Oh no way
I've been pretty calm and not at all paranoid about this whole process...until today. I wanted to share the story here, hope it doesn't bother anyone (and I hope nobody else has similar problems)!
I got a phone call while I was at work from the department admissions coordinator at one of my schools with a Jan. 1 deadline, saying they're making admissions & funding decisions next Monday morning but haven't received 2 of my letters, my transcripts, or my resume, and they needed them by 5 PM to consider me. I spent my lunch break on the phone and email and managed to send the coordinator my resume, get both of my recommenders to email copies of their letters to her, and get my undergrad to send an electronic copy of my transcript (which she said they'd be willing to use due to the situation). Except for my study abroad transcripts, which I simply couldn't get in one day, the department now has semi-official copies of everything. Phew.
So what happened? I sent out the transcripts and resume a few weeks ago, and I trust my recommenders, so I was like "does the post office actually have a 75% failure rate for priority mail, or is this the graduate school office's fault?" After work I checked my tracking number, and the package with my transcripts and resume was delivered, albeit during the school's Christmas break. So it's the graduate school administrative office's fault that the department was missing 75% of my application. *sigh* I can understand that things take a while to process, but shouldn't the departments and the graduate school somehow coordinate things so that the departments actually get the materials BEFORE they start making decisions?
I do feel lucky - for one thing, SO glad that someone from the department called to give me a chance to get the materials in! And so glad that my undergrad registrar and professors are accessible and helpful in a crunch. My paranoid fear now is now that this is happening at all my other schools and they won't let me know, they'll just throw my application out.I'll definitely be making a few phone calls on Monday....
I got a phone call while I was at work from the department admissions coordinator at one of my schools with a Jan. 1 deadline, saying they're making admissions & funding decisions next Monday morning but haven't received 2 of my letters, my transcripts, or my resume, and they needed them by 5 PM to consider me. I spent my lunch break on the phone and email and managed to send the coordinator my resume, get both of my recommenders to email copies of their letters to her, and get my undergrad to send an electronic copy of my transcript (which she said they'd be willing to use due to the situation). Except for my study abroad transcripts, which I simply couldn't get in one day, the department now has semi-official copies of everything. Phew.
So what happened? I sent out the transcripts and resume a few weeks ago, and I trust my recommenders, so I was like "does the post office actually have a 75% failure rate for priority mail, or is this the graduate school office's fault?" After work I checked my tracking number, and the package with my transcripts and resume was delivered, albeit during the school's Christmas break. So it's the graduate school administrative office's fault that the department was missing 75% of my application. *sigh* I can understand that things take a while to process, but shouldn't the departments and the graduate school somehow coordinate things so that the departments actually get the materials BEFORE they start making decisions?
I do feel lucky - for one thing, SO glad that someone from the department called to give me a chance to get the materials in! And so glad that my undergrad registrar and professors are accessible and helpful in a crunch. My paranoid fear now is now that this is happening at all my other schools and they won't let me know, they'll just throw my application out.I'll definitely be making a few phone calls on Monday....