Rejected at lower ranked school

[troy.princess]

I applied to several top 30 schools in my field.

The one school that was my top choice actually has the lower rank and was the one to reject me . I'm still waiting for the other schools.

GPA/GMAT/Experience wise I can be accepted to every university I applied to and I do believe that my application is good and that my research interests have potential.

But, this first rejection from lower ranked school is so discouraging I've began worrying that there maybe something fundamentally wrong with my application.

Do you think I can still be accepted to higher ranked schools?

Thank You

p.s. I feel so sad...

[wtncffts]

Sure you can. There are plenty of examples of that here.

[DrPepper-olic]

I feel your pain. I almost exclusively applied to top schools. I think it was hubris. (Although, I will work hard wherever so why not go where the research interests me?)

On my way home from work yesterday, I started thinking about checking the mail and then about continuing to work in my job next fall, and I teared up a little. For me, chocolate works better than alcohol to help me face the mailbox. (I only ever get bills or ads anyway.) Watch insult add to injury as I gain 10 pounds this month...

I try to remember that each application is an independent event. One rejection doesn't imply the positive/negative status of the other applications. You meet the basic application requirements, so you have a chance of getting into any of the other programs. As we economists say, "There's no accounting for preference." That explains why some of the higher ranked schools end up accepting students who were not accepted by lower ranked schools. (I also think that funding/budget size could fit into this.) I really wonder if the odds of my being picked would increase or stay the same if they just put all the applicants' names in a hat and drew 20 names at random.

I think that the best cure for your application-itis is to socialize this weekend. Eat (chocolate), drink (your preferred adult beverage), and be distracted.

[Vacuum]

For sure you can!

The rankings aren't necessarily the best to go off of anyways. I think that people get sucked in by how schools are ranked and assume the higher the rank, the 'better' the school will be, but many of the attributes the schools are ranked on don't necessarily have a direct effect on the student in the long run. Also, not all schools provide certain information to the people creating the rankings, so that would leave us with some skewed results. I don't know... I just personally don't put too much emphasis on the rankings!

Keep your head up! Think more along the lines of 'fit' rather than rankings!

Edited February 18, 2011 by Vacuum

[MJ0911]

For me, chocolate works better than alcohol to help me face the mailbox. (I only ever get bills or ads anyway.) Watch insult add to injury as I gain 10 pounds this month...

I think that the best cure for your application-itis is to socialize this weekend. Eat (chocolate), drink (your preferred adult beverage), and be distracted.

Totally with you on the chocolate thing. I was getting through 2 king size bars per day for weeks, then as soon as my first acceptance came I stopped completely. Now the euphoria has worn off and I'm looking for my next fix - I'm hoping it'll be in the form of another acceptance rather than another Green and Black's Toffee chocolate bar so that I can go back to fitting in my jeans!

[Langoustine]

Don't fret about it now. And don't put too much value in rankings. Like Dr. Pepper said, each app is an independent event and you know it all depends on your fit to the faculty, whatever money issue they have, etc. I know I've read about lots of people here that were rejected from school they thought were 'lower' ranked and got accepted to 'higher' ranked ones. So chin up, it is still early in the season!

[natsteel]

You want an answer to that question? Look at my sig... If you go by the relatively useless USNWR rankings, I got rejected by a school 47 places below a school that accepted me. It's not about ranking. The best students will not always get into the best (or highest-ranked) programs, mostly because of fit issues. Even if you think you might be a good fit, either the committee or the POI may not see it the same way. Assuming you are not unqualified, one, two, or even three rejections is no real indicator of future decisions. Keep the faith!!!

[A_Murphy]

The rankings aren't necessarily the best to go off of anyways. I think that people get sucked in by how schools are ranked and assume the higher the rank, the 'better' the school will be, but many of the attributes the schools are ranked on don't necessarily have a direct effect on the student in the long run. Also, not all schools provide certain information to the people creating the rankings, so that would leave us with some skewed results. I don't know... I just personally don't put too much emphasis on the rankings!

Keep your head up! Think more along the lines of 'fit' rather than rankings!

I have to say that I agree with you, now that my head is somewhat clear after receiving my first acceptance. Going purely off of the rankings, I saw that the "#1" program in my field has a professor with a Ph.D from the "#5" school. Perhaps the distance between #5 and #1 isn't very far or the rankings don't mean everything. If you're concerned about the ranking of your school, just check around to see what kinds of opportunities graduates from that program have. If you like what you see, then the ranking is just a meaningless number, right?

[dreaming 1]

I applied to several top 30 schools in my field.

The one school that was my top choice actually has the lower rank and was the one to reject me . I'm still waiting for the other schools.

GPA/GMAT/Experience wise I can be accepted to every university I applied to and I do believe that my application is good and that my research interests have potential.

But, this first rejection from lower ranked school is so discouraging I've began worrying that there maybe something fundamentally wrong with my application.

Do you think I can still be accepted to higher ranked schools?

Thank You

p.s. I feel so sad...

Troy Princess do NOT lose hope! I know EXACTLY how you feel, I got rejected (officially and unofficially, as in I know they sent out their admissions) by FOUR schools out of eight within a week, and felt SO depressed- suddenly though, abuot 8 days later, I got an offer and funding Harvard, despite being rejected by those lower ranked schools first.

KEEP POSITIVE- I know how hard it is, but as is said above, each school truly is independent. My earliest rejections made me lose a lot of heart, but remember, you only need one offer (i happened to get another one, within 24 hours) and a single day can completely change the whole game for you. It will come good in the end! Fingers crossed for you

[Lolita]

The same thing happened to me. I would highly suggest doing something active. I was seriously depressed (couldn't figure out the point in showering, putting on make up, eating) until I went for a long job. It really does help!!!

[Lolita]

The same thing happened to me. I would highly suggest doing something active. I was seriously depressed (couldn't figure out the point in showering, putting on make up, eating) until I went for a long job. It really does help!!!<br>

[physphd]

Don't despair, I got rejected from a lower-ranked school that I really wanted to go to and still got into better places. It's not over til its over!

[modernity]

You want an answer to that question? Look at my sig... If you go by the relatively useless USNWR rankings, I got rejected by a school 47 places below a school that accepted me. It's not about ranking. The best students will not always get into the best (or highest-ranked) programs, mostly because of fit issues. Even if you think you might be a good fit, either the committee or the POI may not see it the same way. Assuming you are not unqualified, one, two, or even three rejections is no real indicator of future decisions. Keep the faith!!!

Basically this!

[ZeeMore21]

You absolutely can get into a higher-ranked school. Graduate admissions is basically like a crap shoot...of course you can do your part to make your application outstanding, but there are other factors that come into play that are out of your control, such as fit. Therefore, a lower-ranked school might not accept you if they don't think you would be the best fit for the program. On the other hand, a higher-ranked school might think you are the best candidate fit-wise and accept you. This admissions process is very unpredictable...you never know what ANY school is looking for exactly.

[cog]

Ranking has so, so little to do with it! You've heard it a million times but it truly comes down to fit.

So far, I've been accepted to 2 top-10 schools in my area and REJECTED by my safety school (which is ranked in the 60s). My research interests fit perfectly with the schools where I was accepted. At my safety school, there was no one doing exactly what I want to do. That kind of stuff shows through! And yes, yes: it's a crapshoot indeed.

[Gravity]

Graduate school admissions work a lot differently than undergrad admissions. Basically, in undergrad, with a few exceptions, you are applying to a general program (whatever the undergrad program is) to major in one or more disciplines while taking a bunch of gen eds. In grad school, you are more focused, and you are basically applying to work with particular faculty in a particular department. Your application is only part of the reason you get accepted or rejected.

Other factors include whether any of the faculty who specialize in what you want to study are taking students the year in which you apply, whether there is enough funding to bring you on (if it is relevant to your program), whether the program wants to bring in any more students who are interested in your subfield, and so on.

I was accepted to 4 of the 6 places I applied to. The 2 places I rejected from were way low on my own list. They were ranked middle-low for my area of study. The places I got accepted to? The top four programs in my area of study in the world. It all came down to whether the departments I applied to thought I was both highly qualified AND a good fit for their program. I've seen students interview at my program who were ranked up at the top of the short list when they arrived, and were knocked out of consideration after the interviews when the faculty realized that we just do not have the resources and specialists to advise them.

In short, don't sweat it I was lucky enough to get the acceptance letter from my top choice before I got any of the rejection letters. Still, I was puzzled at first!