Rejection After Inteview

[greengrass2]

This might be a silly question, but has anyone been rejected after being invited for an interview? If so, what do they say as their reason (do they even give a concrete reason, based on additional info from your interview, if any)?

I'm asking because I've seen a few rejections on the results page for some programs I applied to, but I'm curious to know if any of those people actually got as far as the interview and THEN received a letter of rejection.

Any thoughts??

[communications13]

Yes, people get rejected after interviews. I cannot speak for your specific programs, but schools use interviews as a chance to get to know you better. People are very different in person than they are on paper, Grad school is no different than a job. They get X number of applicants, narrow that down to Y number of interviews and then pick Z people for the position...after all, especially at the PhD level you are working with professors who want to meet who they will be for lack of a better word employing for the next 3 years.

[Strangefox]

This might be a silly question, but has anyone been rejected after being invited for an interview? If so, what do they say as their reason (do they even give a concrete reason, based on additional info from your interview, if any)?

I'm asking because I've seen a few rejections on the results page for some programs I applied to, but I'm curious to know if any of those people actually got as far as the interview and THEN received a letter of rejection.

Any thoughts??

I was rejected after a Skype interview. The reason - my research was not a perfect fit with that of faculty members of the department and they had few spots this year. This department is quite small so they do not have a waitlist - that is why I was rejected, not waitlisted. The professor who I was interviewed by and who then sent me a letter informing me that I am rejected was extremeley nice and when I asked why I had been rejected and if there were any weaknesses in my application, they said that my app was perfect but the fit was not and though they would love to work with me, they had to choose applicants with a perfect fit. It was not anything I said during the interview that made them reject me. Actually, when they were interviewing me they did not know exactly hoe many sports they would have. They fund all grad students and the financial situation is tight so in the end they had to choose according to the fit and the fit was not in my favor.... So yes, it happens, you can be rejected after an interview. If they had more money this year, they could take me, but unfortunately it was not the case.

[MoJingly]

It's also possible that people receive rejections before interviews, of course. But I was talking to one of my program's secretaries and she said that they don't send out rejections until absolutely necessary. She said most people get the idea, though, when all of the interview weekends have passed and they haven't received an invitation.

[GNC]

I am pretty sure I am in the process of getting rejected after one of my interviews. I thought it went well, but I haven't heard back so I am under the assumption that I got rejected or wait listed (or whatever the process is). Personally, I'd rather be rejected than wait listed because that is months of not knowing is unbearable..

[lost-in-interpretation]

Wahh, apparently does happen. Just got a rejection letter after I thought I aced my interviews at the school. I mean, they were working so hard to court us and one interview was just the professor being like "hey, I loved your personal statement and here are two projects at my lab that I think would be perfect for you!" The reason for rejection was that they had too few slots and they couldn't fit me in, but said there was nothing wrong with my application. Uh huh right. Man, and I thought I made such a good impression too, I guess there's something wrong with me when meeting me in real life or something... So I guess the moral of the story is that you can never be too sure? Or as much as you are trying to feign interest, they are also playing the same game...

On the good side, already accepted to two schools and got four more interviews to go, so not too bad...

[Strangefox]

The reason for rejection was that they had too few slots and they couldn't fit me in, but said there was nothing wrong with my application. Uh huh right. Man, and I thought I made such a good impression too, I guess there's something wrong with me when meeting me in real life or something...

Don't you think that they might be honest? Schools now have little funding so they have to choose only few people out of their top candidates who they would like to work with. Also, may be the professor who was impressed by your app and wanted to be your advisor had to give up their/your slot because of some political games in the department. There are so many factors!

Don't think bad about yourself

[lost-in-interpretation]

Thanks! Yeah, it's all good and it makes my decision easier since I had mixed feelings about the school (really really liked the program, but the location was really meh...). Also one of the schools I got into was after an interview so at least there's no deep, irreversible personality flaw.

But still, let this be a lesson!! You can never be too sure after an interview, no matter how much they seem to be courting you...