Do grad school admissions ever override dept acceptances?

[NameTK]

If you receive an acceptance letter into a Ph.D. program (in this case, math), including funding details, from the department chair, is there any chance you will still be denied admission by the graduate school admissions committee? The line in the letter reads: "This offer is contingent on your being accepted for regular admission into the Graduate School."

Is that secondary acceptance just a formality, or do the grad schools sometimes override the particular dept/program to which you're applying?

Thank you for any and all insights!

Edited February 15, 2018 by NameTK
typo

[TakeruK]

It's usually just a formality. But a formality doesn't mean that the grad school never overrides the department. Generally, this would only happen if the department wants to admit a student that doesn't meet the University standard/minimum for grad admissions. These minimums are generally quite low compared to how competitive the PhD programs actually are, so the chances of it happening are quite low, although sometimes the dept will want to admit an exceptional student that doesn't meet one or more criteria. Then, it will be up to the department to lobby the school to make an exception. 

Anyways, what you received is basically an actual acceptance, so congratulations! Just don't make concrete plans until you have signed the official offer letter from the University though (using "signed" in the general sense, since nowadays this might just be an online form).

[NameTK]

2 hours ago, TakeruK said:

It's usually just a formality. But a formality doesn't mean that the grad school never overrides the department. Generally, this would only happen if the department wants to admit a student that doesn't meet the University standard/minimum for grad admissions. These minimums are generally quite low compared to how competitive the PhD programs actually are, so the chances of it happening are quite low, although sometimes the dept will want to admit an exceptional student that doesn't meet one or more criteria. Then, it will be up to the department to lobby the school to make an exception. 

Anyways, what you received is basically an actual acceptance, so congratulations! Just don't make concrete plans until you have signed the official offer letter from the University though (using "signed" in the general sense, since nowadays this might just be an online form).

Thank you so much for the answer!

 

[geoclimateman]

On 2/15/2018 at 11:39 AM, NameTK said:

If you receive an acceptance letter into a Ph.D. program (in this case, math), including funding details, from the department chair, is there any chance you will still be denied admission by the graduate school admissions committee? The line in the letter reads: "This offer is contingent on your being accepted for regular admission into the Graduate School."

Is that secondary acceptance just a formality, or do the grad schools sometimes override the particular dept/program to which you're applying?

Thank you for any and all insights!

I recently just experienced a similar situation. I was offered a position into a prospective PhD program, and was told the final decision from the graduate school would come shortly after. I was worried because my undergraduate GPA is lower than what the graduate school required, but sure enough I received a decision letter a few days later confirming that I was indeed accepted for admission!