Rejections 2011

[Paul Allen]

Rejected at Princeton which was my top choice. I foresee many Brahmas in my future.

[goodmp]

Rejected at Princeton, which breaks my streak. On the other hand, it has made the decision process way easier.

[CNDSoc]

Rejected at Princeton, which breaks my streak. On the other hand, it has made the decision process way easier.

You have great options!

Well done

[going crazy]

Rejected at Princeton, which breaks my streak. On the other hand, it has made the decision process way easier.

Looking at your numbers and the places you've already been accepted, it obviously had to be an issue of fit. I agree with Sara. You've got incredible options. I'd guess UNC, right?

[joops]

Rejected at Ohio State. Very sad.

Edited February 11, 2011 by Alissa

[CNDSoc]

Rejected at Ohio State. Very sad.

You are wait listed at Indiana though! There is hope

[suerte]

There are so many fewer rejection posts than acceptance posts.

Like my grandfather said, "when you laugh, the world laughs with you. when you cry, you cry alone"

I graduated from a top-tier sociology program, with accolades, three years ago. I just received my MA from a different-but-related discipline. I had 3 solid recommendation letters, and used a meritorious NSF proposal for my writing sample. I have a 610 verbal and 620 quantitative GRE score. My UG GPA is 3.74, and was 3.9 for Soc courses. My grad school GPA is 3.86. My SOP was rather quite decent. I have considerable RA experience, since sophomore year.

The only thing I did not do was correspond with faculty members from each program I applied to, only at 3/4 of them. I guess the flagrant rejections I must now deal with reflects the omnipotence of good quant GRE scores (even if one has taken 9 college math/social statistics courses).

And yet:

Application to Wisconsin: rejected

Application to Michigan: rejected

Application to Princeton: rejected

Application to UNC: waiting on an official rejection

Application to U Penn: still waiting

From the loser's corner, have a great day. Please.

Edited February 11, 2011 by suerte

[joops]

Awww, thank you. And yes, there is hope. I really do like Indiana's program and I think I'm a great fit.

I'm so sorry to hear about UT-Austin, I know how much you wanted to go there. I hope everything works out for you.Good luck!

You are wait listed at Indiana though! There is hope

[joops]

Are you waiting for an official rejection from UNC because you haven't heard anything from them, or did you get an email?

I applied as well and haven't heard anything. I emailed the department sec today and I will be sure to let you know if she says anything about a second round of offers.

There are so many fewer rejection posts than acceptance posts.

Like my grandfather said, "when you laugh, the world laughs with you. when you cry, you cry alone"

I graduated from a top-tier sociology program, with accolades, three years ago. I just received my MA from a different-but-related discipline. I had 3 solid recommendation letters, and used a meritorious NSF proposal for my writing sample. I have a 610 verbal and 620 quantitative GRE score. My UG GPA is 3.74, and was 3.9 for Soc courses. My grad school GPA is 3.86. My SOP was rather quite decent. I have considerable RA experience, since sophomore year.

The only thing I did not do was correspond with faculty members from each program I applied to, only at 3/4 of them. I guess the flagrant rejections I must now deal with reflects the omnipotence of good quant GRE scores (even if one has taken 9 college math/social statistics courses).

And yet:

Application to Wisconsin: rejected

Application to Michigan: rejected

Application to Princeton: rejected

Application to UNC: waiting on an official rejection

Application to U Penn: still waiting

From the loser's corner, have a great day. Please.

[goodmp]

Looking at your numbers and the places you've already been accepted, it obviously had to be an issue of fit. I agree with Sara. You've got incredible options. I'd guess UNC, right?

I'm definitely leaning towards UNC. I'm going to visit a few others to make sure that my gut is correct.

[Derrick Rose]

I am sorry to hear your situation. Your application seems very competitive, maybe you just miss the cut for these top PhD programs.

I think your GRE score may be the reason why you are not getting offers. Usually PhD programs expect GRE scores at least around 1350, your GRE quant score is especially low for someone who has taken lots of math/stats courses. So I think if you retake GRE next year and get a better score then you should be able to do well in your application endeavor.

Good luck

There are so many fewer rejection posts than acceptance posts.

Like my grandfather said, "when you laugh, the world laughs with you. when you cry, you cry alone"

I graduated from a top-tier sociology program, with accolades, three years ago. I just received my MA from a different-but-related discipline. I had 3 solid recommendation letters, and used a meritorious NSF proposal for my writing sample. I have a 610 verbal and 620 quantitative GRE score. My UG GPA is 3.74, and was 3.9 for Soc courses. My grad school GPA is 3.86. My SOP was rather quite decent. I have considerable RA experience, since sophomore year.

The only thing I did not do was correspond with faculty members from each program I applied to, only at 3/4 of them. I guess the flagrant rejections I must now deal with reflects the omnipotence of good quant GRE scores (even if one has taken 9 college math/social statistics courses).

And yet:

Application to Wisconsin: rejected

Application to Michigan: rejected

Application to Princeton: rejected

Application to UNC: waiting on an official rejection

Application to U Penn: still waiting

From the loser's corner, have a great day. Please.

[maximus82]

I agree with Derrick. And I used to think the GRE scores didn't matter, but now that i'm in a PhD program I realize that the quant score does matter, especially because it shows that you can handle the stats.

I am sorry to hear your situation. Your application seems very competitive, maybe you just miss the cut for these top PhD programs.

I think your GRE score may be the reason why you are not getting offers. Usually PhD programs expect GRE scores at least around 1350, your GRE quant score is especially low for someone who has taken lots of math/stats courses. So I think if you retake GRE next year and get a better score then you should be able to do well in your application endeavor.

Good luck

[Poj]

Rejected by UCSB. A bit sad. I thought I would be a good fit.

[suerte]

Oh, I can handle the stats and I love them (took a 2nd semester graduate course in social statistics as an undergrad, it was one of 2 rigorous sociology grad courses I took as an undergrad. Got an A+ in the upper-division undergrad version of this course too).

My quant skills are just stubbornly reluctant to reflect themselves in a 30-minute exam, again and again.

Thank you for the kind support all the same, Alissa, Derrick and Maximus.

Alissa: nope, I did not hear official word from UNC. thanks for any feedback you could share from your correspondence about second-round offers from them.

I am dealing with the disappointment by downloading an IPUMS extract and playing around with my data using R. I wish telling the programs that could get them to change their minds.

Edited February 12, 2011 by suerte

[barilicious]

Again though, your GRE scores are only one part of your application. If the rest is extremely strong, I think a slightly lower GRE score than average won't be the end of your app. For the record, my GRE scores are nothing great (620V/660Q/5AW), and I've still gotten into (what I think are) some great programs so far.

Although obviously the better your GRE scores, the more your application can stand out. So improving your scores is not going to hurt you.

Edited February 12, 2011 by barilcious

[SocCard]

GRE scores (as problematic as they are) are really the only way a department can clearly quantify you against other applicants. Letters of rec, GPA, SOP's are all subjective. In my current department, if an applicants quantative score is less than 600, they will be rejected unless the applicant has peer-reviewed pubs. It sucks, but that's just the way it is. Sure, stronger GPA/strong letters of rec will help offset low GRE scores, but ultimately, the magic 1200 score is pretty standard to get into a solid PhD progrm.

Edited February 12, 2011 by SocCard

[faculty]

GRE scores are the easiest way to initially evaluate a person, but they're not all that matters. Also, I don't think that quantitative is the most important (particularly if you brought up the stats experience in your packet). At both my graduate institution and where I work now, analytic scores were rated most important by the faculty members.

[Doctor Jimmy]

Rejected from Princeton. But it's OK, it's really not a very good school anyways...

[suerte]

Waking up to the reality that I may have spent all my money applying to graduate programs, in vain. Still holding out for UPenn - all the while attempting to not relegate myself to becoming inured.

[dogbert]

Waking up to the reality that I may have spent all my money applying to graduate programs, in vain.

sadly, i feel your pain! hang in there!

[Derrick Rose]

Waking up to the reality that I may have spent all my money applying to graduate programs, in vain. Still holding out for UPenn - all the while attempting to not relegate myself to becoming inured.

Yeah, the application fee is such BS. I applied to 19 schools (because i am not sure where i would get into) and I spent 2000 on it. As an international, I can't get waiver either. That, plus GRE testing fee and sending score fee, totaled 3 k for me.

[Paul Allen]

Yeah, the application fee is such BS. I applied to 19 schools (because i am not sure where i would get into) and I spent 2000 on it. As an international, I can't get waiver either. That, plus GRE testing fee and sending score fee, totaled 3 k for me.

Yeah, all told I'll probably have spent 3k on everything (paid for a stats class). If we get in and get funded it's a small investment that will pay off, but if we don't it's just another blow to the solar plexus.

[SocCard]

Yeah, all told I'll probably have spent 3k on everything (paid for a stats class). If we get in and get funded it's a small investment that will pay off, but if we don't it's just another blow to the solar plexus.

You're right--I applied to 13 schools and spent between $1,300-$1,500 total between sending out transcripts, scores, writing samples and the works. But it really is just a small investment with a huge pay-off as soon as you get a nice offer. I was bored and doing some math this weekend and determined that the average award package (out-of-state tutition+fees, health insurance and stipend) for the schools I applied to is right around $40,500 a year. When I think of that, the $1,500 I spent on apps is totally put into perspective (at least, now that I've received a few offers).

And solar plexus blows=lame, but they happen.

[Paul Allen]

You're right--I applied to 13 schools and spent between $1,300-$1,500 total between sending out transcripts, scores, writing samples and the works. But it really is just a small investment with a huge pay-off as soon as you get a nice offer. I was bored and doing some math this weekend and determined that the average award package (out-of-state tutition+fees, health insurance and stipend) for the schools I applied to is right around $40,500 a year. When I think of that, the $1,500 I spent on apps is totally put into perspective (at least, now that I've received a few offers).

And solar plexus blows=lame, but they happen.

yeah, i mean the pay-off is huge if you get the offers and it's easy to put into context. Of course, if you don't get accepted anywhere, not only do you not get to go to school that year, you also got to pay $1,500 for people to tell you that you weren't good enough, which is a tough pill to swallow.

[socspice]

If you're anxious to be enrolled in a PhD program come fall, but your top choices have fallen through, why not give a lower-ranked program a shot? Many of them (including my own) have rolling deadlines and are still admitting students (although funding decision deadlines may have already passed). You always have the option to continue applying for other programs once you are there, or after the MA.

Lower-ranked programs have a number of great things going for them. 1) Many are populated by faculty who got their PhDs from all the great programs you are looking at. Dying to work with Gary Alan Fine at Northwestern, but you didn't get in? Why not work with one of his students instead? 2) It's really easy to stand out as a star student at a lower-ranked program and a lot of opportunities (money, research, etc.) will come your way.

It seems like most of the conversation on this board focuses on the most elite programs, but there are amazing programs and stellar faculty all over the place!