An Honest Rejection Letter

[repatriate]

FemaleScienceProfessor has once again hit on a timely and relevant topic for many at The GradCafe. She has posted a brilliantly honest rejection letter:

http://science-professor.blogspot.com/2010/02/dear-applicant.html

In the comments, FSP explains: What I wrote is not a real letter that would ever be sent to a student, but it expresses some things that I wish some applicants would be told when they get a rejection letter. In our department, some years there is the basic rejection letter (sent to those who are being rejected because their academic records/applications are somehow lacking), and also a "soft reject" to those who are qualified but for various reasons can't be given an offer of admission. What I wrote in this post was a version of a "soft reject" letter, though again, IT'S NOT A REAL LETTER.

That alone says a lot: There are two kinds of rejected applicants. Sometimes it might help to know which kind one is.

[luar de ouro]

FemaleScienceProfessor has once again hit on a timely and relevant topic for many at The GradCafe. She has posted a brilliantly honest rejection letter:

http://science-profe...-applicant.html

In the comments, FSP explains: What I wrote is not a real letter that would ever be sent to a student, but it expresses some things that I wish some applicants would be told when they get a rejection letter. In our department, some years there is the basic rejection letter (sent to those who are being rejected because their academic records/applications are somehow lacking), and also a "soft reject" to those who are qualified but for various reasons can't be given an offer of admission. What I wrote in this post was a version of a "soft reject" letter, though again, IT'S NOT A REAL LETTER.

That alone says a lot: There are two kinds of rejected applicants. Sometimes it might help to know which kind one is.

Hey, I'm in China and blogspot is blocked...could you please post the letter here so I can read it? Thanks

[brouhaha]

Hey, I'm in China and blogspot is blocked...could you please post the letter here so I can read it? Thanks

Dear Applicant,

All indications are that you will do very well in a graduate program in Science. Your academic record shows that you have worked hard for many years, did well in a range of difficult classes, and acquired the research experience that is essential preparation for graduate studies in Science. Your personal statement was well-written and focused, your grades are excellent, your GRE scores are very high, and it is clear that your reference letter writers are impressed with your intellectual abilities, motivation, and maturity. You have clearly met or exceeded all of our criteria for acceptance to the graduate program in Science at Major Research University.

We regret that we cannot offer you admission to the Department of Science this year.

Why can't we accept you, and all other qualified applicants? We can't owing to factors that have nothing to do with the quality of an applicant's academic record. For example, we have to consider how many graduate students are interested in particular fields of Science relative to the number of faculty in those fields, the number of current advisees these faculty have, and their interest in (and funding level for) advising new grad students. As it turns out, you expressed interest in a field that had the highest number of applicants this year.

In addition, our budget is being slashed and we are no longer able to provide a guaranteed financial safety net for as many students as we used to, in the event that an adviser doesn't have sufficient funding to cover a student's graduate program in its entirety. We are therefore admitting fewer students overall than usual.

To some extent, it is random bad luck that you aren't getting an offer of admission and a few others, with similar excellent records, are. That may make you feel better, or worse, but we wanted you to know that the reason you aren't being offered admission has nothing to do with your academic qualifications.

We have no way of knowing if you were serious about wanting to join our Department or whether this letter is a disappointing blow to you, but either way, we hope you are soon able to launch an interesting and successful career in Science at another university. In fact, we hope that you will do so well that you will make us regret not accepting you into our graduate program.

Sincerely,

The Admissions Committee

[repatriate]

Now that the comments are coming in, there's some interesting follow-up. I particularly liked this proposed rejection letter from a commenter:

Dear [sun Flower],

We regret that we are unable to offer you admission to FSP University. The committee reached this decision for the following reason(s):

[ ] (1) You would have been easily admitted most years, but the department/advisor you selected enrolled too many students last year, so nobody in your research area had a snowball's chance in hell.

[ ] (2) You were a strong applicant, in range to be admitted, but the advisor you selected was slightly more enthusiastic about others.

[ ] (3) You were a strong applicant, in range to be admitted, but someone on the committee just didn't like you.

[ ] (4) While your application was otherwise strong, it showed weakness in the following area(s):

[ ] (4a) Grades

[ ] (4b) Curriculum

[ ] (4c) GRE/TOEFL

[ ] (4d) Research fit

[ ] (4e) Recommendations

[ ] (4f) Maturity

[ ] (4g) Grooming habits

[ ] (5) Unfortunately, your application was weaker in several areas. We wish you luck at a school more suited to your needs.

[ ] (0) This application was incomplete, or otherwise not reviewed for administrative reasons.

Wouldn't it be nice to get feedback like this? Sure, it's a generic form letter, but, in a way, is more personal than some of the rejection letters that schools send out.

[javagdss]

Now that the comments are coming in, there's some interesting follow-up. I particularly liked this proposed rejection letter from a commenter:

Dear [sun Flower],

We regret that we are unable to offer you admission to FSP University. The committee reached this decision for the following reason(s):

<snip>

Wouldn't it be nice to get feedback like this? Sure, it's a generic form letter, but, in a way, is more personal than some of the rejection letters that schools send out.

Actually, it looks like the Embark system does this. Davis hasn't given me an admissions decision yet, so I'm not sure how they'll do it, but the "Track Status" page has all these "Deny Reasons" that they can check off:

1 Application is inappropriate for this program.

2 No major professor available in proposed specialization in major.

3 Application received after deadline.

4 Not competitive with other applicants because: (reasons listed below)

5 Scholarship below minimum

6 Scholarship below that of admitted applicants.

7 Inadequate preparation for advanced study in the proposed program.

8 Statement of Purpose/Written work.

9 Personal History Statement.

10 GRE scores.

11 Letters of Recommendation.

12 Audition/tape or portfolio.

13 Personal Interview.

There's no option for "You were fully qualified and this was just bad luck/random number generator/dice roll/pick-a-hand/etc." but otherwise, it could be quite helpful (and/or humbling).

[DJLamar]

Some of the stuff here as well as some email contact (which I initiated) that I had with a professor at one of my top choices recently have made me wish that I paid much more attention to current group size when I was looking at faculty web pages to find professors to write about in my research statements. I just realized that one of the profs I put in one statement has over a dozen students already! These "are you taking new students next year" emails would have been much more useful before submitting applications...

[luar de ouro]

Some of the stuff here as well as some email contact (which I initiated) that I had with a professor at one of my top choices recently have made me wish that I paid much more attention to current group size when I was looking at faculty web pages to find professors to write about in my research statements. I just realized that one of the profs I put in one statement has over a dozen students already! These "are you taking new students next year" emails would have been much more useful before submitting applications...

Same here. Plus, I now know that a previous year's admit of students with my near-identical interests, in today's economic landscape, means my chances were very much diminished.

And thank you repatriate, for the copy/paste People like you makes living in China a little more bearable on the internet front

[repatriate]

Actually, it looks like the Embark system does this.

Very nice! I hope that Embark schools make use of that.

And thank you repatriate, for the copy/paste People like you makes living in China a little more bearable on the internet front

brouhaha deserves the credit here; don't want to take credit for someone else's work.

[psychdork]

I really wish that my schools last year would have sent a letter like this one instead of the standard rejection letter (i.e. "I regret to inform you...". I am pretty sure that the reason I was rejected everywhere last year was (at least somewhat) due to the economy, and a letter like this from at least one of my schools would have helped soften the blow a little. My profs said that it wasn't me, but it would have meant more coming from the schools as well.

Edited February 10, 2010 by psychdork

[rising_star]

Some of the stuff here as well as some email contact (which I initiated) that I had with a professor at one of my top choices recently have made me wish that I paid much more attention to current group size when I was looking at faculty web pages to find professors to write about in my research statements. I just realized that one of the profs I put in one statement has over a dozen students already! These "are you taking new students next year" emails would have been much more useful before submitting applications...

My advisor had 11 students when I and another student started to work with him... The number alone is not a death sentence to your application.