Reversing Decisions

[Guest guest]

I know of people who have had graduate schools reverse decisions for various reasons (they won an NSF, they simply wrote and convinced someone, etc). I am in the NSF boat (I got an NSF graduate research fellowship but got rejected by my top schools). Does anyone have any advice on what I can do? Also, does anyone have actual experience with reversing decisions that could share that experience?

[Guest muse]

Yep. I did it this year. I emailed the chair and a prof and the prof spoke with me on the phone for a half hour. They admitted me on provisional status. Ask them straight out...

[Guest guest]

Do you mind telling me at which institution and program?

I actually went to two programs already that said that they do not reverse any decisions/ don't have a policy for it/ have rules of the grad school that they can't send out more than X admit letters and that I can apply to transfer after a year if I want. I thought having an NSF was more powerful than this! But I have heard of people reversing decisions, so I'm hoping that my number one institution (who I have yet to hear back from via email) DOES reverse it.

Any more experiences out there on this?

[Guest guest]

persistence can often win in reversing decisions...but it's true that sometimes schools have certain policies, etc that might make it impossible. If your really want it, though, persist.

BUT

before you do that, think harder about why you were rejected. At least in my field, someone who is capable of winning an NSF is qualified for admission anywhere because the NSF is so hard to get. Yet, sometimes these people are rejected anyway. Why? Because the lab they want to be in is completely full. Or, because they weren't that good of a match for the school in the first place. Do you want to go to these schools because they are super-prestigious in your field or because they are actually the best place for your specific area of interest?

[Guest liquidmethane]

before you do that, think harder about why you were rejected. At least in my field, someone who is capable of winning an NSF is qualified for admission anywhere because the NSF is so hard to get. Yet, sometimes these people are rejected anyway. Why? Because the lab they want to be in is completely full. Or, because they weren't that good of a match for the school in the first place. Do you want to go to these schools because they are super-prestigious in your field or because they are actually the best place for your specific area of interest?

This is excellent advice.

[Guest bruno]

I had an unusual situation in this area.

I could only apply to 5 schools because of little money. Oddly enough, I got admission to the highest-rated program of the 5 (in the top 10 in the field), and rejected by the rest. And no departmental aid from the school that admitted me.

Then I received a NSF Award; within a week I was contacted by two of the schools that previously rejected me and was told that there was an opening in their department because of people declining offers (and I was not on a waiting list or anything that I know of). However, I decided to stick with the program that had admitted me in the first place.

Then I decided to contact one of the other schools that rejected me, which is the "flagship" public institution in my state, but has a poor program in my field and was the lowest-ranking program of the 5 that I applied (near the bottom, actually). The program that admitted me is several states away from my family. I told them that I had received a NSF Award and would not need other aid, but the department said that it was not their policy to reverse decisions after they were made.

So I guess I am stuck with the better program and NSF $$$. But now I can afford to fly home regularly.