Should I respond to a rejection

[Meems]

Hi,

I know it is very unlikely anyone would reply to a rejection ( I have had like two rejections and I was Okay with it) but, I interviewed with Utah uni for PhD into Molecular Biology like 12 days ago, the interview went extremely well, like I cannot emphasize on how great it went, some laughs and lots of compliments on my projects, skills and English skills. I really thought I was going to get it but I got a rejection.
At the end of the interview a professor asked if they can contact the professor whom I have had been awarded with an internship to work for in Germany, I told him ofc he can and that she agreed before to be added as a reference contact. I don't know why I got worried that maybe she didn't reply to them? I started thinking that maybe other professors like my supervisor did not reply maybe ( there is like really slim chance anyone would say anything bad about me). 

So, as you can see, I am really dying to know why I got rejected. More importantly, I feel like I want to know to improve my application for next year, this is what really concern me now, specially because I feel I would want to reapply to this uni again, but at the same time I am worried that by asking them why they rejected me I might be black listed forever ( hope you understand what I mean). So, what do you think I should do?

PS: I don't want them to revoke the response and accept me, I know that is impossible but I am asking if I can ask them why so I can improve myself.
 

[cropop]

I would wait a little bit (a few weeks) and then email somebody who you've been in contact with that you're really interested in the program and want to know how you can improve your application for next time.

Then try to keep in contact with professors you're interested in from now until you apply and keep up with their research. It can be extremely helpful to build a relationship before you apply.

It's highly unlikely that you're blacklisted unless you submitted a fraudulent application.

[dopamine_machine]

I doubt admissions would be able to tell you their criteria that lead to their decision.  However, if you know the professors that you interviewed with, they might be able to offer you some advice/recommendations so long as you contact them individually.  I want to preface that I have no knowledge on if this is even allowed, but I am just trying to think of things you might be able to do.

A better thing to do might be to contact your references and inform them that you have not gotten in.  Rather than being accusatory, such a letter might help you gain insight  into the reason for rejection (whether it was a LOR technical problem, or some other issue).  I doubt your references would have failed to send in their LORs so long as you reminded them.  I also doubt they spoke in a defamatory way so as to jeapordize your admission to a program.  However, contacting them will help you learn what to gain in experience in the next year before applying again, so as to improve your application strengths and diminish the deficits.

I wish you the best of luck!

[SmallBean]

I'm sorry to hear about your rejection, your application sounds outstanding!

I truly think you have nothing to lose by asking them whether you can receive feedback regarding your application - best case they give you feedback, worst case they don't. You wouldn't be "blacklisted" and I severely doubt this would decrease your chance of being accepted in the future. 

Although it doesn't hurt to try I do believe it's unlikely that they will give an applicant specific feedback regarding their application as I'm sure they get a lot of enquiries about this and it's quite timely to sift through each applicants specific qualifications. 

Wishing you luck - I hope you get it next time!

[Meems]

2 hours ago, cropop said:

I would wait a little bit (a few weeks) and then email somebody who you've been in contact with that you're really interested in the program and want to know how you can improve your application for next time.

Then try to keep in contact with professors you're interested in from now until you apply and keep up with their research. It can be extremely helpful to build a relationship before you apply.

It's highly unlikely that you're blacklisted unless you submitted a fraudulent application.

I haven't been in contact with anyone, I do have the emails of the professors who interviewed me, though. But, it feels difficult to email them, think I shouldn't do it.
The application's material is all great and fine. I only worried I might be black listed for asking them why, thought they might feel I'm doubting them or sth.

2 hours ago, dopamine_machine said:

I doubt admissions would be able to tell you their criteria that lead to their decision.  However, if you know the professors that you interviewed with, they might be able to offer you some advice/recommendations so long as you contact them individually.  I want to preface that I have no knowledge on if this is even allowed, but I am just trying to think of things you might be able to do.

A better thing to do might be to contact your references and inform them that you have not gotten in.  Rather than being accusatory, such a letter might help you gain insight  into the reason for rejection (whether it was a LOR technical problem, or some other issue).  I doubt your references would have failed to send in their LORs so long as you reminded them.  I also doubt they spoke in a defamatory way so as to jeapordize your admission to a program.  However, contacting them will help you learn what to gain in experience in the next year before applying again, so as to improve your application strengths and diminish the deficits.

I wish you the best of luck!

Yeah, you're right, I did think of emailing those who interviewed me but it seems unprofessional.
No, all my references sent their LOR, and they were amazing, I am not worried about that, but they did ask me to give additional reference contact (two in specific of which one was in charge of an internship) and I did, those two are more than happy to help me in my application, as they have previously told me, it is just that I thought maybe they could not get in touch with them and it affected my acceptance, but after thinking about it it seems very unlikely.



 

2 hours ago, SmallBean said:

I'm sorry to hear about your rejection, your application sounds outstanding!

I truly think you have nothing to lose by asking them whether you can receive feedback regarding your application - best case they give you feedback, worst case they don't. You wouldn't be "blacklisted" and I severely doubt this would decrease your chance of being accepted in the future. 

Although it doesn't hurt to try I do believe it's unlikely that they will give an applicant specific feedback regarding their application as I'm sure they get a lot of enquiries about this and it's quite timely to sift through each applicants specific qualifications. 

Wishing you luck - I hope you get it next time!

Yeah, I'll see how I will do it (or if I will email any in the first place ?)
But thanks a lot!

[cropop]

1 hour ago, Mariam Khanfar said:

I haven't been in contact with anyone, I do have the emails of the professors who interviewed me, though. But, it feels difficult to email them, think I shouldn't do it.
The application's material is all great and fine. I only worried I might be black listed for asking them why, thought they might feel I'm doubting them or sth.

That's why you ask what you can do to make your application stronger rather than ask why you got rejected. It demonstrates that you're really interested in the program (which is important) as well as potentially getting some feedback.

[CaryHall]

I think it's totally fine to ask for feedback. I emailed one of my interviewers last year after being rejected after interview and received a really informative response. He seemed genuinely happy to help, and it made the most of an otherwise shitty situation (personal growth, and all that). Like others here have said, emphasize that your goal is to make your application stronger for next cycle - don't just dwell on the fact that you didn't get in.