roguesenna Posted January 21, 2014 Posted January 21, 2014 Just thought I would post this tidbit. Just got a letter from UCLA saying that my department is "unexpectedly unable to consider any applications for the upcoming year" so, not exactly a rejection, since it seems like they haven't even reviewed any apps, but obviously not an acceptance. the nice thing is, they're refunding my app fee. Anyone had anything like this happen before? any guesses as to why this happened? I'm thinking they didn't get funding or something. I'm surprisingly not upset. Moving to LA would have been quite the logistical nightmare and out of my three apps, UCLA was my "safety" (I mean... it's still UCLA, so there's nothing safe about it, but it wasn't my 1st or 2nd choice). Anyway, I thought this was weird enough to share.
thegirldetective Posted January 21, 2014 Posted January 21, 2014 It's almost certainly a funding problem. I can't think of any other reason they wouldn't even review apps.
MsDarjeeling Posted January 21, 2014 Posted January 21, 2014 Wow not even reviewing apps AND refunding app fees? I've never heard of that happening. I agree it sounds like they had a major funding issue and felt it wasn't fair to keep the app fees if it was highly unlikely they could take new candidates. I wonder what this means for students already in their program, since funding issues tend to affect everyone.
roguesenna Posted January 21, 2014 Author Posted January 21, 2014 didn't even think what it would mean for students in the program. sort of makes me feel like I dodged a bullet!
Sarah Bee Posted January 21, 2014 Posted January 21, 2014 Damn! everytime someone's app gets declined or they don't receive funding, my blood pressure goes low
roguesenna Posted January 21, 2014 Author Posted January 21, 2014 how are you still alive? ImpulsiveNixie 1
roguesenna Posted January 22, 2014 Author Posted January 22, 2014 apparently it had something to do with lack of core professors, according to the administrator there. I guess maybe a bunch of profs are retiring/leaving/going on sabbatical, or something.
MsDarjeeling Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 So a bunch of core professors are leaving.....and they have no confidence in their hiring ability to replace them? That seems weird. Plus it still affects current students.
sylark Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 Hmm. That is unfortunate. This could discourage applicants from applying next year, and thus, weaken their applicant pool and prestige. Not to mention the talent they potentially lost this application year.
AWall2014 Posted January 24, 2014 Posted January 24, 2014 Sounds like a moratorium that they waited entirely too late to pass?
Brisingamen Posted January 24, 2014 Posted January 24, 2014 I've heard of this sort of thing before -- sometimes funding issues mean they can't guarantee funding to a new cohort, so they decide not to take on any new students in a particular year. This happened at Michigan in the History department a couple of years ago (though I'm not entirely sure what the reason was). They were back to taking students again the next year, so I guess they sorted it out.
shelbyelisha Posted January 24, 2014 Posted January 24, 2014 That happened to me with CU Boulder this year. I submitted my application in late November, and by mid-December (about two weeks before their deadline) they sent me an email saying that due to "complex internal restructuring" of the department, they would be unable to take any new people into the program. I got my application fee refunded but I'm out the $20 I spent to send my GRE scores to them...
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