Is there a date certain by which grad school admissions decisions must go out?
Not sure what you are asking exactly!?
Are you asking when other colleges accept their grad students?
If a student is holding multiple acceptaces, then he must choose a school by (I think) around April 18th.
If a student is still waiting to hear from a grad school, it can be anytime. Grad schools who have open seats (after declinations) will still send out acceptances in the summer.
Grad school acceptances take their time. Son got accepted to Northwestern about a week before the deadline to commit, around the end of April. Minnesota was maybe early April, late March. Iowa was perhaps February, with financial aid offer in April. Oh, yes, a very nerve wracking time, especially when your child only applies to a few places. The rejection came very early, which made waiting on the others very scary.
@Montegut Did your son have to interview at any of his grad schools before he was accepted?
Son communicated with the professors he wanted to work with at Iowa and Minnesota. That was how he picked the schools, to see what kind of research they were doing. But he had no communication with professors beforehand at Northwestern, and was quite surprised and honored to be accepted. God has a plan for them. It will all be all right.
@Slippy2000: DS was accepted into the PhD program for EE/CS. I don’t know when he was notified because that boy doesn’t communicate much with his DM (me). To be honest, I don’t know if he received anything in writing and DS is often “too busy” to pick up his snail mail. He did share a notice dated March 11, 2016 from David A. Francko, Dean of the Graduate School awarding him of a one year Graduate Council Fellowship. He has until April 15th to accept. You can imagine this Momma was on DS like a cheap suit to respond his acceptance. BTW he has been working on campus doing research since his 2nd semester and will continue in the same lab after graduation this May. Montegut’s DS & my DS were roomies the summer of 2013; arranged through this forum.
I hope your DS will hear something positive from UA Grad school because, as parents, we get to enjoy more Bama football and be the envy of the SEC. Roll Tide!