Admission Decisions Update – Read Carefully

As the title of this entry indicates, I hope you will read this message carefully as I explain where we are in the application review process.  My goal is to answer questions you might have, assuage any fears, and give you the detailed information you need regarding the release of decisions.

First, as I have stated before on the blog, we do not publish all of our admission decisions on a single day.  We would love to be able to publish all decisions at the same time, however the structure of our Committee and the coordination involved causes us to spend more time on some applications than others.  How long it takes to review a file is largely dependent upon scheduling and coordination among the Committee members and it should not be a cause of concern if you have to wait longer than some other individuals to receive a decision.

I know this is easy for me to say since I am not the one waiting to receive a decision, however because of the coordination required, neither I nor my staff can tell you the exact date when you will receive your decision.  Our goal is to release decisions as soon as possible, but if you email or call with this question, our answer will be that we are working as quickly as we are able and you will be notified by email once a decision has been posted.

I am happy to share that the Committee has finalized decisions for approximately 65% of those in the applicant pool.

Decisions for this group will be posted between 6:00 PM and 7:00 PM today (New York City Time) – March 7th.

As stated in a recent post, you will know that your decision is ready to view when you receive an email with the following subject heading: SIPA Admissions Decision Notification

The process of releasing decisions can now be described as “rolling” in the sense that as decisions are finalized and approved by the Committee, we will post them and send out email notifications each day.  There will be no standard time window like the one mentioned above, the emails will be sent based on when decisions are posted and ready.  As hard as it is to wait, we kindly ask for your patience as we work as quickly as we are able.

If your admission decision is favorable, I ask that you pay special attention to the Welcome Page that is referenced in the admission letter.  Admitted applicants are likely to have many, many questions and the purpose of the Welcome Page is to provide answers.

The Welcome Page contains information on a variety of topics including, but not limited to:  housing, Admitted Student Day, Orientation, visa processing for international students, and happy hours/events taking place for admitted candidates in various cities around the world.

Thank you for your attention and we look forward to rolling decisions out as they are finalized.