Worst Rejections... EVER

[Dontuse]

Ha! Good point!

[kahlan_amnell]

The worst rejection I've gotten was not this round of applications, it was a few years ago when I was applying to law school. The sentence that struck me as terribly pompous on their part was:

"Ultimately, we realize that many people denied admission to Boston College Law School will go on to lead successful professional lives."

Right, do they really think that they need to reassure people that their entire life isn't over just because they didn't get into one law school?

[Dontuse]

Right, do they really think that they need to reassure people that their entire life isn't over just because they didn't get into one law school?

hahahaha. I was chewing... & then i was laughing. thank you kahlan_amnell. that is something a person would remember in a few years' time indeed.

...And the 'Ultimately' gives me this 'We're not happy this is going on without our permission but facts are fact people... & some of these unBCLers are leading good careers anyway" feeling. Am i alone in that sentiment?

[Jakrabite]

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.

Haha. Thank you. I am an international student so initially I thought my getting offended by 'Cheers!' was misplaced anger. But I guess 75 bucks no longer buys you politeness or a reasonable imitation thereof. These posted rejection letters are amazingly funny though.

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.

I hate it when The Man tries to talk like us young folk.

[mrfuga0]

I got a rejection from Johns Hopkins many years ago that read as follows:

Dear applicant:

This year we received many qualified applicants for our MFA program. Unfortunately you were not one of them. I hope you have made other plans for your future.

Sincerely,

X

I kid you not.

[Dontuse]

i'm appauled mrfuga0

[limeinthecoconut]

I got a rejection from Johns Hopkins many years ago that read as follows:

Dear applicant:

This year we received many qualified applicants for our MFA program. Unfortunately you were not one of them. I hope you have made other plans for your future.

Sincerely,

X

I kid you not.

*Ouch*

[ridgey]

Haha. Thank you. I am an international student so initially I thought my getting offended by 'Cheers!' was misplaced anger. But I guess 75 bucks no longer buys you politeness or a reasonable imitation thereof. These posted rejection letters are amazingly funny though.

Cheers is a very common email sign off; the sender may even have had it as the auto-signature. Still pretty bad, but at least they didn't type[/i "cheers" at the end.

[Juliet73]

I got a rejection from Johns Hopkins many years ago that read as follows:

Dear applicant:

This year we received many qualified applicants for our MFA program. Unfortunately you were not one of them. I hope you have made other plans for your future.

Sincerely,

X

I kid you not.

That's just.... WOW. Really, really harsh. It's like they were actually trying to be dicks.

[firefly85]

I got a rejection from Johns Hopkins many years ago that read as follows:

Dear applicant:

This year we received many qualified applicants for our MFA program. Unfortunately you were not one of them. I hope you have made other plans for your future.

Sincerely,

X

I kid you not.

Wow, that is crazy. Although Hopkins is really not known for its social aptitude, but still you'd think they'd have someone who knows how to deal with people in the admissions offices!

[martizzle]

zoberg wrote: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.

That's hilarious...if its someone trying desperately to be nice in a weird mean way; but whichever way one looks at it, its downright idiotic. You should send the letter to every person in that department (via email....dont waste your stamps), saying how terrible you feel, and how very inhumane it is for the chair to send you that particular email informing you of his ex-girlfriend; 'apparently' your "mum" are getting a divorce and during one of their arguments 'a couple days ago', your dad told your mum the same thing...when 'he' found out 'she' wanted a divorce. Obviously, seeing the same thing in the chair's letter is severely emotionally distressing and etc.

Obviously, you can tell I have way too much time on my hands, if I can concoct such a story :} If you do manage to send something like that to the dept though, maybe the dean....who knows what may come of it....in a perfect world, the result would be:

Dean: But I'm afraid we have to let you go...we are more than willing to write you an excellent recommendation ltr

Chair: What comes after the 'but'

in a realistic world however, you would have done all of that for pretty much NOTHING....but you WILL feel better afterward though.

[l'autodidacte]

Wow, those are just plain cruel. I'm sorry; this process is already so emotionally draining, couldn't they try a little harder in their rejection letters?

I must say that I have recieved some of the nicest, most personalized e-mails from profs at the universities that have rejected me (great app, no funding...story of the year, I guess). However, when I was applying for undergraduate research positions a few years back, I once got a one line e-mail that said my application "failed". I think it read, "unfortunately, your application to program X has failed and we will not be able to offer you a position."

It failed? Ouch!!

[psycholinguist]

ABORT, RETRY, FAIL?

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.

I haven't lived in the UK for a while, but as I understand it, 'cheers' is basically synonymous with 'thanks'. A couple of my Canadian friends might use it for 'bravo'. Neither strikes me as particularly appropriate for the closing of a rejection-letter.

[nandelle]

This thread is amazing. It makes me anxious to receive my paper rejection letter from UBC (assuming they actually send one, at this point I doubt it) just in the hope that it contains hilarity.

[Dontuse]

This thread is amazing. It makes me anxious to receive my paper rejection letter from UBC... just in the hope that it contains hilarity.

That, my dear nandelle, was hilarious.

[poofypoof]

What a sad, yet hilarious thread!!

[TulipOHare]

I just got a rejection... but not from a school... and it's not actually for me. My main e-mail address is based on my (real) name and it's pretty generic. I get a lot of e-mail for people with similar names.

So "my" abstract was not accepted at the annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. (Also, "I" am already a doctor. Screw this grad school jive!) Second sentence of the e-mail:

I can imagine your disappointment that it was not accepted.

Oh, the disappointment! It's so real to them they can almost TASTE it!

[limeinthecoconut]

I just got a rejection... but not from a school... and it's not actually for me. My main e-mail address is based on my (real) name and it's pretty generic. I get a lot of e-mail for people with similar names.

So "my" abstract was not accepted at the annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. (Also, "I" am already a doctor. Screw this grad school jive!) Second sentence of the e-mail:

Oh, the disappointment! It's so real to them they can almost TASTE it!

Haha, the pains of a name that is similar! There is a postdoc in my current department, who shares exactly the same name as another famous and established historian in the same field as him. Consequently, he keeps having to reply to e-mails, clarifying that he is not that so-and-so.

[TulipOHare]

Haha, the pains of a name that is similar! There is a postdoc in my current department, who shares exactly the same name as another famous and established historian in the same field as him. Consequently, he keeps having to reply to e-mails, clarifying that he is not that so-and-so.

It's probably deeply wrong, but I really enjoy all the misdirected e-mail. Maybe I'll save them all and write a book someday.

[limeinthecoconut]

It's probably deeply wrong, but I really enjoy all the misdirected e-mail. Maybe I'll save them all and write a book someday.

Haha, I'll buy it! At least we'll get to read about which academics are supposed to be "disappointed" that their papers didn't get accepted.

[whateverneveram3n]

Haha, the pains of a name that is similar! There is a postdoc in my current department, who shares exactly the same name as another famous and established historian in the same field as him. Consequently, he keeps having to reply to e-mails, clarifying that he is not that so-and-so.

haha, oh my goodness...that would not be fun. :|

[sonnyday]

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]:

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

Wow that was horrible! You should be GLAD you were rejected.

[cara susanna]

I've been lucky enough to receive some very nice rejection letters so far. I did have one, though, that said that I wasn't a good fit even though I had been told at my interview that I was. Yeah...

[firefly85]

This is one of the worst I've seen, that someone posted on the results page,

The program recommended that you be denied admission... the dean of the graduate college has concurred with the recommendation."

What?! How insensitive is that! I'm sorry to whoever got that letter, but you're probably better off going to a school where they actually have some tact and compassion.

[nandelle]

This is one of the worst I've seen, that someone posted on the results page,

The program recommended that you be denied admission... the dean of the graduate college has concurred with the recommendation."

What?! How insensitive is that! I'm sorry to whoever got that letter, but you're probably better off going to a school where they actually have some tact and compassion.

I didn't post it, but that was pretty much the exact rejection I got from UWashington...I did think it a little cowardly that the department didn't contact me, but rather hid behind the graduate college.