Help with acceptance

[magic]

They asked me to schedule an expenses-paid visit. Question

1) How to tell them I'm waiting on a few schools

2) IF my other choice schools accept me and ask me to visit, it's going to be hard to ask my boss for leave for each university visit (have to fly half way around the world). If I knew the other schools' decisions, I would coordinate one big trip, but I don't expect decisions for another 1+ month. On the other hand, how rude is it when someone invites you and you say "well, yes I want to visit, BUT ... AND ..."

Edited February 16, 2010 by magic

[JustChill]

If you're really "half way around the world" that shouldn't be an issue for them and they should understand that you can't simply fly to the US from where ever you are for each visit. I'm currently studying in Europe and I've told all of my schools that invited me to visit that I can't come because I'm so far away. They've all been understanding.

[magic]

Thanks, rock.

Would you call the other schools, telling them the situation, in order to get a quicker response from them? I picture, they already have a sizeable list of who to reject, but haven't gotten around to the rejection letter because they're still reviewing apps. On the other hand, maybe my acceptance at school XYZ will influence their decision negatively (because that's a slot for the next ranked applicant).

Edited February 16, 2010 by magic

[eucalyptus]

Thanks, rock.

Would you call the other schools, telling them the situation, in order to get a quicker response from them? I picture, they already have a sizeable list of who to reject, but haven't gotten around to the rejection letter because they're still reviewing apps. On the other hand, maybe my acceptance at school XYZ will influence their decision negatively (because that's a slot for the next ranked applicant).

You can ask about your status without actually telling them that you're accepted elsewhere... just tell them you're trying to arrange visits and would like to know the status of your application. If you need to press them more, mention that you live far away and knowing about your status would help you coordinate overseas flights. This won't really tell them whether you've been accepted or just interviewed elsewhere, and it certainly won't give them any specific info about programs.

And for the school you're accepted to, they're not going to be at all offended if you wait a while to visit. All programs understand that we apply to multiple programs and they'll also understand your desire to do one big trip instead of lots of little ones. Just thank them sincerely for the acceptance and invitation to visit, and ask if it's okay to wait a few weeks to schedule your visit. You can be straightforward about wanting to do all your visits together (in fact, it'll probably save them some money if you can split up the flight costs between a couple of programs).

[rising_star]

I would plan the trip for as late as you possibly can. Like late March or early April. That will give you time to wait to here from other schools.

[magic]

Thanks for all your hints so far.

[Synth]

Just send an email to the admissions coordinator, I've already rescheduled 3 visits.

If they're already willing to fly you out, in general they'd be willing to fly you out at any time before the deadline (typically April 15). I didn't even have to provide a reasoning, just that I was having difficulty making their "preassigned weekend." Once you've been accepted, it's a little shocking how accommodating schools can be.

Here's a sample bare bones of an email I sent:

"Dear XXXX,

My name is XXXX, and I'm emailing you to let you know that unfortunately, I will not be able to visit XXXX during the official visit weekend.

Visiting XXXX is important to me, and so I was wondering if I could possibly visit at a separate time? I was hoping to be able to visit on the XXXXX. <- (offer several dates here)

I apologize for the inconvenience, and I hope that something can be worked out.

Thanks,

XXXXX"

Best of luck. Hope this was helpful

[magic]

Thanks, guys. They were super nice, I had no reason to be anxious.

Most of my schools did not reply yet. I wrote to one of them explaining I had an offer and want to respond soon (as a courtesy to the school and the wait listed candidates).

Would you contact all the remaining schools using this argument? I'm paranoid the schools will find out from each other what's going on with me. I especially don't want the info to get back to the school that accepted me.

[Synth]

Thanks, guys. They were super nice, I had no reason to be anxious.

Most of my schools did not reply yet. I wrote to one of them explaining I had an offer and want to respond soon (as a courtesy to the school and the wait listed candidates).

Would you contact all the remaining schools using this argument? I'm paranoid the schools will find out from each other what's going on with me. I especially don't want the info to get back to the school that accepted me.

This depends a lot on the school from what I can tell, some of my friends that are already in grad school told me that post Feb. 15th is where it's reasonable to start questioning the status of your app, though it depends on the school. I would advise against saying things like, "I want to plan all my trips at once," but rather just send a friendly email asking them when you can expect to hear back.

I would also look at the gradcafe survey and see if anyone's heard back yet in your department. If not, I would advise against sending an email. I also wouldn't count the super early admits (Mid January) because from what I can tell those are the top candidates that get notified that early- as in they get admitted before the committee reads through all the applications. Of course this varies from department to department, but I would see if their "general" admit notices have gone out (this will obviously be different for schools with rolling admissions.) But just in general try to get a sense of whether or not schools have probably made a decision on the applications. But yeah, if it seems like several decisions have gone out, it's late enough in the game that I think that it's perfectly reasonable to ask a question about the status of your application.

[magic]

This depends a lot on the school from what I can tell, some of my friends that are already in grad school told me that post Feb. 15th is where it's reasonable to start questioning the status of your app, though it depends on the school. I would advise against saying things like, "I want to plan all my trips at once," but rather just send a friendly email asking them when you can expect to hear back.

I would also look at the gradcafe survey and see if anyone's heard back yet in your department. If not, I would advise against sending an email. I also wouldn't count the super early admits (Mid January) because from what I can tell those are the top candidates that get notified that early- as in they get admitted before the committee reads through all the applications. Of course this varies from department to department, but I would see if their "general" admit notices have gone out (this will obviously be different for schools with rolling admissions.) But just in general try to get a sense of whether or not schools have probably made a decision on the applications. But yeah, if it seems like several decisions have gone out, it's late enough in the game that I think that it's perfectly reasonable to ask a question about the status of your application.

Hi Synth,

Only one school has results at gradcafe (4 rejects). My would-be advisor at this school is a frequent coauthor of my would-be advisor at the school that accepted me. I guess it's a bad idea to contact him right now.

Poor first school ... they have a small enough department to shower each admit with attention, I hate to leave them hanging.