Post here to whine about rejections

[GinaMae08]

Perfect way to end my day - Rejection letter from UGA (English, PhD). Guess they were scared of my research interests...at least, that's what I'm telling myself LOL :roll:

[Cornell07]

Well... down to one reach and one safety... (assuming that UNC is a rejection as a bunch of UNCers have been notified of their acceptances). Now I'm really gunning for that last ditch MA program that I need to apply to before the end of the month.

EDIT: Down to one reach. Didn't get into BU but ultimately get into Columbia? Yeah right.

[GinaMae08]

Come ooooooooooooooooooon FSU and WashU...one of ya'll please say "come on in the room" lol

[Minnesotan]

one of ya'll please say "come on in the room"

If I must.

Come on in the room.

[tehkatt]

Rejection was a while ago but got punted by my #3 choice last month, which kind of stung since I got into #2 a week before and had been lulled into a sense of complacency and ease.

[milktea]

One rejection per day for the past three days, including my dream program. I have nothing to say but.....

[NO8DO]

haha got to post once in each of the forum's accepted/rejected forums

rejection from upenn (phd romance languages), i'm thinking now it's for the better anyway and i'm extremely excited about the MA program I got into! - still waiting on two.

[deahamlet]

My trip down rejection lane started with a swift rejection from my dream program... John Hopkins... *sigh* Followed by a rejection later from UMass which only hurt because it was a rejection not because I would have been all that excited to go to UMass.

A couple of acceptances... from good schools and great programs... I was starting to think I might be hot shit.

Such dreams of grandeur were destroyed by an email rejection from McGill, a university far below the other acceptances. Shock and dismay!

----------------

PS: The person who contacted me about my application package at John Hopkins did not even know ANYTHING about the school I got my BA and MA from! Didn't even know that I basically studied for 9 years in Canada and therefore an English requirement of TOEFL is beyond ridiculous! After that, could I be expected to be shocked by rejection from John Hopkins? No way.

[tehkatt]

Got a small thin letter from Stanford yesterday, which sent me into an emotional frenzy right before going to work. I'm ok now but the blow of not getting into my dream program was pretty hard at the moment. Luckily I got into my #2 choice but two rejections in a row have given me a mean case of impostor syndrome that I honestly wonder if I got into grad school on a fluke rather than my credentials.

I only applied to 3 schools so it should be expected I get more rejections than acceptances but this whole process is not good for my self esteem.

The silver lining of this whole matter is that I'm finally getting out of the Bay Area, which has not treated me kindly in my undergraduate years.

[smellie]

PS: The person who contacted me about my application package at John Hopkins did not even know ANYTHING about the school I got my BA and MA from! Didn't even know that I basically studied for 9 years in Canada and therefore an English requirement of TOEFL is beyond ridiculous! After that, could I be expected to be shocked by rejection from John Hopkins? No way.

Except for few, the reputation of Canadian schools doesn't seem to travel far - which sucks for me and you. I totally feel you about the TOEFL requirement, though. I was talking, writing e-mails with the department in English yet they still wanted me to send the damn score. I took it, dozed off during the reading section, yet still got near perfect score. What a waste of my $200.

[anewtypedude]

I was rejected by UPenn, UT- Austin, and UCSB Ph.D. psychology program. I am such a champ..... :evil:

[pointedears]

Wow what? Canadian applicants need to write the TOEFL?

[Minnesotan]

Quebecois might, but I doubt it. You can probably just call the school and tel them English is your native tongue.

[pointedears]

Most of the schools I applied to wanted a TOEFL score but not if I completed my bachelors degree from a place where english is the teaching medium. Which it was, but I didn't want to take any chances and took the toefl anyways(I am from India).

[xnormajeanx]

i'm canadian too. i didn't have to take the toefl, but princeton made me get a professor to fill out a statement documenting my proficiency in english! my 790 score on the GRE verbal apparently didn't cut it.

[pointedears]

That's ridiculous considering TOEFL isn't even tough or anything. If makes sense only for ESLs, if at all.

[erin85]

I'll whine here about a school rejecting me...its the same school I did my bachelors at. Today I found out the rejection was based on "lack of work experience". I guess its relevant for an MPP program, but after meeting some of their current students, I'm surprised that's what I was knocked on...

On a positive note... Georgetown accepted me, and even offered me a small scholarship. They were my 2nd choice, so its very good news. The more and more I learn about the school the happier I am to go there. I want to move to DC anyways, as Michigan is much too cold and I've lived here pretty much my entire life... Plus their calender of events has a very impressive amount of seminars and career services events on it...even more than my top choice schools! Their course offerings are also exactly in line with what I want to do (program evaluation and policy analysis)... so I think its all working out well...

So yea, I'm sad I was rejected from one school, but the more I look into it the better I think it was that I go to DC. Better for my future career, better for me to finally move more than 45 minutes away from my family...

But yea, that rejection hurt to read...

[Fiddler_Crab]

Erin85,

Congratulations on Georgetown! I think it is a good idea to try a new school anyway and diversify your experiences. This is probably one of the few times in your life when you can move with few strings attached. I'm at Ohio State currently, and even though doing grad work here would be great - I didn't even apply. I'm sick of the weather and ready to find out what else is out there.

[miketakena]

Erin85,

Congratulations on Georgetown! I think it is a good idea to try a new school anyway and diversify your experiences. This is probably one of the few times in your life when you can move with few strings attached. I'm at Ohio State currently, and even though doing grad work here would be great - I didn't even apply. I'm sick of the weather and ready to find out what else is out there.

I thought this is not a place to do congrats... unless u are congratulating those who hv been rejected... I hv 3 straight rejections so far .... 3 more to go... (2 not looking good at all... and 1 hopeful.. but again... its not over until its over... I wonder if all these are worthy the mental agonies...)

[astorian]

Ouch, rejected by my first choice yesterday, and expecting a rejection from my second choice soon. Not even given an interview! I'd thought that between my top two choices, I'd at least get an interview from one. Good GREs/GPA, 5+ years research experience, and a master's degree, plus one of my letters of recommendation from a graduate of the school. Luckily I have been accepted to 2 others, though neither has decent financial aid.

Thanks for hearing my rant, all you wonderful and frustrated fellow applicants

[MebiggyNooby]

A rejection from UMD today. :cry: I was really hopeful about this college and they have such a nice program. I actually read many of their research papers, contacted the lecturers, specified which area I want to do research on. All for nothing. I have some work experience too. What do they need? Everyone can not have research experience. Why do they assume that there is no learning involved in working! I am damned sure I have know a lot more about that subject than some of the people they have admitted.

[euges429]

20%, even including MA-candidates, is extremely high for a top program! Maybe it was a typo. 2% sounds more realistic, if it's in the top-10 (I assume you were still talking about UNC-CH).

Actually, in the humanities and social sciences, some top schools (PhD programs) have admission rates as high as 30%. Seriously.

I'm a psych person, and psychology is out of that loop. Social psych admission rates: more like 10%. At good schools like Stanford, 5%.

And they say Harvard Law is hard to get into... (7%)

[xnormajeanx]

I just got rejected from Princeton WWS.

I knew it was a long shot and everything, but I still had a teeny bit of hope.

Sigh

Since they notify so late, it really puts a damper on my enthusiasm for my acceptances.

[Minnesotan]

Actually, in the humanities and social sciences, some top schools (PhD programs) have admission rates as high as 30%. Seriously.

According to Peterson's website, perhaps. =)

[Loxias44]

So, I'm a music teacher in Minnesota and I love teaching. Ideally, I want to teach at the college level. I applied to one school and one school only -- UCSB. My main reason is because I want to study with a particular professor out there. I've known him for many years as he used to teach at my undergrad. I've been in contact with him since about September. He told me that he would be able to unofficially give me notice in February, but that didn't happen. I don't want to keep bugging him, but I'm really starting to get an ulcer waiting to hear back!

Don't get me wrong -- I know it might be silly to some to only apply to one school. But, that's the school I want to go to. If I don't get in, I'm happy to continue teaching where I am for another year and try again. I know of a couple other people who applied to the same program and received rejection letters as early as early to mid February. Should I consider it a good sign that I haven't received a rejection letter yet?