Hello! It seems like just a few months ago (actually 4.5 years) that I was on this website for advice about undergraduate programs. Now I am back to ask another question.
My son has applied to about six schools for the PhD program in Computer Science. He has completed a couple of interviews from schools already (Temple and Drexel) but is still waiting to hear from the place he really wants. Should we be worried that he has not heard from the school where he wants to attend or is it too early to worry? I read another post that said that early February is still the middle of Graduate School Admissions season so I am probably already worried about something that I should not be!
@KittyR - This is a great web site! I have gone through the process with two boys, with one more to go. My oldest son got his PhD offer letter last year from Michigan on February 2. My second son got his Masters offer from Georgia Tech this year on January 30. Grad Cafe can give you a better idea for this year. You can search specifically for Temple and Drexel: https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php
@Beaudreau thank you so very much for the information! My sister and brother in law both went to Michigan undergrad…an excellent school and congrats to your son for the PhD offer from them! Also to your other son for the Masters offer from Georgia Tech! WOW!! I will definitely check out the link! Thanks again!
Google the exact phrase “Grad School Admissions Results”. You may find some very pertinent help.
Some would say that it’s never too early to worry.
Others would say “if I worried would it do any good?”
Finally good old Alfred E Neuman says “What, me worry?” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_E._Neuman
4 yrs ago, my D applied to CS PhD programs. The earliest decision (accepted) came the first week of February, the last (also accepted) came in mid-April.
Thank you both for your replies! I worried about undergrad because he wanted to try and walk on Penn State’s track team. Now he has turned down a really lucrative job offer to stay on at Penn State and work in the Applied Research Lab and wait to hear from them about graduate school. For undergrad, he was one of the first to know. I worry about every thing and need to stop. All things happen for a reason! We will hear soon enough! Thanks again for your kind responses.
My daughter is also applying to PhD programs (engineering), she has some offers/direct admits and some interview visits at other schools coming at the end of February and in early March. The waiting is turning into torture but I now doubt that she will have a final decision until she has all of the puzzle pieces. Maybe later March???
Generally, the ‘decision deadline’ for graduate school is April 15.
When I went to grad school, the schools I applied for and went to (Top 10 programs) did not have ‘waitlists,’ so all decisions went out before visits started - usually the last week of February. I also got all my rejection letters by the beginning of March.
It really depends on the program and the school, so check on grad cafe - it’s pretty accurate and covers a pretty wide range of schools. Admit decisions can come out slowly, but rejections tend to come out as a batch all on the same day.
Rejections might not come out until after the decision day if the student is being considered for a second round offer. When I was running Graduate Admissions for my university, we tried to get offers out by our Spring Break in the middle of March at the latest. Obviously applicants who are the most sought after will be notified sooner. @KittyR - I suspect that Temple and Drexel really want your son and at least he has 2 offers in hand. The good news is that he can wait until April 15 to let them know if he is still considering them as possibilities. If he is not interested in one of the other, a short email declining the offer would be appreciated by those schools, I am sure.
Warning about posting on web sites about specific graduate programs:
This is just a heads up-and it does not apply to all situations and all programs/topics. It does to some.
In contrast to the usual college application process, applications to grad school, particularly to certain doctoral programs (including those that award the MS/MA along route) are very personal matches between an advisor and a student. An entire program may interview only a handful of students. And the potential advisor might be able to identify the applicant by a simple description like, “My daughter is interested in AI-she graduated from Y and has applied to A, b and C. She is most interested in C although she had interviews at A and B. She wasn’t thrilled with A but would accept an offer if B and C don’t come through”. If potential mentor at A were to see that post, darling daughter might be switched from an initial call to a back up. Some of these academic worlds are that small.
I did have another quick question for those of you that have referenced the Grad Cafe. I can’t seem to find it at all…the site is down every time I try and view it. Does anyone know why that site is down? i t seems to be very popular!
I was notified about my masters program at UW in late March. I was actually quite nervous because decisions were supposed to come out on April 1st - talk about a fun day to release decisions. I applied for another program and it kept delaying the deadline, so it definitely varies by school. I didn’t find out until July that I had been rejected! So it seems like they were really behind.
The grad cafe website has a database where people report results. It is a little klugey, and people type in the names of schools all different ways so you need to check variations, but it was one source of info when my D was applying. I just accessed it via Chrome, it seems to be up. I’d agree that February is prime time to hear back, some could go into March.
Application deadlines for MS/ME programs start around December 1 and go well into January, so admission decisions dates also vary. My middle son applied to Georgia Tech and UCSD for master in biomedical engineering degree programs and got his acceptance emails the last week in January. He has not heard back from any of the other five schools that he applied to that had later deadlines.