Worst Rejections... EVER

[ignatzandbrick]

While not nearly as bad as some of the rejections letters on this board...

I received one rejection letter that stated:

"We encourage you to continue to refine and develop your portfolio and apply again in the future."

translation: Please send us $70 more next year.

Sheesh.

[hornedfrogmeg]

im dreading april 1st. I fear a school will email me and say "CONGRATULATIONS! You have been accepted!!" followed up with "APRIL FOOLS!"

[whateverneveram3n]

so its nothing official, yet, but I called a school today that I STILL have not heard from to ask for an update on my status. The woman told me that I have not been accepted, but not to give up hope because "anything can happen." Anything can happen? Meaning, hell COULD freeze over and we might think you are good enough to come here. Hold out hope, stranger things have happened. Just tell me I am rejected and move on.

Yeah, I called my last program a couple days ago to see if there was any news on when we'd get decisions and pretty much got the same answer.

In any case, if any of you out there are sitting on an acceptance to my last program, and you know you're not going there, would you kindly notify them of such? =)

Edit: I cut out all the whiny bits. =)

[cc11505]

This thread made me feel SO much better! I have had a whole range of rejections, from cold cold cold to decent and kind but some of the ones here - I'm surprised these places haven't been sued for emotional damages in our litigious society!

[zilch]

this one isn't really a bad rejection message so much as a frustrating overall experience

I applied for the PhD program in Electrical Engineering back in December. My grades aren't great but I have research experience and a publication. A professor from the department contacted me and asked me to call him. During the phone conversation he said he was going to recommend me for admission and a few days later he emails me saying that he was going to try to get me a fellowship. This all occurred 5-6 weeks ago and then today I check the website to find that I have been rejected. The message itself was pretty standard, just a we've reviewed your application and cannot offer you admission type of deal, but I thought I was essentially as good as admitted, the shock was rather unpleasant.

[Dontuse]

you know schools aint sh*t. i meant the admission committees. think about how much you pay them to "review" you and the quality of their corresponding service. if you go to a restaurant and pay $80-$90, and the chef says they are out of fish but hesitating to buy more b/c they are still awaiting the existing orders that might get canceled. i bet you're gonna stick a wooden stake into his [expletives]. clu

this guy got quite a few rejections on another "im applying to graduate programs" site.

I just thought this should be shared. Actually a bit too insightful IMHO.

[djrg]

this guy got quite a few rejections on another "im applying to graduate programs" site.

I just thought this should be shared. Actually a bit too insightful IMHO.

a bit? loooool this actually made me laugh out loud

[sojourner]

So far (I am still awaiting one decision) my worst rejection came from South Carolina. I just happened to check their website and found my status changed from "PENDING" to "REJECTED." Capital letters and all. What's worse, I never even received an e-mail or post letter regarding the rejection. Lucky I decided to check the website or I would still be wondering.

[liszt85]

this one isn't really a bad rejection message so much as a frustrating overall experience

I applied for the PhD program in Electrical Engineering back in December. My grades aren't great but I have research experience and a publication. A professor from the department contacted me and asked me to call him. During the phone conversation he said he was going to recommend me for admission and a few days later he emails me saying that he was going to try to get me a fellowship. This all occurred 5-6 weeks ago and then today I check the website to find that I have been rejected. The message itself was pretty standard, just a we've reviewed your application and cannot offer you admission type of deal, but I thought I was essentially as good as admitted, the shock was rather unpleasant.

This has to be the worst of all... Its horrible for the professor to not have informed you about this development! It may well have been out of his hands but he should have had the decency to call you up!

[fes_alum]

this one isn't really a bad rejection message so much as a frustrating overall experience

I applied for the PhD program in Electrical Engineering back in December. My grades aren't great but I have research experience and a publication. A professor from the department contacted me and asked me to call him. During the phone conversation he said he was going to recommend me for admission and a few days later he emails me saying that he was going to try to get me a fellowship. This all occurred 5-6 weeks ago and then today I check the website to find that I have been rejected. The message itself was pretty standard, just a we've reviewed your application and cannot offer you admission type of deal, but I thought I was essentially as good as admitted, the shock was rather unpleasant.

Sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you. I had a friend in a similar situation who had a professor backing him for admission into a PhD program. My friend worked for the professor as a research tech for a couple of years, took classes at the U. while working, and was encouraged to apply to the PhD program. Even though he had the backing from the professor, he didn't meet the minimum GRE scores required for admission and was rejected from the program. He has since decided not to pursue a PhD.

[whateverneveram3n]

Sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you. I had a friend in a similar situation who had a professor backing him for admission into a PhD program. My friend worked for the professor as a research tech for a couple of years, took classes at the U. while working, and was encouraged to apply to the PhD program. Even though he had the backing from the professor, he didn't meet the minimum GRE scores required for admission and was rejected from the program. He has since decided not to pursue a PhD.

Wow; that's depressing. :| I'm sorry to hear about that.

[psycholinguist]

this one isn't really a bad rejection message so much as a frustrating overall experience

I applied for the PhD program in Electrical Engineering back in December. My grades aren't great but I have research experience and a publication. A professor from the department contacted me and asked me to call him. During the phone conversation he said he was going to recommend me for admission and a few days later he emails me saying that he was going to try to get me a fellowship. This all occurred 5-6 weeks ago and then today I check the website to find that I have been rejected. The message itself was pretty standard, just a we've reviewed your application and cannot offer you admission type of deal, but I thought I was essentially as good as admitted, the shock was rather unpleasant.

Ouch! I think set-ups for disappointments such as these should be illegal. (Basically the same thing happened to me, so I feel your pain!)

[djrg]

Sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you. I had a friend in a similar situation who had a professor backing him for admission into a PhD program. My friend worked for the professor as a research tech for a couple of years, took classes at the U. while working, and was encouraged to apply to the PhD program. Even though he had the backing from the professor, he didn't meet the minimum GRE scores required for admission and was rejected from the program. He has since decided not to pursue a PhD.

Woow that's sad... How awful that he decided not to pursue a PhD... I mean, if he had research and was backed up up by a professor maybe he had potential... a shame that the lack of consideration from a school can desmotivate someone in such a way...

[partenope]

My favorite was Princeton's 2006 e-mail, saying that ordinarily they would have sent out signed letters in the mail, and they would send one if the individual rejectee would like.

Realizing that a timely response to our applicants is very important, we have chosen this less-than-perfect method of advising you of our admission decision electronically, since that is the very quickest way of communicating this important information to you. We apologize for the informality of this email, knowing that past practice would have you receiving a formal, signed letter from my office (I would, of course, be happy to provide such a letter if you so desire).

The rest of the letter was rather civil.

[cupcake_phd]

That was Princeton's rejection email this year as well.

I bet they send it out every year.

[Dontuse]

Nice! cupcake_phd called Princeton out on its recycling [it's really very understandable to not have a rejection tailored to each individual but this letter gives the impression that sending an E-mail in lieu of a letter was an impromptu decision].

... I wonder if anyone actually requested the rejection in physical form. acceptances? [shrug] i can understand the sentimental feelings from keeping that but wanting to read "...we recieve many qualified applicants each year & this season the competition was exceptional..." again? pffft. not i!

Call me unwillingtobeamasochist. Then again, that sn wouldn't fit since the whole process of applying sometimes feels like an effort in futility... it's the waiting I suspect. The waiting, the not-knowing, the void; the nothingness.

[Hmmmmmm. Yummy stream-of-conscienceness typing ]On second thought, maybe anyone who requested the rejection on paper simply appreciated the distinct euphoria that comes upon realizing, "it's over.' Honestly, that was a really grand feeling even when the answer was a "No, thanks."

[zoberg]

My friend who was born in the Sudan and moved here when she was very young applied to grad school. I was not admitted into a different program, and while that's irrelevant, it really stings that she was accepted and she's failed four classes in her pursued field.

Burn...

[flit]

that would definitely hurt!

[fortiesgirl]

The actual rejection letter wasn't so painful. The real kicker (which I shared this morning on the history board) is that the school then used my personal admissions file to solicit me for money to support their graduate students. I know it the money is intended for grad students (mind you, to support candidates like myself!) because I received a 1-2 page letter detailing how the funds would be spent, with a perforated form to return to the school indicating how much I intended to donate to the institution, starting at $100.

[commcycle]

The actual rejection letter wasn't so painful. The real kicker (which I shared this morning on the history board) is that the school then used my personal admissions file to solicit me for money to support their graduate students. I know it the money is intended for grad students (mind you, to support candidates like myself!) because I received a 1-2 page letter detailing how the funds would be spent, with a perforated form to return to the school indicating how much I intended to donate to the institution, starting at $100.

That's so tacky!

[sojourner]

I actually got rejected from a school twice. And I don't mean that they simply sent me two notifications--that would have been preferable. I was originally rejected by the school in late February. A week ago, I received an e-mail stating that my initial rejection had been a mistake. This did not mean that I was admitted, just that a decision had not yet been reached. However, yesterday, I was, once again, rejected by the program. Someone, I think, is a bit of a rejection junkie and has found a way to reject students twice! Woe is me.

[phr6984]

Along the same lines of getting rejected twice. I received my rejection email from GW in March and then yesterday received a letter from them. I didn't really know why they were sending me a letter, but I opened it to discover that they sent me a hard copy of the rejection. I guess my application was so terrible and offensive that they wanted to make sure that I understood that I wasn't good enough for them.

[AlwaysWorried]

The Office of Student Financial Services (OSFS) has electronically

received your 2008-2009 FAFSA application from the Department of

Education. However, we cannot process your application because you have

not been admitted to The University of Texas at Austin.

This is how I learned I was rejected by UT Austin Last year.

[Dontuse]

the financial aid office told you?!?!

oh, i'm so upset with UTAusten. good post!

[mrkupe]

This is how I learned I was rejected by UT Austin Last year.

Actually, this e-mail is not an indication of rejection from UT-Austin. Just because you haven't been admitted at the time that they receive your FAFSA does not mean that you will not be admitted - the e-mail doesn't indicate whether your status is pending or rejected, only that you're not yet an accepted student.

I received the same e-mail upon UT's receipt of my FAFSA, and received word of my acceptance a week later.