Last post, I mentioned that the University of Michigan had a nice admissions blog that included a contact email in case any prospective students had questions. I actually had a few questions, so I decided to send an email. I also figured that I should send emails to all of the institutions that I was thinking of applying to. I sent similar emails (though they each had specific questions about each program) to Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, UC Irvine, and Berkeley.
I received a very long and thoughtful response from Laura Elgas at Michigan. Her email really went above and beyond what I was expecting to receive. She answered all of my questions and even offered to set up a telephone appointment so I could speak with her directly! Suffice it to say, I have a very positive impression of the program at Michigan now. It really means a lot to me that a real human would reply and help me out with this difficult process.
I also got a personal reply from Virginia Tech. They simply stated that I seemed to be a good match with their program based on the info I told them (I also sent them the URL for Notecentric). Most of my questions were answered, though they skipped a few. They politely asked that I keep in touch once I’ve actually submitted my application. This is about on par with what I would expect to receive. I understand that most schools don’t have much time to respond personally to emails, so the reply I got very much appreciated.
Both UC Irvine and Berkeley sent me automatic replies. The UC Irvine one had a lot of general grad school information. It said that I should send the message again if my questions weren’t answered. I did. The Berkeley email just stated that I should be receiving a reply shortly. This was five days ago. Hopefully I’ll get something from both of them soon.
Georgia Tech sent me nothing. Incidentally, I had sent a message to them a month or so ago that didn’t get a reply either. I don’t know who’s running the recruiting over at Georgia Tech, but they haven’t impressed me. I really don’t expect to get a reply from them at all.
So in summary, Michigan is really awesome at recruiting, VT is good. UC Irvine and Berkeley still haven’t sent me anything, but it’s only been 5 days. Still a long turnaround time, I think. Georgia Tech doesn’t seem to care about its prospective students.
Some schools have made me feel very excited to apply, others have given me the cold shoulder. While the academic strength of a program is really important, I think that the people skills of a department really reflect a lot as well.