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I applied for study abroad program and so far, now it has been a week after the expected decision date. Whether I get admitted or not also affects my class schedule for Fall semester which will start in the coming week, so I need to get the decision by this Friday. I sent an email to study abroad office, which is the only contact information available, on Monday to ask for an update but did not get any reply. So, my question is: If I choose to send another email, how to make it sound not rude (since my first email was sent just two days ago)?

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  • Where did you send the email, a professor, a specific person in administration, a general email address (such as [email protected]) ? - depending on your answer, you may find some answers among the "related" questions to the right.
    – Mark
    Aug 23, 2017 at 19:40
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    @Mark I sent an email to study abroad office because that is the only contact information they provide on official website. I am editing my question to reflect this information. Thank you!
    – user78868
    Aug 23, 2017 at 19:41
  • I have the same experience when I applied to study abroad. But, in my case, it was announced that I was admitted and received the scholarship around 2 months before the class starts. However, the problem is my documents arrived very late and got no update since the announcement and I'm worried I can't make it on time of the registration. What I did is I emailed my approved supervisor about the case, told her honestly the case and the implications of delays. What happened next is she emailed the 'in-charge' of the program to get things sorted.
    – xavier
    Aug 24, 2017 at 7:07

2 Answers 2

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The important question is the interval between the time you applied and the time you expect an answer.

If you applied on the day before the decision were announced it is quite possible there was not time to assess your file and sending another email will not help.

If on the other hand your documents were received months ago then another email or better yet a phone call if possible is not inappropriate.

Be mindful that applicants are often optimistic to expect academic decisions to be made within a few days of reception of documents. Admissions officers may have to deal with 100s of files each containing multiple documents to be scanned so the information can be properly stored and distributed to appropriate faculty for later evaluation, and every link in the chain takes time.

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If I choose to send another email, how to make it sound not rude (since my first email was sent just two days ago)?

I usually wait a week before sending a follow-up e-mail. I would forward the original e-mail and preface it with "[name of recipient], I am resending the e-mail below in case you were not able to receive it. Thank you for your time, and I will be waiting for your reply. [your name]".

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