Anyone else get the bait & switch, smoke & mirrors treatment from a school?

[Bkind]

When meeting with the department chair last year to get information about the program (while finishing undergrad) he said I would be the top candidate, had the most relevant experience possible, and that I could even be admitted as an undergrad, taking a partial course load. I had 18 credit hours & it wasn't possible to apply, so I applied this year for the program, excellent letters of recommendation, & awesome GPA/GRE etc. Then I got a rejection email. Not even invited for an interview. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this before?

[ClassApp]

If you had applied the year they supposedly offered you admission without an application and then been rejected, I would understand you being upset. But everything changes from year to year. Maybe you fit what they needed as far as research interests, etc. last year, but not what they need this year. Maybe last year they accepted a large number of students and this year only a couple because last year's enrollment was larger than expected. The bottom line is, you have no idea. You have no clue whatsoever that they were being dishonest but assume so anyways. Maybe your statement of purpose wasn't up to snuff like they expected. Maybe one of your rec letters was lukewarm. I guarantee you that the school is trying to accept the best people for them and their program. You were not among them--that doesn't mean you're unqualified, it doesn't mean they wouldn't accept you next year. It's not some sort of personal insult as you seem to take it. You're not entitled to just go there with full funding whenever works for you. @eternallyephemeral was right--they don't owe you anything. And no matter what that one professor said, he is not the only one deciding and actually can not guarantee acceptance, no matter what you thought he was saying. I HIGHLY doubt he was being dishonest (there's just no reason to), but he's not the only one admitting students, and in that way the grad school acceptance procedure is not obscure at all--you must have been aware of that. 

Sorry to be so harsh--but you seem to have already decided that this is a sort of personal vendetta or something. 

[GradSchoolTruther]

Department chairs usually aren't on admissions committees. Chalk it up to lesson learned and apply to several schools.

Edited April 1, 2016 by GradSchoolTruther

[juilletmercredi]

So things change from year to year. In 2015 you may have been one of their strongest candidates even with 18 hours left to finish, and they may have been glad to have you as a conditional admit with funding. In 2016, the competition may have ramped up and now you were more borderline.

Also, it's very unlikely that the department chair has unilateral decision-making power. He may have been very excited about you as a candidate, but he may have been overstating his ability to get you into the program last year. He may really have anticipated you getting an interview in October once he received your application, and then had an "oh crap" moment when they saw the caliber of the applicants in January or whatever and realized they wouldn't extend you an interview. Maybe you did, indeed, get preference as a veteran but the preference wasn't enough to overcome the fact that there were stronger applicants than you.

This really isn't a bait and switch. At worst, it's a chair that got a bit overexcited and made some promises that he couldn't keep.

[eternallyephemeral]

Yes, that happens all the time. I met with faculty from multiple schools that said I would be a good candidate.

That's not a bait and switch, because even if they thought it, there's a whole committee of people that admit you.

This is especially true in clinical/counselling, where there are tons and tons of applicants, and very few spaces.

The school doesn't owe you anything, even if they told you point blank that you would get it (which this person never said).

[Bkind]

They do owe candidates, applicants, and information seekers honesty. I was offered admission while still an undergrad during this meeting with the chair and wasn't able to pursue it only because of an 18 hour course load my final semester. I also recieved an email stating that he was looking forward to my interview after I was able to actually apply and then never even had an interview. Telling someone they are a "good" or "top" candidate isn't the problem here. I was also told that I would have preference of admission as a veteran, and that I would be given full funding when I was able to apply. I didn't even know what that meant  at that point in time, so I was given the detailed information at that time as well. There was never any "if you are accepted,if you are a top candidate out of those who apply for the same year, if nothing." It was, thank you for choosing our school, we're fortunate to have you here, & it's disappointing that you can't enroll now.

[Bkind]

I completely understand the process and thanks for the feedback. I will never think it is ok to handle a potential applicant in that manner. I suppose what really bothered me, perhaps more than not getting accepted or an interview, is the fact that there was no communication to me following his email stating he looked forward to my interview.  He is on the admissions committee. If he would have called,emailed, anything and just been honest at any point when it was decided that I'm not a good fit it would have been acceptable. If he overstepped or not, whatever the reason is, I got an automated email from the dept. Secretary stating not admitted. I understand they can treat people however they choose. However, I think it is awful to communicate one thing and then when it turns out differently, not have the decency to discuss it with the candidate. I think it shows exceptionally poor judgment and that little care is taken to really treat applicants like people. It's easy for him to hide behind a title or process, but that doesn't make it right.

[ClassApp]

I think I'm confused here... Did you email him after you received your decision and he didn't respond? Or you just expected him to send you a personalized email during such a busy time??

If the second....... that's really not fair. To be honest, I wouldn't really consider that to be appropriate. It's your job to contact him if you wish to continue talking with him.There isn't really much of anything to discuss, and after the sting of rejection, not everyone would want to hear from the program. 

Doesn't seem like he's hiding at all if you didn't contact him first. You just seem to have very unusual and unjustified expectations of what you think you're entitled to.

[Bkind]

No, I sent him an appropriate email and followed that 1 week later with a voice mail asking to discuss my application materials & how I could strengthen them. It's now 2 weeks after that, and nothing. He communicated with me frequently, often unsolicited from me in regards to my application & continued interest in the program for an entire yearfollowing our meeting in March of '15 (app deadline is March1), until I got the canned email from the department. I wasn't expecting any "special" treatment, but doesn't quite make sense that communication would just stop at this point when I think it would be the most beneficial time - esp given that I was apparently worth the time & effort investment upfront. I have no expectation of being entitled to anything, rather I'm just trying to understand why. I don't think it is unreasonable to be surprised that no further communication would happen given this scenario. I've applied to other programs without any of these issues on either end of the process and it has been typical, a 2wl,3a,1r. 

[ClassApp]

In that case, I'm sorry to hear he has been uncommunicative. But congratulations on your other acceptances! Regardless of how you feel about this particular program, it's great that you have other options.

[Bkind]

Absolutely!  I'm not worried about acceptance, per se, @ this particular school rather frustrated by the process I suppose. I am focused on the end goal, which is providing counseling to other veterans, like me, in a time this country desperately needs it. Thanks again for letting me bounce this off you guys. Also, don't forget in this whole process that you are human beings - worthy of respect, full of value, & your aspirations for an advanced degree are to be celebrated (regardless of acceptance,rejection,etc)!