Rejection Recourse

[JohnHolmes]

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All,

What say you?

I have _heard_ that schools either will

a) tell you why they rejected you out of the kindness of their souls

b) Somehow there is a federal nondiscrmination statute that requires educational institutions to disclose, upon request a reason for not accepting a particular candidate (came about in the 60s, no doubt).

Do you guys know one/both of these are true. I want to call a certain school just to get some some peace of mind and tweak the old interview skillZ for da upcoming residency interviews (in several years, but nonetheless).

CCW

 

[Sharky]

I don't think schools have any obligation to tell you why they rejected you. Even if they do I highly doubt they would tell you the real reason. They may say you didn't have enough research but what they may really mean is we don't like how you look.

 

[Brickhouse]

Originally posted by Sharky
I don't think schools have any obligation to tell you why they rejected you. Even if they do I highly doubt they would tell you the real reason. They may say you didn't have enough research but what they may really mean is we don't like how you look.

Shark - you do realize that that's a picture of a killer whale....

 

[Sharky]

Originally posted by Brickhouse
Shark - you do realize that that's a picture of a killer whale....

You're the 2nd person to mention that. I couldn't find an avatar of a shark, but now I will search more.

 

[JohnHolmes]

Originally posted by Brickhouse
Shark - you do realize that that's a picture of a killer whale....

LOL, brick is great. 🙂😛

 

[Sharky]

There it's fixed. SHARKS UNITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[klonoff]

U of Wash has an actual exit interview system, where you can set up an appointment and find out EXACTLY why you were rejected. Brutal honesty, if you can't take it, don't schedule the appointment.

As far as I know, the exit interviewer (Dr. Samson) 's suggestions are written in your record, and if you interview the next year and have acted upon some of those suggestions, it is counted in your favor.

That being said, not all schools offer this. However, it cannot in any way hurt to ask. Go for it. I don't know if they're required to tell you or not, but I'll bet they will. One piece of advise I remember reading on these boards was don't wait too long to ask. One person asked months and months later, but the school had already destroyed their file.

 

[pekq]

I e-mailed an inquiry to a school that I was waitlisted at and they sent me a generic e-mail with a list of reasons why I might have been rejected/waitlisted. Of course, those reasons are quite vague and I don't think any one of them actually applies to me.

 

[Paws]

I just got rejected post interview from a school and I was really upset by that. They sent the letter about four or five days after I interviewed so I felt like: great, was I that bad that you could hardly wait to reject me? And it was like, a $700 interview trip ... I might call them up and ask why.

 

[rmp]

Originally posted by Paws
I just got rejected post interview from a school and I was really upset by that. They sent the letter about four or five days after I interviewed so I felt like: great, was I that bad that you could hardly wait to reject me? And it was like, a $700 interview trip ... I might call them up and ask why.

Damn! Paws, I feel for you Bud... That sucks!

rmp

 

[Alexander99]

I'm not pointing out anyone specifically but it seems like a lot of people on here have a hard time dealing with rejections. If you were rejected, just deal with it. Think about this: most med schools only admit anywhere from 3-7% of its applicants. So even for the "easier schools," your chances are worse than 1 in 10. Why is it so surprising that despite how solid of an applicant you are, you weren't accepted? You could have been #2 or 3 in that group of 10.

I think it'd be ridiculous that the schools should be held responsible to inform all their applicants why they got rejected (especially schools with 5000+ applicants.) You could say that they only have to tell those they interviewed but what about those people that never got interviewed with good numbers and experiences? I think they deserve just as much of an explanation.

I think what people have a hard time realizing is that in the end, it's a crapshoot. Yes, in order to be considered you need minimal numbers and experiences but after that, there's a lot of luck involved. What gets you in or rejected could be as simple as who looked at your file when deciding whether you should be interviewed or who ended up interviewing you. When you play craps and lose, you don't ask, "Why didn't I roll a 7?"

Alex

 

[Amy B]

I met with a school that waitlisted me and then rejected me when their classes started. They did tell me why and what I could do to imporve my application. Call the school and set up a time with the dean of admissions.