My Ph.D Acceptance was Rescinded

[Eigen]

Does this mean that when you apply to let's say a PhD Chemistry Program, and the Chemistry department accepts you, the Graduate School Division still has the power to reject you if they see you missing like let's say a GPA requirement? Does "administration" mean "Graduate Division" in this case?

Usually two lairs of administration- the school, and then the graduate school. So in chemistry, the departmental decision would have to be approved by both the Dean of the Graduate School (and/or his minions) and the Dean of the School of Science (or Science and Engineering, or whatever the department falls under).

And yes, either can "reject" the applicant for such reasons in many schools. There is often then a time for the department to request specific exemptions for that student to get them past the administration, but those can often be costly in terms of time and political capital for the department. It might happen for really strong applicants, but it really depends on who the department has wait-listed.All else being equal, they'd pick you... But if they're going to have to really stick their neck out for you, they might prefer to avoid the ensuing fight with the administration and take another student instead.

It also may be a financial thing.... Tuition waivers are often funded at the Graduate School or College level, so it may be that if a department or program wants an exception, they'll have to fund the tuition for that student themselves.

Edited March 14, 2011 by Eigen

[Gunner24]

Does this mean that when you apply to let's say a PhD Chemistry Program, and the Chemistry department accepts you, the Graduate School Division still has the power to reject you if they see you missing like let's say a GPA requirement? Does "administration" mean "Graduate Division" in this case?

That is correct, and it doesn't have to be because of a missing requirement. Most acceptances are first made by your particular college/department, and those decisions are usually provisional until accepted by the Dean of Graduate Studies or Graduate School. It's very rare to first get accepted and then rejected by the Graduate School, but it does happen, as evidenced by the many stories posted on this forum.

[chaospaladin]

That is correct, and it doesn't have to be because of a missing requirement. Most acceptances are first made by your particular college/department, and those decisions are usually provisional until accepted by the Dean of Graduate Studies or Graduate School. It's very rare to first get accepted and then rejected by the Graduate School, but it does happen, as evidenced by the many stories posted on this forum.

Oh I see, but what reason would the Dean of Graduate Studies or the Graduate Division have for rescinding a PhD admission offer (other than the GPA requirement)?

Also to the OP, I didn't follow this thread from the beginning to the end, but what school and department did you get your admission offer rescinded from? When were you offered admission (the date and month) and when was your admission offer rescinded (the date and month)?

EDIT: Wait, nevermind. I just read the OP. He got accepted to UCR on 2-7 or so and got rescinded on 2-23 (two weeks later after the initial offer of admission).

EDIT 2: Does UCR even mention anywhere on their Graduate School Division website that they have a strict 3.00 GPA cut off? I checked their PhD Chemistry Graduate School web page and it seems like the Chemistry PhD Department Admissions Committee doesn't have a strict 3.00 GPA cut off either. In my Chemistry thread, I asked Eigen, UnlikelyGrad, and Waddle on PhD Chemistry programs with certain mechanistic aspects and Waddle said he found out that PhD in Chemistry at UCR didn't have a 3.00 GPA cut off. So it looks like even Waddle got confused and gave me incorrect information. I'm not saying this is Waddle's fault or anything since the burden is on me to verify the information myself. But I'm just pointing this out.

Also I'm not calling out Waddle, UnlikelyGrad, Eigen or anyone. I'm just mentioning their names since those three are by far the most helpful members on Grad Cafe (especially in the Chemistry sub-forum).

Thank you Waddle, UnlikelyGrad, and Eigen for all of your help so far.

Edited March 15, 2011 by chaospaladin