2015 Rejections

[djb1993djb]

 

 

 

You were saying? 

 

 

oh,,, ouch.

 

forgive me. shocked as i have been from the good news prior to this rejection, i am somewhat disoriented to meet such a different perception of my application. of course, the success has probably gotten in some measure to my head. 

 

perhaps you are all right to interpret my reaction as bratty entitlement. this rejection is the verdict i initially expected from every school to which i applied. but i am genuinely curious as to the ultimate reason my application was rejected by this particular adcom-- and i'm left a little forlorn at the rather vague form letter issued me for its lack of answers.

 

this post probably isn't helping my case-- ah, well. smarts a little to be on the receiving end of the mirth of this supportive community

[1Q84]

oh,,, ouch.

 

forgive me. shocked as i have been from the good news prior to this rejection, i am somewhat disoriented to meet such a different perception of my application. of course, the success has probably gotten in some measure to my head. 

 

perhaps you are all right to interpret my reaction as bratty entitlement. this rejection is the verdict i initially expected from every school to which i applied. but i am genuinely curious as to the ultimate reason my application was rejected by this particular adcom-- and i'm left a little forlorn at the rather vague form letter issued me for its lack of answers.

 

this post probably isn't helping my case-- ah, well. smarts a little to be on the receiving end of the mirth of this supportive community

 

I think it might help to recognize that just because you have great numbers in your app and that you've received acceptances from very reputable schools does not mean that you should simply be handed an acceptance to an MA program. Perhaps chalking the rejection up to the school being turned off by your "Ivory Tower" interests isn't the best way to think about it either, if you're concerned about why people are interpreting your post as entitlement. Not to mention, on the whole, it's just very insulting to the people at UCSC.

[thepriorwalter]

Official NYU rejection.

[unræd]

Official NYU rejection.

Me too! *clinks glass*

[djb1993djb]

I think it might help to recognize that just because you have great numbers in your app and that you've received acceptances from very reputable schools does not mean that you should simply be handed an acceptance to an MA program. Perhaps chalking the rejection up to the school being turned off by your "Ivory Tower" interests isn't the best way to think about it either, if you're concerned about why people are interpreting your post as entitlement. Not to mention, on the whole, it's just very insulting to the people at UCSC.

 

 

I should apologize for my unfortunate use of those adjectives to describe my WS-- they were employed (in retrospect very poorly) more with a view to self-effacement than to any disrespect towards UCSC's English department. i guess my post did not come off that way

[softcastlemccormick]

rejected from UC Santa Cruz's MA program. This one comes as a bit of a surprise-- my GRE verbal and writing scores are perfect, I have a strong GPA, and had already been given lovely offers from NYU and PSU as well as an acceptance at UMD. I suspect I overplayed or was too theatrical in my answering of all the "diversity" questions (to which I personally/ethnically/culturally really do have a strong claim).

 

Either that, or the department was truly concerned with the question of "fit". I could see why my work might feel too socially-disengaged/aloof/ivory-tower-ish for their mold, but I had gone in with the expectation that my interest in formalism/consciousness would have gelled well with all the folks with hands in the History of Consciousness department there. 

 

Nonetheless a bit of a headscratcher for me, especially considering there have been no admits posted on the boards yet

 

I guess I just have a hard time understanding why you (or any reasonable person who has spent time reading up on the application process and state of the market) would think that anyone is guaranteed a spot in any PhD program across the country. Having perfect scores, grades, affluent LOR writers, and contact with important POIs still won't guarantee a spot at a university ranked lower than 50, much less at a place like Harvard or Yale. I'm sure that there are many of us who were perfectly qualified to attend the programs we applied to, but were still rejected for a multitude of reasons, such as not having enough space for that subfield in the program, mentioning working with a professor who was about to retire, not enough money for funding, etc. I doubt that your work was "too socially disengaged" for the adcoms at UCSC, but there might be other problems with your WS that you didn't detect. All this is to say that nobody in this process is guaranteed anything, and it's foolish and entitled to think otherwise. 

Edited February 27, 2015 by softcastlemccormick

[drownsoda]

NYU reject ovah here!

[djb1993djb]

I guess I just have a hard time understanding why you (or any reasonable person who has spent time reading up on the application process and state of the market) would think that anyone is guaranteed a spot in any PhD program across the country. Having perfect scores, grades, affluent LOR writers, and contact with important POIs still won't guarantee a spot at a university ranked lower than 50, much less at a place like Harvard or Yale. I'm sure that there are many of us who were perfectly qualified to attend the programs we applied to, but were still rejected for a multitude of reasons, such as not having enough space for that subfield in the program, mentioning working with a professor who was about to retire, not enough money for funding, etc. I doubt that your work was "too socially disengaged" for the adcoms at UCSC, but there might be other problems with your WS that you didn't detect. All this is to say that nobody in this process is guaranteed anything, and it's foolish and entitled to think otherwise. 

 

i won't lie that my other admissions had greatly increased my confidence in my chances of admission to other schools, but it was not my intention to suggest I was expecting "guaranteed" admission to UCSC. 

 

suffice it to say today's blow to my ego resulted in a foolishly-worded post that seems to have stepped on a lot of toes. i will desist and rely on the hope that you all might accept my apologies for the impertinence.

[Appppplication]

I think djb is trolling you all...

[1Q84]

i won't lie that my other admissions had greatly increased my confidence in my chances of admission to other schools, but it was not my intention to suggest I was expecting "guaranteed" admission to UCSC. 

 

suffice it to say today's blow to my ego resulted in a foolishly-worded post that seems to have stepped on a lot of toes. i will desist and rely on the hope that you all might accept my apologies for the impertinence.

 

Ah, it's okay... I guess we can't always think rationally when we get a rejection. Sorry if I was a little too snarky.

[SilasWegg]

 

suffice it to say today's blow to my ego resulted in a foolishly-worded post that seems to have stepped on a lot of toes. i will desist and rely on the hope that you all might accept my apologies for the impertinence.

 

I hope that the rejections thread remains a safe place for ego shattered rants in the future. 

[silenus_thescribe]

I guess I just have a hard time understanding why you (or any reasonable person who has spent time reading up on the application process and state of the market) would think that anyone is guaranteed a spot in any PhD program across the country. Having perfect scores, grades, affluent LOR writers, and contact with important POIs still won't guarantee a spot at a university ranked lower than 50, much less at a place like Harvard or Yale. I'm sure that there are many of us who were perfectly qualified to attend the programs we applied to, but were still rejected for a multitude of reasons, such as not having enough space for that subfield in the program, mentioning working with a professor who was about to retire, not enough money for funding, etc. I doubt that your work was "too socially disengaged" for the adcoms at UCSC, but there might be other problems with your WS that you didn't detect. All this is to say that nobody in this process is guaranteed anything, and it's foolish and entitled to think otherwise [emphasis added].

 

*choir shouts AMEN*

[hreaðemus]

I hope that the rejections thread remains a safe place for ego shattered rants in the future. 

 

I second this! I think it's easy to say obnoxious things when we're disappointed, and it's easy to get annoyed with obnoxious things when tensions are running high towards the end of application season. But ultimately what has made GradCafe so valuable this season is that we support each other in what is, at times, a brutal profession - and I hope that continues to be true.

[slightlymoreanonymous]

I second this! I think it's easy to say obnoxious things when we're disappointed, and it's easy to get annoyed with obnoxious things when tensions are running high towards the end of application season. But ultimately what has made GradCafe so valuable this season is that we support each other in what is, at times, a brutal profession - and I hope that continues to be true.

 

True dat. Haha I've reading a lot lately about how individuals form communities in online spaces for my thesis, and it's been so interesting to see all of those things come to life on GradCafe:) 

 

As for the new rejections, hang in there, y'all! It's absolutely a crazy process, but we're getting much closer to having survived the 2015 application season! 

[InHacSpeVivo]

I certainly hope it's not rejection season! I still have eight schools left to hear from! And no news in over a week...

[jhefflol]

So BU rejected me by email about a week ago. Today I got ANOTHER email with a letter attached saying I was rejected, and the email stated that an actual letter would be sent by snail mail. What the fuck. I get it.

[Dr. Old Bill]

So BU rejected me by email about a week ago. Today I got ANOTHER email with a letter attached saying I was rejected, and the email stated that an actual letter would be sent by snail mail. What the fuck. I get it.

 

Just wait till you get the singing telegram...

[jhefflol]

Just wait till you get the singing telegram...

If only they would send a chocolate gram. I'd be down to hear about it again if that was the case.

[Lycidas]

I certainly hope it's not rejection season! I still have eight schools left to hear from! And no news in over a week...

 

I should've worded my post better with regards to "rejection season"; I just meant that it's the start of rejection season for me, since most of my remaining schools have notified accepted students already. Since we don't have any remaining schools in common, I think you have much better odds of getting some acceptance calls soon!

[angel_kaye13]

So BU rejected me by email about a week ago. Today I got ANOTHER email with a letter attached saying I was rejected, and the email stated that an actual letter would be sent by snail mail. What the fuck. I get it.

Good GRIEF!!!! Thank goodness for a little levity from Wyatt's torch...Dear LORD, one is enough, people!

[TeaOverCoffee]

So BU rejected me by email about a week ago. Today I got ANOTHER email with a letter attached saying I was rejected, and the email stated that an actual letter would be sent by snail mail. What the fuck. I get it.

 

Hahahaha! Same! "The decision on your application was not favorable." Ok, cool. So why do you need to tell me three times?

[ComeBackZinc]

So BU rejected me by email about a week ago. Today I got ANOTHER email with a letter attached saying I was rejected, and the email stated that an actual letter would be sent by snail mail. What the fuck. I get it.

 

I got three separately-worded rejection emails and a physical letter for the same postdoc. It's like they were afraid I wouldn't get the hint and show up on campus.

[unræd]

It's like they were afraid I wouldn't get the hint and show up on campus.

 

Which makes you wonder if at some point in the past that had happened!

 

Probably not, but it's a funny/tragic thought.

[Dr. Old Bill]

Don't think it hasn't crossed my mind to crash the Yale admitted students weekend and be all like "Hey, it was a true joy to be accepted! Can't wait to get started!" and feign complete obliviousness to the rejection letter.

[unræd]

Don't think it hasn't crossed my mind to crash the Yale admitted students weekend and be all like "Hey, it was a true joy to be accepted! Can't wait to get started!" and feign complete obliviousness to the rejection letter.

 

If you show up, I'll totally go along with it.