"The committee and I sympathize with your disappointment . . ."

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yankeesmed

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"The committee and I sympathize with your disappointment . . ."

A sentence from my rejection letter from Columbia. It's pretentious to think I'm at all disappointed by their inability to "act favorably" on my application. Nobody died--to offer sympathy when I haven't expressed disappointment is absurd.

Also, the pdf file they sent is titled "Well Cornell." I guess they figured I would have to settle for Cornell. A misspelled Cornell, that is.
 
I hope others sympathize with my disappointment in this thread.
 
Was this pre- or post-interview?
 
It's not pretentious at all to assume dissapointment in someone rejected from a school they expressed interest in (through applying, giving them money, and interviewing), and I think this thread kind of makes your feelings obvious. Sorry for your luck with that school (hopefully that wasn't too pretentious).
 
yankeesmed said:
"The committee and I sympathize with your disappointment . . ."

A sentence from my rejection letter from Columbia. It's pretentious to think I'm at all disappointed by their inability to "act favorably" on my application. Nobody died--to offer sympathy when I haven't expressed disappointment is absurd.

Also, the pdf file they sent is titled "Well Cornell." I guess they figured I would have to settle for Cornell. A misspelled Cornell, that is.
Click to expand...

I didn't believe this until I checked but it's true... Well, there's always Cornell. Somebody is either a huge a-hole or they missed changing a document title. :laugh:
 
loveoforganic said:
It's not pretentious at all to assume dissapointment in someone rejected from a school they expressed interest in (through applying, giving them money, and interviewing), and I think this thread kind of makes your feelings obvious. Sorry for your luck with that school (hopefully that wasn't too pretentious).
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Columbia wasn't the only school I applied to and I am not disappointed to have not been selected for interview or accepted. A professionally written rejection letter would not project feelings onto the applicant.

I would have been disappointed if all 26 of my schools rejected me.
 
yankeesmed said:
"The committee and I sympathize with your disappointment . . ."

A sentence from my rejection letter from Columbia. It's pretentious to think I'm at all disappointed by their inability to "act favorably" on my application. Nobody died--to offer sympathy when I haven't expressed disappointment is absurd.

Also, the pdf file they sent is titled "Well Cornell." I guess they figured I would have to settle for Cornell. A misspelled Cornell, that is.
Click to expand...

Geez, get over yourself. News flash: This is a form letter. They did not draft a special one for you and presume your disappointment.

And the word you meant to use is "presumptuous," not "pretentious." But it is pretentious of you to start a thread the sole purpose of which is to tell us you were not disappointed by your rejection by Columbia.
 
slowbutsteady said:
Geez, get over yourself. News flash: This is a form letter. They did not draft a special one for you and presume your disappointment.

And the word you meant to use is "presumptuous," not "pretentious." But it is pretentious of you to start a thread the sole purpose of which is to tell us you were not disappointed by your rejection by Columbia.
Click to expand...

Everyone understands they're form letters. They could just as easily draft a polite, courteous form letter as well.
 
slowbutsteady said:
Geez, get over yourself. News flash: This is a form letter. They did not draft a special one for you and presume your disappointment.

And the word you meant to use is "presumptuous," not "pretentious." But it is pretentious of you to start a thread the sole purpose of which is to tell us you were not disappointed by your rejection by Columbia.
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Oh, I see. So they assumed EVERYBODY would be disappointed not to get into their school!! That's much better!

There is no place for this type of wording in a rejection letter. It made me laugh upon reading it.
 
yankeesmed said:
Oh, I see. So they assumed EVERYBODY would be disappointed not to get into their school!! That's much better!

There is no place for this type of wording in a rejection letter. It made me laugh upon reading it.
Click to expand...

"we hope this does not dissuade you from a rewarding career in medicine" from stanford... they all have some ridiculous line so Y would you be offended by it?
 
ColeOnTheRoll said:
Everyone understands they're form letters. They could just as easily draft a polite, courteous form letter as well.
Click to expand...

A polite and courteous rejection letter:

Dear _____,

I regret to inform you that we will not be able to offer you a spot in our Fall 2011 entering class. Thank you for your interest in our school. We wish you the best as you pursue a career in medicine.

Sincerely,

Whoever

These letters shouldn't try to be personal or explain anything. Just say what you need to say (no spot for you) and move on.
 
slowbutsteady said:
Geez, get over yourself. News flash: This is a form letter. They did not draft a special one for you and presume your disappointment.

And the word you meant to use is "presumptuous," not "pretentious." But it is pretentious of you to start a thread the sole purpose of which is to tell us you were not disappointed by your rejection by Columbia.
Click to expand...


Actually pretentious does work. The school is assuming that they are so important that everyone is going to be upset by the rejection. Lay off the Op's wording. It sounds like a rude rejection letter.
 
slowbutsteady said:
Geez, get over yourself. News flash: This is a form letter. They did not draft a special one for you and presume your disappointment.

And the word you meant to use is "presumptuous," not "pretentious." But it is pretentious of you to start a thread the sole purpose of which is to tell us you were not disappointed by your rejection by Columbia.
Click to expand...

Completely disagree. OP is responding to the clear pretension that Columbia displayed in their letter. Every applicant knows that this process is a crapshoot and no one expects to get into one particular school - it's presumptuous of Columbia to assume all rejected applicants are disappointed - for all they know Columbia wasn't that high on the list of the applicants choices.
 
I think we should start a thread compiling every school's rejection letter text! I sure have some to contribute. :meanie:
 
OP i sympathize with your disappointment/anger/whatever
 
cowme said:
How could anyone cope with the news that they won't have to waste 4 years of their lives in Baltimore?
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I don't think I could.... Didn't you know everywhere else just pales in comparision to Baltimore? 😛
 
Actually, the letters that insult me the most are those that hope you find success in another schoolr or RELATED FIELD. Like you couldn't get into their school, so you might as well try podiatry. 😡😡
 
OP... I copied your post to microsoft word

saved as "cool story"

backed up onto flash drive

will show to my kids one day

thanks bro
 
Columbia's a great school and so is Hopkins.

In professional writing, it is very important to not write everything you are thinking and to only say what needs to be said. People who work in the Admissions Office are not necessarily trained professional writers.
 
startswithb said:
Actually, the letters that insult me the most are those that hope you find success in another schoolr or RELATED FIELD. Like you couldn't get into their school, so you might as well try podiatry. 😡😡
Click to expand...

My favorite was the one that came with reapplication information attached. Because since they didn't want me obviously no other school will either.
 
hello there OP! i think you are a sweet sweet sensitive man who feels everything so deeply like a poet...a cowboy poet
 
I like how the top schools have the weirdest rejection letters... If you're good enough to be applying to Hopkins or Stanford or Columbia you'll probably get in somewhere. Lol at this "other related field" and "dissuade you from medicine" garbage. I think the lower ranked schools have nicer rejection letters.

UCSF has a really nice one too for what it's worth.
 
If someone can provide a logical reason one would not be disappointed at being rejected from a school someone applied to, please say it. Sure, the admissions process is a crapshoot (to some degree). If I bet the pass line and roll snake eyes, I'm going to be disappointed. Do I have more bets to make? Sure, but it would have been nice to win that one. Disappointment isn't like, some evil emotion you should feel dirty for experiencing.
 
tabascosauce said:
hello there OP! i think you are a sweet sweet sensitive man who feels everything so deeply like a poet...a cowboy poet
Click to expand...

Have you ever tried sweet sweet foods with Tabasco sauce? So good.

Right before interview at Tulane I had beignets and I dipped them in Tabasco sauce and runny egg yolks.

REJECTED

(okay, actually waitlisted but rejected sounds better.)
 
tabascosauce said:
hello there OP! i think you are a sweet sweet sensitive man who feels everything so deeply like a poet...a cowboy poet
Click to expand...
True I dont care whether you hate columbia but if you applied, you are disappointed to get rejected!!! its your time and money that went into applying there so a rejection is obviously bad news. I got wl at a school I really didnt care about after the interview but it would have still been nice to be accepted. Some of the wording of these letters are bad but i particularly think that "sympathize with your disappointment" isnt one of them... and if you cared enough to create this thread twice then you are disappointed... at least if nothing you are disappointed with their wording....
 
loveoforganic said:
If someone can provide a logical reason one would not be disappointed at being rejected from a school someone applied to, please say it. Sure, the admissions process is a crapshoot (to some degree). If I bet the pass line and roll snake eyes, I'm going to be disappointed. Do I have more bets to make? Sure, but it would have been nice to win that one. Disappointment isn't like, some evil emotion you should feel dirty for experiencing.
Click to expand...

They got accepted to a school that they liked more than the school that rejected them.
 
loveoforganic said:
If someone can provide a logical reason one would not be disappointed at being rejected from a school someone applied to, please say it. Sure, the admissions process is a crapshoot (to some degree). If I bet the pass line and roll snake eyes, I'm going to be disappointed. Do I have more bets to make? Sure, but it would have been nice to win that one. Disappointment isn't like, some evil emotion you should feel dirty for experiencing.
Click to expand...

The point is that it is inappropriate language for a rejection letter. Whether or not the applicant is actually disappointed doesn't matter.
 
^^fa sho fa sho
keep on trucking
come. let us crush step 2 ck
and become the doctors
that our mothers' wanted us to
marry.
 
yankeesmed said:
The point is that it is inappropriate language for a rejection letter. Whether or not the applicant is actually disappointed doesn't matter.
Click to expand...

So what's appropriate? Is "we regret to inform you" too touchy feely? Should it be a one line "You've been rejected"?
 
loveoforganic said:
So what's appropriate? Is "we regret to inform you" too touchy feely? Should it be a one line "You've been rejected"?
Click to expand...

I think that's reserved for if a family member dies in combat... at least that's how it reads in movies.
 
loveoforganic said:
So what's appropriate? Is "we regret to inform you" too touchy feely? Should it be a one line "You've been rejected"?
Click to expand...

"We regret to inform you" does not make any assumptions about the applicant. It is a polite thing to say.

Assuming that the applicant feels a certain way, and then offering sympathy for that assumed feeling, is silly.
 
loveoforganic said:
So what's appropriate? Is "we regret to inform you" too touchy feely? Should it be a one line "You've been rejected"?
Click to expand...

"We are sorry that we are unable to offer you a spot in our incoming class" is my personal favorite.
 
The worst was Temple's waitlist letter:


Congratulations you have been selected for our list of continuing candidates!
Click to expand...
Wow I'm so excited to have a 10% chance at getting in to your school, when I already got in to a school that is $30,000/year cheaper. </sarcasm>
 
yankeesmed said:
"We regret to inform you" does not make any assumptions about the applicant. It is a polite thing to say.

Assuming that the applicant feels a certain way, and then offering sympathy for that assumed feeling, is silly.
Click to expand...

Ok, I can see the difference, and I agree that's more tactful. I still don't think the original comment was out of line however, just less than ideal.
 
It is very likely that the applicant could be disappointed about the rejection.

It is also just as likely that the applicant has already settled upon a school that they have always dreamed about going to and had forgotten about "P & S" altogether.

The form letter should address both of those applicants. The only way to do it is to write a letter that says nothing specific about the applicant.
 
I can't wait for Harvard's rejection letter... Any bets on the language?
 
Columbia finally gives in and starts switching to email decision letters and this happens. lol

Seriously though, the intention wasn't to be snarky. I'm sure who ever wrote it was operating under the assumption that everyone would ideally like to be accepted at every place they applied, regardless of if a given school was their first choice.
 
Geekchick921 said:
As soon as I opened this thread I thought of you and your Hopkins WL letter. How are you coping, man? Is every day a struggle?
Click to expand...

Not nearly as bad as my Hopkins interview..

Near the end of the interview:

Interviewer: "Well....with this application you will probably get in somewhere"
 
mmmcdowe said:
Columbia finally gives in and starts switching to email decision letters and this happens. lol

Seriously though, the intention wasn't to be snarky. I'm sure who ever wrote it was operating under the assumption that everyone would ideally like to be accepted at every place they applied, regardless of if a given school was their first choice.
Click to expand...

Whoever wrote it obviously didn't mean to be snarky. They meant to be sympathetic, which is an inappropriate tone for a rejection letter to a professional school. It made for good reading though. As I said, I laughed.
 
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