Devastated... don't know what I can improve on?

[youraverageasia]

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So I just found out today I got rejected from my state school and I thought I had a really great shot at getting in. I thought I did well during my interview too. Is there anything you guys think I can do to improve my application? I do have an interview at UCSF next month, but the cost of tuition and living expenses there scares me. Should I call or email the school asking what I can do to improve? I'm really just surprised I didn't even get waitlisted...
cGPA - 3.2
Graduate MBS GPA - 3.94
21 AA 21 TS
200+ volunteering hours (100 dental related)
500+ research hours
Public health internship 400 hrs

 

[arejay]

from my experience, getting into a school is part luck and there's nothing you can do about that. your rejection might not have anything to do with you personally and just might have to do with an increase amount of really attractive applicants this year. congrats on your interview with UCSF, my advice is to prep well for that one. You can always transfer back into your state school, your rejection this year doesn't mean a rejection forever

 

[A Pre-dent]

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[andrey9111]

Hi, I am still waiting to hear from UW. I did not hear anything back from them after my interview in late November. I was wondering was the rejection given through the portal or by email or mail? My portal still says Invited for interview. And I would call the school and ask them what can I do in order to improve during next cycle if that is your plan. This shows that your committed and still interested in their school.

 

[Faux]

Rejection after interview is rare and usually means you messed up or really failed to impress at the interview.

No it doesn't lol.

 

[TWD]

So I just found out today I got rejected from my state school and I thought I had a really great shot at getting in. I thought I did well during my interview too. Is there anything you guys think I can do to improve my application? I do have an interview at UCSF next month, but the cost of tuition and living expenses there scares me. Should I call or email the school asking what I can do to improve? I'm really just surprised I didn't even get waitlisted...
cGPA - 3.2
Graduate MBS GPA - 3.94
21 AA 21 TS
200+ volunteering hours (100 dental related)
500+ research hours
Public health internship 400 hrs

It's strange that you got rejected from your state school this early in the cycle. Usually, they wait-list people that don't get in right away. I would call them and ask what to improve. You should be proud of yourself for getting an interview at UCSF. I have a 3.9 GPA, 22 AA and about 1000 hours in dental/community related activities but they rejected me. Try to improve your interview skills. UCSF is a great school 🙂 Cheer up

 

[swindoll]

Rejection after interview is rare and usually means you messed up or really failed to impress at the interview.

I agree with this comment. Of course, it's just my opinion based on little experience.

 

[Typical Average Student]

Don't worry too much about UCSF's tuition if you get in, their program is top notch and can land you a specialty easier than most other schools.

 

[akog]

So I just found out today I got rejected from my state school and I thought I had a really great shot at getting in. I thought I did well during my interview too. Is there anything you guys think I can do to improve my application? I do have an interview at UCSF next month, but the cost of tuition and living expenses there scares me. Should I call or email the school asking what I can do to improve? I'm really just surprised I didn't even get waitlisted...
cGPA - 3.2
Graduate MBS GPA - 3.94
21 AA 21 TS
200+ volunteering hours (100 dental related)
500+ research hours
Public health internship 400 hrs

I know you're asking us the question... but the information that you've given us about your application is average to above average, so there's not much for us to go off.

It's either (1) your rejection is a random occurrence based on something outside of your control, such as somebody getting bad vibes from you, not liking something in your statement, etc. (2) you were just beat out by other applicants in these increasingly competitive app cycles (or, to a certain extent, you were beat out by your own demographic, averageasia). The only thing I can identify here is GPA issues, but you've already addressed those a bit with graduate work. Or (3) there's some objective red flag in your app that we haven't identified yet.

We can't really help you with the first two. For the third, you would have to give us more information...

So what do you think the top 3 weakest points of your application are?

(And yes, wouldn't hurt to ask the school about improvement ideas.)

 

[A Pre-dent]

.

 

[youraverageasia]

Hi, I am still waiting to hear from UW. I did not hear anything back from them after my interview in late November. I was wondering was the rejection given through the portal or by email or mail? My portal still says Invited for interview. And I would call the school and ask them what can I do in order to improve during next cycle if that is your plan. This shows that your committed and still interested in their school.

The rejection was through the portal.

 

[youraverageasia]

Granted, I can only confirm this regarding the schools at which I interviewed. But why would an admissions office do otherwise? They have no strategic incentive to reject applicants they determine to be qualified for acceptance at the interview when they can simply waitlist (either formally or informally) in case their initial yield is not as high as they expected and the post-December interviewees turn out to be comparatively less impressive. Since they would not waste their time interviewing academically unqualified applicants (unless there is some very unique circumstance or the officers have a 'gut feeling'), it is most likely that rejection after interview indicates a particularly bad interview. I believe this is true both theoretically and objectively, as multiple directors of admission stated this rather directly at my interviews.

If anything, I think this is good news for OP because interview skills are easier to change than GPA and DAT scores (which are fine in this case). One possibility is that OP said something in the interview that contradicted what was stated in the application, which would easily result in rejection.

Yeah I guess the interview was the only area I could have messed up... which is surprising since I thought I did really well. It was an MMI format, and maybe that threw me off. But I don't think it had anything to do with contradictions. It was a closed file interview, and the interviewers were not from the school.

 

[ajj70]

Granted, I can only confirm this regarding the schools at which I interviewed. But why would an admissions office do otherwise? They have no strategic incentive to reject applicants they determine to be qualified for acceptance at the interview when they can simply waitlist (either formally or informally) in case their initial yield is not as high as they expected and the post-December interviewees turn out to be comparatively less impressive. Since they would not waste their time interviewing academically unqualified applicants (unless there is some very unique circumstance or the officers have a 'gut feeling'), it is most likely that rejection after interview indicates a particularly bad interview. I believe this is true both theoretically and objectively, as multiple directors of admission stated this rather directly at my interviews.

If anything, I think this is good news for OP because interview skills are easier to change than GPA and DAT scores (which are fine in this case). One possibility is that OP said something in the interview that contradicted what was stated in the application, which would easily result in rejection.

At best, W. VA accepted 72% of those interviewed so there were still quite a few that they deemed qualified that were still not accepted all the way down to Baylor that only accepted 49% of those interviewed (both of these are in-state numbers only). I would have to agree that there was something in the interview that was the final no-go button or maybe it was application related but didn't vet out in the interview--say they put they had 200 shadow hours but couldn't relate during an interview to doing that many or who knows (not saying that the OP did this). The only way to know for sure is to call and ask, if they will tell you.

 

[Faux]

Granted, I can only confirm this regarding the schools at which I interviewed. But why would an admissions office do otherwise? They have no strategic incentive to reject applicants they determine to be qualified for acceptance at the interview when they can simply waitlist (either formally or informally) in case their initial yield is not as high as they expected and the post-December interviewees turn out to be comparatively less impressive. Since they would not waste their time interviewing academically unqualified applicants (unless there is some very unique circumstance or the officers have a 'gut feeling'), it is most likely that rejection after interview indicates a particularly bad interview. I believe this is true both theoretically and objectively, as multiple directors of admission stated this rather directly at my interviews.

If anything, I think this is good news for OP because interview skills are easier to change than GPA and DAT scores (which are fine in this case). One possibility is that OP said something in the interview that contradicted what was stated in the application, which would easily result in rejection.

I guess I can see that. Sometimes its just a random process. Last year my UNC(OOS) was my best and longest interview. Didn't even get a waitlist. But poor interview skills can be a reason for a rejection.