Asking rejected school for feedback

[ImperatorGryphon]

While applying for graduate programs, I received rejections from the two PhD programs I applied to, while I was accepted to a Masters program.  I emailed them back for some feedback, and I received some.

My question is, would it be appropriate to respond to the email and basically ask, "If I complete this Masters, how would my chances change?"  Obviously I know they would go up, but I kind of wish I knew where I ranked in the first place, and whether or not it would be a waste of time to reapply in the future, or if I should alter my approach slightly.

[PsyDuck90]

I would say the best way to improve your chances is to follow the feedback that they gave. If you choose to reapply make sure that you have addressed those concerns. Getting a masters from them will probably not increase your chances of getting into that specific program. 

[Ternwild]

43 minutes ago, PsyDGrad90 said:

Getting a masters from them will probably not increase your chances of getting into that specific program. 

This is wrong, in my opinion.  Doing a Masters in the program you hope to do a PhD in will help you and here's why:

1. Working in a masters program at the school you're hoping to get into for a PhD program will allow you to show the graduate advisors that you can succeed in graduate school and you can prove your ability to do good research and work well with existing faculty.

2. Most importantly, you can network within the university.  It is easier to reject a person who is only numbers than a person who you know.  Get to know professors, work within the department, make your name a common one, and network with people who are actually on the grad admissions committee.  This is an advantage that other applicants simply won't have.

3. Your talking with these GAC members will allow you to get a better understanding of what is considered competitive in that program and allow you time to improve your application so that they truly want to admit you. 

Either way, if this is the university you really want to get a PhD at and you like the program, then this is a very appropriate way forward instead of taking a year off and studying to get your numbers higher.

[PsyDuck90]

3 hours ago, Ternwild said:

This is wrong, in my opinion.  Doing a Masters in the program you hope to do a PhD in will help you and here's why:

1. Working in a masters program at the school you're hoping to get into for a PhD program will allow you to show the graduate advisors that you can succeed in graduate school and you can prove your ability to do good research and work well with existing faculty.

2. Most importantly, you can network within the university.  It is easier to reject a person who is only numbers than a person who you know.  Get to know professors, work within the department, make your name a common one, and network with people who are actually on the grad admissions committee.  This is an advantage that other applicants simply won't have.

3. Your talking with these GAC members will allow you to get a better understanding of what is considered competitive in that program and allow you time to improve your application so that they truly want to admit you. 

Either way, if this is the university you really want to get a PhD at and you like the program, then this is a very appropriate way forward instead of taking a year off and studying to get your numbers higher.

Many programs are against academic incest and will advise their students to go elsewhere for their continued graduate study. This may be field specific, but at least in my field that seems to be the norm. The doctoral program attached to the masters I attended was actually more stringent in who they would interview from the masters students who applied to continue on than they were for outside applicants. 

OP, if you are considering this route, ask someone in the department how often masters students who apply get into the PhD program. 

[Ternwild]

12 minutes ago, PsyDGrad90 said:

Many programs are against academic incest and will advise their students to go elsewhere for their continued graduate study.

Yes, from undergrad to graduate, most programs err against academic incest.  That does not, however, apply for Masters to PhD.  I've never seen a single graduate program push their grad students away to other grad schools.  That's ridiculous.

[PsyDuck90]

1 minute ago, Ternwild said:

Yes, from undergrad to graduate, most programs err against academic incest.  That does not, however, apply for Masters to PhD.  I've never seen a single graduate program push their grad students away to other grad schools.  That's ridiculous.

My MA program did so, and I know of other people in other programs with similar "unwritten rules". The rationale they gave is that they did not want to appear biased towards their own masters students, so they would only interview a max of 2-3 current students who had applied for the PhD. Again, it could strictly be a psych thing (or a thing in my manor metro area), but it definitely happens so it's something for people to look out for. 

[ImperatorGryphon]

My apologies, I guess that I wasn't clear in the OP.  The Masters would be at a separate university, as the PhD program I applied to did not have a terminal masters track.  I'm wondering if it's acceptable to ask how my prospects would look after earning that Masters, or if I would even get a real, non-generic response?

[PsyDuck90]

They would probably give you a generic response, as they wouldn't want to look like they promised anything. What kind of feedback did they give you about your application? If the comments were related to a low undergrad GPA, then a Masters may be a good way to combat that. If the feedback was that you need more research experience, then you may be able to get more without paying money for it. So yeah, I would look at it in terms of how will the masters improve your application and if you can accomplish this without shelling out a bunch of cash to do it. 

[Ternwild]

3 hours ago, PsyDGrad90 said:

If the comments were related to a low undergrad GPA, then a Masters may be a good way to combat that.

This is true.  If your GPA is lacking a Masters is a way to prove you can do better.  If GRE, then just get a job and study.  If research, unless you work in a field that makes it easy to find jobs where you're doing publishable research, then researching in a Masters with a Thesis option, is a viable way to fixing that.