I tried contacting my regional admission counselor and got an automated response saying he would be out of the office until March 17th. Does this effect/delay my admissions decision? Thanks.
No, it doesn't affect any decisions. Admissions would not let things come to a halt at this time of year based on someone being out of office for a full week. Furthermore, members of the Admissions Board are normally the ones who brief your record and the Admissions Counselors have assistants as they prep your record to go to the AB member.