Why do schools wait to send out rejections??

[pietjekanarie]

Why?

I just saw Harvard, Stanford and Yale acceptances for my program on the result search. I expect that I'll be rejected by Yale and Stanford, had some hopes for Harvard. However, apparently they decided (or the result search is fake, but that seems unlikely for the 3 universities) and I'm not in. Too bad, that's life, but why don't they send me a rejection?? Is that too much to ask? I just want the confirmation. They admitted people, so what is the use of waiting to send out rejections??? The Stanford acceptances were already a few days ago, so what are they waiting for?

I also checked the online application, nothing there either..

[wannabePhD]

I fear I am in the same boat ... I'm holding out hope, though, that they just haven't sent out *all* the notices, acceptances or rejections.

[pietjekanarie]

I know that I might not be very patient and I don't have good insights on the admission process, but they apparently discussed the applicants and made decisions. I suppose they email/call the lucky ones and just send a generic email to the people who won't be accepted. Why wait with that? Such a generic email seems easy and fast. I suppose they send out all acceptances at once? I kind of want to know where I'll be moving next year..

[Tiglath-Pileser III]

The reason why is that every school is different. Some make all their decisions all at once. These schools know the number of seats available and send out slightly more approvals than they have seats for thinking that some won't accept. This is especially true of smaller schools. If they get one or two people off their target one way or another, not a big deal. Others make them gradually, sending out acceptances gradually, one at a time or in small batches. The idea here is to select the best first. The rest are consigned to languish on a waiting list until all the seats are full. The discipline you are in is also going to make a difference as to timing as well. In Near Eastern Studies, these decisions aren't made until the at lease the end of February with March being normative. This, of course, sucks if you need to apply for fellowships.

Rejections will not go out until they are finished deciding. Fear not. They will come soon enough.

[Tiglath-Pileser III]

I know that I might not be very patient and I don't have good insights on the admission process, but they apparently discussed the applicants and made decisions. I suppose they email/call the lucky ones and just send a generic email to the people who won't be accepted. Why wait with that? Such a generic email seems easy and fast. I suppose they send out all acceptances at once? I kind of want to know where I'll be moving next year..

It depends. You will not find consistency even across the same institution. We all want to know where we're moving to. It is not a good feeling whenever you are not in control. At the institution where I am currently, they are only looking at the PhD applications today. Don't think that they've considered each application with careful attention. They are looking at each application briefly and making snap decisions based upon the impression they got from the application. This is why an application really needs to stand out.

[pietjekanarie]

Others make them gradually, sending out acceptances gradually, one at a time or in small batches. The idea here is to select the best first. The rest are consigned to languish on a waiting list until all the seats are full.

But if they do this, can't they send me an email that I'm wait-listed (if that would be the case)? If I'm a clear rejection anyway, they should also just send that and not wait. I mean, if they are sure I won't get in, there is no reason to wait.

(I know, I sound like the most impatient applicant now)

[adam_cs]

in order to

1) kill us slowly

2) give us more pain

3) play with our mind

4) increase the patience of those who survives

or

1) they have some lazy clerks

2) they have more important things to do

[Tiglath-Pileser III]

But if they do this, can't they send me an email that I'm wait-listed (if that would be the case)? If I'm a clear rejection anyway, they should also just send that and not wait. I mean, if they are sure I won't get in, there is no reason to wait.

Why would they bother to do this? It is not an abnormal wait until April rolls around. They would just be stirring the bees nest. Trust me, it does not help to know that a decision is coming. I got an email from UCLA saying that decision will be made by March 1st. Has that helped my anxiety in any way? Not even a little bit! In fact, it's made me more anxious.

BTW, if you were a clear rejection, you probably would have already received a notification to that effect. Most schools did their summary rejections in early February. You can check the "results search" for individual schools and see scores of preliminary rejections and acceptances.

This too shall pass.

[adam_cs]

Why would they bother to do this? It is not an abnormal wait until April rolls around. They would just be stirring the bees nest. Trust me, it does not help to know that a decision is coming. I got an email from UCLA saying that decision will be made by March 1st. Has that helped my anxiety in any way? Not even a little bit! In fact, it's made me more anxious.

BTW, if you were a clear rejection, you probably would have already received a notification to that effect. Most schools did their summary rejections in early February. You can check the "results search" for individual schools and see scores of preliminary rejections and acceptances.

This too shall pass.

Nothing will help except an official admit with full funding.

[sciencegal]

Every school and every department within the school is different. My department has already sent emails to the admits, we have no waitlist, and the rejected applicants have not been notified? Why? There are many many more rejected applicants and they receive emails through an automated system from the graduate division, not our department. So bottom line, in our department, admits get personalized emails from the department and rejected applicants have to wait for the batch automatic rejection email which can take many many weeks. Do I wish the non-admitted applicants in our department were notified sooner? YES. It's not fair. If an applicant calls or emails, our division staff does let them know their status (not admitted) though, but how painful must that be. I imagine it may be like this other places as well.

[limeinthecoconut]

Because rejected students are unimportant (to them)?

[sapling]

I felt so frunstrated when I pressed the botton “Result Search” on thegradcafe. There are a few "acceptances" from my dream school today--Princeton ORFE, but I do not receive any information ever since my interview. Only very few students got the phone interview, but I did not grasp this opportunity. I hope Princeton can send me the refection letter tomorrow, then I can try to foget it...

[adam_cs]

Because rejected students are unimportant (to them)?

yes. That's it. Even God stopped showing mercy upon us.

[pietjekanarie]

It is exactly what saplingwang says. If they send me a rejection letter, I can just forget about it. I already got in somewhere, so I shouldn't be sad. It is just frustrating to know nothing.

[ReadytoStart]

yes. That's it. Even God stopped showing mercy upon us.

Agreed.

[wannabePhD]

Agreed.

Thirded!

[Tiglath-Pileser III]

He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep his commandments.

[wannabePhD]

He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep his commandments.

As soon as I hit "Add Reply," I realized that that line of expressed frustration may be offensive to some. I apologize if that is the case.

[Tiglath-Pileser III]

No need to apologize. We all can take a joke. However, there is no need to give up hope quite just yet.

[wannabePhD]

No need to apologize. We all can take a joke. However, there is no need to give up hope quite just yet.

Thank you! And you're right - there's still hope. Thanks for the reminder.

[limeinthecoconut]

I do actually appreciate schools which try to put rejected students out of their misery promptly - it's just a sign of respect to those who paid the same application fee, even if they didn't make it. At least Yale was swift with the execution of my dreams.

[sleepomaniac]

Guys,

In my case, some schools like Wharton have sent rejects and accepts but I haven't received anything - accepts rejects or interviews what do you think this means?

I haven't got rejects from any of the 9 programs I applied to

Waitlisted or something?

[Tiglath-Pileser III]

Guys,

In my case, some schools like Wharton have sent rejects and accepts but I haven't received anything - accepts rejects or interviews what do you think this means?

I haven't got rejects from any of the 9 programs I applied to

Waitlisted or something?

It could mean one of several things:

1. You could have passed the administrative elimination and your application is waiting to be seen by a prof.
2. The department you applied to is on a different schedule than the other departments.
3. You are on an unofficial wait list.
4. You've been rejected, and they are just giving you the silent treatment.
5. You've been rejected, but the secretary has not entered your name into the auto-reject email system.
6. You've been accepted, but the prof has phone anxiety.
7. You've been accepted, but they are waiting to scrape together the best funding they can.

My guess is it is option #1.

[Strong Flat White]

Thank you! And you're right - there's still hope. Thanks for the reminder.

You know, I see a lot of the same feelings and thoughts that I have (playing the waiting game), and there are so many ways to rationalize and justify and try to make sense of no information whatsoever, but every once in a while you come across the fair reminder that indeed we applicants are paying a lot of money for a supposed service. I don't really care if offices are slammed with record numbers of applications or if rejected applications are unimportant to them, or any of the other "reasons" that might help explain things. If I pay upwards of $60, $80, or $100 for a service, then I expect service rendered. Period. And I work at a busy university office. No sympathy here; it's not that you and me - the waiting applicants - deserve more. It's that we've paid for more!