Help! How likely am I to get my offer rescinded?

[HerpinDerps]

So, I just received an official offer of acceptance from a very prestigious PhD program (in the Biological Sciences) that was among my top choices. The letter is signed by the Dean, contains funding info, etc. However...

 

I graduated from my undergrad more than a year ago, but I decided to take some programming courses at a local community college and totally bombed (D) one because of a bad final exam. Because this PhD program had a fairly early application deadline, that particular grade was not reflected in the unofficial transcripts I sent. This grad program requires official transcripts to be sent in upon acceptance. What will happen when they see my awful grade? Will they overlook it because it's just a CC class and not a required course for my major? What exactly constitutes "discrepancies" between unofficial and official transcripts? I suppose I should note that their website states that there is no required minimum GPA for admissions.

 

Any help/advice would be appreciated!

[silver_lining]

It is clear that you are not being deceitful as the grade was not on your transcripts yet. From what I've heard, once they accept you, they can't take your offer away unless you do something horrible (kill someone, say you went to school X when you went to school Y, forge your letters, cheated on the GRE, etc.). 

[HerpinDerps]

No, I listed the class on my application as "course in progress," because at the time I applied, it still was, with a couple of weeks left to go in the class. I didn't bring it up at my interview, but then again, grades/GPA were not really a topic of discussion.

[HerpinDerps]

It is clear that you are not being deceitful as the grade was not on your transcripts yet. From what I've heard, once they accept you, they can't take your offer away unless you do something horrible (kill someone, say you went to school X when you went to school Y, forge your letters, cheated on the GRE, etc.). 

 

Okay, that's pretty reassuring, as I have done none of those   I may still try and take a self-paced course in the same topic to raise my grades in that subject area.

[NoSleepTilBreuckelen]

I agree, if the course was still in progress when the application was due, I don't think there's any problem. I receive that grade in a class in college and it's never been a problem. In fact, no has even asked me about it (and I've been through two grad application cycles now, for my Master's program and now for a PhD program). In short, I do not think they would rescind an offer over one grade!

 

And congrats on the acceptance

Edited February 19, 2014 by NoSleepTilBreuckelen

[deleonj]

So, I just received an official offer of acceptance from a very prestigious PhD program (in the Biological Sciences) that was among my top choices. The letter is signed by the Dean, contains funding info, etc. However...

 

I graduated from my undergrad more than a year ago, but I decided to take some programming courses at a local community college and totally bombed (D) one because of a bad final exam. Because this PhD program had a fairly early application deadline, that particular grade was not reflected in the unofficial transcripts I sent. This grad program requires official transcripts to be sent in upon acceptance. What will happen when they see my awful grade? Will they overlook it because it's just a CC class and not a required course for my major? What exactly constitutes "discrepancies" between unofficial and official transcripts? I suppose I should note that their website states that there is no required minimum GPA for admissions.

 

Any help/advice would be appreciated!

It sounds like you'll be fine. Your undergraduate degree and GPA would weigh far more in determining your fit as a potential PhD candidate than the programming courses you took after obtaining your bachelor's degree (especially for an unrelated field). You can explain the rationale behind taking the courses (I assume it was just to know some programming skills?), or you can even explain the low grade, but I doubt that you have anything serious to worry about.

[HerpinDerps]

I agree, if the course was still in progress when the application was due, I don't think there's any problem. I receive that grade in a class in college and it's never been a problem. In fact, no has even asked me about it (and I've been through two grad application cycles now, for my Master's program and now for a PhD program). In short, I do not think they would rescind an offer over one grade!

 

And congrats on the acceptance

 

Thank you! 

 

It sounds like you'll be fine. Your undergraduate degree and GPA would weigh far more in determining your fit as a potential PhD candidate than the programming courses you took after obtaining your bachelor's degree (especially for an unrelated field). You can explain the rationale behind taking the courses (I assume it was just to know some programming skills?), or you can even explain the low grade, but I doubt that you have anything serious to worry about.

 

Yes, I just wanted to add some basic programming to my acumen, and I still learned quite a bit. I just had too many balls in the air (lots of grad school applications, lol) when the final rolled around. Thanks again for the reassurance- I had a moment of total panic!

[juilletmercredi]

It is clear that you are not being deceitful as the grade was not on your transcripts yet. From what I've heard, once they accept you, they can't take your offer away unless you do something horrible (kill someone, say you went to school X when you went to school Y, forge your letters, cheated on the GRE, etc.).

 

Well, that's not completely true.  They can take your offer away for any reason they want, as this is the department's discretion.  They could, theoretically, rescind your offer because it's Tuesday and the DGS spilled his coffee and decided to make someone's life miserable.

 

But in practice, they usually don't.  So I think it's very unlikely that OP will have their offer rescinded for this - there's no dishonesty involved and it's not like they're a college senior who bombed their last semester.

[silver_lining]

Well, that's not completely true.  They can take your offer away for any reason they want, as this is the department's discretion.  They could, theoretically, rescind your offer because it's Tuesday and the DGS spilled his coffee and decided to make someone's life miserable.

 

But in practice, they usually don't.  So I think it's very unlikely that OP will have their offer rescinded for this - there's no dishonesty involved and it's not like they're a college senior who bombed their last semester.

Not true. In order for an applicant to be accepted, your file has to go to the graduate school. The DGS cannot wake up one morning and take away your offer. The DGS will have to go through the graduate school first. And unless some major offense is committed, a DGS will not go through all the paper work/discussion with the graduate school because that will ruin his/her day more than spilling coffee.