How quickly are admission offers extended?

[50MinuteHour]

I caught wind that my #1 program choice started extending offers on Wednesday. It's Friday night and I haven't heard anything. How likely is it that they are still extending offers? Do you think they have finished contacting their top choices at this point and are now waiting until they confirm their spots in order to send out rejection letters? I am not feeling hopeful about it at this point and am curious what others insights on this process might offer.

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[Wendi22]

I caught wind that my #1 program choice started extending offers on Wednesday. It's Friday night and I haven't heard anything. How likely is it that they are still extending offers? Do you think they have finished contacting their top choices at this point and are now waiting until they confirm their spots in order to send out rejection letters? I am not feeling hopeful about it at this point and am curious what others insights on this process might offer.

Hello,

Been through the admission cycle a few times now (turned offers down in fast due to funding/fit). Anyways, there is still a chance for sure I think. Last year, 3 weeks went by and I heard NOTHING from one school and I knew others had heard. All the sudden I get an e-mail saying I am next on the "rolling-admissions list". I was officially accepted a few days later. This was LIU Brooklyn. This year, my POI from the school I plan to attend contacted me in less than a week but others got a call sooner than me, while some got a call several days after me (different POI's of course). My insight is that schools do it al kinds of ways and do not give up hope just because you have not heard...no news is now always bad news.

 

[stw2010]

I caught wind that my #1 program choice started extending offers on Wednesday. It's Friday night and I haven't heard anything. How likely is it that they are still extending offers? Do you think they have finished contacting their top choices at this point and are now waiting until they confirm their spots in order to send out rejection letters? I am not feeling hopeful about it at this point and am curious what others insights on this process might offer.

I think this does vary by school. Here are some things to consider (and this is just my experience based off my doctoral program):

Before applicants are invited there's a rank of faculty who gets "dibs" on picking students (e.g., new faculty, faculty with grant funding, faculty who had students go off to internship, etc).

These faculty choose the "first round" of applicants to extend invites. If the potential offers get turned down, than sometimes these faculty will the send out second round of offers or faculty lower on the list will get to then send offers to students they are interested in.

First round of offers are extended pretty quickly (e.g. I interviewed on a Thursday/Friday and was given an offer the following Tuesday). But that doesn't mean you won't hear from them -- you could be an alternate or could be a lower ranked faculty's first pick! You never know. Other possibilities -- their still tweaking the funding. So keep hope alive! Sending good vibes your way!

 

[50MinuteHour]

This is all good information. Thank you very much for your responses!

 

[50MinuteHour]

So it has been over a month now since the interview and still nothing. Is it common for some programs to not waitlist students while they wait to hear back from their first round of offers? Also, at what point on average do most programs finalize the cohort? I know the APA has a deadline of April 15, but I assume the majority of programs finalize the cohort well in advance of this date.

 

[Justanothergrad]

So it has been over a month now since the interview and still nothing. Is it common for some programs to not waitlist students while they wait to hear back from their first round of offers? Also, at what point on average do most programs finalize the cohort? I know the APA has a deadline of April 15, but I assume the majority of programs finalize the cohort well in advance of this date.

Yes, it's very common. Faculty may not 'finalize' the cohort before then because there are folks who are holding onto the invite, leaving faculty the option to extend another if they decline. This can happen at the last minute. If it has been a month I would follow-up with the program to see if you are still under consideration, but thats me.

I think this does vary by school. Here are some things to consider (and this is just my experience based off my doctoral program):

Before applicants are invited there's a rank of faculty who gets "dibs" on picking students (e.g., new faculty, faculty with grant funding, faculty who had students go off to internship, etc).

These faculty choose the "first round" of applicants to extend invites. If the potential offers get turned down, than sometimes these faculty will the send out second round of offers or faculty lower on the list will get to then send offers to students they are interested in.

First round of offers are extended pretty quickly (e.g. I interviewed on a Thursday/Friday and was given an offer the following Tuesday). But that doesn't mean you won't hear from them -- you could be an alternate or could be a lower ranked faculty's first pick! You never know. Other possibilities -- their still tweaking the funding. So keep hope alive! Sending good vibes your way!

This also varies greatly between programs. Other programs meet and agree as a group on what the incoming class will be (with folks selecting those they are most interested in) and then all prospective advisors in the program extend invites at the same time. It's not always so hierarchical as you describe, although some are. This lessened hierarchy is particularly true in counseling programs but is also the case in well known clinical programs.