I got rejected from a MSc program

[A-Stark]

Your brother seems to have been pretty lucky, much like a friend of mine who did an MBA after an MSc. and landed a job at HP - after over 200 job applications and a year of unemployment.

 

If you speak to any management level person in private industry who has an MBA - as I have with family friends who have been VPs of HR and Sales in GSK and Cisco respectively, as well as professional colleagues who work at GSK as liaisons between academia and industry - they'll all tell you that MBAs are best done after having at least a few years of work experience.

 

He had some sort of "corporate residency" (an extended co-op essentially) in the degree and works in "annuity hedging". Whatever that is. So it's more the case that he came from a somewhat atypical background (engineering) and moved into finance with the MBA.

 

But I agree that people doing, say, a business undergrad need to work for a while first, particularly since a B.Comm/BBA brings essentially nothing special to an MBA program.

[Bede]

hockeykid,

 

I don't want to sound harsh, but I think you have some maturing to do. Life, and especially academia are all about dealing with people who think you aren't good enough- your work isn't good enough to write up, your manuscripts aren't good enough to publish, etc. I don't think you've mastered how to deal with that yet.

 

I remember my first experiments I did as a new MSc student. I came running to my supervisor telling her how I saw a new phenomenon. I was really excited- only to find out I completely screwed up setting up the equipment.

 

JohnDakota's posts are some of the best on this forum.

 

You will look back on this experience in 5 years and realize that your rejection probably made you a better person.

[rmorelan]

There are politics in every professional career - every....single....one..

 

yeah, this is quite true - there is a big transition between UG and everything that comes after - medicine included. You just cannot capture things well with GPA so a subjective component is needed in everything. That means networking, knowing the systems and for lack of a better term politics. Truth is those same skills are what actually makes you successful often in those same careers.

 

I remember reading a story about Nobel prize winners often having being mentors/supervised by other Nobel prize winners early in their training. Makes sense right - having a high end lab backing your beforehand sounds like a good platform for your career. What was interesting though is that people joined the labs PRIOR to the supervisor winning in all cases - somehow they worked all this out in advance. Both the "master and apprentice" were both very good at finding and developing talent well before others would.

[thehockeykid]

Do you have any idea why you were rejected?

 

How were your:

• grades
  
• letters of reference
  
• previous research experiences
  
• letter of intent/statement of interest?
  

 

Did you make contact with a POI (professor of interest) before you applied to the MSc program? Did they encourage you to apply?

 

Is your POI not taking any masters students this year? (Perhaps he or she is on sabbatical, or is already supervising the number of students he/she wishes to supervise)?

 

Did the department lack funding for MSc students this year? Did your POI not have funding for you?

 

Did you clearly articulate your research interests and did they align with the research being done by one or more POI in the department(s) where you applied? Did you mention the POI(s) in your letter of intent?

 

In your letter, did you clearly explain why you are a good fit for their particular program, and how you could be an asset to their program? Did you clearly explain WHY you want to pursue an MSc in their department, at their institution?

 

Was your application fine, but this year was just a competitive year?

 

Did you apply widely or only to one program?

 

Identify the weaknesses in your application, and work on strengthening them for next year. If your GPA is too low, take additional courses, or try to take some graduate courses to show you are capable of graduate level work. If you don't have a lot of research experience, try to acquire more. If you didn't have great reference letters, try to get to know some people, either through taking additional courses, or through work or volunteer experiences, who can strongly advocate for you. If your letter of intent or statement of interest was weak, make use of the many resources available on how to write such statements, and get several people (and preferably a professor in the field you want to pursue) to look it over and make suggestions.

 

As for what jobs you can do, I'm sure your university has a career centre, with resources available to students and alumni. Make use of their services and their job postings.

 

(I was accepted to all the Masters programs I applied to, with funding. I made sure my references had my letter of intent, my CV, my transcript and a listing of my strengths. I had many people look over my letter of intent. I made contact with POIs prior to submitting my application, and they all said that they would be accepting Masters students and that my research interests aligned with theirs. I therefore had professors who were willing to take me on when the graduate admissions committees met and discussed which students to accept.)

 

so nutrition runner, I take it you reached out to all the supervisors. how did you go about this? email, cold call, did you request to meet them if they are local..etc

 

Believe it or not i still want to get my PhD.

[rmorelan]

so nutrition runner, I take it you reached out to all the supervisors. how did you go about this? email, cold call, did you request to meet them if they are local..etc

 

Believe it or not i still want to get my PhD.

 

that's what I did - I would never apply to a graduate program without first having an actual supervisor lined up or at least really impressed by me. I also met with all the people currently in the lab as well, and read up on their current research.

 

A masters/phd is about finding the right supervisor in my mind!

[NutritionRunner]

so nutrition runner, I take it you reached out to all the supervisors. how did you go about this? email, cold call, did you request to meet them if they are local..etc

 

Believe it or not i still want to get my PhD.

 

One I emailed. Some I met at open houses or graduate information nights that the universities were hosting and asked if they would be accepting students this fall. One was my honours thesis supervisor, so that was my "guaranteed" spot, as he agreed to take me on as an MSc student if I wasn't successful at securing a spot in a combined masters-dietetic internship program.

 

The general consensus from talking to other students who have been accepted to graduate school is that emailing a professor, showing an interest in his or her work (so demonstrating that you've actually read their recent research publications) and asking some intelligent questions about it is a good way to start, should you not be able to physically attend an open house or graduate info session. Alternatively, if the professor is someone at your current university, emailing and asking to book an appointment with them to talk about grad school is another way to approach things. Then you can talk about your interest in their research when you meet.

[thehockeykid]

^thanks for the advice you too for how to seek out help to obtain a research position. It makes sense to know your supervisor before because they will be working with you for quite a long time.

 

I was wondering do MSc students have first dibbs when it comes to entering a PhD program at your university?

 

edit:

I was wondering anyone who received their MSc pursue their PhD abroad?

[tothestars]

I want to be a leading researcher who gets published in prestigious journals. but at the same time i don't want to get rejected from MSc again....so i dont want to put my life on hold for a year, if it is for nothing.

 

I was in the exact same situation as you last year. I naively applied to one program and that too at the end of the semester before the deadline. I too was rejected.

 

The school year following my rejection, I took non-degree courses (because I had already graduated) to bring my grades up. I also did another independent research project to show that I was doing something research-related related to my research interests.

 

However, the most important thing I did was I started contacting professors in October at different universities that had the program I was interested in applying to. This early in the cycle, professors are not bombarded with emails from potential graduate students, so it was the best time to get in touch with them. I met with several professors and spoke to them about my interests. Because they showed an eagerness in taking me on, this ensured I had a potential supervisor at each of the universities I applied to which is a HUGE plus on your graduate application. Also, apply early. I got an offer from every university I applied to this year. Anyway, that's how I dealt with it. I'm sure you'll be fine

[thehockeykid]

^solid advice.

[thehockeykid]

yeah, this is quite true - there is a big transition between UG and everything that comes after - medicine included. You just cannot capture things well with GPA so a subjective component is needed in everything. That means networking, knowing the systems and for lack of a better term politics. Truth is those same skills are what actually makes you successful often in those same careers.

 

I remember reading a story about Nobel prize winners often having being mentors/supervised by other Nobel prize winners early in their training. Makes sense right - having a high end lab backing your beforehand sounds like a good platform for your career. What was interesting though is that people joined the labs PRIOR to the supervisor winning in all cases - somehow they worked all this out in advance. Both the "master and apprentice" were both very good at finding and developing talent well before others would.

rmorelan, how do you think supervisors find and develop talent before others would? what do you think they look for?

 

Where I am right now I prob wouldn't do a MSc from someone I do not like and research interests that aren't compatible.

[rmorelan]

rmorelan, how do you think supervisors find and develop talent before others would? what do you think they look for?

 

Where I am right now I prob wouldn't do a MSc from someone I do not like and research interests that aren't compatible.

 

well I think in part the first point is they look for it. They give a lot of through to what area of science will be big over their careers and then then find some one very active in that area who is pushing the boundaries or working in an new area. Of course their own interests are important but really there is often a wide range of areas people would be interested in so there is room to play.

 

They are willing to move, willing to aggressively seek out that field/researcher and work hard to get into that lab. They are thinking career here - so they want a research project that leads to phd, to post doc and then professor etc. They therefore pick one that leads to advancing skill in an area it can be applied. they are thinking the long game here a bit.

[thehockeykid]

Question for those that applied to graduate school, did you send thank you letters to your professors and/or tell them where you decided to attend? Do you actually think they care where you decided to go?

 

(honestly can't tell if my profs like me or not, they may of just gave me references because they felt obligated since i did well in their courses... or I have no clue)

__________________

 

Also something funny, is that someone bought me a sweater of my first choice school...too bad I wont be wearing it with pride.

[MD Consultants CA]

You definitely should send thank you letters to professors and tell them where you decided to attend. If they have helped you during the process, you should be thankful for what they did. In addition, you can keep in touch with the professors whom you may work with again in the future. You may collaborate on projects that are otherwise impossible to pursue individually. Networking isn't just about meeting new people. It is also about maintaining trusting relationships in a longitudinal manner.

 

Short answer: just do it. Won't take you more than a few minutes .

 

Question for those that applied to graduate school, did you send thank you letters to your professors and/or tell them where you decided to attend? Do you actually think they care where you decided to go?

 

(honestly can't tell if my profs like me or not, they may of just gave me references because they felt obligated since i did well in their courses... or I have no clue)

__________________

 

Also something funny, is that someone bought me a sweater of my first choice school...too bad I wont be wearing it with pride.

[thehockeykid]

^ok thanks. i wasn't sure to or not. it could be the case my professors do not care, or that could be just me being cavalier

[thehockeykid]

I actually thought about this situation for a while. I do not hate my school I hate the adcom for denying me admission.

 

I think the whole situation was stupid. Why would the professor get me excited for a MSc only to deny me admissions?

[GrouchoMarx]

Why do you want to be a researcher so badly? It is a very ascetic role, with few making it to the top. Most fields have a glut of PhDs too, which makes your chances of fulfillment even lower.

 

I would suggest finding another avenue to pursue, unless you love that particular topic of research so much that you cannot imagine doing anything else.