When you say the secretary refuses to let you know what is going on with your application, what exactly is she telling you? A lot of programs have to wait for approval from the Office of the Registrar, so maybe you could contact them. I was in a similar situation: I applied for an away, received no response, e-mailed the contact person several times without a response, figured my app was rejected, then got a confirmation e-mail out of the blue after two and a half months of silence.