Reaching out to schools that rejected you

[hopefulfuturespeechie]

Has anyone reached out to a school to see why you were not accepted in order to make your app better next time? 

[lasmith]

I have. I got rejected on friday of last week. I heard back from the admissions office, who gave me minimal details, only because that's all they had and the contact info of the person out to reach. I emailed that person and have yet to hear anything back. In my case I thought this school was my "safety school" and I wanted to know if I messed up somewhere or they just didn't think I fit well into their program. I do not think it hurts to reach out. It gets your name in the head for next year, but it can also bring some light and closure to the situation. I hope this helps and best of luck. 

[Ali_Irene13]

I did this after I was not accepted off the waiting list. I was a little scared to message them at first but in the end, was glad I did. She went over my stats and told me where I was good and where I could improve. What made me want to apply again for that program and work harder on my application for next time was when she said: "You were VERY CLOSE". As I applied while still completing my final semester of undergraduate that also drove me to focus on my classes to get the best grades I could so I could stand out when I applied again. Also, take this opportunity to see if your program can recycle your application, statement/essay, and LOR's if you want to keep them or resubmit.

[hopefulfuturespeechie]

Thank you both! I have reached out to the school i'm hopeful the director can give me more insight about what happened. 

[BioCook]

38 minutes ago, hopefulfuturespeechie said:

Thank you both! I have reached out to the school i'm hopeful the director can give me more insight about what happened. 

I hope so too. I think that asking will look favorably on your application should you choose to apply to that school again in an upcoming cycle. Best of luck!

[Ali_Irene13]

9 hours ago, hopefulfuturespeechie said:

Thank you both! I have reached out to the school i'm hopeful the director can give me more insight about what happened. 

You're Welcome! I am sure the director will help you figure out how to improve for next time! Good Luck!

[lasmith]

9 hours ago, hopefulfuturespeechie said:

Thank you both! I have reached out to the school i'm hopeful the director can give me more insight about what happened. 

You're Welcome. If you are curious, I still have not heard back from the school I emailed. I am not sure how long it may take your school/ director.  I wish you the best of luck. 

[lasmith]

If you're curious I heard back from the graduate director on the school I got rejected from. I was told I was a strong applicant but there was just a high volume of applicants, which was the same thing I was told by the graduate admissions office. The only extra bit of information I got was that the stats of applicants interviewed were a bit higher than mine. Although I find this interesting since I have seen people getting interviewed here with lower GPAs and lower GRE scores getting interviewed here. I believe that this must be because they probably take their students first and out of state applicants get to fight for left overs and I didn't make that cut. Anyways, my verdict is if doesn't hurt to reach out. Best of luck! 

[hopefulfuturespeechie]

2 hours ago, lasmith said:

If you're curious I heard back from the graduate director on the school I got rejected from. I was told I was a strong applicant but there was just a high volume of applicants, which was the same thing I was told by the graduate admissions office. The only extra bit of information I got was that the stats of applicants interviewed were a bit higher than mine. Although I find this interesting since I have seen people getting interviewed here with lower GPAs and lower GRE scores getting interviewed here. I believe that this must be because they probably take their students first and out of state applicants get to fight for left overs and I didn't make that cut. Anyways, my verdict is if doesn't hurt to reach out. Best of luck! 

thank you! I reached out, but unfortunately have not heard back. 

[Ari127]

On 2/25/2019 at 2:42 PM, lasmith said:

 In my case I thought this school was my "safety school" and I wanted to know if I messed up somewhere or they just didn't think I fit well into their program. I do not think it hurts to reach out. 

I've read on this board that many people were accepted to more competitive schools but rejected from their safety schools.  The theory was that schools know that if an applicant is overqualified they are likely to decline and admission offer, and schools don't want to risk having a spot unfilled due to too many declines. I don't know if that's true, but it does have a certain logic to it: they're likely to offer admission to the applicants that are in the sweet spot of being both qualified but also not likely to decline the offer.

[Rezzy S.]

27 minutes ago, Ari127 said:

I've read on this board that many people were accepted to more competitive schools but rejected from their safety schools.  The theory was that schools know that if an applicant is overqualified they are likely to decline and admission offer, and schools don't want to risk having a spot unfilled due to too many declines. I don't know if that's true, but it does have a certain logic to it: they're likely to offer admission to the applicants that are in the sweet spot of being both qualified but also not likely to decline the offer.

I would guess there’s a lot of truth to that. Also, if it’s your back up, you may not try as hard on the personal statement.