Second Time Around

[squirreltalk]

As for the three schools to which I'm reapplying-- Last year, after receiving my final rejection letters and giving it some time, I sent emails to the professors whose programs I knew I'd reapply to work in. The emails all looked something like this:

Dear Professor,

I wanted to let you know that, although I did not gain admission to (program) this year, I am still strongly interested in your and your student's ongoing research. [More info here about why I like their program.]

I would still very much like the opportunity to work in your lab, and I plan on reapplying for admission in the fall. Also, if a technician position in your lab becomes available at any time during the coming year, I would be interested in applying for the position.

Sincerely,

jax

All three individuals responded very positively to this email-- I was not asking "why didn't I get in?" or complaining or bemoaning my situation, I was simply reaffirming my interest in their work. All three encouraged me to reapply, and I even ended up having a lengthy phone conversation with one individual wherein I received a lot of helpful tips about how to word my SOP to best stand out for the admissions committee at the school. One of the three professors even admitted to me that he had to apply multiple times before he was accepted, too! I think professors understand how difficult it can be-- after all, they're responsible for sifting through hundreds of applicants each year and are usually only able to admit one or two students. I'm not sure, but I would hope that they might look favorably upon repeat applicants, especially if someone has continued to work on their credentials and make themselves more appealing candidates. It shows that you really do want to go to their school. I was nervous at first about it being awkward, but I didn't have any trouble at all, and I definitely don't regret contacting those professors again or reapplying to their labs.

Now I just have to hope that one of them will actually pick me this year!

Excellent idea! If I don't get in anywhere this year, I think I'll write an e-mail like that. Good luck to you!

[newms]

I applied to three of the same schools; the other five were different. This was based on several factors: one school I applied to last year I became disenchanted with during the application process when I found the department and POI to be uncommunicative and a little rude. A second professor made the decision to take a two-year long sabbatic, and the other two to which I did not reapply were accepting students last year but for funding and space issues were not accepting students this year.

Many of the five new schools I chose this year were schools I was interested in last year but did not apply to because the professors I wanted to work with weren't accepting applicants then; this time around, those same individuals are. After a lot of digging, I found a couple new schools/POIs to pursue.

As for the three schools to which I'm reapplying-- Last year, after receiving my final rejection letters and giving it some time, I sent emails to the professors whose programs I knew I'd reapply to work in. The emails all looked something like this:

Dear Professor,

I wanted to let you know that, although I did not gain admission to (program) this year, I am still strongly interested in your and your student's ongoing research. [More info here about why I like their program.]

I would still very much like the opportunity to work in your lab, and I plan on reapplying for admission in the fall. Also, if a technician position in your lab becomes available at any time during the coming year, I would be interested in applying for the position.

Sincerely,

jax

All three individuals responded very positively to this email-- I was not asking "why didn't I get in?" or complaining or bemoaning my situation, I was simply reaffirming my interest in their work. All three encouraged me to reapply, and I even ended up having a lengthy phone conversation with one individual wherein I received a lot of helpful tips about how to word my SOP to best stand out for the admissions committee at the school. One of the three professors even admitted to me that he had to apply multiple times before he was accepted, too! I think professors understand how difficult it can be-- after all, they're responsible for sifting through hundreds of applicants each year and are usually only able to admit one or two students. I'm not sure, but I would hope that they might look favorably upon repeat applicants, especially if someone has continued to work on their credentials and make themselves more appealing candidates. It shows that you really do want to go to their school. I was nervous at first about it being awkward, but I didn't have any trouble at all, and I definitely don't regret contacting those professors again or reapplying to their labs.

Now I just have to hope that one of them will actually pick me this year!

That's really some very good advice. It really shows how interested you are in those particular schools. I hope you're successful this year!

[TMP]

As for the three schools to which I'm reapplying-- Last year, after receiving my final rejection letters and giving it some time, I sent emails to the professors whose programs I knew I'd reapply to work in. The emails all looked something like this:

Dear Professor,

I wanted to let you know that, although I did not gain admission to (program) this year, I am still strongly interested in your and your student's ongoing research. [More info here about why I like their program.]

I would still very much like the opportunity to work in your lab, and I plan on reapplying for admission in the fall. Also, if a technician position in your lab becomes available at any time during the coming year, I would be interested in applying for the position.

Sincerely,

jax

All three individuals responded very positively to this email-- I was not asking "why didn't I get in?" or complaining or bemoaning my situation, I was simply reaffirming my interest in their work. All three encouraged me to reapply, and I even ended up having a lengthy phone conversation with one individual wherein I received a lot of helpful tips about how to word my SOP to best stand out for the admissions committee at the school. One of the three professors even admitted to me that he had to apply multiple times before he was accepted, too! I think professors understand how difficult it can be-- after all, they're responsible for sifting through hundreds of applicants each year and are usually only able to admit one or two students. I'm not sure, but I would hope that they might look favorably upon repeat applicants, especially if someone has continued to work on their credentials and make themselves more appealing candidates. It shows that you really do want to go to their school. I was nervous at first about it being awkward, but I didn't have any trouble at all, and I definitely don't regret contacting those professors again or reapplying to their labs.

Now I just have to hope that one of them will actually pick me this year!

OMG I had (almost) the EXACT same thing! I reaffirmed my interest in 2 schools that I was waitlisted at. I also wrote to a third school, figuring well these professors are going to retire now and won't take any new students, and the professor was pretty much begging encouraging me to reapply. I was very shocked because I had been rejected straight out with no explanation or anything of that sort despite our extremely positive conversation the winter before. I was very surprised by all of the responses that I got. But I continue to be skeptical because it's all fair game and no one's been guaranteed in for the second/third time. I think it helped quite a bit that I was able to finally meet some of the professors, including one by complete random chance while visiting a city to see friends where he happened to be doing his sabbatical (which I only found out when I got there). Absolutely random... and it's one of my highlights of this particular admissions process!

I think professors do give re-applicants a lot of credit because they know that applying is trying and very emotional draining and it's just not easy to go through it again. They admired my very positive attitude (well I wanted this!) and my forward-thinking about my plans for this "year off."

So, here's to hoping that it all works out for me and everyone else on this thread.

[space-cat]

Jax and Pink - I've seen that happen from the other side. I worked in the admission office of a highly ranked liberal arts college, and I remember a few situations where a student applied once, was rejected, but kept in touch like you've suggested. The dean(s) they had spoken with ended up fighting pretty hard for their acceptance the second time around, and it was almost always successful. Obviously, college isn't grad school, but the clincher seemed to be that they had credible, "real time" evidence that this candidate could work hard and make a dramatic improvement over a short period of time, which I would think would be just as valuable for grad ad coms. Anybody can bullshit a decent SOP, but they've seen your success and sacrifice firsthand, you know? If nothing else, you've guaranteed that they'll be looking for your application by name and will read it with interest.

[Tiglath-Pileser III]

Is it awkward in any way to apply to the same schools and POI's a second (or third) time? Do you feel that your 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) round application is weakened by your previous applications?

No, it's not really awkward. The thing is you don't really know why you were rejected, and it can be difficult to assess what is happening behind the scenes. I applied to three of the same schools that I applied to last year and to three completely new schools. This December my finances were in really rough shape and I could not apply to all the schools that I wanted to, so I had to be selective as to which schools to apply to. One of the schools I applied to last year, I decided not to apply to again because even if I got accepted I couldn't afford to go there. Another one I declined to reapply to because even though the program was fantastic, the probability of getting in would be so low that it just wasn't worth the risk. Furthermore, I decided to reapply again because one year has made my application significantly stronger with more advanced language training, another publication credit, and an additional graduate degree.

I think it also makes a difference at what stage you were rejected as well. If you received an "administrative" rejection that bodes a lot worse than if you were simply passed over in favor of better candidates. For example, some schools will narrow the pool of applications by half and send them an "instant" reject letter before the survivors are passed onto the admissions committee. In this case, a support staff made the decision for the department based upon administrative guidelines, and your application wasn't even seen by a professor. Most often these administrative rejections get sent out in January long before the real decisions are made in February or March, so it is pretty easy to detect when you get one of these. Essentially these administrative rejections mean that you are in the bottom half of the pool and don't even have a chance.

Nevertheless, while applying a 2nd or 3rd time is not by any means an ideal situation, your persistence may not go unnoticed. If you were close to being accepted the first time, next time you may be a strong enough candidate relative to who else is applying to be accepted. If you were ranked 5th place and there were only 4 open seats the first time, next time there may be 6 seats open. This year may look pretty bleak, but who knows what next year will hold?

I know last year for one of my applications I missed getting into the doctoral program by just one vote. That is close enough for me to try again.

[ZeChocMoose]

To bring hope to all of the second time round applicants, I just found out that I was accepted into one of my top choices. Very thrilled

Here's to filling this thread with all of our success stories. I am sending good thoughts your way!

[jaxzwolf]

To bring hope to all of the second time round applicants, I just found out that I was accepted into one of my top choices. Very thrilled

Here's to filling this thread with all of our success stories. I am sending good thoughts your way!

Congratulations! That's wonderful news! I, too, hope we start hearing more success stories of the second-timers in this thread very soon. I received my first rejection letter today, but I'm hopeful that I'll hear something positive in the next couple weeks.

[ZeChocMoose]

Congratulations! That's wonderful news! I, too, hope we start hearing more success stories of the second-timers in this thread very soon. I received my first rejection letter today, but I'm hopeful that I'll hear something positive in the next couple weeks.

Thanks, jaxzwolf. I'm thinking positive thoughts to for you! And I can't wait for the success stories to start rolling in from everyone.

[Amalia222]

I say say second...or third...time's the charm!! haha.

When I first applied for Ph.D. programs, I applied right out of undergrad and had no idea what I was doing. I threw in one "backup" MA program, just in case. Thank goodness I did. All four Ph.d. programs rejected me, but I got into the MA. I know now I wasn't ready for grad school. I did the MA, but now I'm trying my second stab at the Ph.d. I'm starting to think English is one of the hardest fields to get into! But good luck to all second and third timers!

[jaxzwolf]

Alright-- now that April 15th has passed and the deadline for acceptance of funded offers to CGS programs is behind us, I thought I'd resurrect this thread and check in to see how us second-timers (or third-timers, as the case may be) fared this year. I'm really hoping that everyone was successful in their reattempts, and I'd like to hear about it! I know there are some posters on this forum who are now facing the reality of their own failed application year and are beginning to think about applying again a second time. I thought it would be helpful for those individuals to see a. how many of us have to give the process another go in order to get in and b. how many who apply a second time are successful. I know that, after having been shut out last year, I would have liked to have been able to read a thread like this, to see that I wasn't alone and that there was still a lot of hope for my future applications.

So I'll start it off. I WAS successful in my second round of applications. My applications garnered a lot more attention this year than last, and many of the schools from which I was rejected made it clear to me that funding, as opposed to fit or ability, was the limiting factor in being rejected. I had two POIs email me directly and inform me that they would definitely accept me if their departments weren't so strapped for cash. This was not the case last year, so that made me feel as if my quality as an applicant had improved.

On April 15th I accepted a funded offer to a solid program at a solid school. It's not a top-ranked program, nor was it my top choice, but the POI is enthusiastic and my research interests align well, so I was pleased with the offer nonetheless, and I'm very excited to be heading to grad school in the fall!

I'm not sure how many of you are still hanging around the boards now that the waiting game is (for most of us) over, but hopefully we'll be able to hear some additional success stories from second-time applicants to give a bit of a confidence boost to those facing another round of applications.

[farnsworth]

This was my third trip. My first time was for masters programs and I got in. Then last year was Ph.D. and no go there. This time I was accepted to one school (and it has funding). So I am very happy with the results. Successful application season.

Edited April 17, 2011 by farnsworth

[jordanami]

- 4.0 GPA at the master's level, publications, conference papers, teaching experience.

You do sound like the ideal candidate!