Pissed as hell - UPDATE: WOW!

gregthomas77

gregthomas77

CAGiversary!
Feedback
26 (100%)
OK, so I work as a lecturer at a local university, and I recently applied to the doctoral program in educational leadership. My packet was good, and my interview went well, and today I received my rejection letter.

I don't have background in education courses (although this is not strict requirement), but that is the only reason I can think of that I would be rejected. I wrote to the department head, and I am waiting to hear back, but in the meantime I am pretty pissed off.

I am really just venting here, there is nothing much I can do.

Update 5:14pm EST 05/18/2009

I just got off the phone with the doctoral admissions people, and they told me I did not meet the minimum GPA requirements. Specifically, on my Master's degree I had a GPA of 3.45, and they require a 3.5 for admission. I asked why they didn't include the additional 35+ hours of graduate work I had done at a second institution (which was a 4.0). They told me that they would have but they never got a transcript and it is too late now.

THEN - I sent them a copy of an email from general Graduate Admissions from FEBRUARY that said they had received the transcript and that they would include it with my application when it was forwarded over to doctoral admissions.

The response to this piece of information?

We never got it, so that is between you and them. It is still too late, you can reapply next year.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
As the previous poster indicated, concurrently graduate schools are lowering enrollment while applications are increasing. Competition is fierce. I'm so glad I applied before this economic meltdown. Expect fierce competition, and use the time to sharpen up your portfolio, personal statement, and LOR's while seeking out other avenues to spruce up your credentials.

My sister is in some PhD program centered around secondary education, and she was not accepted until she gained more experience and took some core EDU courses.

Sorry to hear about the rejection letter.
 
[quote name='strayfoxx']As the previous poster indicated, concurrently graduate schools are lowering enrollment while applications are increasing. Competition is fierce. I'm so glad I applied before this economic meltdown. Expect fierce competition, and use the time to sharpen up your portfolio, personal statement, and LOR's while seeking out other avenues to spruce up your credentials.

My sister is in some PhD program centered around secondary education, and she was not accepted until she gained more experience and took some core EDU courses.

Sorry to hear about the rejection letter.[/QUOTE]

Thanks.

The thing that bothers my is that I have experience. I have been teaching at the university level for 5 years.
 
[quote name='DarkNessBear']Do you know if the department head really dislikes banana's in pajamas's marching down stairs? This could be the problem.[/QUOTE]

This could be it.
 
[quote name='gregthomas77']Thanks.

The thing that bothers my is that I have experience. I have been teaching at the university level for 5 years.[/QUOTE]


Have you served as an adjunct? Most professors, although ostensibly open-minded, won't deign to acknowledge the experience from adjuncting. At least from my experience.
 
Wait, Graduate admissions didn't forward all of your transcripts to Doctoral admissions??

I'd be raising hell over at Graduate admissions for sure. What did they tell you? Did they admit not sending it?
 
[quote name='keithp']Wait, Graduate admissions didn't forward all of your transcripts to Doctoral admissions??

I'd be raising hell over at Graduate admissions for sure. What did they tell you? Did they admit not sending it?[/QUOTE]

You got it.

No response from grad admissions, they were closed for the day by the time this was all figured out.
 
[quote name='Cracka']sounds like you got screwed over pretty bad[/QUOTE]

Yep. I have a meeting with the program director on Wednesday. I am hoping they will change their minds, but if they don't I will talk to someone else higher up (which may or may not help).
 
Ack, I had a similar story. The program I applied to last year to transfer first lost my letters of recommendation, so I had to call up my professors to send another one. Then, after not hearing back for a while, they send me an email saying they lost my whole packet and I needed to send it to them again! That really pissed me off so I said screw it to the whole thing. Low and behold, in October when I was getting ready to apply to grad schools, I get an acceptance email out of nowhere! Hopefully you'll get it worked out, but grad school admissions kinda suck ass.
 
Related story about University bullshit:

My registrar's office did not allow me to graduate because I didn't have a gym class, even though I had went to them with proof of a debilitating injury (I rotated my hip out of alignment during a match) which they claimed would exempt me from having to take the course (1 credit hour, not graded). Well, they apparently forgot all about that. So,I took a gym course during the summer which THEY THEN TRIED TO DENY A CREDIT TRANSFER, even though they EXPLICITLY agreed to it. I had to call one of the VP's to get it accepted. And the Provost, the douchebag, finally called and said he would"accept the credit, in spite of my attitude". I couldn't believe it. After their gross incompetence, I was the asshole.

The moral? Never, EVER trust that your paperwork is in and processed. Verify everything you do at LEAST 4 times over the months.

This lesson has helped me with the military, where incredibly important paperwork just seems to vanish.
 
I completely agree with Finge.. verify, verify, and then verify again when it comes to certain things. I was constantly defending and explaining that a certain course I took in community college was transferable to the state university I graduated from even up to the point where I handed in my petition to graduate and the woman checking everything off had to contact the head of the business college (which I remember the tone of the conversation ending in, "Fine, let him have it.")

There's things you should always get in writing and you shouldn't feel bad about harassing secretaries/assistants until it's done as long as you're pleasant when asking.
 
[quote name='QiG']I completely agree with Finge.. verify, verify, and then verify again when it comes to certain things. I was constantly defending and explaining that a certain course I took in community college was transferable to the state university I graduated from even up to the point where I handed in my petition to graduate and the woman checking everything off had to contact the head of the business college (which I remember the tone of the conversation ending in, "Fine, let him have it.")

There's things you should always get in writing and you shouldn't feel bad about harassing secretaries/assistants until it's done as long as you're pleasant when asking.[/QUOTE]

I understand that, but I have it in writing that the transcript was received. I would never have thought I would need to confirm that Graduate Admissions has passed that along with the rest of my materials to the doctoral committee.
 
Update sounds like the bullshit my ex's sister had to go through with her grad school application. They pretty much said they never got it and sorry, have to apply next year. I really hate this type of incompetency.
 
[quote name='gregthomas77']I understand that, but I have it in writing that the transcript was received. I would never have thought I would need to confirm that Graduate Admissions has passed that along with the rest of my materials to the doctoral committee.[/QUOTE]

Don't feel bad, the college bureaucracies are probably the second-worst bureaucracy in America (right behind immigration).

Sometimes I believe they see it as their job to fuck you over royally in preparation for the real world bureaucracies you will continually have to face over your lifetime.

As a result I have always considered the other person's viewpoint, because I know how frustrating it is when a "rules is rules" 9-to-5er sits there complacently and tells you that you have to lose a year because some schmo in the machinery made a paperwork error.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top