Opt out of an acceptance to reapply for top choices?

[DramaDuck]

Has anyone every opted out of safety school choices for a chance to get into top choices by reapplying the following year? 

I haven't been accepted anywhere yet, but I'm currently waitlisted at a school that's making me wonder if I should hold out and try and get into my dream school. But then there is also the chance that that was my only chance of getting in anywhere ever. I know that I've only been waitlisted, and it's possible that I don't even get it, but I feel the need to prepare myself for the possibility and to address doubts early on just in case the option comes up. 

[.letmeinplz//]

I only applied to schools I would be happy to attend. If I ever thought an acceptance from a school was unacceptable to me I wouldn't have wasted the time/money/effort (and the same goes for my LOR writers as far as time/effort goes) applying.

 

So I guess the question is, when you applied to this school was it because you wanted to go there?

 

If you don't want to go there then don't, but you should probably realize for next season that if you don't intend on going to a school you shouldn't apply to go to that school.

[grad_wannabe]

Has anyone every opted out of safety school choices for a chance to get into top choices by reapplying the following year? 

I haven't been accepted anywhere yet, but I'm currently waitlisted at a school that's making me wonder if I should hold out and try and get into my dream school. But then there is also the chance that that was my only chance of getting in anywhere ever. I know that I've only been waitlisted, and it's possible that I don't even get it, but I feel the need to prepare myself for the possibility and to address doubts early on just in case the option comes up. 

 

I know a couple people who have done this. I mean, things change over the course of the loooong application process. It could be that you chose a school way back in June, but now (8+ months later) are second-guessing that choice. I think that's fair and understandable. 

 

FAR better to back out of a choice of which you're unsure now, than spend the next five years wondering what could have been. 

 

As for me, I definitely know WHY I got rejected from the schools that I did. I don't plan to ever reapply. BUT there are a couple schools that I regret not including on my list this time around ...

[pannpann]

Honestly, DramaDuck, if you applied then there must have been something about the program that appealed to you--so I think it's worth giving a try, willing you don't get in anywhere else. I say this because while, yes, PhD. programs are long, you are never really stuck anywhere. I think a lot of people forget that if you aren't happy with your program you can absolutely transfer. A lot of people wait until they've passed their qualifiers and are award a Masters to transfer, and this seems like the best bet, but if you've just got a semester of grades under your belt it still doesn't sound like the worst option as long as your grades are good. Just my two cents. I didn't like where I ended up in undergrad and transferred my sophomore year to be a much better school than I would have been eligible for right out of high school. 

 

I have a friend in physics who transferred from RPI to UC Irvine last year and although there was a rocky patch re: transfer credits, I think overall he's really happy with his decision. 

[1Q84]

I only applied to schools I would be happy to attend. If I ever thought an acceptance from a school was unacceptable to me I wouldn't have wasted the time/money/effort (and the same goes for my LOR writers as far as time/effort goes) applying.

 

So I guess the question is, when you applied to this school was it because you wanted to go there?

 

If you don't want to go there then don't, but you should probably realize for next season that if you don't intend on going to a school you shouldn't apply to go to that school.

 

I hear this rhetoric a lot, especially when people ask "what are some good safety schools?" and it bothers me each time. I'm not quite sure I understand: "safety schools" undoubtedly exist to some degree or other and they serve their purpose. Of course, there are anecdotes about folks being rejected from safety schools and making it into their reach schools but those are outliers.

 

Like grad_wannabe said above, not all applicants are 100% prepared, informed, or aware of the entire landscape of English doctoral programs in North America (or even abroad) at the time of application. Circumstances and opinions change. Research interests and academic trajectories change too. 

I don't think it's a crime to ask the question that DramaDuck did and I don't think the grave and paternal rhetoric is necessary either.

 

Edit: to add an actual response to DramaDuck

 

 

Has anyone every opted out of safety school choices for a chance to get into top choices by reapplying the following year? 

I haven't been accepted anywhere yet, but I'm currently waitlisted at a school that's making me wonder if I should hold out and try and get into my dream school. But then there is also the chance that that was my only chance of getting in anywhere ever. I know that I've only been waitlisted, and it's possible that I don't even get it, but I feel the need to prepare myself for the possibility and to address doubts early on just in case the option comes up. 

 

It all depends on your own timeline (life and academic). Are you in a rush to get into a doctoral program because of age? If not, then maybe consider slowing down and considering other options. If you think you have other things you can do this year to improve your profile in order to get into your dream school, it would make sense to me to take that time. There's never an "only chance" to get into a program. The second and third time applicants and the fluctuations in "tiered" acceptances on TGC alone attest to that. 

Edited February 13, 2015 by 1Q84

[Russophile]

I would say that it depends upon where you are hoping to go after your PhD.  If your safety school can get you where you want to go, then it may be worth attending. You post does; however, remind me of this article I read the other day that indicates that faculty jobs in English depends on where you earned your PhD.  Best of luck!

[.letmeinplz//]

 

I hear this rhetoric a lot, especially when people ask "what are some good safety schools?" and it bothers me each time. I'm not quite sure I understand: "safety schools" undoubtedly exist to some degree or other and they serve their purpose. Of course, there are anecdotes about folks being rejected from safety schools and making it into their reach schools but those are outliers.

 

Like grad_wannabe said above, not all applicants are 100% prepared, informed, or aware of the entire landscape of English doctoral programs in North America (or even abroad) at the time of application. Circumstances and opinions change. Research interests and academic trajectories change too. 

I don't think it's a crime to ask the question that DramaDuck did and I don't think the grave and paternal rhetoric is necessary either.

 

No one said it was a crime, and it isn't rhetoric.

 

If someone wants a safety school it is because if they don't get into their t1 school they would still like to go pursue their studies anyway. So while [Top 10 private school] would be great, [Top 50 public school] would be great too. Not [MIT or nothing].

 

OP didn't say the safety school wasn't for them or that their interests changed. They said they still believed they could get into their top school. As I said, if that is your one and only goal, stop wasting time/effort/money on schools you find unacceptable and focus only on the schools you want to attend. Make your application better for those specific schools.

Edited February 13, 2015 by <ian>

[Radcafe]

I turned down a "safety" last year (U of Washington) to reapply, but it was unfunded for at least the first year. So I had a really good reason to turn it down. I'm glad I chose to reapply because my options are already looking better. But had the program been funded, I probably would have gone. Applying is stressful and time and money consuming. Maybe in April you'll have a better sense of what you want to do!

[1Q84]

No one said it was a crime, and it isn't rhetoric.

 

If someone wants a safety school it is because if they don't get into their t1 school they would still like to go pursue their studies anyway. So while [Top 10 private school] would be great, [Top 50 public school] would be great too. Not [MIT or nothing].

 

OP didn't say the safety school wasn't for them or that their interests changed. They said they still believed they could get into their top school. As I said, if that is your one and only goal, stop wasting time/effort/money on schools you find unacceptable and focus only on the schools you want to attend. Make your application better for those specific schools.

 

Your response made it sound like this isn't even a situation that OP should be facing if s/he had been smart about applications. Plus, I think you've made a lot of assumptions about DramaDuck's situation when offering your advice--there was no "MIT or nothing" involved. There was no mention of being unhappy to attend the safety school or finding the acceptance "unacceptable" nor of the dream school being the "one and only goal." She or he did not actually give a reason why s/he would prefer the dream school over the safety school other than the obvious fact that they "like" it more. I'm offering reasons why that might be other than "I applied to a safety school with no intention of going there," which is what your answer suggested. I don't think the mere mention of safety schools should warrant an answer that scolds the applicant about time and effort wasted. There are tons of reasons to want to apply to a safety school.

[allplaideverything]

It seems to me that all the programs you applied to are pretty dope, and are all ranked in the top 50.

 

One of the things I think we (or at least I) forget in these situations is that we don't actually know what we want--or, rather, we can't say for sure what's going to be best for us in the long run. The idea of a "dream program," to me, seems like it's built on lots of expectations that might not really work out the way we think. If your dream program is Columbia and you wind up getting into UC Riverside, well, yeah, there's a prestige gap there, but it might wind up being the case that you would've loved Riverside or hated Columbia.

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with turning down an acceptance to re-apply next year. But in my personal experience, I've been surprised so many times at how my "dream [X]" didn't live up to my expectations, or how my "back-up [X]" turned out to be exactly what I needed.

[Appppplication]

People do sometimes turn down offers to reapply, but to be honest, unless it was a bad fit why would you? And if you were admitted it's probably a decent fit for you. 

 

I don't like the "safety school" lingo for PhD programs, because every PhD program is competitive. 

 

Also you must ask yourself what you would do with that extra year to make your apps stronger, and would it even be worth it? Or would you just be rolling the dice all over again with a similar application? There are no guarantees that you will publish that article within the year, or whatever accomplishment you hope to achieve.

 

If you want to wait to try your hand again at a dept that admits 5 people every year and receives 500 applications, then no, don't turn down your offer. 

 

It sounds like the real question for you may be: what are the necessary parameters that must be met to allow myself to go into a humanities PhD program? There are very few jobs no matter where you get your PhD from. Research shows that there is only an 11% difference in the amount of people getting jobs from a "top 6" program than from a "top7-50" program (or something along those lines). Given that placement is generally bad everywhere, 11% more people landing in TT jobs is not that many more and may ultimately not be worth it the extra year and the extra money. But hey, it's just my opinion. I'm no expert.  

Edited February 14, 2015 by Appppplication