Worst Rejections... EVER

[Dontuse]

okay. so i figure a good way of dealing with rejection is by seeing the funnier side of it.

upon the first reading I was overwhelemed with devastation. period. (didn't matter that I was outright accepted by another, better school. the blow was a blow. & my feelings never throbbed so painfully.)

whatever.

so here i'll post to the world a rejection that I feel is unmatched. [to note: besides the "We've recieved your application" standard email this is the only correspondence from the university]:

You have now reached the end of the application process and have either declined an offer to study here or have not been successful in being offered a place to study here. This means that your access to student e-service will now cease.

Student Services

... anyone out there can top that? sincerely I hope not.

[firefly85]

Wow that is a really weird rejection letter. Apparently they don't really get common social decency in that department! I can't believe they would word it like that instead of something like, thanks for your application we had a lot of qualified candidates, sorry we can't accept them all, blah blah blah. I'd like to see if anyone has gotten anything stranger, although I think that's hard to beat! Good luck with the rest of your applications!

[ec86]

Damn, that's a bit too generic. Don't think about it too much, f' them.

[Leahlearns]

That's pretty bad. I don't think that I can top that. If you wanted to be really nice you could send their PR department a note cluing them in. But, I'm not sure what would motivate you to go out of your way like that after that letter. Geesh.

I thought that Harvard's taking FOREVER to send out rejection e-mails and then receiving an e-mail from them that began "Dear all" was pretty bad. If you weren't even going to bother with individual names why did it take you an extra month (since acceptance letters were sent out) to get this silly e-mail off? Of course, I knew that I had almost certainly been rejected. The rejection itself didn't particularly bite, but that "Dear all" first line certainly made me roll my eyes.

However, the trouble I went through (from abroad, I might add) to get ETS to send out my stupid GRE scores was by far the most frustrating experience of this whole ordeal thus far. The first person I talked to was downright rude (and this was after I had sent them countless e-mails only to repeatedly receive a link as my response!) The second person I talked to was polite and seemed conscientious. But then I learned a few weeks later that one of my schools still had not received my scores and ended up having to pay for them to be sent out again.

[whateverneveram3n]

... anyone out there can top that? sincerely I hope not.

can't really decide if that's more rude or more weird. surely a lot of both.

[riss287]

That is absolutely ridiculous.

[psycholinguist]

Sounds like a robot trying its best to be sympathetic.

[euphonius38]

Sounds like a robot trying its best to be sympathetic.

that's the best thing i've heard all day! haha

[Emilee]

One of my rejection emails had the wrong name on it. It was another name that kinda of sounded like my name. So I think they were trying to personalize it. The rejection letter attached to the email definitely had the right name though.

[liszt85]

While that surely was nasty, here's a mail sent to me by a professor who had initially shown interest in my application. At least this was personalized but he was cut and dry with what he said. The grad school is yet to convey a decision to me but it has to be a rejection after this:

----------------------------------------------------

Dear liszt85,

I won't be taking you into my laboratory next

year, I'm sorry to say, there were other students

who were better qualified for my particular type

of work. You might check with Prof. Y.

------------------------------------------------

[liszt85]

However, the trouble I went through (from abroad, I might add) to get ETS to send out my stupid GRE scores was by far the most frustrating experience of this whole ordeal thus far. The first person I talked to was downright rude (and this was after I had sent them countless e-mails only to repeatedly receive a link as my response!) The second person I talked to was polite and seemed conscientious. But then I learned a few weeks later that one of my schools still had not received my scores and ended up having to pay for them to be sent out again.

One of my friends faced the same problem! One of his universities made hm send them the score thrice! He used to call up the grad secy who had no problems understanding individual sentences but had a problem comprehending a small body of logically bound sentences. So it was a frustrating experience. I think somebody must give some of those grad secy's an IQ test before they are hired. I do not mean to sound rude and mean, its just so frustrating to deal with some of these grad secys due to whom the guy ended up spending $60 for a stupid GRE score report! I believe they ended up finding the "missing" report later on. :|

[nandelle]

Haha, UBC didn't even send me an e-mail (or return any of mine, for that matter)...i just randomly logged into the application to see two words: "not admitted".

And that's that.

[limeinthecoconut]

Sorry to hear that. I had one which was just downright nasty. It went something like:

We are sure you are disappointed about not being able to attend our wonderful university

Fortunately, I wasn't that crazy about going there, so I thought it was quite funny.

[Jakrabite]

The first person I talked to was downright rude (and this was after I had sent them countless e-mails only to repeatedly receive a link as my response!) The second person I talked to was polite and seemed conscientious. But then I learned a few weeks later that one of my schools still had not received my scores and ended up having to pay for them to be sent out again.

I faced a similar problem with UIUC. They didn't receive my scores. But the ETS people were pretty helpful and sent them again at no cost. I don't see how they could charge you for their mistake.

My last reject ended with "Cheers!". Don't know about other people but I found that slightly insensitive.

[ridgey]

The first one sounds like some admin department of the uni, not a decision notification. Maybe the actual notification got lost or is still coming, while student services or whatever is bizarrely efficient?

[arienandthesun]

While that surely was nasty, here's a mail sent to me by a professor who had initially shown interest in my application. At least this was personalized but he was cut and dry with what he said. The grad school is yet to convey a decision to me but it has to be a rejection after this:

----------------------------------------------------

Dear liszt85,

I won't be taking you into my laboratory next

year, I'm sorry to say, there were other students

who were better qualified for my particular type

of work. You might check with Prof. Y.

------------------------------------------------

worse is, not receiving any response from such a professor, which is currently my case. and I know that another person was accepted to that lab. still no official rejections but heard an unofficial one from another person, so not listing it. if wondering which one, just pm me.

[Tumbleweed]

This is one of my favorite rejections:

"Because different departments and graduate schools look for different kinds of preparation in an applicant's background, another graduate school may very well view your application favorably."

The other classic rejection came without letter or email. When I Iogged into the site, it simply said: DENIED.

[peanutbutter]

Wow, maybe I should actually start reading those rejection e-letters

[orangepotato]

This is one of my favorite rejections:

"Because different departments and graduate schools look for different kinds of preparation in an applicant's background, another graduate school may very well view your application favorably."

In other words, "It's not you. It's me." Awesome.

Re: "Cheers!" above, I wonder if the author was European or had spent time abroad? I've noticed this as a somewhat common closer in Europe, though the author really should have thought twice before putting it on such a letter. But maybe drinking is in order after a rejection...

[Dinali]

Re: "Cheers!" above, I wonder if the author was European or had spent time abroad? I've noticed this as a somewhat common closer in Europe, though the author really should have thought twice before putting it on such a letter. But maybe drinking is in order after a rejection...

I have a number of English friends for whom "cheers!" is every third word in any context. And even THEY would have found it inappropriate for this context. So insensitive it is.

[zoberg]

My first paragraph rejection letter from the department chair at the U of M said this:

Many years ago as I was being dumped by my girlfriend, I told her to just tell me what comes after the 'but,' because that's all that really matters. No words mitigate bad news and I know it. Still, I write to explain some of the financial and institutional dynamics underlying our faculty's decision not to recommend you for admission.

:shock: Because this is the exact same sort of thing as being dumped by your girlfriend. I see.

[Dinali]

My first paragraph rejection letter from the department chair at the U of M said this:

:shock: Because this is the exact same sort of thing as being dumped by your girlfriend. I see.

You should write back and say "Actually, many years ago I picked up your girlfriend on the rebound, and she told me the REAL reason she dumped you, and believe me, I am NOT lacking in that area . . . "

[vern23]

My best one so far read as

" We have infromed our first round of admitted students and those on the waiting list.

Good luck on your other applications."

Gee thanks for being so clear, couldn't just say you're rejected, have to be all round about.

[Dontuse]

Dear liszt85,

I won't be taking you into my laboratory next

year, I'm sorry to say, there were other students

who were better qualified for my particular type

of work. You might check with Prof. Y.

That, my dear liszt85, is overkill. It hurt you & i'm fairly sure Prof. Y isn't all too happy about the connotation there either.

Thus BurnSquared.

We are sure you are disappointed about not being able to attend our wonderful university

That one is so good I almost don't believe you.

Sadly for me, however, that because I received the infamous letter (posted) I totally, totally, unabashedly do.

As for the others: PLEASE, i beg you, keep them rolling in. I hadn't expected to have so many other brave souls parting with their own rejections but I am elated to know that I have, indeed, found a comical bunch.

I mean, how else will we deal with this trauma?

[i.am.going.postal.]

[liszt85]

That, my dear liszt85, is overkill. It hurt you & i'm fairly sure Prof. Y isn't all too happy about the connotation there either.

Thus BurnSquared.

Prof Y in turn:

Hi liszt85,

I can only tell you about my own lab at McGill; unfortunately there is no room this coming year. I suspect your grades did not make you as competitive for fellowships as some of our other applicants were, and we try to make sure our admitted students have financial aid. I'm sorry to not have better news. Best wishes with your choices,

Prof Y

I did however appreciate the honesty as they had a valid point but I also wondered how my bad grades in fluid mechanics and thermodynamics were going to affect graduate studies in Psychology!