Applied to 5 schools this year. 2 in top 30, 1 in top 50, the other two didn't even break the top 100. Pretty sure I was outright rejected by all 5, and am looking for a little bit of clarification. I went to a small, private institution, had almost 2 years research experience under my belt, LORs from current PI and profs I have tutored for. I have a 3.5 GPA, which could have been significantly higher if it wasn't due to a health crisis during my sophomore year, every other semester hovers around a 3.8. GREs were alright, not 90th percentile but certainly strong enough not to be thrown away. Presenting my research at a national conference in a few weeks.
Due to an unfortunate medical diagnosis my senior year for a condition thats out of my control, I had to withdraw from one class in order to attend multiple doctors appoints, and preoperative assessments. Could this have been the deciding factor in my application? I know a withdraw is quite an ugly mark on a transcript, but I explained it in my SOP. I'm currently at a loss. For those who succeeded, what were the things you credit your success to?
I am looking to reapply next year and come back even stronger. I plan to find an excellent job, maybe take a few supplemental classes in order to show how serious I truly am about this.
Thanks in advance to you all! And congrats to those who have got in (: