When will we hear back?

waiting512 · Post by **waiting512** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 10:45 pm

So I know that I shouldn't be hearing back this soon, but I was wondering when most school reject/accept an applicant. Any thoughts on this matter would be appreciated.

kiurys · Post by **kiurys** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:12 pm

AFAIK all universities' decision dates fall in the mid-Feb to mid-March range.

dasgut · Post by **dasgut** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:43 pm

Somewhere between "not soon enough" and "OMFG! I'm going crazy! This is killing me!"

owlpride · Post by **owlpride** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 3:35 am

I got all of my first-round decisions between the second week of January and the end of February. Judging from last year's decision thread, that was unusually early.

In fact, I was convinced that my very first acceptance was a hoax because
- it came Jan 11, which seemed way too early to hear back from anywhere
- it was sent from a Gmail account
- from MIT, which I thought I had no chance at whatsoever

The following two days were the longest two days in the history of grad school applications. I couldn't call the math office because a snow storm had shut down the university, and I didn't hear back from the professor who the email supposedly came from. (I later found out that she was stuck at the airport.)

ANDS · Post by **ANDS** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 1:36 pm

waiting512 wrote:So I know that I shouldn't be hearing back this soon, but I was wondering when most school reject/accept an applicant. Any thoughts on this matter would be appreciated.

Most programs give a rough estimate when decisions go out. As has been mentioned, mid-Jan (for apps that were due late Nov.) to mid-Mar. seems to be the timeline.

dragoonlp · Post by **dragoonlp** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:57 am

dasgut wrote:Somewhere between "not soon enough" and "OMFG! I'm going crazy! This is killing me!"

I totally agree with you !!!!!!!!

kiurys · Post by **kiurys** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 12:50 pm

I already received a rejection on January 9 (yesterday) .... i updated my post on the application status.

I dont think its normal to receive a rejection so early, there must of been something wrong on my app for them to reject me so early... im now worried for my other apps...

tatoo · Post by **tatoo** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 9:56 pm

[Post subject: Re: When will we hear back?
I already received a rejection on January 9 (yesterday) .... i updated my post on the application status.

I dont think its normal to receive a rejection so early, there must of been something wrong on my app for them to reject me so early... im now worried for my other apps...]

Hi folk
I guess the problem is that you did not send a GRE Subject score:
"Mathematics Ph.D., M.S.: Requirements:
• GRE general test
• GRE subject test is encouraged."

I wish luck with other app.

rxiaoma · Post by **rxiaoma** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:31 pm

goombayao · Post by **goombayao** » Wed Jan 11, 2012 4:55 am

I received an acceptance yesterday. CS PhD at UIUC.

sasha · Post by **sasha** » Wed Jan 11, 2012 8:16 am

congrats goombayao! I heard CS at UIUC is one of the best.

kiurys · Post by **kiurys** » Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:27 am

@tatoo: that may very well be the cause of my rejection... i hope that indeed that is the cause because i thought there was something bad with my app which would affect my other apps. I only applied to Rensselaer because they gave me a fee waiver, for the others, i made sure to only apply to programs for which the subject test was optional and not "strongly required" so there was no bias.

@rxiaoma: Im not an international applicant so I do not need a TOEFL and didnt submit one. Im US citizen with undergrad and MS degree from US institution.

Thanks for the best wishes... its very disheartening for the first decision to be a rejection...

quinquenion · Post by **quinquenion** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:25 am

Received an acceptance email from U Chicago tonight! Was not expecting anything so soon, but anyways,

owlpride · Post by **owlpride** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:07 am

Congratulations!!! This might be a good opportunity to start a profile in the 2012 applicants thread.

quinquenion · Post by **quinquenion** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 3:34 am

owlpride wrote:Congratulations!!! This might be a good opportunity to start a profile in the 2012 applicants thread.

Done. Tried to be purposefully vague to prevent being too easily googled, but I probably failed in that regard.

dasgut · Post by **dasgut** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 11:57 am

Congrats dude! I hope you said this the moment you got the acceptance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp_K8prLfso

goombayao · Post by **goombayao** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 5:12 pm

dasgut wrote:Congrats dude! I hope you said this the moment you got the acceptance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp_K8prLfso

"Either put on these glasses, or start eating that trash can!"

On a more serious note, Cornell CAM told me to expect a decision some time in February (couldn't be more specific) and Stanford iCME told me early/mid February.

kiurys · Post by **kiurys** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 8:38 pm

So about my rejection from RPI, the graduate school actually told me why i was denied: my gre VERBAL and WRITING scores were "significantly lower" than the average of their previously admitted students. And so it seems that my application never got to the math department and the graduate school itself just filtered me out.

Really weird that I would get denied for VERBAL and WRITING gre scores since Im applying to a Math PhD program (and my quant was 168 with a 96% percentile...)

castlevania87 · Post by **castlevania87** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:32 pm

kiurys wrote:So about my rejection from RPI, the graduate school actually told me why i was denied: my gre VERBAL and WRITING scores were "significantly lower" than the average of their previously admitted students. And so it seems that my application never got to the math department and the graduate school itself just filtered me out.

Really weird that I would get denied for VERBAL and WRITING gre scores since Im applying to a Math PhD program (and my quant was 168 with a 96% percentile...)

oh, that sounds really bad. Maybe the math department doesn't even care about your gre verbal/writing.

Now I am worried, I have an even lower gre verbal b/c I didn't spend any time on this crap. I spent most of my time doing my research work.

ANDS · Post by **ANDS** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 1:19 pm

kiurys wrote:So about my rejection from RPI, the graduate school actually told me why i was denied: my gre VERBAL and WRITING scores were "significantly lower" than the average of their previously admitted students. And so it seems that my application never got to the math department and the graduate school itself just filtered me out.

Really weird that I would get denied for VERBAL and WRITING gre scores since Im applying to a Math PhD program (and my quant was 168 with a 96% percentile...)

Some places put a minimum on the verbal, but care more about your analytic score; I've seen many people fall into the trap of not caring about their Verbal/Writing scores when both do speak to the ability of candidates (especially domestic applicants). However, the FAQ for RPI does not list a minimum score. I would contact the department directly if you're certain it was the graduate school and not the individual department that rejected you.

owlpride · Post by **owlpride** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:14 pm

I would like to second ANDS. If the grad school auto-rejected you before the department even got to see your application, you've got nothing to lose by contacting the department directly. The grad school shouldn't auto-reject applicants when they don't publicize a cutoff (e.g. a minimum TOEFL score for foreign students).

I also believe that RPI's application deadline hasn't passed yet (I got an "one week left to submit your graduate application and save $75‏" junk mail from RPI today), so the department probably hasn't even started making decisions yet. Your application might still receive full consideration if the department requests it from the graduate school.

If I were you, I'd be REALLY pissed. Good luck!!!

adreyer · Post by **adreyer** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 3:33 pm

You can go to this website and search for "math* your university"

http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=math*

For example, I want to know about University of Rochester, so I will search "math* University of Rochester". It will give you admissions results and dates for the past few years, including GRE scores and GPAs if the applicants chose to include them.

mhancock743 · Post by **mhancock743** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 5:37 pm

kiurys wrote:So about my rejection from RPI, the graduate school actually told me why i was denied: my gre VERBAL and WRITING scores were "significantly lower" than the average of their previously admitted students. And so it seems that my application never got to the math department and the graduate school itself just filtered me out.

Really weird that I would get denied for VERBAL and WRITING gre scores since Im applying to a Math PhD program (and my quant was 168 with a 96% percentile...)

if you don't mind saying, what did you score on the verbal and writing?

dasgut · Post by **dasgut** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 6:33 pm

So who thinks Berkeley is the next biggie out? I'm guessing they send the first round acceptances out the last friday of January (1-27).

owlpride · Post by **owlpride** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:13 pm

My bet is on MIT, followed by Berkeley and Princeton.

kiurys · Post by **kiurys** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 10:14 pm

mhancock743 wrote:
kiurys wrote:So about my rejection from RPI, the graduate school actually told me why i was denied: my gre VERBAL and WRITING scores were "significantly lower" than the average of their previously admitted students. And so it seems that my application never got to the math department and the graduate school itself just filtered me out.

Really weird that I would get denied for VERBAL and WRITING gre scores since Im applying to a Math PhD program (and my quant was 168 with a 96% percentile...)
if you don't mind saying, what did you score on the verbal and writing?

Of course not, they are on my post about the 2012 applications.

Verbal: 151 (51%)
Writing: 3.0 (11%)

mhancock743 · Post by **mhancock743** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 11:08 pm

kiurys wrote:
mhancock743 wrote:
kiurys wrote:So about my rejection from RPI, the graduate school actually told me why i was denied: my gre VERBAL and WRITING scores were "significantly lower" than the average of their previously admitted students. And so it seems that my application never got to the math department and the graduate school itself just filtered me out.

Really weird that I would get denied for VERBAL and WRITING gre scores since Im applying to a Math PhD program (and my quant was 168 with a 96% percentile...)
if you don't mind saying, what did you score on the verbal and writing?
Of course not, they are on my post about the 2012 applications.

Verbal: 151 (51%)
Writing: 3.0 (11%)

hmm. They're a little low, but it doesn't seem like slightly below average verbal/writing would warrant a rejection so early, given we're talking about a math program. I wonder if they have a combined score minimum that they don't make public.

Florida State has a policy like that. You could've aced the Q, but not be considered because of an extremely low verbal score. However if RPI had that policy as well, I would think they would make that info publicly available in a FAQ or whatever.

kiurys · Post by **kiurys** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 3:10 pm

Yes I understand they are low.

Now, to RPI's credit, the Graduate Director did tell me they will reconsider my application if I submit ETS' Personal Potential Index (PPI) which of course I will do and I guess I appreciate the opportunity. When I was told that my Verbal and Writing scores were "significantly lower than their average" they told me that their average is Verbal 583 (corresponds to 158 in new scale) and Writing 4.0.

Also, my Nov 11 GRE scores were the following:

Q: 168 (96%)
V: 151 (51%)
W: 3.0 (11%)

but I had also taken the GRE back in Feb 10 in order to enter my Masters and I got 4.0 (48%) in the Writing section (although Q and V were lower than in my Nov 11 sitting) so I asked the Director if they could look at my Feb 10 test for the Writing score (still awaiting an answer) so that if they "superscore" me it would be:

Q: 168 (96%)
V: 151 (51%)
W: 4.0 (48%)

and my Writing would match their average and no longer be "significantly lower", although I cant say anything about my verbal, it is what it is and I'm actually happy about it in a personal way since English is not my native language etc.

Lets see what happens...

nchen5 · Post by **nchen5** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 10:23 pm

owlpride wrote:My bet is on MIT, followed by Berkeley and Princeton.

You were right. I've already seen MIT offers on gradcafe...

dasgut · Post by **dasgut** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 12:09 pm

Anybody else already freakin' out over admits?

bemonocled · Post by **bemonocled** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 12:21 pm

Yeah! I don't think I have a snowball's chance at MIT or Chicago, so I'm not worried that they are sending their first wave of acceptances and I haven't gotten anything, but it means that the flood of other schools catching up will start soon

dasgut · Post by **dasgut** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 12:23 pm

Yeah, I didn't apply to those either. It's just that I know, due to extensively researching gradcafe, that the first of my decisions - if it's an admit - will come in 11 days. Lesson to the chilluns: stay in school, drink your milk; don't do gradcafe.

dragoonlp · Post by **dragoonlp** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 3:18 pm

hmm....I freakin' out already..........I submitted my applications pretty late...around mid of Dec.... so I'm not expecting to receive anything soon...but...freakin' out...

bawaji · Post by **bawaji** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 5:56 pm

I just checked thegradcafe.com. Somebody has been sent an informal notice of admission at Northwestern today. Do you guys think they are sending out informal notices to all of their favored applicants today?

owlpride · Post by **owlpride** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 6:05 pm

"Informal notice" could mean a lot of things. At one school I got an email from a collaborator of my references, saying that he had just read my application and recommended me for admission. At another school all of the admitted students got an "informal notice" of admission from the department because only the graduate school was allowed to make official offers of admission.

If there's just a single report on the grad cafe, chances are that only a few individual students have been contacted. I wouldn't interpret the absence of news as a bad sign.

bawaji · Post by **bawaji** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:38 pm

Thanks, Owlpride. I now see three acceptances from Northwestern at thegradcafe.com. Oh, well...

betafj · Post by **betafj** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:14 pm

belleal · Post by **belleal** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:20 am

Some people have already received offers from uchicago; i didn't. Does it mean that i'll be rejected?
What about the other universities? Do they send all admission letters at once?

ANDS · Post by **ANDS** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 1:00 am

belleal wrote:Some people have already received offers from uchicago; i didn't. Does it mean that i'll be rejected?
What about the other universities? Do they send all admission letters at once?

You wont know that you are rejected until you receive a letter saying so. I would say if you haven't gotten a letter yet, then you aren't rejected. . .yet. It just means there are applicants with who had better packages than you. That doesn't mean everyone that got a letter will attend. I would say, try to enjoy your life - even though your academic life is handing in the balance.

dragoonlp · Post by **dragoonlp** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:26 am

belleal wrote:Some people have already received offers from uchicago; i didn't. Does it mean that i'll be rejected?
What about the other universities? Do they send all admission letters at once?

I applied to uchicago and I got nothing so far too.... I submitted my application pretty late, around Dec. 14... When did u submit yours?

Moreover, I think it is still too early. I know sb who got the offer from uchicago around Feb last year, even later. So...trust me, we still have the chance!!!!

owlpride · Post by **owlpride** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:26 pm

Last year there was a *lot* of waitlist activity in early April. Unfortunately, most applicants don't repond to first-round offers until late March or early April (most Open Houses are in March, and barely anyone declines an offer before taking advantage of an all-expense-paid trip

), so waitlisted applicants are in for a long wait.

dragoonlp · Post by **dragoonlp** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 5:12 pm

adreyer wrote:You can go to this website and search for "math* your university"

http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=math*

For example, I want to know about University of Rochester, so I will search "math* University of Rochester". It will give you admissions results and dates for the past few years, including GRE scores and GPAs if the applicants chose to include them.

Thanks! Now I really can not stop to check on it every second!!

belleal · Post by **belleal** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:34 pm

anybody else freaking out?
....

dragoonlp wrote:
belleal wrote:Some people have already received offers from uchicago; i didn't. Does it mean that i'll be rejected?
What about the other universities? Do they send all admission letters at once?
I applied to uchicago and I got nothing so far too.... I submitted my application pretty late, around Dec. 14... When did u submit yours?

Moreover, I think it is still too early. I know sb who got the offer from uchicago around Feb last year, even later. So...trust me, we still have the chance!!!!

I think I submitted my application around Dec 1st...
And I hope you're right! Good luck for all you guys!!!