<p>Hello all! Now that Jan. 15th has passed, and Feb.1 is nearing, most prospective graduate students are wrapping up their application procedures. Good luck to all; I hope you get into the best program for you.</p>
<p>I just finished my applications, on Jan. 15th. I'm a nervous wreck! Every e-mail alert, every time the postal mail arrives, I expect to hear something from the schools I applied to. I applied to seven M.S. and Ph.D. programs. The closest thing to good news I've received, is an inquiry as to whether I'd be interested in visiting the campus. </p>
<p>I have two questions.</p>
<p>1) Does an inquiry as to whether I'd like to visit the campus entail acceptance? </p>
<p>2)Is there a time period, during which I can reasonably expect decisions? I acknowledge that there is certainly variance between different adcoms and how they process applications. However, it seems like many undergrad adcoms wait until quite near the March 31st deadline before issuing decisions to the applicants. (Excepting "Early Decision", "Early Action", etc.) I hope grad schools make faster decisions than this. I can't endure the anxiety for 10 more weeks.</p>
<p>From the narrow slice of programs I’m familiar with, you have about eight weeks to go, somewhere in mid-March. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t read anything into inquiries about visiting the campus. Consider it the initial move in marketing to get you to accept their acceptance <em>if</em> it happens, building up a bond between you and them. I doubt they’ve done much more than sort the apps and distributed them for review at this juncture.</p>
<p>From my limited knowledge, it seems that they give decisions out as they make them, so the very strong applicants will hear back first. After that they take into account those that decline the offer and let more decisions go out. All in all, they’ll slowly trickle out between now and late March with maybe one day where a large number are sent out together.</p>
<p>OK 8 weeks…yikes. Let’s hope that my application is sufficiently strong that I receive an earlier decision, though.</p>
<p>As for the campus visit: I’ll take the above advice into consideration, and see about visiting the campus, even if I don’t know the admission decision. Understandably, building a relationship with the department I’m applying to is important.</p>
<p>Still; anyone who has received an admissions decision before March: let us know here, so that I have something to look forward to before then.</p>
<p>Perhaps I need to chill, and just focus on classes, and the senior capstone project. I’ll certainly be sufficiently busy, once the Spring semester starts. Sometimes the best you can do is focus only on what you can control.</p>
<p>I got my decision from Cornell a few days ago, which was surprising since their deadline (and the date I turned it in) was only January 2nd. I kinda wish they had taken a while since I just finished all my apps on the 15th and wanted to push the whole thing out of my mind for at least a week or two. Instead, I’m now checking my email constantly now that I know decisions can come early.</p>
<p>I got my first offer on Jan 11 (the application was due Dec 15). For me the early decision took a lot of the anxiety out of the admission process. Whatever happens from here on outwards, I have a very solid backup plan.</p>
<p>If you really want to know when other applicants are hearing back, google The Grad Cafe. Careful, it’s addictive.</p>
<p>My range of responses went from mid January (all of my applications were due by Jan 1) all the way until mid-May.</p>
<p>Most schools will let you know by mid-February because March is generally the month they fly potential students out to visit the school and potential advisors. If you don’t hear by then, assume you’re right on the cusp. The e-mail I got in May told me I was the next student to be accepted if anyone else had decided not to come. They hadn’t even replied saying I was waitlisted up to that point, so I had pretty much forgotten about my application to there by that point, too (heck, I had already visited all the other schools I was accepted to and had said where I was going).</p>
<p>Well, I sent my apps in in November and have just got invited for an interview in Feb at one school. I was surprised how fast the turn around was. Then again, it is only 1 school and I don’t expect to hear from other until about March.</p>