zpedram wrote:So I'm basically tired of waiting for UCSB and Stanford! Do u think it would work against me if I emailed them and asked for my application status? I mean I got accepted into my first-choice school, so I don't "really" care for their results. I just want to know If i were qualified in their point of view as well or not!what do you guys think I should do?
Discussion was a bit off-topic, so new thread.AprilMay4 wrote:True, he did say that. But I mean, I don't except people who have gotten into schools to withdraw applications from schools as amazing as Stanford and UCSB until after at least receiving a decision. I mean, isn't that what we paid so much money to know? And if it were me, (which it could be because I applied to Stanford and they haven't sent out anything yet) I would just want to know because I would always wonder about it. I will most likely get rejected from Stanford, and I will be perfectly fine with that, but I still want to know so that I don't always wonder. My opinion on this would be different say if he had gotten into Princeton and was still wanting to know if he got into say, Greendale Community College or something. That would clearly be ego stroking.Minovsky wrote:Well, zpedram did say that they didn't really care for their results. AprilMay4 does bring up a good point, but the way zpedram described their situation, it does sound like they're just trying to stroke their ego.
If zpedram meant what he seems to have been implying - that he has no interest in Stanford or UCSB, but just wants to hear the decision - then he is ego-stroking. The only reason to do this is to have a sense of satisfaction from having been accepted to Stanford, and that's arrogant. I think that it's totally possible that he means something else, though, like he's leaning toward a school to which he's already been accepted, but still would still have a genuine interest in Stanford or UCSB if he were admitted. If this is the case, he should absolutely wait for a decision.
I disagree with you, though, AprilMay, that the reason we paid an application fee is to hear a result - I think you're looking at the process in two wrong ways.
1. Since an applicant can't know a priori which schools will admit them, they hedge by applying to several schools, and thus pay a bunch of application fees. Of course, if someone were to know with certainty that they would be accepted to their top choice, then paying extra application fees would be a waste of money. But if you're lucky enough to get an offer from your top choice and you withdraw your other applications, that money was not wasted - that is the cost of hedging a stochastic process.
2. When you apply, you make a good faith commitment that you are genuinely interested in the program and you give the school a bit of money. In return, the school makes a good faith effort to evaluate your application. But if, at some point, you change your mind and are no longer genuinely interested in a program, you've broken your agreement with the school, so you should withdraw your application so that other applicants who are genuinely interested can be given your spot. Not doing this is equivalent, in my mind, to a school deciding you reject you in February, but not telling you until April. In both cases, one party has broken it's agreement with the other.
Plus, I really don't feel bad for you if you got in to Berkeley. Also, apologies if you are female, zpedram.