Demand side here: can't hurt you, would only help you if you were on the cusp and we were trying to decide on a second round, but we will answer you to the best of our ability.
Asking application status
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Another demand side here: it CAN hurt you, depending on whether you have a good reason to ask. For example, if you have an offer from another school, but you might prefer an offer from us, then we definitely want to know that. And that's a situation where you genuinely need to know where you stand with us, because it might affect how you respond to that other school's offer.
But a lot of candidates ask when they don't have any good reason; they're just nervous and want to know something, even if there's nothing they'll be able to do with that information. That looks bad, because it's immature. It's the equivalent of a little kid in the back of the car asking "Are we there yet?" I don't want to sound unsympathetic: we know the job market is nerve-wracking (just like I know my kid has a hard time sitting in his car seat for an hour). But try to act like a grown-up and be patient.
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Another demand side here: it CAN hurt you, depending on whether you have a good reason to ask. For example, if you have an offer from another school, but you might prefer an offer from us, then we definitely want to know that. And that's a situation where you genuinely need to know where you stand with us, because it might affect how you respond to that other school's offer.
But a lot of candidates ask when they don't have any good reason; they're just nervous and want to know something, even if there's nothing they'll be able to do with that information. That looks bad, because it's immature. It's the equivalent of a little kid in the back of the car asking "Are we there yet?" I don't want to sound unsympathetic: we know the job market is nerve-wracking (just like I know my kid has a hard time sitting in his car seat for an hour). But try to act like a grown-up and be patient.Agreed, unless the status of your candidacy is about to change or you have a flyout just down the street, don't call us, we'll call you.