Moving forward from rejections

[magnetite]

Would it be considered rude to contact a program that rejected your application in order to find out why? I recall reading about this somewhere, but I couldn't find exactly where.

I'm applying to several geological science and oceanography programs with the goal of studying the geochemistry of hydrothermal vents. I'm majoring in physics in undergrad and haven't had a chance to take many geology or chemistry courses, with the exception of general chemistry I and II and organic chemistry I. I also took an upper-level geophysics class, but it was not very strenuous at all and was mainly a survey course. I'm talking four homework assignments which counted 70% of the course grade and a group project that took up the rest.

In the event I get rejected from the places I applied, I'm sure I could have more more competitive applications the following year if I take some more courses in the interim. I imagine if my lack of relevant coursework is a big issue, the programs would tell me, right? In any case, it would be nice to know which classes would be best to take to catch up to other applicants.

[talkcherty2me]

You probably could contact them, but I don't think a lack of relevant coursework would be a make-or-break sort of a thing unless you didn't have ANY upper level science classes. I know a few physics majors who have gone on to do PhDs in geology and geochemistry. In the event you get rejected everywhere, I would try to spend the year gaining more research experience in your field (which you would get paid to do), rather than paying to take extra courses.

[TakeruK]

Yes, you can always ask. However, I do not think that right now is not a good time to be asking. 

If you want actual useful feedback that can help you in future years, I would wait until after April 15. Maybe at the end of April or early May (once all of the April 15 last minute chaos is over), send the program an email thanking them for considering you this year and ask if there is any feedback available because you hope to apply again next year. I think this is a better method because:

1) This is a very busy time for the admissions staff since they are likely organizing visits and fielding queries from the accepted students. You will be a much lower priority and it is likely that you will either get no response, or a very vague/useless response.

2) It can be misconstrued as an appeal for admission (i.e. whatever they say, there is a chance that the asker will try to refute them or make an argument for reconsideration). So, schools will be less likely to give details/reasons for fear that you will use it against them.

3) After April 15, you should know the result from all of your applications. If you did end up accepting an offer from somewhere else, then you no longer need to know the reasons for being rejected at another school. You will save both you and the school a lot of work if you do not ask about rejection reasons until you knew for sure you would be re-applying for Fall 2017. I also think that feedback for reapplying next year is the only valid reason to ask for rejection reasons. So, waiting until after you know for sure you must reapply also shows the school that your request is sincere and it will hopefully motivate them to help you by providing useful feedback.

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All of that said, you should still be prepared for the possibility that you will not get a response or that the response won't be very useful. I don't think many schools keep detailed notes on each applicant's profile so you will not be able to learn what the faculty discussed about you (and even if they did, it's unlikely they would share this information). Also, for fear of litigation, some schools might refrain from telling you about any of the subjective considerations and they might just tell you quantitative numbers that are objectively true, but not always useful (for example, they might say things like "your GPA was lower compared to the accepted candidates" etc.) I say it's not as useful because admissions are considered holistically so a low GPA is usually not enough to completely break your application, but if it's the only objective/quantitative detail they can disclose, it could sound like that was the main reason. 

However, after April 15, you really have nothing to lose by asking, so I would encourage you to do it if you need to reapply for Fall 2017. In the ideal world, a polite request after April 15 from those who need it would get a helpful response from a faculty member interested in that student. I hope that if I ever become a faculty member, I would be able to provide helpful feedback to unsuccessful candidates that were interested in my group, but I don't know how realistic this goal is. Good luck!

[magnetite]

Thanks for the advice. As far as getting paid to do research in my field, do you mean trying to stay on with my current advisor? Or trying to find a job elsewhere? I'm in a lab right now that has nothing to do with what I'm applying for, but involves some programming and other things that would be useful in any field (I think). I'm not getting paid now and I'm not optimistic on the prospects of getting paid for the work after I graduate.

TakeruK, thanks for mentioning the April 15th deadline. I didn't even consider it. I don't have an actual rejection from anywhere I've applied. Only an implicit rejection from Caltech's GPS, since I saw someone post an update a few days ago that they were accepted. If and when the rejections do start coming in, I'll keep in mind not to contact the programs until after April 15th.

I think I'm just panicking after seeing a lot of acceptances start to come in. I guess it's better to consider the possibility of not getting accepted anywhere now, rather than later. Especially if I do need to try to find a job until the next application cycle.

[TakeruK]

53 minutes ago, magnetite said:

I think I'm just panicking after seeing a lot of acceptances start to come in. I guess it's better to consider the possibility of not getting accepted anywhere now, rather than later. Especially if I do need to try to find a job until the next application cycle.

Don't panic!  

This is pretty early in the season for our field. Of course, it's always a good idea to have backup plans, but don't count yourself out yet!

[gelologist]

1 hour ago, magnetite said:

Only an implicit rejection from Caltech's GPS, since I saw someone post an update a few days ago that they were accepted.

I didn't look this result up on the site, but don't forget about official vs unofficial acceptances: some people hear early from profs, others hear from the schools themselves via official communications.