I now pit: McGill University Graduate Admissions

The BBQ Pit
1

I cannot contain the rage I feel right now. McGill University’s website says that their admissions period ended 6 January 2004, meaning that I had to submit a completed application with all relevant suppording documents by that time, which I did.

Now today, I get an email from the admissions counsellor saying that:

  1. I have several documents missing, including 2 more official transcript copies, an essay that was never mentioned previously in the aplication, a CV, a check list of things that I need to submit, and one other thing that I’ll get to in a minute.

  2. The deadline for all of these documents was actually 2 February 2004. I just got this email at 10:30am today (4 Feb 2004). I submitted my “completed” application on 4 January 2004 (and I have the reciept to prove it). And the last thing they want from me is another $60 Canadian to cover late fees (the application was already $120 Canadian), and to send this all by courier (fedex, ups, etc.) overnight.

On top of that, I sent 3 letters of reccomendation at the same time…only 2 of them actually made it to the university.

Why the FUCK did they not tell me about this sooner!!! I was sitting pretty here for an ENTIRE MONTH while they sat with their thumbs up their asses and not telling me about these extra requirements (there was no mention of it on their online application…oh yeah, and they will not accept paper applications anymore, I don’t think).

I’m sure those of you in the small business world realize how much overnight shipping is for domestic. I FedExed them my writing sample on 2-day shipping at the cost of $25. I can only imagine what overnight international shipping is like. Furthermore, I am a fucking college student…I cannot afford this shit!

Fuck you, McGill University Graduate Admissions Office!!! Fuck you very much.

2

Why did I open this thread before I submitted my own application to grad school?:eek: That settles it, I’m going to the Graduate Admissions Office and submitting my app in person. That way if they lose it, I can smack them while I’m there.

3

Yeah, fuck them!

My God, I thought I was the only one. I applied undergraduate there last year. I’m not saying I’m Genius Child or anything, but I exceeded their fucking criteria by a mile and a half. And they have the balls to send back, “Oh you forgot several forms. (No, I didn’t) Also, your school seal.” My fucking school seal? Who the fuck cares?! Yours is the only admissions office that has ever bothered me with that particular item of admissions trivia.

So I send in all my stuff and then it’s past the deadline and I’m DENIED. But wait! I can still get in! All I have to do is send them $80 to reprocess my application! Hooray! No, wait! I have a better idea–I’ll just douse my wallet in gasoline, set it on fire, and launch it into high earth orbit!

To summarize, SUFFER IN LINGERING PERDITION, YOU SONS OF BITCHES!

4

The thing that pisses me off more than anything else is that, because I live in Texas (insert TX jokes here…hold the Bush, please), it costs me that much more to go there…add in transportation, visas, making sure that my passport’s in good shape, getting a new set of wheels (Canada doesn’t accept US emissions standards)…on top of international student tuition (granted, compared to most out-of-state schools and some in-state schools, that’s really cheap)…unless they were to give me some kick-ass financial aid, I won’t be able to afford it (unless someone would be so kind as to give me a couch to sleep on for a while…and give me Quebecois French lessons. I can speak Tex-Mex well enough, but the only French I know is “un autre biere pour la madame”)

eh well…McGill wasn’t my first choice anywho. crossing fingers for Brandeis or Columbia…

Still, fuck you, McGill…I had to go through hell to get those letters of rec done!

5

With myself currently applying undergrad, and both my sisters going for their graduate degrees, the ONLY times any of us didn’t have any trouble were my eldest sister’s Early Decision to Cincinnatti and my absolute backup to backups. The average admissions office seems to have the same theory on organization as my house does with silverware; nobody agrees where anything goes, but since we all have to use it, whenever anything’s missing it’s the fault of whoever’s not around to argue their defense.
The Devil Shaw, as my favorite teacher has been known since my Freshman year, is the ultimate writer of recommendations. By the claims of other teachers, she is entirely honest, she personally tailors them for you, your school, and your major, and she is so dedicated that she once tracked my down to ask confirm where I wanted to go and gave me a stack of five envelopes, signed in beautiful calligraphy, later that day. It’s accepted as fact that anywhere you meet the minimum reuirements and she agrees to write you a letter that’s positive, you get in. So, CMU manages to lose it and one other, find the other, reject me from one school on grounds that I applied early decision (which I didn’t) without sending everything in on time. The letter makes it very clear that I’m automatically considered to the others I applied to, but when I call to ask why I was considered early, they say that I wanted to cancel and must now resubmit my application fee to be reconsidered.
For U Pitt, I make ther Honors College program requirements look like a joke, I’m child of Alumni (First female Pres Pro Temp), I qualify for a few full ride scholaships, and I have enough AP credits that I’d be out of there in two years. Somehow, I get sent to the Options program, and I lose an average of one sheet of my application per campus that considers me. The first two don’t care and send thank-you notes to the writers of my letters of rec (though only one of three gets both of the notes), the third asks for test scores, and the last asks for an essay. The main campus, asked why I was semi-rejected, says they’ll reconsider if I resubmit my fees, but then lose everything but my Social Security Number. They made copies of everything, which are “on file,” and that’s their explanation as to why they can’t use the copies. This quickly devolves into every conversation from Catch-22. (After I thanked her and said goodbye, she said it’s because my class rank is too low for such a high GPA which is too low for such hard classes which show them I don’t value class rank so much as learning so why is my GPA not perfect so why aren’t I taking classes I can fully understand so why…)
My Sister Katina, to Cali Institute of Design, spent a total of two weeks arguing with her counselor/advisor over the phone, three timezones away, over her proof that she had, in fact, graduated, that their last “we need this” letter said they had everything but such and such and their new has five more entries, they already told her she was complete and under consideration, and whether she had even applied there in the first place (this one was over the lunch hour of the advisor who knew her on a first-name basis by this point, and ended when the lunch-break did). Being Kat, she argued her way into convincing them that they’d seen it and had it on file, then trusting a black & white fax machine. But she’s Kat, who always gets her way in the long run.

And now I’m hearing Canada isn’t any better. At least this revives my once-waning confidence in the supremacy of the American higher-learning system.

6

One school that I didn’t have a problem with was the University of Houston (what I hope will be my Alma Mater come this May)…actually, their honors program is really good (and tough!)…If you’re Nat’l Merit, they’ll pay your way for 4 years, room and board included (if you live on campus). If there are any potential undergrads out there, I’d suggest you look into it. They are really good people, and he dean of the honors college will know each and every one of you by the time school starts…and remember you for for-freakin-ever. However, he does kinda intimidate me (I think that’s more because he’s a reader on my honors thesis panel than anything else…no pressure…especially since he’s a scholar on Jewish literature and history)

7

I have a sneaking suspicion, having encountered graduate admissions from “both sides” (as a student, now as a fundraising hack), that part of the process is specifically designed to piss off applicants enough to make them give up on their applications. Result: fewer “qualified” applicants, smaller pool, easier decisions, hooray for the admissions department! Then the admissions department frets that many of their “top candidates” end up at other schools, many of which have less onerous applications procedures.

I remember I did give up applying to Indiana University for my master’s degree in history simply because of the ridiculous complexity of their application. The damn thing was over 12 pages long, and you had to include an essay and an abstract and copies of your passport and for all I know your MRI results, all in triplicate and signed by your local notary public. Oh yeah, and they tried to claim that one of my referrees was unacceptable because he taught in England! Did I mention I was applying to study British history?

8

Now, I understand that kind of thinking. You must really want it if you are going to fill out a 12-page app. but at least they told you everything they wanted in it from the get-go.

I had never seen the stuff that McGill sent me today before. They suddenly changed the rules on me. And the admissions counsellor probably knew it, because there was an app “checklist” that was part of the application (again, never seen before today) and yet she sent it attached in an email. Normally you’d say “didn’t you fill out this paper?” and then when I reply “no I didn’t” you send it in an attachment, right? Not her…she sent it with the first mentioning.