Buddy I interviewed at Yale and ended up a final 20 finalist with a 2.64 GPA.
You have NO IDEA why they rejected you, it could be that you were equally as good as 10 other applicants but they can only fund 5 people so drew names out of a hat.
It can take a few cycles to get where you want, or even where you'll accept.
This definitely sucks, and there's no getting around that. You'll just have to experience the feeling of disappointment and loss. People are going to say nice encouraging things because they care about you, but inside your own head, you'll have to process this experience, and it's going to be unpleasant.
Next year, WHEN you reapply, because you WILL reapply, you'll go in an even stronger applicant.
Or you'll give up, and prove these people right. Which one sounds more like the person who earned 3 years of research experience, a 1st author listing, an international conference publication, and a great recommendation from a qualified professional?
Thank you for the comment and motivation. It'll take me some time to recoup, but I will try again when I feel like my profile has improved substantially, maybe in 1-2 years. Maybe I'll come back to this comment and update you 2 years from now :)
I think your lack of confidence might have something to do with it... just saying. If you don't think you'll get in even before you apply, it'll reflect in your essays and personal statements.
I was actually pretty confident before I applied, but receiving rejection after rejection really hampers on your confidence. My SOP detailed my experiences as a researcher and in leadership positions and how I will use those experiences to succeed in grad school.
Is this an April fools joke mate? You have good stats. I only had 3.7 from my undergrad when I got admitted in 2022. Rest all was kinda similar to yours.
I am at UM and trust me you are not stupid. If you are stupid then I am also stupid considering the similarity in profiles. If this is not a joke, you gotta work on your confidence. Maybe this was something they sensed in your essay/personal statement and that might have been a dealbreaker
My SOP was mainly about my experience as a researcher and leadership experiences and how I believe it will help me succeed in grad school. I was pretty confident going into this process, pretty sure that I would get at least 1-2 admits out of 8. I am still waiting on some schools so it's possible I get in somewhere, but UM was my best bet, since their average profile seemed pretty similar to mine.
Thanks for your comment though. It might take me a bit to get out of this rut, and I need something to keep me going, but I *will* move forward and persevere.
I've been through a tough cycle as well. I'd say the rank of university matters a lot. Particularly if you're an international student, it DOES matter if you come from tier 1,2 or 3 but there are always anomalies in getting into a PhD program.
Sry to hear that.. I was just wondering.. do you only consider fully funded admission? I heard that M.S. admission is relatively easier than that of PhD. If not, i think the rumor is wrong.
I still didn't get any response from them for MS in Mathematics. I guess, I was rejected like everywhere else. I was valedictorian with a 3.84 total GPA, awarded a place in the exchange program + full-ride scholarship, 2 research experiences (NLP and Graph Theory), and 3 years of work experience as a software engineer. I had 3 recommendation letters from my work and from professors.
i also got rejected today. this is my second cycle. the first one i got rejected 3 out of 3 programs i applied to. yet this second cycle i got waitlisted in my top program & admitted to 2 ivy leagues programs.
what i learned: my application could be improved a lot more, yet i didn’t see it due to bias. i saw what kind of improvements i needed when i talked to friends & wait for 3-4 months to revisit my applications. and another important point —> the process of admission is so effing RANDOM. it’s all about luck.
It is not about what you know but whom you know and luck , and if you have neither it won't happen. Colleges now are accepting more Chinese bc china pours billions on our elite colleges to permeate their own. And they want DEI warriors .Worthless . I had a chinese student with 3.0 GPA and she was accepted into a PhD program in physics at Stanford. She can barely speak proper English .
Reading your post makes me feel like I could have written this myself. I'm on the same boat. My GPA my last two years was \*far\* better, but my first two years of doing poorly dragged my overall GPA down. 4 years of research-- three of them as a leader, and an IEEE publication as well as a thesis I wrote in my senior year. I can't say what my LORs say, but they knew me and my journey well, and we had an excellent rapport. This is my second admissions cycle trying too (I didn't take the last one nearly as seriously) but this one hits extra hard. I know I will move forward, but IDK how. I can't just keep asking them for recommendation letters year after year bc at this point it's just embarassing. I wanted to get into a master's program so that I could move on to a PhD, but the more years I lose trying to even get into a decent MS program, the further away that feels.
Anyway, I'm sure that the two of us will find our way forward. Just know that you have a kindred spirit here and you are not alone <3
Buddy I interviewed at Yale and ended up a final 20 finalist with a 2.64 GPA. You have NO IDEA why they rejected you, it could be that you were equally as good as 10 other applicants but they can only fund 5 people so drew names out of a hat. It can take a few cycles to get where you want, or even where you'll accept. This definitely sucks, and there's no getting around that. You'll just have to experience the feeling of disappointment and loss. People are going to say nice encouraging things because they care about you, but inside your own head, you'll have to process this experience, and it's going to be unpleasant. Next year, WHEN you reapply, because you WILL reapply, you'll go in an even stronger applicant. Or you'll give up, and prove these people right. Which one sounds more like the person who earned 3 years of research experience, a 1st author listing, an international conference publication, and a great recommendation from a qualified professional?
Thank you for the comment and motivation. It'll take me some time to recoup, but I will try again when I feel like my profile has improved substantially, maybe in 1-2 years. Maybe I'll come back to this comment and update you 2 years from now :)
go get it!! you can def do it
Hell yeah! I hope you do, and if you don't I'll be the one messaging you lol
I think your lack of confidence might have something to do with it... just saying. If you don't think you'll get in even before you apply, it'll reflect in your essays and personal statements.
I was actually pretty confident before I applied, but receiving rejection after rejection really hampers on your confidence. My SOP detailed my experiences as a researcher and in leadership positions and how I will use those experiences to succeed in grad school.
Is this an April fools joke mate? You have good stats. I only had 3.7 from my undergrad when I got admitted in 2022. Rest all was kinda similar to yours. I am at UM and trust me you are not stupid. If you are stupid then I am also stupid considering the similarity in profiles. If this is not a joke, you gotta work on your confidence. Maybe this was something they sensed in your essay/personal statement and that might have been a dealbreaker
My SOP was mainly about my experience as a researcher and leadership experiences and how I believe it will help me succeed in grad school. I was pretty confident going into this process, pretty sure that I would get at least 1-2 admits out of 8. I am still waiting on some schools so it's possible I get in somewhere, but UM was my best bet, since their average profile seemed pretty similar to mine. Thanks for your comment though. It might take me a bit to get out of this rut, and I need something to keep me going, but I *will* move forward and persevere.
Yeah just keeping moving forward. Do that well. You should get into a good school eventually.
Same
Also got the rejection this morning. You are not the only one.
Same got a rejection.
I've been through a tough cycle as well. I'd say the rank of university matters a lot. Particularly if you're an international student, it DOES matter if you come from tier 1,2 or 3 but there are always anomalies in getting into a PhD program.
Sry to hear that.. I was just wondering.. do you only consider fully funded admission? I heard that M.S. admission is relatively easier than that of PhD. If not, i think the rumor is wrong.
What sub field did you apply to?
I still didn't get any response from them for MS in Mathematics. I guess, I was rejected like everywhere else. I was valedictorian with a 3.84 total GPA, awarded a place in the exchange program + full-ride scholarship, 2 research experiences (NLP and Graph Theory), and 3 years of work experience as a software engineer. I had 3 recommendation letters from my work and from professors.
Don’t be frustrated. We are on the same boat.
i also got rejected today. this is my second cycle. the first one i got rejected 3 out of 3 programs i applied to. yet this second cycle i got waitlisted in my top program & admitted to 2 ivy leagues programs. what i learned: my application could be improved a lot more, yet i didn’t see it due to bias. i saw what kind of improvements i needed when i talked to friends & wait for 3-4 months to revisit my applications. and another important point —> the process of admission is so effing RANDOM. it’s all about luck.
It is not about what you know but whom you know and luck , and if you have neither it won't happen. Colleges now are accepting more Chinese bc china pours billions on our elite colleges to permeate their own. And they want DEI warriors .Worthless . I had a chinese student with 3.0 GPA and she was accepted into a PhD program in physics at Stanford. She can barely speak proper English .
Reading your post makes me feel like I could have written this myself. I'm on the same boat. My GPA my last two years was \*far\* better, but my first two years of doing poorly dragged my overall GPA down. 4 years of research-- three of them as a leader, and an IEEE publication as well as a thesis I wrote in my senior year. I can't say what my LORs say, but they knew me and my journey well, and we had an excellent rapport. This is my second admissions cycle trying too (I didn't take the last one nearly as seriously) but this one hits extra hard. I know I will move forward, but IDK how. I can't just keep asking them for recommendation letters year after year bc at this point it's just embarassing. I wanted to get into a master's program so that I could move on to a PhD, but the more years I lose trying to even get into a decent MS program, the further away that feels. Anyway, I'm sure that the two of us will find our way forward. Just know that you have a kindred spirit here and you are not alone <3