I Know Someone Who Got in After a Denial

[SLPDreamer15]

I have a friend who got into a graduate program in Minnesota after she was originally rejected. She went and talked to a professor at the school and then a week later she got a phone call that she was accepted. Is this ethical? What does this mean for the graduate application process in general, if something like this is allowed to happen? Has anyone else heard of this?

[hustlebunny]

'friend' 

[Between Fields]

I have a friend who got into a graduate program in Minnesota after she was originally rejected. She went and talked to a professor at the school and then a week later she got a phone call that she was accepted. Is this ethical? What does this mean for the graduate application process in general, if something like this is allowed to happen? Has anyone else heard of this?

 

It means that the admissions process can be influenced by personal connections. That's nothing new. 

[twinguy7]

I experienced something like this firsthand.  After graduating undergrad I was interviewing for a SLP-Assistant job in Los Angeles at a private practice and the lady wanted me to work for her and liked me, but she wanted to insure that I'd be staying and living in the area so she picked up her cell phone right then and there and called her friend at a local grad school program and asked if her friend could sneak me into the grad program that was starting 2 weeks later!  This all happened within like 5 minutes of knowing this lady!  It was pretty crazy!  The fired eventually said it was too close to the program starting or otherwise they probably would have gotten me in!  I totally forgot about this until seeing this post!

[SLPDreamer15]

I'm hoping to get more feedback from people who are in the SLP field, it is unheard of in the SLP graduate admissions area. People who "can influence others" by who they know would not likely be rejected then accepted. I have never heard of this happening and neither has anyone I had talked to including faculty. Our field is so competitive and the profession boasts high ethics so this is concerning. Perhaps in other fields this is not new but for SLP this is not common.

[Crimson Wife]

I've heard of people getting rejected the first time around and then making a connection that resulted in a successful re-application. But I've never heard of that happening in the same acceptance cycle.

[JFFA]

Some schools do allow you to appeal an admission decision through an official process, but it is usually not advertised. I don't know how common it is in terms of schools (technically I think you should be allowed to appeal any official decision by a school, but they can simple say no), but as for the individual school (William Paterson) I know if it is fairly rare that students appeal, but decisions do get overturned every now and again. Technically, you should only appeal if you have new information to add to you application (ei. GRE scores were not reported correctly, a grade was over turned), but I know some students don't have this type of new information and simple give further reason why they think they should be admitted. I would say this appeal process is ethical because technically all students can appeal and it is for when new information can be added to an application. As for simple talking to a professor and being admitted after without a formal process open to all, I don't think that is ethical, but I'm sure ti happens more than we would like and not just in SLP graduate admission but other admissions, jobs, and life in general. It's just human nature to be a little biased and harder to say no when talking face to face. Sometimes it can pay to be persistent. Unfortunately there's nothing you can really do as an applicant about these situations. It definitely seems unfair, but if students work hard and put time in their application process, I believe, or at least would like to believe, general those students get rewarded far more that the few cases of nepotism.

[MonicaSLP]

Happened to me undergrad. Got rejected from my first choice. I called the school, talked to a a few people, resubmitted a new essay, and I got in.

[mr479]

This doesn't raise a red flag for me at all. Honestly, I don't understand why this should concern you. I think it's completely acceptable that someone is able to change their mind about an applicant later on. In fact, this makes me happy.

[SLPH2b]

I got in after a rejection. Just found out last week! Completely out of the blue... I had emailed the director with an update and the next thing I knew, I had an email with a CONGRATULATIONS.. YOU'VE BEEN ACCEPTED!! 

 

finally... I can now breathe a little easier. I now have to worry about finding housing (Queens, NY) and making sure I can afford it. There's no way I want to delay this due to funding, this has been a loooong time coming

[koukla19]

I got in after a rejection. Just found out last week! Completely out of the blue... I had emailed the director with an update and the next thing I knew, I had an email with a CONGRATULATIONS.. YOU'VE BEEN ACCEPTED!! 

 

finally... I can now breathe a little easier. I now have to worry about finding housing (Queens, NY) and making sure I can afford it. There's no way I want to delay this due to funding, this has been a loooong time coming

 

that's great! when did you send the email? I wanna try the same...so if you could give me some info it would be greatly appreciated

[SLPH2b]

that's great! when did you send the email? I wanna try the same...so if you could give me some info it would be greatly appreciated

 

Hey! So I've been in communication with the program director for some time now. I first reached out before I was applying so throughout the application process and even afterwards, I've sent an email here and there. I sent her an email just to update her about new changes and that I was interested in applying in the next cycle, and she emailed back saying something along the lines of "way to go!" (LOL). Then a few days later, I get the acceptance letter. I submitted my deposit yesterday and now looking for housing. This is for St. John's in Queens for anyone who is interested (they have spring admissions too!).

 

So for any St. John's folks attending in the Fall, please accept my request to be added to the FB group. Thanks!

[MissV21]

@arf09 congrats ! That's amazing! I was looking into St. John's but am afraid my GPA isn't high enough. Do you mind sharing your stats?

[SLPH2b]

@arf09 congrats ! That's amazing! I was looking into St. John's but am afraid my GPA isn't high enough. Do you mind sharing your stats?

Thank you! My stats are all over the place, so here goes:

 

Career changer/out-of-field

5 years research experience (ranging from wet lab to drug development to public health research)

2 years physical therapy work

obtained my SLPA license

Undergrad GPA: 3.0

Major GPA: 3.9

GRE (can't remember my scores from 3 years ago, but my current scores are as follows): 152 V, 156 Q, 4.5 W

tons of volunteer experience since graduating, though have decreased a lot in the last 2 years

~28 observation hours, over 100 hours of clinical hours for SLPA licensing

My LOR writers were 2 professors and 1 SLP (supervising SLP while obtaining SLPA license)

 

From what I've experience during my 2 years of applying, as awful as it is, I honestly think it's all by luck. Those with higher GPAs/GREs will have a higher chance of being admitted right away (that is, I truly believe some schools don't read LORs or SOPs.. feel free to present dissenting opinion, but this is what I can see). Next comes the ones who are borderline (this is where those STRONG LORs and SOPs come in handy). But to reiterate, I honestly think they close their eyes and move their fingers down the stack of applications and pick. I got REALLY lucky that I maintained contact with the program director and that there were slots available.

 

My advice: for those with low quantitative scores, contact the director and maintain a relationship! Don't overwhelm them with SOP content, just state that you're GPA is on the low side but you'd still like to be considered a competitive applicant, what else can you do to increase your chances of being admitted? Then follow up with an email just before submitting, after submitting (approximately 2 weeks after deadline. they're going to be swamped and may not even read your email, but do it anyway), and then after decisions have been made. Maintain contact (if waitlisted or rejected) that you're still interested should space open up. **Do this all on the one email thread so they can see that you've been in contact with them all this time** (they may not have read your email then, but they might read all of them at once if they see your latest update).

 

Hope this helps!

[MissV21]

This advice is super helpful, thank you so much! I can't believe you got denied in the first place with a 3.9 major GPA and all of your experience. I'm definitely going to keep more in contact with schools, hopefully it will help. Congrats again on your acceptance and good luck at STJ!

[SLPH2b]

This advice is super helpful, thank you so much! I can't believe you got denied in the first place with a 3.9 major GPA and all of your experience. I'm definitely going to keep more in contact with schools, hopefully it will help. Congrats again on your acceptance and good luck at STJ!

Thank you! Good luck to you too! I know how tough it is and sometimes you want to give up. I say, utilize all your resources and get your name out there

[phinale123]

This actually happens a lot I wish I would have know the importance of contacting  and getting to know the department before applying to graduate school instead of just applying