I rejected a PhD offer...

[mbop]

I am asking to see if anyone has any suggestions for me, as I rejected a PhD offer due to personal reasons, then got in touch with the admissions committee to make it clear I was still interested.  I haven't been able to get much information since. I would like to reapply, but now I am worried the adcom would have soured on me. Anyways, please offer your help if you have any advice to give, but, as I know it wasn't the most prudent decision maybe, please refrain from calling me a terribly stupid person or whatever.

 

Thanks,

Mbop

[MonstersU-Terp]

When did you apply, when did they make offer, and when did you reject it?

[mbop]

I applied last spring, was admitted last April, and I rejected an offer they made in February to begin in the current fall term. 

[TakeruK]

This does not mean you are stupid!

The physics program at my school actually states quite clearly that all admissions offer are valid for 1 year, even if you already rejected them and even if you attended another school after rejecting them. If you change your mind within 1 year, you will still be admitted.

So, not all hope is lost. Of course, it could depend on a lot of things like how much funding is available, but you did the right thing by contacting the school and letting them know that you have changed your mind. You can ask what the next step should be, i.e. should you resubmit a new application? would they reconsider you with the new batch? is your admission offer still valid? etc. Good luck!

[mbop]

Thanks for the support. I would like to reapply. When I made my interest known to faculty members though they never responded to my e-mails. And now I wonder if it's too late.

[TakeruK]

Can you call the department and talk to the administrative person in charge of managing admissions or the administrative person in charge of graduate students in general. For admissions related issues, I would talk to the administrative staff, not the faculty at first.

[mbop]

Good call. Thanks!

[mbop]

I sent the e-mail to the graduate admissions office. Should I email someone else? Graduate Admissions Officer?

[mbop]

I may be getting ahead of myself, but I am worried about how I would explain my continuing interest. When I initially rejected my offer, I explained that it had to due with personal difficulties. Thanks to some unexpected good fortune, I was able to sort those out in the summer before the term would have begun, but by that point they has given my offer to someone else. Anyway, now I am afraid they will see me as a desperate opportunist, who is looking for a handout from her second choice. 

[juilletmercredi]

Just be honest. The less vague you can be the better, but you don't have to share every detail - you can say that you were very excited to go to X Program and work with Professors Y or Z, but shortly before you found out about your admission, you were unexpectedly diagnosed with a serious medical condition/someone close to you got ill or passed away/you encountered serious financial strain/whatever the case actually is. You thought it best at that time to decline admission and sort out your personal stuff. Happily, you've got it sorted and are now ready to begin graduate study, and you think X Program will be an excellent fit because of [reasons].

Keep it short, sweet, and positive/upbeat; emphasize that it was a *serious* problem but one that is resolved, aka, will not cause you to potentially decline again.

And when you are reaching out to these professors, you may want to include a shorter version of this. "Hello Professor x, [intro]. I was actually admitted into your program for the fall of 2015, but I was unable to attend because of serious personal illness. I'm currently excited about the prospect of being able to attend again. [Go on about your normal email]."