Asking professors at target schools where my profile was weak

[coffeeintotheorems]

According to the Princeton Review's advice for applying to graduate school,

"Almost every grad school applicant will receive at least one rejection. While that won't be fun, it's not quite the final act. Call your contact professors in that department and politely express your regret at not being admitted. Ask them if they can point out where your application was weak or give you some suggestions on how you might strengthen your candidacy in the future. This will help if you choose to re-apply the following year."

(source: http://www.princeton...-timeline.aspx)

Of course I would like to do this; however, the request does not seem standard. Has anyone done this effectively? Are professors even at liberty to give such comments?

[statsguy]

According to the Princeton Review's advice for applying to graduate school,

"Almost every grad school applicant will receive at least one rejection. While that won't be fun, it's not quite the final act. Call your contact professors in that department and politely express your regret at not being admitted. Ask them if they can point out where your application was weak or give you some suggestions on how you might strengthen your candidacy in the future. This will help if you choose to re-apply the following year."

(source: http://www.princeton...-timeline.aspx)

Of course I would like to do this; however, the request does not seem standard. Has anyone done this effectively? Are professors even at liberty to give such comments?

I'm kind of torn on the issue. On one hand, it would be nice if someone told you exactly why you weren't admitted. But on the other hand, what would the department tell you that you don't know? There are really only a few factors that ADCOMs consider: GPA, LORs, GREs, and research. Obviously one of those was lacking (although I highly doubt it was your Math subject test score). If you will not be reapplying to one of your schools, then I guess it can't hurt. Just don't expect a detailed response.

Keep in mind that in the past few years, applications to grad school have substantially increased. For example, my department had 80 application for the PhD program in 2004, but received over 200 this year. On top of that, we were only able to take 5-6 students rather than the usual 8-10 due to budget issues. This is happening in most schools - universities are not immune to economic downturns. It could be that had you applied a few years back, you would have easily gotten in, but due to increased competition and fewer funded spots, you may have just missed the cutoff. Lots of rejection letters this year have mentioned this.

Also, why only apply to four schools (all of which btw are extremely strong programs in their respective fields)? I'd recommend if/when reapplying, send out at least 8 applications, with two of those being "safety" schools.

Good luck to you.

Edited April 22, 2010 by statsguy

[kroner]

I haven't done this myself, but there's really no way it could hurt. It's probably a good idea even if most people don't do it. I also don't see any reason why ad com professors wouldn't be at liberty to give you an honest answer, although they might decide they aren't willing to take the time.

[Lantern]

I agree. As long as it's not obvious, which it doesn't seem to be given your stats, it can't hurt to ask - although I admit, I haven't done it either. It seems similar to asking a potential employer why you didn't get a job after an interview (assuming things went well in the interview). I can only speak for myself, but if I were on the adcom I would be happy to shed some light on weaknesses for students if I thought it might help them out in the future. Good luck!

[origin415]

Send off an email to each of the schools and see what you get back, it really can't hurt you.

[mrb]

I emailed people at a couple of the places I was rejected from. I never heard back.

[coffeeintotheorems]

I wrote to a professor of both Statistics and Mathematics at Purdue and have not heard back. For now I have to assume my crippling weakness was my sketchy transcript(s), which cannot be mended. My advice to future college students (should they be reading this, for some reason) is to take time off school if you have motivational problems--this is better than a transcript peppered with F's and W's, which you can never undo.

Keep in mind that in the past few years, applications to grad school have substantially increased....

Also, why only apply to four schools (all of which btw are extremely strong programs in their respective fields)? I'd recommend if/when reapplying, send out at least 8 applications, with two of those being "safety" schools.

It's scary to think about how competitive the world is becoming. One would think that innovations in, for example, science, engineering, and technology would gradually be improving overall wealth and standard of living. Yet modern evidence seems to be to the contrary: it seems the world is getting harder to live and succeed in. Perhaps this is due to the rise of power of the consummately disciplined Chinese.