Reapplying after declining offer?

[FaithM]

I don't know anyone who's been in this position before, so I thought I'd reach out to the interwebz to see if anyone out there has an answer.

Back in February, I was accepted into a top-tier school in my program (English Ph.D.). It just so happens that I had a baby just a couple of months earlier and while I was ecstatic, my husband just couldn't wrap his brain around the idea of quitting his job and moving with a brand new baby and a mortgage and two ill-trained dogs. The school doesn't offer deferments, but said I could reapply in the fall. I was forced to decline the offer (which was literally a once-in-a-lifetime shot, complete with a super massive fellowship), and now I'm wondering what the chances of being readmitted are.

Has anyone else experienced this? What are the chances that lightning will strike twice? Should I just come to grips with the reality that I just threw my career out the window?

[emmm]

You won't know unless you try, but my guess is it will be harder this time 'round. However, you were obviously a strong applicant, so other schools that you do not have a history with will likely be interested in you as well. Good luck. I did the school with kids thing years ago, and it is neither easy nor fun.

[Connolly]

It might work in your favor, actually. I actually got into a program the second time around, and they are the ones who denied me at first. I took to improving my GRE scores and increased them by 100 points, and continued to work on research in the field for the year I was out of school. Then I reapplied and got in.

You have an advantage because your application was good enough the first time; it wasn't denied because of concerns you needed to remediate. The thing is, your declining can signal that you know your limits and you do what you have to do to ensure when you do take something on, you can actually commit to it. Just let them know you did not want to come in with a brand new baby and move your family so soon after having a child, but now you are ready. They will appreciate it because many students feel that a "once in a lifetime" opportunity must be taken no matter what, and then they show up even if they are unprepared and do not do well. Hopefully what did you will demonstarte maturity and descernment, and that could stand out in a positive way.

Good luck and I am impressed by what you did, hopefully they will be too.

[abdefghijkl]

I agree with Empathy. And, be very assertive (but polite) about letting the folks there know you want in this time. Pick up the phone and talk to the faculty member in charge of graduate admissions and to the member who would be your advisor and tell them the story and that you are now very eager to pick up where they left off. Watch out, though, in that that particular funding they offered you may not be available to you this year (for a myriad of reasons having nothing to do with your qualifications or the department's confidence in you), so they may offer a different funding package- could be more, could be less than last year. If someone came to me to advocate for themselves like that, I would march next door to our graduate advisor and say "Isn't there something we can do here to get this gal in the program?"

[syilim]

This is exactly my problem too!

I've been accepted into my chosen program at University of Saskatchewan, but due to some real life commitments, it basically isn't the best time for me to accept this offer right now. I've been thinking about declining the offer, but in hopes that I can reapply a few years down the line. This is the hardest decision of my life as I too feel like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But in accepting, I will lose something very important in my life right now. However, if I was to commit to grad school a few years down the line, that would work best for me.

In short, I applied last year, met my fiancee shortly afterwards. We're both currently living in Hong Kong, and plan to both move over to Canada once we're financially ready. Right now, it simply isn't possible for him to move over with me. But if I choose to accept the offer, I'll lose him. This isn't supposed to reflect badly on him, but it's simply due to reasons outside of our control, that he simply cannot go over to Canada with me, or stay with me should I decide to choose grad school. I know I'm rambling here, but this is really breaking my heart!! I just don't know what to do! If I know for sure that I can get accepted again a few years down the line, I would do in a heart beat! But I just don't know how it'll affect me if I decline the offer now, and what the repercussions are!