When Adcoms send emails

[solairne]

I've read some conflicting reports which leads me to believe this is going to be one of those 'depends on department/school' things, but do departments/universities in general send out emails at a certain time? Maybe like end of the day or end of the work week, regardless of decision?

Do people often get acceptance or rejection emails at unusual hours like 9pm local time or 4am?

[pangur-ban]

I've read some conflicting reports which leads me to believe this is going to be one of those 'depends on department/school' things, but do departments/universities in general send out emails at a certain time? Maybe like end of the day or end of the work week, regardless of decision?

Do people often get acceptance or rejection emails at unusual hours like 9pm local time or 4am?

I think there was a poll about the time and day of the week of acceptance emails last year, either here or on LiveJournal. (But I think for me to search for it now would be pushing procrastination too far.)

So far, I've had 2 emails on Thursdays, and one on a Friday, and all three were sent in the 6pm hour, local time.

Edited February 15, 2010 by pangor-ban

[jeanne]

I've gotten an acceptance and a rejection at 6 pm Friday. One was from a midwestern school, the other from a west coast school so they sent it at different local times. I don't think there's any solid rule.

[johndiligent]

I got my first acceptance on Saturday at 10:00 AM local time. I wasn't expecting results on a Saturday (the weekend was my designated time to not freak out about checking my e-mail) but there you have it.

[Kam]

I got an acceptance phone call around 6 on a Monday (well, really, he called my actual house around 5, then my mom called me and told me, then he called my cell phone at 6).

Has anyone received news during the actual business day? So far they seem to be outside of the business day itself.

[hydrangea]

I got a result on Monday just before noon (California), from a school in Penn. My BF got two responses, both on different Mondays, and I got my other response on a Friday, end of the working day for the university. My guess is that if it's not going to get to you by mail, you are likely to hear at either end of the week or the end of the day. I don't think the schools are as wound up as we are, and a few hours or a few days isn't a big deal for them to wait to notify us of their decision once it's made.

It would be a bit disrupting for a secretary to have to drop what they are doing and send out a notice several times a day.

Edited February 16, 2010 by hydrangea

[urbanchic]

I got a call today and it's President's day. lol

[hydrangea]

I got a call today and it's President's day. lol

OK, I take it back, maybe they are wound up...

[Ziz]

My own cynical opinion about this is that schools may set up the mass email (especially rejections) to send at some time outside of business hours so that they don't get inondated with calls right after they press send.

[pietjekanarie]

I've got an acceptance email from Oxford around 12.15PM on Monday local time. Seems pretty normal to me.

On the other hand, I got an invitation through email for a phone interview with Cambridge around 3.00AM local time (Friday) and Stanford and Columbia have replied to random questions I asked them about my supporting materials (if they had arrived) on Saturdays and Sundays.

I guess it depends on the schools, but also on when the person that is sending those things out is working. Apparently, my Cambridge contact person doesn't mind working at night.

Edited February 16, 2010 by pietjekanarie

[dant.gwyrdd]

I've gotten an acceptance email from UConn on Tue at around 1.45 pm local time and their financial aid offer came on Thu at around 8 pm local time.

Edited February 16, 2010 by dant.gwyrdd