Can I reapply?

[Sury]

Hello all, 

 

So I didn't receive any positive response from my applications for this year's round. I was applying for a PhD program in the strategic management field and I believe that most likely my profile was too weak for be accepted. I decided to strengthen my profile and reapply for next years admission, however I was wondering if i would be wise enough for me to reapply for the same universities? Should I ask the same professors who recommend me this year to write a recommendation letter again? 

 

Thanks

Sury 

[JungWild&Free]

I reapplied and was admitted to 2 schools for Fall 2013 that I had been rejected from in the Fall 2011 cycle.  I think as long as you strengthen your application significantly, it makes sense to reapply if those schools are a good fit. But you should seek out opinions about why you were rejected to make sure you aren't wasting your money by applying again.  If you weren't a good fit in terms of your POIs research interests, it may not make sense to apply again.  If it was because you didn't have enough experience, but you will in a year, then reapply.

[Sury]

Thank you JungWild&Free.

 

Yah I am looking deeper to my choices to get a better overview of where I could better find the professors whit the relevant research interests for me. 

 

But you should seek out opinions about why you were rejected to make sure you aren't wasting your money by applying again. 

 

When you say that, do you think I should contact the schools i applied for and ask them why I wasn't admitted? 

[JungWild&Free]

When you say that, do you think I should contact the schools i applied for and ask them why I wasn't admitted? 

 

Absolutely.  Especially if you got any personal rejections from professors you were in contact with.  You can say something like, "I really appreciate your consideration this year.  I'm really interested in attending program X and would appreciate any advice you could give me on how to make my application more competitive in the future."  Most professors won't mind telling you, and it's probably going to be something generic like, "you need more experience."  But there is always a chance they will tell you something that could be important to your application, like your LORs weren't that strong, your GRE wasn't as competitive as others, etc.  You paid good money to apply to these schools, you should know how you can improve your application for next year.  And if you plan to reapply to any of these schools, I would definitely ask those schools so you know you aren't wasting your money.  Obviously, you want to be tactful and polite in the way you ask though.

Edited April 16, 2013 by JungWild&Free

[Bigcat]

I'm in the same situation. I am rejected from all grad schools I applied, and I plan to reapply at the same school. Actually I emailed to the program director who interviewed me (and rejected later) to ask for my application flaw and suggestion, but he did not reply. I'm not sure if the process of admission decision must be kept in secret. Now I have no idea which parts of my application should be improved, except GRE score. For letter of recommendations, I've already informed my rejection to my recommenders and ask them for writing next round, and they're willing to help. So I think in your case, your prof. won't mind to write the letter again. 

BTW, I also need advice from others about reapplying the same school (school X). In my situation, I received the interview invitation from school X, and later I was rejected. So I don't know if I should apply since I don't know whether the problem is that my GRE is poor or they don't like my research (which I cannot fix it as JungWild&Free said). Thank you for all comments.

[child of 2]

I posted something like this on the grad school forum in talk.collegeconfidential, but some bitch administrator deleted it before anyone could respond. now that's diligent fast work...

 

anyway, I'm just looking for information on what people changed in their applications. I know mine's probably going to be stronger due to the job experience I'm having now, and two more publications that's been delayed for like 3 months now. But in terms of references, GRE, GPA, essays, any info would be appreciated.

[Guest hopefulfool]

so I asked 2 schools that I was waitlisted at and then unceremoniasly rejected what I could do to improve my application. 1 said be more specific with research interests...and of course improve GRE, but the DGS stressed that he couldn't be more specific and the 2nd said that they couldn't tell me, so I am now wondering if there was something fishy with one of my LORs.... I am just wondering about this because one of my LORs just told me that I shouldn't have applied to the schools that I did (he had said this when I gave him the list of schools initially as well). I think he was wrong because I was waitlisted, which means that I am qualified at some level and that I just had shit luck....

[JungWild&Free]

It's probably a good point that some people may be more likely to tell you why you were rejected.  The administrators at the grad school will probably be less likely to do it than the POIs you were in touch with. 

 

When I reapplied, most of what I changed was having 1+ years of lab manager experience and I swapped out (what I can only assume was) a fairly generic LOR with a great one from my current boss.  I also did a better job of getting in contact with POIs to see who was taking students and was SUPER critical of my SOP to make sure I didn't waste any of my word count.