Since many of you have your doctoral degrees, I figured you could weigh in on this. My wife and I have a friend who has been applying to PhD programs in English. She has both a BA and MA from English, and has a 4.0 in her major for the BA and 4.0 for the MA program. She has published articles and she has taught at the college level. Her GRE scores were very good as well. However, she has been rejected from every PhD program she has applied to thus far. My wife, who, while in college, worked in admissions, suggested that perhaps she did not meet some demographic. When my wife applied for her MA at William and Mary, she got into the program and was told it was because she was from Delaware and the program had yet to have anyone from Delaware, which was a contributing factor to her admission, never mind her excellent grades and everything else. So we're wondering, why is our friend being admitted into PhD programs. We've looked up stats on a few of the schools she has been rejected from, and in previous years their admission statistics show student averages for GPA and GRE which are a good deal lower than hers. So can anyone offer suggestions as to why she might not be getting in?
There are many reasons why she could be rejected. Demographics usually have little to do with it at the PhD level. It is more a question of how her personality and research interests align with the department's. If she indicated on her letter of intent to study Medieval Welsh Children's Stories, and the department doesn't have anyone with knowledge or interest in that area, they might have felt she would be better served elsewhere. Has she ever met or spoken with any faculty in the departments she applied for? She needs to find a faculty adviser who is willing to work with her first, then apply.
I honestly don't know what she did in regards to that. I just found it odd that someone with her credentials would be rejected. I'll definitely pass on that suggestion though. Thanks!
