Grad School Rejection: Worth trying to find out why?

[NickMPK]

I just got rejected at the political science grad school programs at Harvard and Princeton (for various reasons, they were the only schools I applied to this year). Is there any point in trying to contact someone on the admission committee to find out if there was a particular factor which got me rejected?

I know this would be a silly request at a large undergrad program, but it seems like a small departmental grad program may be more upfront with applicants (and may remember them better). I think I had excellent objective qualifactions (graduated from Harvard undergrad magna cum laude in political theory, perfect score on both Math and Verbal GRE), so I'm worried there was something wrong "hidden" in my application.

I was planning on applying to more schools next year, but I would like to save myself the trouble if there is something about my application that I don't know about that is just going to get me rejected again.

[Dave D]

I don't see how it could hurt. Especially if you don't apply to them next year. All you have to lose is them saying "omg I can't believe he called, blackball him", which already basically happened anyway.

[Misfire]

Let me guess...you're male and either white or asian.

[alphatmw]

i'm pretty curious why you would get rejected too, now.

[spino1i]

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i'm pretty curious why you would get rejected too, now.

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[pureCra2z]

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(graduated from Harvard undergrad magna cum laude in political theory, perfect score on both Math and Verbal GRE),


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uh. wow?

[Thremp]

Nick,

IIRC essays and rec and interviews are more important at this level than your numbers. Like applicants to Harvard/Princeton/etc probably almost every applicant can do the work, but they are likely engaging in some ridiculous "building a class" method. That might mean you got punked by another white male who was more unique or something.

[NickMPK]

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Nick,

IIRC essays and rec and interviews are more important at this level than your numbers. Like applicants to Harvard/Princeton/etc probably almost every applicant can do the work, but they are likely engaging in some ridiculous "building a class" method. That might mean you got punked by another white male who was more unique or something.

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Do you think professors on the committee would be willing to give their opinions on my essay & recommendations?

BTW, there were no interviews. Unless I had already been rejected before they decided who to interview...but the application and other materials gave no indication that interviews were a part of the process.

[theflyingcow]

Any idea on how many grad students the political science programs accept on a per year basis? I'm not so sure about the process for poli sci grad programs, but did they contact you for an interview (edit: nm, I should read the whole thread first)? And btw, what house did you live in during your undergrad? I'm currently in Cabot.

It also seems to be the case (at least for science grad schools) that letters of recommendation and personal statements are far more important than grades + GRE. Not sure how much this applies to your field though =\

[Thremp]

Nick,

Interesting. I interviewed for all my undergrad, and found out much later that interviews were huge for the scholarships I got. How I got them... I do not know since I know I'm a cocky [censored]. But yes, I think you could ask them.

And FWIW I know this applies in a lot of fields. Like a good GMAT score will get you into school no where at a top 30 maybe even more. MCATs are a little different, but the "soft" parts of your app are very very important as your trend up.