would say that not being contacted at all means waitlisted, not rejection. There would seem to be no reason to keep you hanging otherwise.

[katalytik]

I have been mostly lurking on this forum but now I am in dire need of information that will calm my nerves and provide hope:) You all provide great advice so I am looking forward to reading your comments.

I applied to a few PhD programs for admission Fall of 2010 and most of the departments are releasing decision by the beginning of March. None of the programs I applied to advised that interviews were required but some people on this forum have said they have been contacted by these departments for interviews. SO my question is if the department has not reached out to an applicant at all at this point does that mean rejection?

Good question, but I think this varies. I know in my field some schools require interviews before offering any acceptances. But at other schools that I applied to, the interview seems to be optional. These schools want to ask for interviews from people they are not sure about, and want to clarify questions. A professor that I am working with at a school I applied for said "it depends".........pretty much an optional interview. I did not get an interview from that school, and he told me that I have a solid chance of acceptance after he got contacted by the head of the admissions committee about me.

The school I got into ended up being 2 interviews. One before I applied, and another one after the committee initially reviewed my full application. And they were both phone interviews....

I hope I have given you some relief, but not sure if I have gotten all of your worries put to rest. I am in the same boat at one school that did not ask for any interviews. I am very worried because that is my top school.

[ReadytoStart]

Thanks! This information calms my nerves some. My hope is that admissions committees love to surprise their most promising applicants with acceptances instead of bothering them with interviews;)

Edited February 14, 2010 by ReadytoStart

[subzoo]

Thanks! This information calms my nerves some. My hope is that admissions committees love to surprise their most promising applicants with acceptances instead of bothering them with interviews;)

" I would say that not being contacted at all means waitlisted, not rejection. There would seem to be no reason to keep you hanging otherwise."

What?? I was told by all the departments I applied to that decisions wouldn't be made until late February or early March. Does the above statement not apply to English PhD programs? I certainly never read anywhere that acceptance would be conditional upon interviews. I'm starting to wish I never stumbled upon this forum; I preferred ignorance.

[JerryLandis]

I also preferred the ignorance. I now know that I'm going to be rejected by all 3 PhD programs I applied to because the results board shows that they have already contacted their accepted students and/or interviewees. And yet, the website and emails they send out say they will make decisions in early March. For me, what that really means is "we have already made our decisions, but won't bother sending out rejections until early March." Thanks. The good part about having access to this website is that I can predict my rejections using the results board, so that on the day that they actually arrive, I won't be disappointed and horribly upset.

However, the only reason I'm so certain of my fate is that I've spent a good deal of time checking the results board for the past couple years, and trying to figure out the pattern of acceptance/rejection/waitlist dates for the places I have applied to. I know that many other departments/universities really do not send out decisions until March, or send out their acceptances in smaller groups rather than all at once. So just because some people have heard back from your desired department doesn't necessarily mean you won't be accepted.

[expressionista]

Some programs just don't do interviews, so no, this does not mean you're being rejected. Generally speaking, science programs tend to do interviews, but in the humanities, interviews are uncommon.

[digits2006]

I actually contacted one of my programs and they said I was not in the first round of rejections and that they are still reviewing files. So, some schools could still be reviewing you file. Also, some of the schools I applied have already contacted people for interviews. This could mean that I have been wait listed. You never know what can happen.

[bikefarm]

I agree -- I think at this point it can still mean anythbing. I mean, maybe people who haven't heard anything (like me) are alternates or a school's second choice and then people will hear of acceptances after the schools hears the decisions from the the first round of acceptances and that's why you have to wait until March sometimes to hear a decision.

[hydrangea]

I think it's important to remember... There are only 3 ways to really know where we stand:

1. We get accepted

2. We get rejected

3. We contact them, and ask them what the hell is going on.

All of which come as a result of direct correspondence with the department in question. This web page is like statistics, it will give you an idea of what's happening to large numbers of people, but it will never give you a prediction of what is going to happen to you. A lot of people find statistics useful, and a fair number of people find this website useful. I think it's greatest power is in keeping us from being alone with all of this, and giving us a community of (hopefully) support.

I have a school that apparently hasn't accepted anyone yet, but I sure wasn't invited to that grad recruit weekend. I expect my chances of being accepted there a pretty slim, but they haven't bothered to reject me yet, so who knows. I don't think you can say you're denied until you are actually denied, any more than you can say your accepted until you're actually accepted. The rest is just purgatory (and you're not alone).