Something that bothers me

[Kalydeco]

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Thought I would opine. This doesn't really affect me, so perhaps it shouldn't bother me, but I want to get the community's thoughts.

I don't think people should be calling or emailing admissions offices about the status of their applications. There's really no situation in which that is appropriate. To me, it suggests applicants who are vain, impatient, and self-absorbed, applicants who believe themselves to be special and worthy of individual attention not afforded the other 6,000+ applicants awaiting an interview invite (or ~800 post-interview applicants awaiting decisions). It doesn't matter if you haven't heard anything and others have, or that you think your letter/email/phone call "should" have arrived by now.

Frankly, if I were an admissions officer, I would trash applications from folks who call in to ask about their application status. Given the volume of people on here who claim to make those calls, I may be in the minority, but folks on here should be mindful that there are probably some admissions officers who think like I do.

Thoughts?

 

[911 Turbo]

no...

 

[EatSleepGymRepeat]

Uhm, that's cool? Have you got II's and acceptances yet?

 

[Lya]

Usually, all of these phone calls and e-mails are sent directly to a receptionist who does not necessarily review the applications like "an admissions officer." I think these phone calls are understandable when done appropriately (e.g., not calling 24/7), and the receptionist probably won't mind these phone calls and e-mails.

 

[Kalydeco]

Uhm, that's cool? Have you got II's and acceptances yet?

I have 7 acceptances.

It's not a bitterness issue, just an observation...

 

[deleted407021]

@Lya Why do applicants contact admissions? Is it to see if the application has been processed or if it is going through review?

 

[EatSleepGymRepeat]

I have 7 acceptances.

It's not a bitterness issue, just an observation...

I meant to say the total opposite, because I think if you were on the other side of it with no II's and acceptance, you wouldn't question this? Maybe that's just me. I have 2 acceptances myself, but I think what if I was in a certain student's shoes and I realize my application cycle is in jeopardy, I would do anything... Even to get a peace of mind? You know, empathize?

But I get what you are trying to say too. In reality there are thousands of applicants and some people need to chill. Lol, just interesting thread.

 

[thegypsyqueen]

I am trying to plan the next 4 years of my life. I have a long time girlfriend who will be moving with me and needs to know what bar she is going to take and has to sign up by May. If a school could give me a little more info it would make our decisions so much easier. Are those good enough reasons for a call? I think so, even though I haven't called a school yet. People have different situations from you and maybe you should just worry about yourself.

 

[Finches]

I have 7 acceptances.

It's not a bitterness issue, just an observation...

Actually, it's not "just an observation." That would be if you said "I notice a lot of people call about statuses," and ended it there. You didn't.

The application process is stressful. Rather than "vain, self-absorbed, deserving" and all the other negative attributes you've suggested, I think it's more that people are stressed and worried. And everyone responds differently to stress and worry. Some try to seek more certainty in what is obviously a very uncertain process. While that may be cumbersome at times for the administration, it's understandable.

Not only that, if it bothers them that much, they should just clearly state that calls are unwelcome.

I respect your opinion though, and what you think is what you think. But since you asked for my opinion, I'll weigh in and say that I'm glad you're not an admissions officer, since you claim that you would act so curtly ("I would trash applications from folks who call in to ask about their application status...") by coolly choosing to judge rather than sympathize for what is very human nature.

 

[LostinLift]

Thought I would opine. This doesn't really affect me, so perhaps it shouldn't bother me, but I want to get the community's thoughts.

I don't think people should be calling or emailing admissions offices about the status of their applications. There's really no situation in which that is appropriate. To me, it suggests applicants who are vain, impatient, and self-absorbed, applicants who believe themselves to be special and worthy of individual attention not afforded the other 6,000+ applicants awaiting an interview invite (or ~800 post-interview applicants awaiting decisions). It doesn't matter if you haven't heard anything and others have, or that you think your letter/email/phone call "should" have arrived by now.

Frankly, if I were an admissions officer, I would trash applications from folks who call in to ask about their application status. Given the volume of people on here who claim to make those calls, I may be in the minority, but folks on here should be mindful that there are probably some admissions officers who think like I do.

Thoughts?

My thoughts are you sound like someone who has 7 acceptances. Empathy (for those with none), you should have some by now if you didn't fake it in your application.

 

[MedWonk]

Thought I would opine. This doesn't really affect me, so perhaps it shouldn't bother me, but I want to get the community's thoughts.

I don't think people should be calling or emailing admissions offices about the status of their applications. There's really no situation in which that is appropriate. To me, it suggests applicants who are vain, impatient, and self-absorbed, applicants who believe themselves to be special and worthy of individual attention not afforded the other 6,000+ applicants awaiting an interview invite (or ~800 post-interview applicants awaiting decisions). It doesn't matter if you haven't heard anything and others have, or that you think your letter/email/phone call "should" have arrived by now.

Frankly, if I were an admissions officer, I would trash applications from folks who call in to ask about their application status. Given the volume of people on here who claim to make those calls, I may be in the minority, but folks on here should be mindful that there are probably some admissions officers who think like I do.

Thoughts?

Depends on whether that applicant is doing it once every few months or once a week. The former I can understand if there has been no change in status. The latter is just annoying.

 

[DrCharlemagne]

I'm also personally familiar with occasions where reaching out to admissions committees directly to reinforce one's interest in the school was viewed highly by the adcom members.

 

[medmedman]

I have to disagree. There were a few times where my status "online" was different than the status I was given when I called.
Yes the application process sucks - for both students and the admins. It's part of the job. Nothing wrong with calling and checking about your status. Some schools (UVM) actually like that and put down a "mark" every time you update or check your application because it shows them you care (words straight from the UVM admin) to me.

 

[amichel]

For Canadian schools, they all explicitly say not to call and that they won't give you any info if you do. Interesting how different it is.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gyngyn]

These calls made to admissions do help us identify those who don't follow instructions, have weak communication skills, or anger management problems. This is helpful.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Thought I would opine. This doesn't really affect me, so perhaps it shouldn't bother me, but I want to get the community's thoughts…..

Thoughts?

Don't disagree that most of these contacts are probably unnecessary, but to be fair, some schools have really sparse or vague admissions websites that leave a lot of information out or a lot of room for interpretation. Some schools are also quite slow at updating applicants on the status of their applications (i.e. submit a secondary in August and hear nothing until March or ever again). Combine that with a very high stakes process and an overwhelmingly neurotic, Type-A applicant pool and you should expect a fair number of contacts.

 

[reedsposer22]

Thought I would opine. This doesn't really affect me, so perhaps it shouldn't bother me, but I want to get the community's thoughts.

I don't think people should be calling or emailing admissions offices about the status of their applications. There's really no situation in which that is appropriate. To me, it suggests applicants who are vain, impatient, and self-absorbed, applicants who believe themselves to be special and worthy of individual attention not afforded the other 6,000+ applicants awaiting an interview invite (or ~800 post-interview applicants awaiting decisions). It doesn't matter if you haven't heard anything and others have, or that you think your letter/email/phone call "should" have arrived by now.

Frankly, if I were an admissions officer, I would trash applications from folks who call in to ask about their application status. Given the volume of people on here who claim to make those calls, I may be in the minority, but folks on here should be mindful that there are probably some admissions officers who think like I do.

Thoughts?

My thoughts as follows:

Some people do all they can to get a response, it is not wrong, it's a different approach, it does not mean they are selfish as you state. Same thing goes for residency applications, you call or email programs. You seem a bit angered over a non issue. you have 7 interviews, that is awesome, I would worry about yourself and stop worrying about what others do.

 

[Goro]

And overanxious, or impatient.



.The application process is stressful. Rather than "vain, self-absorbed, deserving" and all the other negative attributes you've suggested, I think it's more that people are stressed and worried.

 

[Tijou]

Umm, if I hadn't called into one of the schools I applied to, I wouldn't have ever found out that my fee waiver form was never received and even though my application was "complete" almost 8 weeks prior, it was still not looked at because they didn't receive the form (I eventually received an II from this school). I'm not a fan of people calling incessantly, but every once in a while it's acceptable, especially to schools that don't update your status online, or schools that give you a timeframe of when you should receive an update by and that time comes and goes.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

I broke down and called a school after I found myself still waiting to hear back from them after my interview three months after they said we would "definitely hear something" by. I was glad I did, because it turned out I was in continued status which they hadn't told me, and at that school being on continued status means "you're going to get rejected if you don't send us updates/an LOI". If I hadn't called, I'd still be clueless that I needed to take action.

In fact, I suspect that not calling other schools about my status was one of the reasons I ended up rejected. I know I was continued status at at least one other school, but I didn't make the decision to call until it was too late (secretary literally told me that the adcom was in its last meeting of the cycle when I called).

 

[T3ckFr3s]

First thing people need to do is make sure schools accept phonecalls/e-mails.

If they do, contacting a school once in a while is fine. Just don't contact too often.
If they don't, then you can make your judgement.