JungAndNotAFreud Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 It may be too early to answer this, as acceptances are just now starting to roll in, but has anyone had success reapplying to a program the following year after being rejected? What steps did you take? New LORs? New SOP? Thanks in advance CIShopeful 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carol64 Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 6 minutes ago, JungAndNotAFreud said: It may be too early to answer this, as acceptances are just now starting to roll in, but has anyone had success reapplying to a program the following year after being rejected? What steps did you take? New LORs? New SOP? Thanks in advance Have you received any rejections? I haven't heard anything at all so far.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulpix Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 12 minutes ago, JungAndNotAFreud said: It may be too early to answer this, as acceptances are just now starting to roll in, but has anyone had success reapplying to a program the following year after being rejected? What steps did you take? New LORs? New SOP? Thanks in advance I am not a re-applicant but I do recall reading some encouraging posts from previous years on here by re-applicants who were accepted into top programs (HGSE) and encouraging others to do the same if you are truly passionate about it. I think the key difference between their applications was the experience piece, and knowing EXACTLY what you want in your SOP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Songbird222 Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 One of my best friends applied to the exact same PhD program two years in a row, and she was successful the second time around. After her first application was rejected, she communicated with faculty members in the department to find out where the weak spots were in her application, and I believe she totally re-worked her essays. She also spent more time communicating with faculty she was interested in, so that some members of the admissions committee knew her, and recognized her name immediately. They did also comment to her that her second application showed clear commitment to the program. Hope this helps! CIShopeful 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulpix Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 30 minutes ago, Songbird222 said: One of my best friends applied to the exact same PhD program two years in a row, and she was successful the second time around. After her first application was rejected, she communicated with faculty members in the department to find out where the weak spots were in her application, and I believe she totally re-worked her essays. She also spent more time communicating with faculty she was interested in, so that some members of the admissions committee knew her, and recognized her name immediately. They did also comment to her that her second application showed clear commitment to the program. Hope this helps! This makes a lot of sense. I've frequently read comments by people who were rejected, and upon reflection come to realize that their goals still weren't truly defined/their SOP didn't show a clear commitment to the program, like you said. I was considering going the PhD route this application season, but after meeting with professors and going to open house events, I came to realize that my goals aren't clearly defined yet and I'm simply not ready, so I'm getting a second master's instead until I truly know what I want and am actually prepared to achieve it. I think that's what they're looking for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t_ruth Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 I know a few people who were accepted on the second go. If you have a good idea of your research interests and they are a good match with the PI at the institution, it's ok to reach out to them and ask how you can strengthen your application. Those I know who made it in the second time did just this--they had quite a few conversations with their potential PI during the year before the second application and this turned the PI into an ally. On the other hand, if you were rejected because of GRE, you may have to retake (some programs have hard cut-offs). If you were rejected for undergrad GPA, strengthen it with other coursework demonstrating that you can get top marks or work to make your research experience overshadow the GPA. One or two or even more years of rejection isn't enough to give up if this is what you really want--but you should also be sure it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JungAndNotAFreud Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 22 hours ago, carol64 said: Have you received any rejections? I haven't heard anything at all so far.... Not an official rejection, but I wasn't granted an interview, so it's pretty much a rejection. I only applied to one program this year, so I'm back at scratch. Thanks for for the insights! I KNOW my GRE is very low, especially for a PhD application, so that's my first step. Thinking back, I could strengthen my SOP a little more too, be a little more pointed and specific. I'll definitely be leaning more on this forum as well. I only got active after submitting my app, but it's a good resource for all the steps up to that point, as well. My mentor told me that she's known of people applying 3 years in a row and then gaining admission. This is one of my goals and it's something that I really want, so I'm all for applying at least one or two more seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulpix Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 59 minutes ago, JungAndNotAFreud said: Not an official rejection, but I wasn't granted an interview, so it's pretty much a rejection. I only applied to one program this year, so I'm back at scratch. Thanks for for the insights! I KNOW my GRE is very low, especially for a PhD application, so that's my first step. Thinking back, I could strengthen my SOP a little more too, be a little more pointed and specific. I'll definitely be leaning more on this forum as well. I only got active after submitting my app, but it's a good resource for all the steps up to that point, as well. My mentor told me that she's known of people applying 3 years in a row and then gaining admission. This is one of my goals and it's something that I really want, so I'm all for applying at least one or two more seasons. Good for you for sticking with it!! I definitely believe it's not only possible to get in a second try, but actually pretty likely if you put in the effort to do all these things. I also can't say enough about how much this site and the collective knowledge and perspective people have brought have helped me make my own SOPs and applications as strong as I could this time around. I'm sure you'll be able to put together an even more incredible profile if you are proactive for the next several months in developing all these different areas of growth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morifol Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 On 25/1/2016 at 3:47 AM, Songbird222 said: One of my best friends applied to the exact same PhD program two years in a row, and she was successful the second time around. After her first application was rejected, she communicated with faculty members in the department to find out where the weak spots were in her application, and I believe she totally re-worked her essays. She also spent more time communicating with faculty she was interested in, so that some members of the admissions committee knew her, and recognized her name immediately. They did also comment to her that her second application showed clear commitment to the program. Hope this helps! This is encouraging. Do you know any details about how exactly she communicated to them? Is it possible to do it via e-mail? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Songbird222 Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 If you are not in the same location, yes, absolutely via email. At some point there will likely be a phone/Skype convo with faculty interested in collaborating, but this depends on their availability and communication style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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