Meeting with course coordinator of course I was rejected from tomorrow - any suggestions?

[psychstudent9090]

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Hi everyone,

About a month ago I was interviewed for my dream program - a doctoral program in health psychology in Australia, and unfortunately I was rejected after the interview. I know of many others who had similar grades and work experience who were accepted, so I decided to email the course coordinator and see if she would be interested in meeting with me to discuss why I was rejected.

She replied, and said that she would be happy to meet with me, and said that she will review my application in the context of the accepted applicants'. She also said that it was very competitive this year and she realises I must be very disappointed.

I haven't said this to her, but from the meeting, I am really hoping to secure myself a place in the course. Do you think there is any possibility of this happening? Do you have any tips?

Thanks!

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Honestly, I'd be very doubtful that the meeting would result in you landing a spot in the program, and I'd suggest against getting your hopes up regarding that outcome. If they had the ability/funding to take you on as a student, they would have.

What I think you should instead aim to gather from the meeting is how you might make your application more competitive and improve your chances for admission for next year. Thus, I'd focus on those types of questions specifically, and not in a, "how come they got in but I didn't; I know we were all equally-competitive, so why didn't you pick me?" way, but more so with the approach of, "what areas of my application do you think would be most helpful for me to work on bolstering for next year?"

 

[Marissa4usa]

I don't know what the admission process is like in Australia but if it only slightly resembles the US one then I second that your chances of being admitted are non-existent. They already interviewed you and decided to not accept you this year (believe me, I know it sucks, having gone through the process four times and being rejected both pre-and post interview) - I think if you tried to "impress" this person to gain belated admission, it'll likely come off as very desperate and won't make you a more attractive candidate (and they already know your credentials), and may even negatively affect your chances of being interviewed next year. So, I'd really recommend going into this meeting with the mindset of learning what you can do to be the most competitive applicant next year.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I haven't said this to her, but from the meeting, I am really hoping to secure myself a place in the course. Do you think there is any possibility of this happening? Do you have any tips?

1. DO NOT try and sell yourself for the '14 class…it will not be received positively.

2. The coordinator is doing you a favor by meeting with you to provide feedback, so make sure to do a lot more listening than talking. The purpose of the meeting should be to learn about what they believe is important in an application, and what you can do to make yourself a better applicant for the '15 cycle.

 

[G Costanza]

How did it go? Did you get some helpful feedback?

 

[psychstudent9090]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

The meeting went okay, but I am still feeling very confused. She basically said "you just didn't cut it". She also explained how the system works. Basically, when applying we each filled out a preference sheet when we sent off our applications numbering our preferences for clinical, health and forensic from 1-3 (I put health as my 1st preference and clinical as my 2nd). If someone had their 1st preference as clinical and 2nd as health, but missed out on clinical, they would get into the health course if their fourth year mark was higher than mine (81%).

She said that, this year, the five people who were offered a place in the health program had clinical as their first preference, not health. They aren't really interested in health psychology, but would prefer it to nothing. She basically just said that out of the 11 applicants who had health as their 1st preference (none of whom were accepted), I probably did demonstrate the most passion and interest in health psych, but that it doesn't really count for anything in regard to admissions.

I asked if she thought it was worth reapplying once I had more work experience, but she said that while there's nothing stopping me, it's probably only going to get more competitive and 81 just isn't good enough. I don't understand, because I know someone who got in with a 79.

I'm at a bit of a loss and feeling very upset. Devastated is probably a more accurate term.

 

[G Costanza]

Consider taking a week or two to grieve/stop blaming/move on. Then spend the next month figuring out if you really want this. You've tasted how hard it can be, the doc program itself can even more difficult. Are you up for it? There's no shame in deciding to do something else.

If you still want to do health psych, I'd recommend asking some other psych people that are not a part of the institution where you applied to look for holes in your application. Get experiences to fill those holes. I would also HIGHY recommend applying to other health programs even though it means moving. Doc programs are VERY hard to get into. If you are going to go through all the hoops of reapplying, it would be wise to set yourself up for success. Only applying to one school has a very high chance of failure. Maybe spend the next month imagining living in a different country. That might be required if you want to pursue this.

 

[CheetahGirl]

I agree with G Costanza. Have you heard the saying 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket?' Doctoral programs are competitive (and difficult once you get in), so spend your energy not dwelling on the past, but planning the future in a very pragmatic, realistic way. If your passion sustains these obstacles, it was meant to be and you'll find a way to achieve your goals.

Why not consider programs in the U.S.!? I think an Aussie could fare well here...if only for your education and you can always move back. 😉

 

[PsyDr]

One time I was in party. A gorgeous, incredibly smart, tragically hip, female friend of mine innocently starts talking to this guy. He's not ugly, but he's not in her league. He tells her all about how awesome he is. Shows her photos. I dunno. Thing is: he never once asks her about herself. If he had bothered, he would have found out that she is actually an awesome human being who outshines the rest of us. But nope. Then this guy jumps the gun way too early in the conversation, swings for the fences, and asks her to come home with him (for the sects). Not her number, not hangout later.... She rejects him, because... well if you don't know how to hit on someone, then I can't really explain it. Should have just been sorta cringe worthy.

But then, but then he tries to talk her out of the rejection! OMG, when has that ever worked outside of bad movies? He mighta had a second chance next time he saw her, but now he was waiting for the cement shoes to set before he jumped off the pier. She made some awkward moves, and got the heck outta there. Told all her friends.

true story. Dunno why it came to mind.

 

[G Costanza]

One time I was in party. A gorgeous, incredibly smart, tragically hip, female friend of mine innocently starts talking to this guy. He's not ugly, but he's not in her league. He tells her all about how awesome he is. Shows her photos. I dunno. Thing is: he never once asks her about herself. If he had bothered, he would have found out that she is actually an awesome human being who outshines the rest of us. But nope. Then this guy jumps the gun way too early in the conversation, swings for the fences, and asks her to come home with him (for the sects). Not her number, not hangout later.... She rejects him, because... well if you don't know how to hit on someone, then I can't really explain it. Should have just been sorta cringe worthy.

But then, but then he tries to talk her out of the rejection! OMG, when has that ever worked outside of bad movies? He mighta had a second chance next time he saw her, but now he was waiting for the cement shoes to set before he jumped off the pier. She made some awkward moves, and got the heck outta there. Told all her friends.

true story. Dunno why it came to mind.

I bet you're a pretty good therapist.

 

[psychstudent9090]

Thanks for the comments again everyone. I am beginning to consider studying in the US, Canada or maybe the UK, but am not sure how their systems work. I will post a question on the main forums now.