WARNING: University of Tennesee, Knoxville

[Starbuck2015]

This is a warning for all those who may be interested in applying to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. A few weeks ago I attended the sociology department's recruitment event. I was told that invitees to this event were the committee's top applicants. Thus, I assumed that attending the event meant that my chances of admission were likely. However, after attending the event and spending roughly $900 on travel and hotel expenses (the department only reimbursed me for $300), I just found out that I have been waitlisted with little chance for funding. Strangely enough, another applicant who was unable to attend the recruitment event was admitted with full funding. Moral of the story: Do not attend this program's recruitment event unless you want to waste time and money. If I had known that attendance at the event would have no bearing on my acceptance, I would have never bothered going.

[.letmeinplz//]

Is it possible that attending did have a bearing on your acceptance? Just not in a positive way?

[Starbuck2015]

No. During my exit interview, my interviewer told me that my acceptance was a "given" at that point. Thanks for the snark.

[ChuckCL]

Wow, I've seen a lot of vain, petty posts on this site, but this one's in the running for the most amazing.

 

Come on, dude/dudette. Do you honestly think they're running some sort of giant prank on you? A $300 prank, nonetheless? Until you've got an acceptance letter in your hand, nothing is guaranteed, so something obviously made them decide that you weren't right for the program. Maybe your interviewer said an acceptance was a "given" (though I seriously doubt that, as most people in that position would be way more professional about the situation), but that's not a guarantee. 

 

Recruitment events are recruitment events. That's all they are. 

[Eigen]

Also, from the data you've given, they invited their top candidates. That means they're considering, strongly considering, all of you. 

 

Of the people at the weekend, it seems like you just didn't make the cut?

 

You've been wait listed, so you're still a top candidate, you just weren't one of the ones that got offered acceptance.

[Starbuck2015]

Wow, I've seen a lot of vain, petty posts on this site, but this one's in the running for the most amazing.

 

Come on, dude/dudette. Do you honestly think they're running some sort of giant prank on you? A $300 prank, nonetheless? Until you've got an acceptance letter in your hand, nothing is guaranteed, so something obviously made them decide that you weren't right for the program. Maybe your interviewer said an acceptance was a "given" (though I seriously doubt that, as most people in that position would be way more professional about the situation), but that's not a guarantee. 

 

Recruitment events are recruitment events. That's all they are. 

 

Frankly, considering you were not actually at the exit interview, it's not really fair for you to question whether the interviewer actually said that my acceptance was a "given." You're overlooking the -very likely- scenario that they are simply unprofessional. And frankly, your response isn't any less petty than my post. Keep in mind that I ultimately had to shell out $600 dollars to attend the event, which is twice as much as they invested for my visit. I'm shocked that you don't realize that is a significant amount of money.

Edited March 13, 2015 by Starbuck2015

[Eigen]

The fact that you spent a significant amount of money still doesn't mean the conclusions you're drawing are correct.

 

You have no support for your bolded statement, or any of the other conclusions you draw.

 

Thus, I assumed that attending the event meant that my chances of admission were likely. 

 

They were. Likely =/= guaranteed.

Do not attend this program's recruitment event unless you want to waste time and money.

If I had known that attendance at the event would have no bearing on my acceptance, I would have never bothered going.

 

Unless everyone who attended was not admitted, it's not a waste of time and money. Furthermore, had you been accepted (and as you are wait listed) the visit would (and does) give you bearing to make a decision. 

 

You have no support that the visit had no bearing on your acceptance. As mentioned, it might have had a negative effect. Or you might not have even been wait listed had you not visited, so it might have had a positive effect. 

[Starbuck2015]

The fact that you spent a significant amount of money still doesn't mean the conclusions you're drawing are correct.

 

You have no support for your bolded statement, or any of the other conclusions you draw.

 

 

They were. Likely =/= guaranteed.

 

Unless everyone who attended was not admitted, it's not a waste of time and money. Furthermore, had you been accepted (and as you are wait listed) the visit would (and does) give you bearing to make a decision. 

 

You have no support that the visit had no bearing on your acceptance. As mentioned, it might have had a negative effect. Or you might not have even been wait listed had you not visited, so it might have had a positive effect. 

 

You are overlooking a very important point that I made--students who DID NOT ATTEND the event were accepted. Which means that attending the event is not necessary for acceptance. Therefore, if attendance at the event is not necessary for admission, then there is no point in going. Furthermore, based on the fact that I received positive feedback from staff, faculty, and grad students on my conduct at the event, it is highly unlikely that my presence at the event had a detrimental impact on my admissions decision.

Edited March 13, 2015 by Starbuck2015

[letstalkshop]

Unless all of the applicants are equally strong, whether or not some applicants got accepted without going to the event is irrelevant. 

[Eigen]

You are overlooking a very important point that I made--students who DID NOT ATTEND the event were accepted. Which means that attending the event is not necessary for acceptance. Therefore, if attendance at the event is not necessary for admission, then there is no point in going. Furthermore, based on the fact that I received positive feedback from staff, faculty, and grad students on my conduct at the event, it is highly unlikely that my presence at the event had a detrimental impact on my admissions decision.

 

And unless they said explicitly that you had to attend the week to be accepted, that sounds like every visit everywhere.

 

Some strong students will get accepted even if they can't visit for some reason, some more midline picks for the school might not get accepted after visiting. Visiting doesn't somehow gain you a leg up over everyone.

[Starbuck2015]

And unless they said explicitly that you had to attend the week to be accepted, that sounds like every visit everywhere.

 

Some strong students will get accepted even if they can't visit for some reason, some more midline picks for the school might not get accepted after visiting. Visiting doesn't somehow gain you a leg up over everyone.

 

Actually, according to many other people I have spoken to, visiting can give someone a leg up during the admissions process. However, you are still overlooking the entire point of my argument. I am simply stating that if a department invites its top applicants to a recruitment event, it should explicitly indicate the necessity of attending the event, which in my case didn't happen until well after I had purchased a non-refundable plane ticket. I am simply warning other potential applicants not to make the same mistake that I did.

[Starbuck2015]

Unless all of the applicants are equally strong, whether or not some applicants got accepted without going to the event is irrelevant. 

 

I think you misunderstood my point. If it is possible to be accepted to a program without spending the time and money to visit, then it there is no point in doing that. If I had known ahead of time that going to the event was not necessary to be accepted, then I would have never bothered going.

[Whatishistoryanyway]

Starbuck, it may be wise to be a little more careful about some of the things said here. Academia, especially within sociology is a small world. Some of the things you've said here are really offensive and petty. In fact, I think I'd really consider asking the mods to delete this if I were you. 

Just to clarify a few things to people who are interested in the program--

 

I will be attending Tennessee in the fall as an MA student and I was at the recruitment event. There were about 15 of us there and word had gotten out that three or so were unable to make it because of the weather, so 18(?) invited in total. For reference purposes, the department's cohorts seem to range between 6-10 people a year. The faculty and graduate students did everything they could have done, in my opinion, to make us feel at home. It was a recruitment event, so of course faculty made it seem as if we were all really wanted. At the event, I was never told "it was a given" that I'd be admitted. The closest any of the faculty came to saying that was something like, "we really like your application, think you'd be a good fit and you're high on our list." Things along those lines, I can't remember exact quotes. 

 

Something else to consider is that we were told from the beginning that department wouldn't be able to fund everyone's entire visit. In fact, $300, from my knowledge, is much more than many (if not all?) other prospective students received. 

 

Finally, the students unable to make it elected for a Skype interview or something. Even if they didn't, plenty of programs admit students without meeting them or even contacting them first. So it's not a big deal that students who didn't show up were admitted. That's just the way admissions work. 

 

I feel the department has done nothing unprofessional. I think their current students will vouch for the faculty if any prospective students are concerned about anything presented in this silly thread. 

[Starbuck2015]

Whatishistoryanyway, I want to make it abundantly clear that your experience at that event was not universal. A faculty member told me that my acceptance was a given, and it shocks me that no one here recognizes that is unprofessional.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Starbuck2015

[Starbuck2015]

Also, whatishistoryanyway, you know that I had to travel a much greater distance to the recruitment event than most of the attendees. And I was not made aware that I could elect to have a skype interview until weeks after they had sent me the initial invite. By then I had already purchased a nonrefundable plane ticket.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Starbuck2015

[SocAdvice]

From the way this thread went. I would say that UT - Knoxville dodged a bullet with this one...

[Whatishistoryanyway]

Also, whatishistoryanyway, you know that I had to travel a much greater distance to the recruitment event than most of the attendees. And I was not made aware that I could elect to have a skype interview until weeks after they had sent me the initial invite. By then I had already purchased a nonrefundable plane ticket.

Seeing how invitations weren't sent out until about 12 days before the event, I don't see how "weeks" could have gone by before they told you a Skype interview was possible. Also, it looks like you still hadn't bought a ticket 9 days before the event, so... yea. I feel silly for even responding at this point.

[Between Fields]

The opinion of one interviewer does not constitute an admissions decision. If it did, you would have been handed a letter right then and there. Recruitment events almost always work like this. It's your fault for not asking questions.

[Starbuck2015]

Seeing how invitations weren't sent out until about 12 days before the event, I don't see how "weeks" could have gone by before they told you a Skype interview was possible. Also, it looks like you still hadn't bought a ticket 9 days before the event, so... yea. I feel silly for even responding at this point.

 

It's evident that you are simply clinging at straws to desperately defend a department that has clearly acted in an unprofessional manner. I am not the only applicant to the program who has had a negative experience with the department, and I am familiar with others who have declined their acceptance as a result of serious reservations. I'm sorry that you cannot recognize how the department has behaved in an unprofessional manner. I wish you the best of luck with your experience in the department. It sounds like you'll be a strong fit there.

Edited March 15, 2015 by Starbuck2015

[sociologo]

Sorry, Starbuck, that you feel you had a negative experience.

 

However, for any future applicants, I'm a third year in UTK's program with a lot of positive things to say about the department. If you'd ever like to ask more about our program, don't hesitate to pm me! 

[anna_M]

Christine, I think the only one who is acting REALLY unprofessional here is you. Would you have applied if UTK was not a GREAT department? 

[MaxWeberHasAPosse]

I think it would be wise for you to delete this thread. 

[ritsukot74]

I heard there is a student who got wait listed at UTK (and who didn't make it into any other programs) who is going around creating fake accounts to dissuade admitted UTK students from joining the program so that she can get off the wait list. Could that be you, Starbucks??? 

[Eigen]

I think it would be wise for you to delete this thread. 

 

It's board policy that once created, threads are permament.