Follow up on Rejection

[Lpr90]

Hey everyone! 

So by now, most people have heard back from the majority of the schools applied to. I applied to 6 grad programs, and have heard back from 4. I got wait listed to one, and denied from the other three schools. My top choice school, I was denied admission to. Talk about a heart break. In this sort of a scenario, is it wrong to follow up via email and ask why I was not offered admission into their SLP program? I'm not sure what the proper etiquette is and I do not want to give a bad impression to admission committees. I'm planning on re-applying next year and want to know what I can improve on.... Advice/ comments are welcome! Thanks

[EESpeechie]

Personally, I think if you're reapplying to that program, then emailing to ask how to make yourself a stronger candidate is appropriate  Good luck!! 

[OverCaffeinated]

I would give a call. I called all schools that rejected me to see where my weak spots are. It's a hit and miss in terms of whether they'll tell you or not 

[hopefulspeechie16]

@OverCaffeinated I see your waitlisted at NYU. I haven't heard from them. Did they tell you what rank on the waitlist you were?

[OverCaffeinated]

1 hour ago, hopefulspeechie16 said:

@OverCaffeinated I see your waitlisted at NYU. I haven't heard from them. Did they tell you what rank on the waitlist you were?

nope its unranked currently 

[fuzzylogician]

Not in SLP, but in general: if there is a school where you were interviewed/waitlisted or where you had some personal communication with a professor, you could try to follow up. If you got a rejection without any prior communication you could still try, but the chances that you'll get useful feedback are much lower. What you want is to talk to someone who you know thought favorably of you, and preferably you want to talk to a school that was considering you in sufficient detail that they'll both remember you and want to help you, where you almost made it and would have been a good fit, but just missed the cut. If you're planning to reapply to a school, it's worth a shot. But don't get your hopes up -- in many cases you might not get any feedback, or nothing useful. 

[slptobe92]

I emailed the first school that rejected me to see what I could do to improve my application and the person who emailed me back was incredibly helpful. He told me exactly how my SOP and LORs were rated, how my GRE scores compared, and what I could do to improve should I reapply. I emailed another school that rejected me and they simply told me the average GPA and GRE scores of their accepted students, so I think the amount of detail you'll get depends on the school and who you talk to. I don't think it hurts to ask!

[Rose Garden]

  

16 minutes ago, fuzzylogician said:

Not in SLP, but in general: if there is a school where you were interviewed/waitlisted or where you had some personal communication with a professor, you could try to follow up. If you got a rejection without any prior communication you could still try, but the chances that you'll get useful feedback are much lower. What you want is to talk to someone who you know thought favorably of you, and preferably you want to talk to a school that was considering you in sufficient detail that they'll both remember you and want to help you, where you almost made it and would have been a good fit, but just missed the cut. If you're planning to reapply to a school, it's worth a shot. But don't get your hopes up -- in many cases you might not get any feedback, or nothing useful. 

I'd say that your advice is spot on, especially the sentence I bolded. That was my experience last year when I reached out to a professor, whom I believed thought favorably of me.  It was a terribly disappointing experience.  

Lpr90- If you intend to apply to the same program next year, I'd stay away from questions that may come across as argumentative.  If you choose to reach out to specific programs and/or professors,  I think you're more likely to get useful feedback if you ask what you can do to strengthen and improve your application to become a more competitive applicant.  Make the questions about you, not them.  You have nothing to lose by asking and you may actually get some useful feedback in the end.  Good luck!

 

[abrens]

It worth a shot at least. Seriously. After getting the dreaded rejection letter, I e-mailed and asked for feedback on how I could improve. The response was an apology/correction; the rejection letter was sent out by mistake. They subsequently made an offer of admission with funding. Had I not inquired, who knows when/if they would've realized it. Also not sure how often this really happens....but you never know. 

[intotheairwaves]

Definitely follow up. I was rejected from my top choice program last year, followed up, was given feedback, made those improvements, and now I will be attending their program in the fall! Good luck!