Rejection Thread (If you are depressed, please avoid)

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RayneeDeigh said:
Well I'm rejected by Minnesota as of today, which is okay 'cause I expected it. Apparently I "should have" had an email a couple of weeks ago, but it got lost. lol.

Things have a way of being lost when they're getting to me. I STILL have never had my undergrad acceptance letter in my hand, despite the school mailing it 3 times. But I'm about to graduate. haha
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Reminds me of the song "Blame Canada." Sorry, but it does 🙂.
 
Hahaha you guys rock.

And now I've got it in my head too. 😛
 
I got a letter of rejection today for UMass Amherst's adult clinical phD program.
 
Today I received a letter in the mail from the University of Tulsa, which has already rejected me. Curious to know what else they wanted of me, I read the following:

I sincerely regret to inform you that because you are denied admission to our degree program you are not eligible for consideration for the Blah Fellowship.

I appreciate your interest in our degree program and The University of Tulsa. I wish you the best success in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Blah Blah

How crazy is that? You think that I would have enough intelligence to know that if you rejected me from the school, I won't be getting the fellowship.
 
blindblonde said:
Today I received a letter in the mail from the University of Tulsa, which has already rejected me. Curious to know what else they wanted of me, I read the following:

I sincerely regret to inform you that because you are denied admission to our degree program you are not eligible for consideration for the Blah Fellowship.

I appreciate your interest in our degree program and The University of Tulsa. I wish you the best success in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Blah Blah

How crazy is that? You think that I would have enough intelligence to know that if you rejected me from the school, I won't be getting the fellowship.
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hee. though it would be a pretty sweet consolation prize, to be rejected from a program but still get funding for the next year. I can just see myself, hanging out in the grad lounge, watching all the stressed people while I did my crossword, chillin' with my rejection fellowship.
 
Homunculus25 said:
hee. though it would be a pretty sweet consolation prize, to be rejected from a program but still get funding for the next year. I can just see myself, hanging out in the grad lounge, watching all the stressed people while I did my crossword, chillin' with my rejection fellowship.
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That'd be amazing! I'd apply to a load of schools with great funding that I would be unlikely to get in to, and get all of their Rejection Fellowships! Yeyyyyyyy! 😛
 
i think i win for most bizzare rejection- i went to the interview, and pulled aside by the program director. She said i was one of 2 people who they decided to pay travel expenses, basically they thought i was one of the most promising applicants. She then told me that i would be an excellent candidate for the highest level of stipend (only 2 per department).
....2 weeks later got a rejection!!
 
PsychoEm said:
i think i win for most bizzare rejection- i went to the interview, and pulled aside by the program director. She said i was one of 2 people who they decided to pay travel expenses, basically they thought i was one of the most promising applicants. She then told me that i would be an excellent candidate for the highest level of stipend (only 2 per department).
....2 weeks later got a rejection!!
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I still like one of my prof's stories regarding an interview experience. He drove there, interviewed, and arrived back home the following day . . . to find a rejection letter already there from that program. 😱
 
PsychoEm said:
i think i win for most bizzare rejection- i went to the interview, and pulled aside by the program director. She said i was one of 2 people who they decided to pay travel expenses, basically they thought i was one of the most promising applicants. She then told me that i would be an excellent candidate for the highest level of stipend (only 2 per department).
....2 weeks later got a rejection!!
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Ouch!

I once got recruited for a management position at a firm. They bugged me for awhile, I finally interviewed...and they offered me a position, pending a review by the VPs and an assessment.

I got a call a couple days later from the VP (who recruited me).......she told me that she wanted me, but I scored too well on the exam, and the other VPs thought I'd get bored at the job and I'd be a flight risk (They were right, very good money, kinda boring job. I guess assessments CAN tell you stuff. :laugh:)

The story doesn't end there though....two days later I get a call from one of the review VP's who offered me a management position at a spin-off company they are launching, pending another interview. I do well, but lose out to a guy who re-scheduled. He had a PhD in the area, and although my experience was much more in line with the work, he had 10 years of experience more than me (ouch)

-t

ps. Screw You Sylvan!
 
PsychoEm said:
i think i win for most bizzare rejection- i went to the interview, and pulled aside by the program director. She said i was one of 2 people who they decided to pay travel expenses, basically they thought i was one of the most promising applicants. She then told me that i would be an excellent candidate for the highest level of stipend (only 2 per department).
....2 weeks later got a rejection!!
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That's awful! I hope they at least followed through and paid for your travel expenses!
 
Snail mail rejection from Columbia clinical.
 
got my Loiusiana State University rejection via snail mail sometime earlier this week.

OH WELL!
 
I thought I had posted this, but I realize I didn't. I received a rejection letter (post interview) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's counseling psychology program. This was about the second week of February.
 
Ella_Mental said:
Anyone else getting bored with all of this? I only have 1 official (post-interview) rejection and am waiting on SEVEN other schools... this is silly.

*Ella
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7 must be the lucky number. I, too, am awaiting 7 confirmation rejections. Of course, none of those are post-interview. 😀 I'm allegedly supposed to be patient with my wait lists and be optimistic that all those people won't go so I can . . . Thank goodness for my thesis--keeps my mind occupied as of late!
 
Finally got my UPenn rejection via email.
 
paramour said:
7 must be the lucky number. I, too, am awaiting 7 confirmation rejections. Of course, none of those are post-interview. 😀 I'm allegedly supposed to be patient with my wait lists and be optimistic that all those people won't go so I can . . . Thank goodness for my thesis--keeps my mind occupied as of late!
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Now THAT'S a healthy coping style. 😀 Appreciate the hard work of your thesis in order to dull your mind to the sadistic nature of this process. I would do the same, but I'm in the middle of finals and too busy to think about it! :laugh:
 
heres another great one: i emailed a school to see if i could get an explanation why i got rejected, and they responded basically with "we're sorry, but your scores just couldnt compete with those who were offered. the average score of admitted students was a 1350. try studying for a retake, and re-apply next year."
which would be fine, explanations are helpful...except that I had a 1500 GRE. hmmmm.
 
My status on the Rutgers site changed finally... denied admission (surprise, surprise!).
 
I wish I was lucky enough to have my status changed for Rutgers, even if it was a rejection! The anticipation of not knowing is killing me!!
 
I was rejected by Rutgers PsyD (online status and mail), the Virginia Consortium PsyD (via phone when I called them, then by mail), and Loyola College in Maryland PsyD (mail) 🙁
 
dragonstyle said:
I wish I was lucky enough to have my status changed for Rutgers, even if it was a rejection! The anticipation of not knowing is killing me!!
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I don't know, I was initially rejected by one, actually dropped from a waitlist (before interviews even took place) from another, and rejected after an interview by another so...I don't think any way makes you feel lucky 😳
 
PsychoEm said:
heres another great one: i emailed a school to see if i could get an explanation why i got rejected, and they responded basically with "we're sorry, but your scores just couldnt compete with those who were offered. the average score of admitted students was a 1350. try studying for a retake, and re-apply next year."
which would be fine, explanations are helpful...except that I had a 1500 GRE. hmmmm.
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Wow congratulations on your GRE scores...
Anyway, I also was wondering how to get explanations because the only ones I have gotten even after asking again, why......are that the number of applicants outnumber the spots that schools have available....but we all know that from the start so......
 
I know Rutgers has already held their interviews (according to their website). So, my question is, how come some people have heard from them and some people have not? I have yet to receive a rejection letter via snail mail nor has my online status changed. Any thoughts?
 
Post-interview rejection from Mississippi. 🙁

So my only real chance is my NIU wait list. *sighs*
 
So even though I already was e-mailed (Emory) or saw online (NU-Feinberg) that I was rejected, I got official hard copy letters today, though Emory was still the vague semi-rejection that was in the e-mail.

Still waiting to officially get rejected from UNC like everyone else.
 
I know the interviews at my schools have come and gone, and still I haven't heard peep. I feel like I couldn't even get rejected properly.😕
 
Well, here's the way I understand it. Some schools know you're not what they want and you get a rejection by late Feb., early March. Other schools think you might be good enough if their first choices don't accept them. So what they do is hold on to your app (you are waitlisted) until they have their interviews, make offers, and see who replies. If they get no replies off the interview list, they dive back into their original pile of applications (those that were not rejected straight off) and start dialing the phone.

For example: I heard of a guy who got an offer on April 12th (you know the deadline for offers/acceptances is April 15th) from a school that had never even interviewed him. They'd apparently made offers from interviews that weren't accepted, so they went down to their waitlist.

Tell me gang, is this correct? If anyone understands this differently, I'd love to hear about it!
 
psychwanabe said:
Well, here's the way I understand it. Some schools know you're not what they want and you get a rejection by late Feb., early March. Other schools think you might be good enough if their first choices don't accept them. So what they do is hold on to your app (you are waitlisted) until they have their interviews, make offers, and see who replies. If they get no replies off the interview list, they dive back into their original pile of applications (those that were not rejected straight off) and start dialing the phone.

For example: I heard of a guy who got an offer on April 12th (you know the deadline for offers/acceptances is April 15th) from a school that had never even interviewed him. They'd apparently made offers from interviews that weren't accepted, so they went down to their waitlist.

Tell me gang, is this correct? If anyone understands this differently, I'd love to hear about it!
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I think what happened to that guy is VERY rare, at least in PhD programs. Most programs I know of interview 30-40 people for 5-7 positions, leaving more than enough people who interviewed to fill a waitlist. I think most schools only put about 10 of the people who interviewed on the waitlist, and rarely have to dig deeper than that. For example, this year NYU interviewed 42 people for 5 positions, put 7 people on the waitlist and flat-out rejected the rest of the interviewees and applicants.

I don't know as much about PsyD programs, but they might have a whole different approach as they're generally trying to fill a LOT more positions. If they interview 60 people for 30 spots, I could imagine them needing to dive back in to the applicant pool.
 
Did CUNY send rejections only pre-interview or also post-interview?
 
Dr.Maybe said:
I think what happened to that guy is VERY rare, at least in PhD programs. Most programs I know of interview 30-40 people for 5-7 positions, leaving more than enough people who interviewed to fill a waitlist. I think most schools only put about 10 of the people who interviewed on the waitlist, and rarely have to dig deeper than that. For example, this year NYU interviewed 42 people for 5 positions, put 7 people on the waitlist and flat-out rejected the rest of the interviewees and applicants.

I don't know as much about PsyD programs, but they might have a whole different approach as they're generally trying to fill a LOT more positions. If they interview 60 people for 30 spots, I could imagine them needing to dive back in to the applicant pool.
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My experience this spring is that each professor that I interviewed with was working on about a 3:1 basis. Meaning that in each place, there were about 3 people interviewed for each spot to fill. In one place, I was originally told I would not be interviewed. Then, after my POI had the official interview day, the candidates were not exactly right and I was called the next week for a post-interview day interview. I personally don't know of any PhD programs that are interviewing on a 5:1 or 6:1 ratio, but obviously they are out there.

The two PsyD programs that I'm familiar with are a little better, you're right. In one, there were a little over 200 applicants, they interviewed about 75 people for 25 spots. In the other, there were also about 200 applicants, and they interviewed 40 for 12 spots.
 
I interviewed at two schools where my POI was interviewing at least 10 people.
 
I'm on the waitlist for one school where I was the only person my POI interviewed...haha.
 
WantCalm said:
I'm on the waitlist for one school where I was the only person my POI interviewed...haha.
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Dude, that seriously sucks! 🙁 If it makes you feel any better, it may have been that you were the only one that could come to interview day. I had a conflict with one of my schools (their interview day was the same as another school that called me first), so I interviewed a week later. So my POI actually interviewed 4 while only 3 were there on the "official" day.
 
Well, thanks for the advice. I guess I won't give up hope completely yet. Someone did tell me that Clark was not sending out rejection letters after the interviews in case they needed to call more people.
 
Rejection #6: Finally was heard (via website) from Rutgers. No shock there.
 
Ph.D. program. Reeeeee-jected. Snail-mail, yesterday.
 
Received official rejections in the mail from George Washington University, University of Denver (Child Clinical), and University of Oregon's PhD programs all in the last week. I'm not even taking it personally anymore...I'm just dreading the idea of applying all over again! I feel like I'll have to start all over again in a month. I think the application process takes far too long!!!
 
I finally got word from rutgers! "Your application has been reviewed, and the Committee has denied admission." That seems a bit harsh, don't you think? Oh well, at least I know where I stand now.
 
If you have not received any offers from clinical psychology programs, do not be discouraged. I wish I had been rejected when I applied, so I could have applied to medical school instead and specialized in psychiatry. As a 4th year PhD clinical student in a leading university-based program, I feel like I have wasted 4 years of my life. I am now preparing to leave the program to start on the road to medical school. Why??? Read on... Most of my friends who are now completing their post-docs at top sites (Johns Hopkins, Brown) cannnot find good jobs (i.e., jobs with insurance and start around $50K). The interns where I am doing one of my externships (Psy.D. interns) are scrambling for post-docs that pay $28K-30K. Matter of fact, one of them is in the preparation stage in regards to going to medical school. As a psychologist, especially in the current climate, you will be competing with MSWs and LPCs for jobs. Oh, you will probably get the job but will be paid an MSW's salary. There are approximately 700 students, many of them high quality students, who cannot find pre-doctoral intersnhips. Although they will eventually find something, they probably will have to wait around another year... There ireally s a glut of psychologists... You may not think so because it is so hard to get into graduate school, but there are so many schools (PHD, PsyD) all over the country that the total # of people graduating out-strips the demand! All the while,your psychiatrist friends will be making more during their residency (year 4 of school) than you will probably be making with your Ph.D. Of course, there are exceptions, but they are very, very few. It is definitely not all about the $$$, but it becomes hard to study when you wonder how you are going to find a good job... I am just posting this because I wish someone had warned me...

All that glitters isn't gold....
 
blindblonde said:
Today I received a letter in the mail from the University of Tulsa, which has already rejected me. Curious to know what else they wanted of me, I read the following:

I sincerely regret to inform you that because you are denied admission to our degree program you are not eligible for consideration for the Blah Fellowship.

I appreciate your interest in our degree program and The University of Tulsa. I wish you the best success in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Blah Blah

How crazy is that? You think that I would have enough intelligence to know that if you rejected me from the school, I won't be getting the fellowship.
Click to expand...

I never even got a rejection letter from Tulsa. As with other schools, I'm calling them to tell them I'm no longer interested as I've accepted another offer. Do you think they'll get the hint?
 
edieb said:
If you have not received any offers from clinical psychology programs, do not be discouraged. I wish I had been rejected when I applied, so I could have applied to medical school instead and specialized in psychiatry. As a 4th year PhD clinical student in a leading university-based program, I feel like I have wasted 4 years of my life. I am now preparing to leave the program to start on the road to medical school. Why??? Read on... Most of my friends who are now completing their post-docs at top sites (Johns Hopkins, Brown) cannnot find good jobs (i.e., jobs with insurance and start around $50K). The interns where I am doing one of my externships (Psy.D. interns) are scrambling for post-docs that pay $28K-30K. Matter of fact, one of them is in the preparation stage in regards to going to medical school. As a psychologist, especially in the current climate, you will be competing with MSWs and LPCs for jobs. Oh, you will probably get the job but will be paid an MSW's salary. There are approximately 700 students, many of them high quality students, who cannot find pre-doctoral intersnhips. Although they will eventually find something, they probably will have to wait around another year... There ireally s a glut of psychologists... You may not think so because it is so hard to get into graduate school, but there are so many schools (PHD, PsyD) all over the country that the total # of people graduating out-strips the demand! All the while,your psychiatrist friends will be making more during their residency (year 4 of school) than you will probably be making with your Ph.D. Of course, there are exceptions, but they are very, very few. It is definitely not all about the $$$, but it becomes hard to study when you wonder how you are going to find a good job... I am just posting this because I wish someone had warned me...

All that glitters isn't gold....
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That's unfortunate that you're almost done but you feel like you've wasted the time. I hope med school is better for you.

At the same time though, I don't think anyone really expects to be making huge money (or even average for the profession as a whole) in a post-doc. I also think that the best psychologists are the ones who are in it for the sake of doing something they enjoy, not the money. Yeah it would be great to make $70,000 straight out of a PhD but that's not realistic.
 
Hey all,

I am new to this (a friend gave me the link, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing!), and I had a few questions. I saw that a few people got rejection letters from CUNY and George Washington's PhD program. If you read this, did you have interviews at those schools? I interviewed at both and have not gotten any follow-up yet. Also, has anyone heard anything from the University of Connecticut? I interviewed at the end of January and also haven't heard anything! I'm taking that as a bad sign, but I heard their 2nd interview day was canceled and rescheduled because of snow, so maybe it's delayed their process?! Oh, also, has anyone heard anything from UVA's Curry School?

FYI - I am on the waiting list for the Rutger's PsyD program (email) and the Virginia Consortium PsyD program (called me today) and I was rejected from UMass Boston and Fordham (both by email).

Does anyone have any thoughts as to whether or not/when it is appropriate to email a POI and follow-up/ask about my status?

Thanks!!!!!!
 
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