Visited twice, rejected twice, visit a third time?

[GradHooting]

I visited a certain school twice, got rejected from that school twice. On the second time visiting, one of the professors thought I would be a good fit for their research team. Now, I live in the area, right next to the school, coincidentally doing something related to their field. But, it was suggested to me by one of the students of that school that the professors very well might be tired of seeing me, at this point, and that I should not bother visiting, this time. But, they do admit that that was speculation on their part. Should I even bother visiting again, or corresponding again? Would visiting a third time actually bring harm to my chances at that school? It should be noted that each time I visited, I substantially improved from the previous year. The third time would be yet another substantial improvement.

Edited September 30, 2012 by GradHooting

[emmm]

I strongly doubt that visiting again would harm your chances. Of course, they might still not take you, and you should apply to other schools as well. Grad school admissions are really competitive right now, so you should not take rejections too personally (though they DO feel personal when you get them :- ( -- I know )

It sounds as though you are trying to improve all the parts of your application which are under your control. That is great -- it is all you can do, and it is exactly what you should be doing. By visiting and even with your multiple applications, you are showing determination and persistence and demonstrating the strength of your interest in this program. I don't see how any of that could be bad.

[GradHooting]

Well, I tried getting in contact, but they are just too busy, too busy to even write a complete sentence in reply to my emails. So, I stopped trying to arrange a visit, this time around. I am honestly not feeling that confident about applications, despite the NASA experience. Getting rejected from everywhere twice has seriously twisted and skewed my outlook on graduate school with a terrible negative bias. I am still pushing through with applications, but, egads, it is hard.

[kaykaykay]

If you can try to figure out what went wrong with your applications previously and get someone experienced (like a prof) look through your current file. If they like it you just have to acknowledge that the process is a crapshoot and apply widely so you have some schools in the mix that are still good but maybe a little less competitive.

[TMP]

Visiting does very little good. You really should get a critical eye on your applicatoins, preferably someone in academia, not in industry. People in the industry do not always know what is really happening in graduate programs in terms of needs and direction.