When do waitlisted people hear back?

[Meadow]

Well, I don't know for sure. I think the first thing to do would be to talk to your advisors. Tell them you are waitlisted and see if there is anything they can do to help.

In addition, I'd guess that going to the flyout and expressing interest could help, if the school will allow waitlisted students to attend. You could e-mail the person who sent you the waitlist notification and ask if you would be permitted to attend the flyout, or to visit at another time. If you are waitlisted at a school you would definitely attend if admitted, you should let the school know that (again, by replying to the person who sent you the waitlist notification, or to the department secretary if the notification came from a website). If you are able to pay first year costs out of pocket, you might choose to say so. And if you receive an external fellowship such as the NSF, you should definitely let the school know.

This is very helpful. Thanks.

[walt526]

I'm just going to take this thread as an opportunity to renew my plea to everyone to notify schools of any funded offers that you will decline as soon as possible. Everyone should take the time to fully consider their options, but freeing up the money as soon as possible can have a positive impact for those of us on the lower end of the food chain.

[dsdoodle]

Completely agree with Walt!

[econphilomath]

In addition to what asquare has said (all very reasonable) I would also let them know if you have outside funding as an option. This might bump you up on the wait list. Think of your marginal cost to them...

Visiting or tagging along for flyouts is also a good idea. I personally know two cases where after visiting and interviewing with profs, they were put first on the wait list and eventually got into the program. The key here is to show interest and to show you are not be a retard in person. They liked you enough to put you on the wait list so don't be shy.

But expect to sleep badly until April 15th.

[asquare]

And I'm going to post my annual reminder that I hope TM won't be used to pressure people to make decisions before they are ready. I don't mean to imply that anything that's already been posted constitutes undue pressure. However, choosing a graduate program is a big deal and there are many factors to consider. In particular, attending flyouts can provide important information, and people choosing between their offers should take the time they need to gather information, consult with advisors and family members, and make a decision with which they are comfortable.

Most offers have been out for less than a week and most people are still waiting to hear from some schools. Flyouts haven't even begun. People may be ready to decline offers from definitive safety schools, but I expect that it will take a little bit more time to make decisions about similarly-ranked programs.

Good luck to everyone who is waiting for acceptances and making decisions between schools

[tm_guru]

And I'm going to post my annual reminder that I hope TM won't be used to pressure people to make decisions before they are ready. I don't mean to imply that anything that's already been posted constitutes undue pressure. However, choosing a graduate program is a big deal and there are many factors to consider. In particular, attending flyouts can provide important information, and people choosing between their offers should take the time they need to gather information, consult with advisors and family members, and make a decision with which they are comfortable.

Most offers have been out for less than a week and most people are still waiting to hear from some schools. Flyouts haven't even begun. People may be ready to decline offers from definitive safety schools, but I expect that it will take a little bit more time to make decisions about similarly-ranked programs.

Good luck to everyone who is waiting for acceptances and making decisions between schools

I cannot cannot second this more strongly. We have all worked very hard to get into this position, most of us for a number of years. In addition, the decision we make will have long term consequences for our lives, our families and friends, and our careers. Please let people make their decisions.

In about a month, the forum will be filled with threads titled 'which school should I chose? School X or School Y or School Z'... the people starting these threads are asking because they value the support and advice this forum has provided them, and any posts urging them to hurry their decision runs contra to the spirit, intent, and purpose of the forum.

If you are anxious about being on a waitlist, and want to influence the process, the best way is to make it very clear to the school you are waitlisted at, that you are very interested in coming to their school. Other than that, it's going to be an exercise in patience, and hopefully a touch of good fortune. If it all goes wrong, there are a number of us (not mentioning any names, they can volunteer if they want to) including myself who went through this process twice, and would be very willing to help anyone who needs advice!

[walt526]

I didn't mean to pressure anyone (and won't when the School X vs Y vs Z threads start). I was just referring to offers that one clearly knows that he/she will not take.

For example, at this point I have received two funded offers: MSU and UC Irvine. Given the difference between the two in terms of rankings and the size of the funding, I know that I will almost certainly decline the UC Irvine offer in favor of MSU. I'm just waiting for official notification from the MSU Graduate Office.

Now--hypothetically speaking--if I were to get a funded offer from a school like UIUC, then I'm not sure that I could decide between the two without giving both schools full consideration. In which case, I would take my time to evaluate both options. But I cannot envision a scenario in which I would choose the offer from UCI over the offer from MSU (despite the fact that I hold UCI in very high esteem--the MSU offer is just THAT good).

EDIT: And I'm sure that someone will be VERY happy to eventually get the funding package from UCI that was originally allocated to me--and I want to give that unknown person as much time as possible to fully evaluate his/her options knowing that funding from UCI will be available.