Anxiety
Today’s post was supposed to continue the Decisions 101 class, but I’m going to shift gears a bit. Shortly after I arrived this morning, I saw this graphic representation of our applicants’ growing collective anxiety level.
It’s the Google Analytics report on visits to the Admissions Blog. Looks like you all were able to relax on the weekend, but something kicked off your nerves yesterday. Then we found out the culprit: the Graduate Application Management System went down for a while. Our GAMS guy said he knew about the problem. We, unfortunately, did not, and couldn’t prevent our applicants from creative interpretation of the tech troubles.
Every year around this time, I try to share a message that will help applicants be patient just a little longer, and every year, I learn that (despite my best intentions) there’s nothing I can say that really helps. Undaunted, I do want to encourage you all to hang in there a little longer. We’re simply not ready to post decisions, and won’t be releasing them this week. Yes, the review process is essentially complete, and yes, one of our office interns is currently stuffing information packets for admitted students. But the final stage of the process involves a zillion tasks and details, and we take things slow to avoid errors. And…because the release process has brought GAMS down repeatedly in the last two years, we’re not going release decisions on a Friday; we want that GAMS guy to be in the office and available to take care of glitches.
We work pretty hard in these last few weeks of the process, and it’s always a huge relief when it’s over. But, much as releasing decisions is good news for us, our real reason for wanting to get the decisions out is that it’s good news for applicants, even if the good news is bad news. We understand that waiting is stressful (and, let’s face it, a little annoying), and you want to move on to the next phase of your grad school planning. Whether you’re admitted or not to Fletcher or any other school, it’s only with complete information that you can move along. We get that.
Back to those details for me. But first the bottom line for blog readers: We’re making steady progress to ensure that the waiting phase will soon be over, but it’s not over yet. I can’t make life easy for you by telling you when the waiting will end, because we don’t yet know. Nonetheless, if you feel able to give your GAMS login a little rest, please know that we will send you an email once your decision has been posted.
Thanks for providing the voice of experience, Anan! And congratulations on your early admission.
Jessica
Hi!!
I laughed when I read your entry Jessica…While waiting for my response in December, I used to check the system even twice a week (given the difference in hours, im my morning time and in your morning time 🙂 ) just in case!!!! And then, one day i just decided to look, not even thinking that the answer was going to be there, here it was!!!!! My heart started to rush up and …..my admission was there…..Be patient!! the time will come 🙂
Thanks for the blog-love, J Sen! But I’m sorry our schedule and your OPT application schedule aren’t fitting together well. At least I can say the wait won’t be too much longer. (Though this does NOT represent a change from anything written in the post above, for those who want to find new meaning in it. 🙂 ) I hate when the office appears bureaucratic but, much as I don’t like to admit it, sometimes a little bureaucracy keeps the errors away.
Jessica
I plead guilty of trying to log in at least 30 times yesterday ever since I found the website down. My creative explanation was the usual–decisions were being uploaded or something equally stupid. :/
This wait is killing me. What is worse is that I have to apply for an OPT visa (I am a student in the USA now) at the earliest. I have been delaying the process. I have been expressly told by my international office here that it is extremely difficult to revoke/undo an OPT application once it has been filed. Since Fletcher is the only place I have applied to, a lot depends on it. I tried to reason with the admission office (Fletcher) to no avail. 🙁 And I totally understand the position of the admission office as well.
Guess I will have to wait. I also take a solemn oath that I shall not check the GAMS this week (to begin with).
I love this blog. Please keep posting. 🙂
A great resolution, Pauline! Frankly, we’re a bit anxious, too, but we like to put everything out at the same time, and that inevitably takes time.
Good luck in your GAMS-free week,
Jessica
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for the updates. As you already know, we are all getting impatient. However, after reading today’s blog, I have made a resolution for this week: not logging in onto GAMS unless I get an email from Fletcher. It’s going to be challenging but I can do it.
Pauline M.