Question about voting process of adcom.

[FattySlug]

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When do adcom vote on you? I am not familiar with the process but it only makes sense that they vote on students right after the interview while they still remember you; both of my interviewers didn't take any notes.

The reason why I ask because I plan to write a LOI to a school that I was interviewed at 3 weeks ago. So if my guess about the voting process was correct my fate must have been decided already; would a LOI make a difference? They did say that they would like to know if you are interested. Is it too early to write one? Thanks for any input.

 

[sector9]

When do adcom vote on you? I am not familiar with the process but it only makes sense that they vote on students right after the interview while they still remember you; both of my interviewers didn't take any notes.

The reason why I ask because I plan to write a LOI to a school that I was interviewed at 3 weeks ago. So if my guess about the voting process was correct my fate must have been decided already; would a LOI make a difference? They did say that they would like to know if you are interested. Is it too early to write one? Thanks for any input.

At all 4 of my interviews so far, they've explained this.

At 2 of them, they were voting as we were on our way to the airport. At the other two, they weren't voting for another 2 1/2 weeks.

You can't use the "they weren't taking notes" thing too well, since a lot of interviewers take notes on you immediately after the interview to add to your file

 

[bucks2010]

schools I have been to have given different timetables. early on voting took place within 1-2 weeks of the interview day, but as the season goes on I think a lot of schools get a backlog of applicants to vote on, so it will take longer for them to get to your file post-interview (a notable exception was CWRU which reviewed our files exactly 1 week after the late-October interview -- nice).

as far as sending the letter, if you have it written already, I would send it. if you're accepted, it won't make a difference. if you're waitlisted, they'll have it on file for later when they start going through the waitlist.

 

[Gaboon]

I'm at a UC school...we vote on applicants within about 2 weeks of their interviews. It's common for interviewers not to take notes--most people I know don't. The point of interviews is to see if you can carry on a good conversation & relate to people in a natural way...so notes on exactly what you're talking about aren't nearly as important as perception of your interpersonal skills.

 

[anbuitachi]

every school is different. for one school, they did my file like 3 months after interview b/c they were waiting for interviewer to submit evaluation

 

[kduck]

At all of my interviews they [interviewers] took notes while we talked. One interviewer actually recorded our conversation (I didn't notice it until the end when said interviewer grabbed the recorder to turned it off).

😱 That would have freaked me out.

 

[Law2Doc]

When do adcom vote on you? I am not familiar with the process but it only makes sense that they vote on students right after the interview while they still remember you; both of my interviewers didn't take any notes.

The reason why I ask because I plan to write a LOI to a school that I was interviewed at 3 weeks ago. So if my guess about the voting process was correct my fate must have been decided already; would a LOI make a difference? They did say that they would like to know if you are interested. Is it too early to write one? Thanks for any input.

Every school works on a slightly different system. In general, interviewers will make notes on you and to some extent convert your interview to some semblance of a "score", so they can remember whether they liked you and how much, and whether you had the attributes they deem a good fit. Most adcoms meet every couple of weeks to decide on the folks they have seen in the interval. tends to be more of a discussion than a formal vote. And there will certainly be folks tabled to the next group, or wait listed, as they wait and see if someone better shows up.

 

[NickNaylor]

Seconding what L2D said - the process will vary from school to school. At Pritzker, for example, only a set number of applications are viewed every executive committee meeting (which happens biweekly), so the amount of time that passes before you get your decision will vary.

We also use a multi-committee system where applications are evaluated in sub-committees (composed of specific constituents of the school, i.e., students, faculty, etc.) before getting a final up or down vote on the executive committee.