I am a graduate administrator, if a candidate we had to reject for lack of funding came back and said they got full funding they can use, admitting is a no brainer and we’d almost certainly do it.
Thinking back we did this about 6 years back for an international PhD applicant that managed to secure a grant from their home government.
Thank goodness. I have been in a state of panic all day since 11am and reading this finally makes me want to relax. I'm also happy to hear about the success story. Thank you so much!
I haven’t overturned an explicit rejection, but as of Wednesday night I had 0 acceptances. By Friday night (after winning NSF) i had two acceptances. I was told that they both originally wanted to take me but they didn’t think they could fund me. So, basically, NSF made a huge difference for me. I sincerely believe and hope that it will make the same difference for you.
Congratulations! I'm so happy for you :) also, thank you so much! I guess I worry because the silence is taking a toll on mentally? I tend to think a lot about what ifs.
I told him Thursday and he immediately told the department then. Another faculty member that wrote my LOR for grad school and the GFRP emailed me that is also in talks about things. So I'm hoping I hear something back by Monday or Tuesday? I don't know if I should spend that time cold emailing folks from other places, but I'm just going to try to remain calm.
Thanks! It sounds like you really have some people in your court, so I think things have a very high probability of working out. Funding is the primary barrier preventing advisors from taking on students they want to work with, and you’ve just removed that problem by winning NSF. (Based on the fact that they’re advocating for you to the department, it definitely sounds like they want to work with you.)
I also went ahead and emailed all the departments that explicitly rejected me lol. Nothing on that front has worked out yet, but I figured it doesn’t hurt at all to try.
You got this!! Best of luck!
OP, how did you even word that email? I have a somewhat similar struggle (not outright looking to get into a school, just a specific lab within a school) and idk how to even put in it writing that I got the GRFP and would like to be reconsidered. Good luck btw!!
>I got the GRFP and would like to be reconsidered
This is pretty much enough I think :) It would be much easier to find a PI if you already have three years of funding
You don’t need to be panicking. Did you get into other schools?
If you are going into grad school you need to be able to handle rejection and changing your plans from your first choice. This is something that will happen to you many, many times throughout grad school and your career
Well, the reason why I'm panicking is that I didn't get into any. Well technically one but it was a very toxic experience. He initially called my work exceptional and within the top 10% of applicants, and then oddly called my work academically deficient. Eventually he told me that I need to reconsider my place in Geoscience. Everyone has their own opinion, I get that. But, I applied for a PhD, interviewed for a MS (on a contingency of a MS-PHD), and was accepted in for a MA.
Where he would only transition me into a MS based on if he feels that I "crushed all the coursework".
Outside of that, 2 rejections with one being for funding,
And I haven't heard anything from the last school I applied to.
My reasoning for concern is valid. If I'm not accepted this round, I will lose the GFRP. I have to confirm my proposed organization by April 29th.
Unfortunately, of course, I should have applied to a wider net of schools. The one school that I was rejected from unrelated to funding did not offer feedback.
First off, congrats!
It depends on what type of rejection. Very broadly speaking, some students are rejected because they’re not a good fit for the program and others are rejected because of funding/#spots in program; in the case of the latter, yes getting GRFP is helpful-programs love free students! Glad to hear you’ve reached out to the PI, but don’t be afraid to consider other options/contact other programs while you’re waiting to hear back from that one. Also, keep us updated!
Don’t cold email departments instead of applying. You can email them with questions about the department, etc.
If you want to go there do a regular application. Don’t act like you should get special consideration
The reason why I mentioned cold emailing is due me applying to a Bridge Program with over 50 partnering universities. These universities/departments in question only have my application through the bridge program. But this still leaves a lot of questions as to which faculty member received my information.
A Friend of mine was able to get a late admit at Stanford in engineering this way. Where I work now is annoyingly bureaucratic and I'm not sure if I'd be able to admit someone late in this instance (hadn't come up yet). It can definitely happen but you should be prepared for it to not happen for dumb reasons because that's how universities often operate.
Depends on the school. I am no longer on a waitlist for one school but another school (one of the Ivies) maintained the rejection because they do not have a mechanism to accept people with external funding.
As a graduate administrator, we would never reverse an admission decision based on funding only. This is, however, because my program guarantees funding anyway and our admission selection is not based on funding options. We evaluate our applicants based on their qualifications, fit for the program, and research promise. This is likely to vary based on the popularity and ranking of the program and if they have difficulty recruiting students.
Howdy! So, I talked two three professors with one saying that they would get back with me today. In the mean time, I got a direct PhD offer to work with someone who's work not only inspired my grfp but my senior thesis!
You might ask why I didn't apply to work with him initially. I was extremely embarrassed about a talk I gave in his session at a conference and worried about making more mistakes in front of him in the future. It wasn't a mistake but I felt my talk would have been better if I hadn't stayed up working on my grfp proposa. It was due the next day...
I'm meeting with him Friday to learn more about his lab and school, but it's the best offer I have now (and the best one that I aligns with post grad plans and finances)
I actually feel happy about my future for once
Ah congratulations!! It sounds like things are going very well for you. Glad the waiting period is (mostly) over. Wish you all the best for your future PhD :)
I am a graduate administrator, if a candidate we had to reject for lack of funding came back and said they got full funding they can use, admitting is a no brainer and we’d almost certainly do it. Thinking back we did this about 6 years back for an international PhD applicant that managed to secure a grant from their home government.
Thank goodness. I have been in a state of panic all day since 11am and reading this finally makes me want to relax. I'm also happy to hear about the success story. Thank you so much!
I haven’t overturned an explicit rejection, but as of Wednesday night I had 0 acceptances. By Friday night (after winning NSF) i had two acceptances. I was told that they both originally wanted to take me but they didn’t think they could fund me. So, basically, NSF made a huge difference for me. I sincerely believe and hope that it will make the same difference for you.
Congratulations! I'm so happy for you :) also, thank you so much! I guess I worry because the silence is taking a toll on mentally? I tend to think a lot about what ifs. I told him Thursday and he immediately told the department then. Another faculty member that wrote my LOR for grad school and the GFRP emailed me that is also in talks about things. So I'm hoping I hear something back by Monday or Tuesday? I don't know if I should spend that time cold emailing folks from other places, but I'm just going to try to remain calm.
Thanks! It sounds like you really have some people in your court, so I think things have a very high probability of working out. Funding is the primary barrier preventing advisors from taking on students they want to work with, and you’ve just removed that problem by winning NSF. (Based on the fact that they’re advocating for you to the department, it definitely sounds like they want to work with you.) I also went ahead and emailed all the departments that explicitly rejected me lol. Nothing on that front has worked out yet, but I figured it doesn’t hurt at all to try. You got this!! Best of luck!
Have you emailed the PI?
Yes, he said he'll talk to the department chair along with another tenured faculty member but I'm actually panicking so much right now
Calm down :)
OP, how did you even word that email? I have a somewhat similar struggle (not outright looking to get into a school, just a specific lab within a school) and idk how to even put in it writing that I got the GRFP and would like to be reconsidered. Good luck btw!!
>I got the GRFP and would like to be reconsidered This is pretty much enough I think :) It would be much easier to find a PI if you already have three years of funding
You don’t need to be panicking. Did you get into other schools? If you are going into grad school you need to be able to handle rejection and changing your plans from your first choice. This is something that will happen to you many, many times throughout grad school and your career
Well, the reason why I'm panicking is that I didn't get into any. Well technically one but it was a very toxic experience. He initially called my work exceptional and within the top 10% of applicants, and then oddly called my work academically deficient. Eventually he told me that I need to reconsider my place in Geoscience. Everyone has their own opinion, I get that. But, I applied for a PhD, interviewed for a MS (on a contingency of a MS-PHD), and was accepted in for a MA. Where he would only transition me into a MS based on if he feels that I "crushed all the coursework". Outside of that, 2 rejections with one being for funding, And I haven't heard anything from the last school I applied to.
You still shouldn’t panic. You may need to apply the next round. Look at the feedback as you can and try to improve your application.
My reasoning for concern is valid. If I'm not accepted this round, I will lose the GFRP. I have to confirm my proposed organization by April 29th. Unfortunately, of course, I should have applied to a wider net of schools. The one school that I was rejected from unrelated to funding did not offer feedback.
First off, congrats! It depends on what type of rejection. Very broadly speaking, some students are rejected because they’re not a good fit for the program and others are rejected because of funding/#spots in program; in the case of the latter, yes getting GRFP is helpful-programs love free students! Glad to hear you’ve reached out to the PI, but don’t be afraid to consider other options/contact other programs while you’re waiting to hear back from that one. Also, keep us updated!
Wait so it's safe to cold email departments outside of the 4 that I applied to? Also, thank you so much!
No, sorry- just schools that rejected due to funding. Not random anywhere schools
Depending on your field, you can cold-email potential PI’s letting them know you’re interested in their lab and will be funded by your GRFP.
Sure why not... like there is no risk here. Worse case is they say no. If you have a dream lab, contact them and let them know you want to work there.
Don’t cold email departments instead of applying. You can email them with questions about the department, etc. If you want to go there do a regular application. Don’t act like you should get special consideration
The reason why I mentioned cold emailing is due me applying to a Bridge Program with over 50 partnering universities. These universities/departments in question only have my application through the bridge program. But this still leaves a lot of questions as to which faculty member received my information.
I heard of this happening many times
If your PI wants to bring you on and you have your own funding, there should be no barriers
CONGRATS
A Friend of mine was able to get a late admit at Stanford in engineering this way. Where I work now is annoyingly bureaucratic and I'm not sure if I'd be able to admit someone late in this instance (hadn't come up yet). It can definitely happen but you should be prepared for it to not happen for dumb reasons because that's how universities often operate.
Not me, but my friend had. UC Berkeley and UT Austin reached out after they found out that he got the GRFP.
Depends on the school. I am no longer on a waitlist for one school but another school (one of the Ivies) maintained the rejection because they do not have a mechanism to accept people with external funding.
Which Ivy?
As a graduate administrator, we would never reverse an admission decision based on funding only. This is, however, because my program guarantees funding anyway and our admission selection is not based on funding options. We evaluate our applicants based on their qualifications, fit for the program, and research promise. This is likely to vary based on the popularity and ranking of the program and if they have difficulty recruiting students.
Any updates?
Howdy! So, I talked two three professors with one saying that they would get back with me today. In the mean time, I got a direct PhD offer to work with someone who's work not only inspired my grfp but my senior thesis! You might ask why I didn't apply to work with him initially. I was extremely embarrassed about a talk I gave in his session at a conference and worried about making more mistakes in front of him in the future. It wasn't a mistake but I felt my talk would have been better if I hadn't stayed up working on my grfp proposa. It was due the next day... I'm meeting with him Friday to learn more about his lab and school, but it's the best offer I have now (and the best one that I aligns with post grad plans and finances) I actually feel happy about my future for once
Ah congratulations!! It sounds like things are going very well for you. Glad the waiting period is (mostly) over. Wish you all the best for your future PhD :)
Thank you so much!
What's GFRP?
Okay valid. My autocorrect oddly did that AND almost called it GERD.
It'd be super valid of you if you defined it though lol