<p>This is probably more of a rant than anything else but I've applied to a bunch of schools and so far haven't heard back from any. I know people who've already heard good news from some of these schools and I'm not quite sure what to think of this. Does the fact that I haven't heard anything mean I can assume I've been rejected or does it mean they're still considering my application? I'm an international student too so I don't know if that makes a difference as to when I hear back. Do schools generally send out acceptances before rejections? Or is it still early enough that I still have a chance?</p>
<p>I think that, generally, they do send out acceptances before rejections. I’m also getting a little anxious as I have yet to hear back from any of the schools I’ve applied to, though apparently only one of them has yet to send out any acceptances. </p>
<p>But my only advice is to just calm down. My guess is that they send out their acceptances in successive batches, though not necessarily all at once. So it’s too early to freak.</p>
<p>When i went through the process, I checked grad cafe in a compulsive manner as people posted their results on that website. You probably know this, but international students don’t hear until after the domestic ones do.</p>
<p>Belevitt: I am international and my POI told me straight out of the ad meeting that I had been accepted! I guess it depends maybe more on you POI than where your live.</p>
<p>Check the departments’ notification dates for past years on the site gradcafe. Usually acceptances are sent before rejections, but sometimes there are multiple rounds of both.</p>
<p>From what I’ve been gathering, people are hearing back from the same school on different days so it seems that the schools are sending out acceptances as they are making the decisions instead of sending them out all at once. And some schools apparently don’t even send out rejections via email (I fail to understand the logic behind that).</p>
<p>But it’s only been a few weeks. I guess it is still a little early to be freaking out.</p>
<p>Ok calm down loontunes1. It’s a very stressful process (trust me I know, I went through it twice!) and I know how worrying it can be to not hear back from anyone. There’s no need to freak out just yet but there is reason for at least some caution. I applied last year and got rejected by all 9 of the schools I applied to (yeah I know talk about stressful!). What I wished I had done earlier was approach my PI (or whoever your closest Prof is) and asked him to send out phone calls for me. I did eventually ask him to do that but it was too late for most schools. From your previous posts I gather you applied to Chemical Engineering programs (my major too!). I’m not going to lie, many of those schools have already started sending out acceptances but their rejections mostly haven’t come in. From my experience last year most rejections came later. Look its not too late yet but as my Professor told me yesterday: No news is bad news. After mid Feb your chances of getting admitted drop exponentially. So there’s still time but I would definitely at least talk to your professor if I were you.</p>
<p>On a side note: its not the end of the world if you get rejected. It sucks- I know but just figure out something to do for next year and then reapply. I’m getting a Masters in ChemE this year and I reapplied and while I probably won’t get in everywhere I’ve gotten into enough schools (honestly you just need one don’t you?). What I mean to say is that this isn’t a life or death situation. Calm down, and good luck!</p>
<p>Superwizard, thanks for the advice and sorry to hear about what happened to you. I never actually considered that option and I’m not really sure how to approach my PI. What do I ask him and wouldn’t it seem like I’m trying to enter through the back door?</p>
<p>Ah its ok don’t apologize. This admission cycle went much better for me so I’m all good. </p>
<p>I know what you mean about it feeling a bit awkward and strange. I remember having a really, really hard time approaching my professor as well but its honestly quite a common thing to do when it comes to graduate schools. I was just frank about my situation and told my professor how I was worried that I might not get in anywhere and that that another professor had told me that one thing that might increase my chances was if he contacted the schools (I wasn’t lying or anything that was the truth). Really the phone call is just your PI vouching for you and reaffirming his support of your application. Sometimes it helps other times it does not. I know of cases where PIs have really gone out of their way to pretty much insist that a school take a student and the school did. Of course you should frame it in a very polite way to your PI. It really depends on your relationship with the PI and whether they’re willing to do this for you and whether they think its an ok thing to do. </p>