Applying again after rejection

[Birdie]

I applied to 4 schools last year and was rejected from all--although I found out that I was the last one rejected from one, and among the very last from another. I know it's late in the process for this cycle, much too late to go asking for recs. Does anyone know if I can send in a new SOP, maybe retake the GRE (scores were fine, but not great), possibly a new writing sample, but use the same recs--although I might be able to get a new rec from one person. I would feel awkward going back to the other two recommenders at this point in the game. Or have the universities trashed all the application materials I sent them last December?

Too late to reach out to potential POIs? Do it anyway?

I actually think my application is stronger today than it was a year ago, but for a lot of reasons, I decided not to pursue this admission cycle. And then life happened. I think I'll regret not applying.

Conversely, I can just bust my butt for the next year and reapply in 2017 for Fall '18 and hope for the best.

[resDQ]

It isn't too late to ask, but getting very close. All letters should be asked for by Monday (IMO). Most professors probably aren't going to write them until a few days before the due date...

[PoliticalOrder]

I'm going to be frank. You seem incredibly unorganized.

You cannot use previous application materials, you need to submit everything again. It is too late to retake the GRE, your scores will not reach in time (unless you were literally taking the test today or very soon). 

Do you really think you can pull together a new SOP, CV, writing sample, in approximately 3-5 weeks (depending on application deadlines)?

I think it would be possible to get LORs this late in the game, but it could be in bad taste if your deadlines are early December.

You need to learn from your mistakes from last cycle. If what you say about barely getting rejected is indeed true, then you were competitive enough to get into programs. However, applying to 4 programs was a mistake - way too little.

I would highly suggest you do not apply this cycle and better prepare for next year's well in advance and apply to at least double the amount of programs as before. 

[resDQ]

51 minutes ago, PoliticalOrder said:

I'm going to be frank. You seem incredibly unorganized.

You cannot use previous application materials, you need to submit everything again. It is too late to retake the GRE, your scores will not reach in time (unless you were literally taking the test today or very soon). 

Do you really think you can pull together a new SOP, CV, writing sample, in approximately 3-5 weeks (depending on application deadlines)?

I think it would be possible to get LORs this late in the game, but it could be in bad taste if your deadlines are early December.

You need to learn from your mistakes from last cycle. If what you say about barely getting rejected is indeed true, then you were competitive enough to get into programs. However, applying to 4 programs was a mistake - way too little.

I would highly suggest you do not apply this cycle and better prepare for next year's well in advance and apply to at least double the amount of programs as before. 

Some of this, but if you have applied before your old documents should now be considered rough drafts and you have to devote your life over the next few weeks to them to pull it off. Understandably, it is hard to work on something that you've already been rejected for, but you can wade in your sadness about last cycle after you are done applying this cycle. 

 

[Birdie]

On 11/9/2016 at 0:44 PM, PoliticalOrder said:

I'm going to be frank. You seem incredibly unorganized.

You cannot use previous application materials, you need to submit everything again. It is too late to retake the GRE, your scores will not reach in time (unless you were literally taking the test today or very soon). 

Do you really think you can pull together a new SOP, CV, writing sample, in approximately 3-5 weeks (depending on application deadlines)?

I think it would be possible to get LORs this late in the game, but it could be in bad taste if your deadlines are early December.

You need to learn from your mistakes from last cycle. If what you say about barely getting rejected is indeed true, then you were competitive enough to get into programs. However, applying to 4 programs was a mistake - way too little.

I would highly suggest you do not apply this cycle and better prepare for next year's well in advance and apply to at least double the amount of programs as before. 

My decision to only apply to 4 schools was driven by the fact that I lived in DC and relocating was not an option for my family at the time. It was DC or nothing. Several DC-area schools were not a good fit for me, so I eliminated them. Frankly, I had zero interested in devoting time and money apply to programs where it was highly unlikely that I would receive an offer and I had no interest in attending.

Since, then, lots of things have changed. My husband accepted a temporary assignment outside of DC, in a city we discovered we don't like and do not intend to settle in. We'll be relocating again next July and the nature of my husband's current job is we can go almost anywhere. My options are suddenly much wider than before, but the window of opportunity is small. We don't want to move our kid 3 times in 3 years if it can be avoided.

I'm aware the timing is far from ideal. But the family situation combined with getting an essay accepted for publication two weeks ago got me thinking that maybe I should not have given up despite the rejections.

On 11/9/2016 at 1:38 PM, resDQ said:

Some of this, but if you have applied before your old documents should now be considered rough drafts and you have to devote your life over the next few weeks to them to pull it off. Understandably, it is hard to work on something that you've already been rejected for, but you can wade in your sadness about last cycle after you are done applying this cycle. 

 

I made my peace with the rejections. There's no sadness. Just regret that I didn't immediately start thinking about admissions for Fall 2017.