Is it considered okay to ask for the opinions of admission staff or committee after being declined?

[Tim126]

If one applies to a graduate school and gets declined, is it considered okay to ask for the opinions of admission staff or committee, about their thoughts on his application package (gpa, experience, personal statement, how supportive the recommenders wrote their letters, etc), for better adjusting his plan of applying to other schools and career?

 

Thanks!

 

[fuzzylogician]

You could try, but I wouldn't expect too much to come of it. These things are often subjective and there are more good applicants than positions. These people might also worry that being too honest might get them involved in a law suit, and they're also generally busy people. But you could try, I don't see what you have to lose, as long as you're polite and don't come off as accusing anybody of anything.

[TakeruK]

Yes you can, but I think it might be better to wait until May/June of that year, well after the application season is over. One of the schools I applied to did mention that they can provide evaluations after May if requested. However, like fuzzy said, many rejections are going to happen not because the applicant isn't qualified for the program, but there were better qualified applicants, so your comments might just be pretty vague (i.e. "your application was strong but there were applicants that were more competitive than you"). They probably won't be able to say "well if your GPA was X higher, you would have got in" or "if your LOR writer said `excellent' instead of 'very good'", or "if your GRE score was 5 points higher" etc. because admission is a holistic process and it's probably true that there was an applicant that did better than you in any one single aspect. 

 

If your results are nothing like you expected (e.g. rejected everywhere), then perhaps it might be useful to get the feedback in case there is something you didn't know about your application!

[Usmivka]

If your results are nothing like you expected (e.g. rejected everywhere), then perhaps it might be useful to get the feedback in case there is something you didn't know about your application!

 

...for example that the top three google search results for your name are 1. an arrest report for your doppleganger, 2. a writer on a conspiracy website, and 3. a facebook picture of a frat guy doing a keg stand...

[TakeruK]

...for example that the top three google search results for your name are 1. an arrest report for your doppleganger, 2. a writer on a conspiracy website, and 3. a facebook picture of a frat guy doing a keg stand...

 

hahaha