Rejection Thread (Fall 2017 applicants)

[dormcat]

School:  Berkeley (official rejections are finally out, I guess!)
Area/Degree: Social psych PhD
Rationalization: Terrible, terrible fit
Comment: I applied because I have family in the bay area, and the PI's research was close enough. Probably came off too strong in my own interests in the SOP and was a walking advertisement for bad fit
Coping tactics: Invitations for interviews went out in mid-December, so...I've coped  

[ccchezmereldaaa]

School: Tulane
Area/Degree: Neuroscience PhD
Rationalization: POI wanted applicants with more rat research experience
Comment: Not terribly surprised. It was nice of her to at least let me know why I got rejected.
Coping tactics: Applied to 6 other PhD programs & 3 Masters. Fingers crossed!

[marsbars]

School: University of Kentucky
Area/Degree: Experimental psychology 
Rationalization: Standard letter- they said "too many people for too few spots"
Comment: It was a long shot
Coping tactics: Gearing up for valentines day (and maybe treating myself to candy or a stuffed animal once they are on clearance ! )

[Le Chat]

School: Texas A&M University

Area/degree: Counseling Psychology PhD

Rationalization: Other applicants were more competitive. 

Comment: Honestly, the whole process did not go well for me. 

Coping tactics: With all of the bad experiences I had during interview weekend, I consider it fate that I'm not going there. 

[marsbars]

School: University of Iowa
Area/Degree: Social psychology 
Rationalization: None give- status changed to "not accepted" on website
Comment: Upsetting, I was hopeful
Coping tactics:

[SocCog]

School: NYU
Area/Degree: Social Psych PhD
Rationalization: None given. 
Comment: I thought I really had an in. One of the professor's I've worked with writes almost all her papers with one of the 3 professors I applied to. It was tied for my #1 choice and it's the first I've heard from ANY school. Is this a sign of things to come? Am I not getting in anywhere???? Also, googled the master's program cost. $42k a year, not including living in NYC!
Coping tactics: I think I might hit the after V-day candy sales. 

Edited February 15, 2017 by SocCog

[meep95]

On 1/15/2017 at 8:17 PM, 8BitJourney said:

School: UNC Chapel Hill
Area/Degree: Clinical
Rationalization: Others with slightly better fit
Comment: *sigh* I suspected this but POI offered to review my app on how to be more competitive.
Coping tactics: baking, working, writing a novel

School: USC
Area/Degree: clinical
Rationalization: Wasn't competitive (not invited to interview weekend)
Comment: Was pretty surprised but not too hurt
Coping tactics: same as above

No idea why, but I read "baking" as "barking".  I was very confused about your coping strategies for a moment haha

[rshoe]

School: Yeshiva University - Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology
Area/Degree: Clinical Psychology, PsyD
Rationalization: They gave me no specific reason other than high volume of applicants, however I'm certain it had to do with my very low GRE scores (I took it once a couple of years ago without studying and didn't bother to take it again coz i kinda think it's b.s) and also, it was my first app due and my SOP was pretty rough and rushed.
Comment: They are going to forward my application to the M.A in Counseling Psych program. I wouldn't be surprised if I don't get accepted to that either because of the GRE issue but who knows. I really, really want a doctoral degree though =/
Coping tactics: Have been preparing myself for this news for a while so coping isn't too rough. Yeshiva was my top choice, but a lot of things kept going wrong with my application, like first one of my rec letter writers disappeared, then their application website never said my app was complete, then I came on here and saw other people were getting interviews and even accepted so I started figuring it wouldn't happen. Still waiting on two other schools so that helps too.

[applicant17]

School: University of Missouri-St. Louis
Area/Degree: Clinical Psychology, PhD
Rationalization: Only 1 publication/poster presentation, applying straight from undergrad
Comment: Actually heartbroken; had to email my POI after not hearing anything after interviews. Was really disappointed they didn't reach out to notify me after making offers. This was my last chance, so I guess I'm striking out for this application cycle
Coping tactics: I have an interview for an international fellowship next week, so going to give that my 110% 

[Psychoplasmics]

School: University of Houston
Area/Degree: Counseling Psychology, PhD
Rationalization: Not the strongest fit.
Comment: Although not the perfect fit, it was high on my list as I really respect the program.
Coping tactics: I'm still in the running for my #1 and #2 programs. Focusing on future interviews.

[neuropsych4life]

School: UCSD/SDSU
Area/Degree: Clinical Psychology, PhD
Rationalization: Average GRE scores, not competitive enough, "over 400 applicants for a maximum of 15 spots"
Comment: Was definitely a reach, I just wish I knew the reality of how much of a reach it was prior to this process (this is my first application cycle).
Coping tactics: Running a half marathon next week! Also, focusing on the 2 PsyD offers I have and considering taking this route (while I am very interested in research and fully funded programs/ programs with stipends for obvious reasons, I will still have some opportunities to conduct research as a PsyD student.)

School: Drexel University
Area/Degree: Clinical Psychology, PhD
Rationalization: Same as above
Comment: Bummed because POI and I had very similar interests, and the neuropsychology emphasis was especially appealing.
Coping tactics: Same as above

School: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Area/Degree: Clinical Psychology, PhD
Rationalization: Quoted from rejection email: "Given that we must turn down over 97% of the applications we receive..." enough said.
Comment: Although not the perfect fit for me, POI was related close enough to my research interests and I was excited to further expand my knowledge of this field.
Coping tactics: Same as above; considering 15 month master's option here (but most likely not as its roughly $46,000 down the drain)

[dormcat]

School: University of Kentucky
Area/Degree: Experimental - developmental
Rationalization: No idea
Comment: The PI seemed really into me, but I guess they found a better fit elsewhere. Congrats to them!
Coping tactics: Archive the email and forget about it

 

School: Yale
Area/Degree: Social
Rationalization: Color me shocked that I wasn't admitted to Yale
Comment: Meh, little too competitive for me to get worked up about it
Coping tactics: Archive the email and forget about it

[Le Chat]

School: Louisiana Tech

Area/degree: Counseling Psychology PhD

Rationalization: Was less competitive.

Comment: 

Coping tactics: None needed. 

[phdcalling]

School: University of Florida

Area/degree: Counseling Psychology PhD

Rationalization: Research Interests did not fully align, plus a technical snafu with my application occurred. 

Comment: Great program, but it opened my eyes to take a harder look at programs where I received interviews. Interesting enough if I had gotten an interview with Florida, it would have conflicted with a school that has easily become my top choice. I fell in love with it and our research interests aligned perfectly. Everything happens for a reason!

Coping tactics: None needed...just waiting to hear back from other schools. 

[dormcat]

On 2/21/2017 at 3:01 PM, dormcat said:

School: University of Kentucky
Area/Degree: Experimental - developmental
Rationalization: No idea
Comment: The PI seemed really into me, but I guess they found a better fit elsewhere. Congrats to them!
Coping tactics: Archive the email and forget about it

Got a really sweet email from the PI, who apparently is unexpectedly not taking students. Happy to know I didn't have some glaring error in my application!