Is it a white lie?

[llamabazinga]

Hi guys,

I am now waiting for the results of Comparative Literature phD admission.
 

I've applied for 11schools and  was already rejected by 6 (sighed). So in order to know the exact reasons behind my rejections, I wrote letters to ask them. Some of them replied, while others remained silent.
Of those replied, they simply said that my interest cannot be accomodated into their programs. But I am very suspicious about this answer....So is it possible that they were reluctant to tell me the truth (in order to comfort me or whatever)? I mean if my GRE or TOEFL is too low to be accepted or my recommendation letters are not supportive enough, would the programs tell me the truth?

Since I know my GRE is not competitive enough (v: 161 AW: 3.5), and my TOEFL is not outstanding as well (104/120), so I am very much surprised and bewildered that they simply said my interests did not match theirs, without commenting on my scores.

Really appreciate if anyone could say something.

[Sujie]

maybe it was not a lie, but they just answer the same thing to everyone... In order for them to give you real reasons behind rejections, they would have to go back to your file and review it again(because they probably do not remember every application), which is time consuming. So I doubt they have actually done that.

I think you verbal gre is pretty competitive, toefl is not bad either(but it's easier and better to retake it)

[llamabazinga]

Okay, I see.

so basically all we could do will be just guessing around the answer?

Cuz couples of years ago, one of my friends also got rejected by schools and she got a quite lengthy letter about why they were unable to accept her. And she told me that the tone is really sincere. Yet, judged from what I got is pretty detached.

[Sujie]

I guess it depends on the school, maybe some of them are actually that kind. Also I think that emailing POI might be more helpful, especially if you got in touch prior to applying

[Sigaba]

So is it possible that they were reluctant to tell me the truth (in order to comfort me or whatever)? 

 

 

The departments in question may be managing their risk by not providing detailed answers. As a for instance, if you were to get a response saying that your scores were too low but it later came out that a candidate was offered admission despite having lower scores, there could be a problem (as in a cause of action for a law suit).

 

Have you considered asking questions that help you look forward rather than backwards?  For example: What can I do to make myself a more competitive applicant in future admissions cycles?