what are acceptance or rejection letters like?

[rollingstone]

would they have "congratulation" or "sorryu" in the subject line to indicate the content? freaking out:idea:

[jahizbarlas]

love the icon.

explains our state very well :)

[biswonath]

A friend of mine showed me his 'acceptance' email from Berkeley. It was from a student in adcom. The subject line, I remember, was 'Greetings from Berkeley'. He explained to me later that all his rejections came from mails, and all acceptances came from emails. "If you get a mail from MIT, if you didn't get an email from them before, if your application status says everything is there and the envelope is thin, it is definitely a rejection letter" was his suggestion to me.

[EconMist]

Rollingstone, relax man! Just sit back and think about something else. Don't worry you'll get those letters or emails (rejections or acceptances)...hopefully you'll get the latter! GOOD LUCK!

[Karina 07]

That raises a good point, though:

 

Will ALL places notify you of acceptances through e-mail?

 

I'll be travelling about a bit during March break, and it would set my mind at rest if I knew that I didn't need to get anyone to check the mail for me, that I'd have all the information I needed just by checking e-mail....

[Cph]

Some schools write directly that they do not release decisions over e-mail or phone, so I think you'd have to have someone checking your mail box.

 

There was a (really) old thread about this topic, try to search for it.

[Econ07]

Some schools write directly that they do not release decisions over e-mail or phone, so I think you'd have to have someone checking your mail box.

 

There was a (really) old thread about this topic, try to search for it.

 

I believe they say it to avoid tons of applicants calling or sending e-mails requesting their results. It doesn't actually mean that they would not contact applicants by means other than snail mail. Anyway, most schools must send e-mails notifying you of acceptances, but no one will ever be 100% sure that all will do that.

[asquare]

Here's an acceptance letter (from UMD, but pretty typical) from two years ago:

We are very pleased to inform you that the Department of Economics has

recommended that the Graduate School accept your application for

admission. All of the members of the Graduate Admissions Committee

were extremely impressed with your background. Consequently, the

Department would like to offer you a graduate assistantship for your

first two years in the program. Graduate assistantships, which involve

teaching or research duties in the department, come with a stipend of

$12,700 per year (plus the possibility of a small cost of living

increase). Assistantships also include tuition remission and medical

insurance. Assuming satisfactory progress in the program, we will

extend this assistantship through your fourth year of study; a fifth

year of funding, while not guaranteed, will often be possible for

students making good progress on their dissertations. You will be

receiving a letter by mail shortly confirming this information.

 

We hope that you will be able to attend our department's Admitted

Students Day on Monday, April 4. This will be a good opportunity to

meet some of our faculty and current graduate students and to see the

campus and the surrounding Washington, DC area. We would be glad to try

to arrange for you to stay with one of our current graduate students

while you are here.

 

As you know, the first year of graduate course work in economics

involves substantial mathematics. Our Department offers a free summer

course covering relevant topics in mathematics. This course is not

required, but many students find it very useful. You can learn more

about this class on the web at http://www.econ.umd.edu/vincent. I will send

you additional information about the summer course and Admitted Students

Day in the near future.

 

We know that it is often difficult to choose a graduate program. We

hope that you will feel free to contact one of us if you have any

questions about Maryland. Our contact information is given below.

 

The deadline for your acceptance of this offer is April 15. We would

appreciate your notifying us as soon as possible as to your plans.

 

We hope that you will feel free to contact one of us if you have any

questions about Maryland.

 

Sincerely,

[asquare]

Here's one without funding (UCSD):

Congratulations on being admitted to the University of California, San Diego, Economics Ph.D. program. By this time, you should have received official notification via email from the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research.

 

Regrettably, we do not have funds to offer you financial assistance during your first year of study. However, all students in good standing can expect to be offered positions as Teaching Assistants during their second through fifth years of graduate study with the department. Additionally, all Teaching Assistants receive, in addition to a monthly salary, significant reductions or complete waiver of fees during these years. Thus, the financial burden is primarily a matter of getting through the first year. U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are not California residents typically file for, and are granted California residency status after their first year, which exempts them from paying tuition for the remainder of their graduate studies. Please see the "Four-Year Support Offer" below for an outline of typical support beyond the first year. In order to qualify for continuing support from the department, you must remain in good academic standing as defined in the Economics Graduate Handbook (see http://www.econ.ucsd.edu/gradprog). Your progress will be evaluated in May of each academic year.

 

Please note that all financial aid decisions are final.

 

We expect a high level of mathematical sophistication of our entering students. Students who are inexperienced with mathematical proofs are at a distinct disadvantage. In order to help students with the necessary mathematical skills, the Department offers a mini mathematics for economists course, covering topics including optimization and real analysis, Economics 205. This course meets during the first three weeks of September for two hours each day, and reviews the material found in basic calculus classes, but at a rapid pace and at a higher level of rigor. You are not required to take this course, but you must pass the final examination before you enroll in Economics 200A (microeconomics core course). Please see the attached PDF documents for a copy of last year's syllabus and final examination.

 

We know that you will have many fine schools and offers from which to choose. In making your final decision, please consider the many strengths of UCSD: (1) our Ph.D. program gives a modern, analytically oriented training well-rounded in micro and macro theory, econometrics, and advanced specialties; (2) the faculty (see http://www.econ.ucsd.edu) is very active in research and contains some of the leading members of the profession; (4) we have a very active program of visitors and workshops; (5) our Ph.D.s have been placed in leading economics departments including Arizona, Brown, Chicago, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Illinois, Iowa, MIT, Michigan, North Carolina, Northwestern, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin; and (5) San Diego, with a mild climate, spectacular beaches, clean city, and nearby photogenic mountains and deserts is a very diverse and pleasant place to live.

 

As soon as you have made a decision, even if it is negative, please submit your decision on the web site indicated in the email sent to you from the Dean of Graduate Studies. April 15 is our deadline for notification of your decision. I very much hope that you will decide to come to UCSD. Please feel free to contact the Economics Graduate Advising Officer, Mary Jane Hubbard (mhubbard@ucsd.edu), if you have administrative questions about the admission and aid offer. Please also feel free to contact Julian Betts, Professor and Vice Chair of Economics Graduate Studies, at jbetts@ucsd.edu, if you have questions about the program.

 

Sincerely Yours,

[Antichron]

For both acceptances and rejections, there is a lot of variance in how you will be notified. For example, Yale sent out e-mails for rejections and packets in the mail for acceptances. If I remember correctly, the acceptances I received via e-mail were MIT, Harvard (they called my cell phone first, though), UCLA, Stanford (but I had to call and request an e-mail - otherwise, it would have been via snail mail), and Princeton. The acceptances I received via the postal service were Chicago, Berkeley, Yale, and Columbia.

 

I originally thought that a large envelope in the mail would be an acceptance and a small envelope in the mail would be a rejection, but Chicago mailed out its acceptances in a small envelope. (They later followed it up with larger envelopes.)

 

For the e-mail acceptances, the beginnings of the e-mails were sometimes, but not always indicative of the decision. For example, Harvard's e-mail title was "Welcome from Harvard Economics!" while Princeton's was "Princeton Admissions Notice." Further, Princeton's e-mail started off with "I just wanted to let you know that our Director of Graduate Studies... and I have met with the Deans of the Graduate School to discuss who should be admitted to our graduate program."

 

(Stanford's title was "Stanford Application," and MIT's title was "MIT Admission Decision." UCLA sent me a personal e-mail, because I knew the chair of the admissions committee.)

 

I hope this is informative. Good luck to everyone, and try not to stress out too much between now and mid-March! (Though that is, of course, impossible.)

[asquare]

I thought I had rejection letters, too. But I seem to have deleted those... (Actually, I received several rejections via snail mail.)

 

On the issue of funding: it's more flexible than you think. Three schools that accepted me substantially changed their aid offers (to my benefit) after I was admitted. (Maryland, Wisconsin, and Michigan).

[veroniquaz]

On the issue of funding: it's more flexible than you think. Three schools that accepted me substantially changed their aid offers (to my benefit) after I was admitted. (Maryland, Wisconsin, and Michigan).

 

did you have to push them to do so or they just informed you that if you decide to come you can get an even better funding package?

[Cassin]

For both acceptances and rejections, there is a lot of variance in how you will be notified. For example, Yale sent out e-mails for rejections and packets in the mail for acceptances. If I remember correctly, the acceptances I received via e-mail were MIT, Harvard (they called my cell phone first, though), UCLA, Stanford (but I had to call and request an e-mail - otherwise, it would have been via snail mail), and Princeton. The acceptances I received via the postal service were Chicago, Berkeley, Yale, and Columbia.

 

I originally thought that a large envelope in the mail would be an acceptance and a small envelope in the mail would be a rejection, but Chicago mailed out its acceptances in a small envelope. (They later followed it up with larger envelopes.)

 

For the e-mail acceptances, the beginnings of the e-mails were sometimes, but not always indicative of the decision. For example, Harvard's e-mail title was "Welcome from Harvard Economics!" while Princeton's was "Princeton Admissions Notice." Further, Princeton's e-mail started off with "I just wanted to let you know that our Director of Graduate Studies... and I have met with the Deans of the Graduate School to discuss who should be admitted to our graduate program."

 

(Stanford's title was "Stanford Application," and MIT's title was "MIT Admission Decision." UCLA sent me a personal e-mail, because I knew the chair of the admissions committee.)

 

I hope this is informative. Good luck to everyone, and try not to stress out too much between now and mid-March! (Though that is, of course, impossible.)

 

When was the earliest admission notice (top 10)? I don't know if I can trust earliest notices on gradcafe.com because of bogus entries (February 22).

[EconChump]

you are the man, antichron. truly sick.

[asquare]

did you have to push them to do so or they just informed you that if you decide to come you can get an even better funding package?

One school I pushed a bit -- let them know I was serious about attending, but had much better funding offers elsewhere. The other two exogeneously offered me better funding.

[Antichron]

When was the earliest admission notice (top 10)? I don't know if I can trust earliest notices on gradcafe.com because of bogus entries (February 22).

 

Haha. I had to check thegradcafe.com to see when I first posted my Berkeley admit. (Berkeley was my first admit.) I guess it was on February 24th. Yale followed on the 27th. Both were notifications via the postal service.