<p>I'm pretty stressed out that colleges are sending acceptances and everything now, while their offices are closed for the holidays. I have two schools for which I have questions -- For one, my first choice school, I've been deferred. I emailed my area counselor right away for guidance, but haven't received a response after five days. I am assuming that she is taking a holiday break. I am worried about my email getting buried in her inbox for when she returns to the office, and I am having trouble finding information on when that school returns from their holiday. I am very eager to talk with her because I want to send in my new materials as soon as possible so that I can get an admissions decision sooner. I would think that I should just call and email when the holidays are over, but I also do not want to bombard my counselor. I have also considered contacting a counselor for a different state or region.</p>
<p>Another school appears to be having communication problems between overall admissions and the admissions office of my particular college. I have been accepted to both the university and the music school, but the university keeps on sending me letters saying that I still need to audition at the music school.... which I have been. I am quite frustrated because now their offices are closed and I cannot talk with them about this! </p>
<p>As far as these things go, should I continue to send emails and await responses after the holidays, or should I wait until the holidays are over? How do I find out when schools re-open their admissions offices?</p>
You have been deferred to the RD pool. The school will not make a decision about you sooner than anyone else in that pool. Calm down.
Schools will reopen sometime between 2 and 7 Jan.</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad offers prudent advice. There is nothing in the OP that indicates that you have truly urgent information needs. Rather, you are anxious and want a response to meet your desires. Remember that adcoms are dealing with thousands of applicants who are anxious just like you.</p>
<p>For your second school, if you have been accepted and have the documentation to prove it then you are set. My kids often receive “reminders” to apply to schools to which they have already been accepted. Admissions Offices are busy and don’t have time to consolidate their mailing lists. They would rather over-communicate and allow applicants to sort it out than have someone miss a deadline.</p>
<p>This particular school has assessed deferrals and sent them admissions notifications in February, as opposed to March for most RD students. I just wanted to improve my chances. That’s all. Please be careful about how harsh you come off to many students. Both of your responses really hurt my feelings, and I don’t think I deserved that. Thanks.</p>
<p>That still leaves plenty of time. Contact the universities in question after their offices reopen in January. </p>
<p>Besides, think about it this way. Suppose you were somehow able to get past the out-of-office email replies and the recorded outgoing message on the office phones, and suppose you were able to contact your area representative while he or she was on winter break. Just how happy do you think this person would be to hear from you? You might succeed in bringing yourself to the representative’s attention, all right, but not in a helpful way!</p>
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<p>And this is why Erin’s Dad and rmldad are quite right: you don’t have an emergency; you have anxiety.</p>
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<p>I don’t hear anything harsh in Erin’s Dad’s or rmldad’s response. I am sorry your feelings got hurt, but I don’t think anybody addressed you in a way that was disrespectful or unkind.</p>
<p>You posted the question on Christmas Eve, and when do you expect admissions officers to get back to you? I would say that give the schools until the first week in Jan to respond to your emails. If they haven’t responded then, you can email them again/call their main line.</p>
<p>For your first school, like others have said, thousands of students are probably just like you. Send a politely worded email with a descriptive subject line and wait for them to get back to you. Sending multiple emails is not going to help. Admissions officers are not going to ignore your email simply because it is one of many they receive, even if it is ‘buried’ among other students who really want to improve their chances, they will get back to you. If not, after, say, Jan 4 (I’m including time for schools that are off thru New Year’s Day and need to work through the backlog of emails from students who, just like you, really want to improve their chances), send another email politely referencing the earlier email.</p>
<p>I understand you want to improve your chances, but sending this email now (as opposed to a week from now) isn’t going to change anything in particular. Even if you sent the email in mid-January, you would still get the chance to add to your application before they reconsider you in Feburary.</p>