when are grad school decisions made?

Question

I applied for admission in fall '07. The applications were submitted by the Dec 15 deadline. When should I expect to hear back?

One school mentioned february. Any chance I'll hear by the end of this month (Jan)? I'm anxious! Also, are acceptance letters/emails usually sent out BEFORE non-acceptance ones? thanks!

Answer 1

February is probably the very EARLIEST you will hear. The vast, vast majority of graduate school admissions decisions are not completely made until April, although some programs try to make their notifications a bit sooner.

Here's how it works:

Graduate school applications must be processed by the Graduate School of each university before they are then sent on to individual departments. The Graduate School makes sure applications are complete, and applicants meet basic requirements

When all applications are received by a department, then the admissions (and award) decisions are made by the faculty, under the chairpersonship of the Director of Graduate Studies in each department. Usually, the entire faculty meets, several times, in order to make these decisions.

Now think about the teaching schedules of university faculty. It is often difficult to find meeting times convenient to all. None of these meetings take place before the beginning of the January semester. Usually, these meetings run well into late February or early April. Most deparments notify applicants about decisions by mid or early April.

Acceptances are not really sent out before rejections, but accepted students sometimes hear a week or so before those who are rejected. All decisions must be made before anyone is notified. Usually, a list of rejected and accepted applicants is sent by each department to the Graduate School, and the Graduate School sends out the letters. However, each department is able to contact their own accepted applicants, so there's no delay. The official letters from the Graduate School may come a week later.

Lower-tier programs sometimes notify applicants a bit sooner than do top-tier programs. This is because they are hoping to get their offers accepted by their top candidates.

Although admissions decisions are usually (but not always) made at the same time, some students will hear later than others about awards (fellowships, teaching assistantships, research assistantships). This is because top candidates get notified first, and departments have to wait to hear if these candidates will accept their offer. If some top candidates decline, then awards can be offered to the next folks in line.

Best wishes to you!

Answer 2

It varies pretty wildly. Some schools have a rolling admissions policy, where they will review applications as they get them. Others wait until the deadline and the admissions committee meets at once. For the latter, it might be a month or two after the deadline before you hear anything.

For most schools, you will hear before April 15. April 15th is regarded as the date that you will have made your decision and informed the schools that you applied to. This is because most schools adhere to the Council of Graduate Schools Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees and Assistants. Basically, this "agreement" makes sure that students aren't forced to make a decision before they receive all of their offers from other schools. It also makes sure that students fairly treat the offers and properly inform the schools of their decision. While the nature of this agreement is only for students who receive funding, most programs seem to follow the April 15 deadline.

There is a pretty cool site from last year that people went to look at admissions statuses from schools across the country. http://www.thegradcafe.com/ You can go to that site and see what dates people got their offers from the programs you applied to.

Back when I was applying to graduate school, my decision dates weren't consistent. I got my first offer by late January, a few more in February, and the last few in March. Just be patient...

With regard to your second question, it will also vary. If your application clearly isn't good enough for the program, they might go ahead and reject you immediately. However, if your application is borderline, they may hold out giving you a decision until they hear back from their first round of offers. Many schools have several rounds of decision. In the first round, they will give offers to the absolute best candidates. At this time, they might also send out rejection letters to the worst candidates. However, for people in the middle of the road in terms of qualifications, you might not receive a decision until the 2nd or 3rd round of decisions by the admissions committee. So if you get a decision quickly, it could be both good or bad...

Answer 3

Graduate School Decisions

Answer 4

if the school has mentioned february, you probably won't hear anything before february.

and hey! it's good to be anxious. I'm guessing you'll get accepted into at least one of your grad schools, so let the excitement build up!

as for the acceptance/non-acceptance letters, i would think all are sent out the same time..
anyways..good luck!