It has been almost 3 years since I posted on my blog and a lot has been happening ever since. Currently, I am a final-year student in Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), majoring in Economics. I took a dual-degree program, so Iast year, I spent a year in Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) and finished my thesis there. As soon as I returned from ESE, my plan was straightforward: Complete my credits and do my community service so that I can graduate on May, apply for a master’s program, and find an internship to keep myself occupied between my “planned” graduation and my “planned” master’s.
Apparently, the odds are not always in my favor. I have not graduated yet, my master’s application got rejected, and the COVID-19 pandemic happens. In the end, I went to a different path. So, in this post, I would like to share on getting rejected for master’s. This post will be divided into two parts: The story and the reflection. Hope you enjoy reading it!
Part 1: The Story
I applied to two universities.
I applied to two universities: The first is in the Netherlands, the second is in Denmark. After a long decision-making process, I finally decided to go for programs that are in the intersection of business and economics. Initially, I planned to continue studying in the Netherlands. As I have studied there for my undergraduate, a GRE or GMAT is unnecessary so I skipped them. After looking for alternatives and hearing great stories from a Danish friend who was on exchange in UGM, I became very interested to study in Denmark, especially since it has an interesting dual-master program. Besides, it would be awesome to study in a Scandinavian country renowned for its excellent education system and experience living in a country that I’ve never visited before.
Upon my final semester, my master’s applications became my priority. I wrote and revised my motivation letters and resume everyday, studied for IELTS so that it could meet the requirement, asked for recommendation letters, and coordinated to complete my administration documents. In the end, I managed to send my applications on time.
Back then, I felt confident about my applications. I mean, let’s be honest. I am not applying to ivy leagues. I know that I don’t have the most outstanding grades nor an extraordinary profile, but (I hypothesise that) I am also not the worst. I’ve been a responsible and a cooperative student. I paid attention in classes and tutorials, submitted my assignments on time, never copied solution manuals or plagiarized someone else’s work, participated in class and group discussions, studied hard, and my CGPA meets the minimum requirement (above 3 out of 4). Isn’t this enough to get accepted and survive in a graduate school?
I got rejected.
Unfortunately, it’s not. Before the COVID-19 pandemic worsens, one of my applications got rejected already. I am sure that everyone has experienced rejections, so the default advice would be to move on. I have kept reminding myself to prepare for the worst. Maybe it’s just me, but when I am faced with reality, sometimes it just hits me hard man. I thought that I was prepared until I realized that I was not. It feels like all those hours preparing and countless revisions are flushed out in seconds. I was speechless.
On the bright side, the rejection letter stated why. In order to take the program, I should have at least taken a marketing class and another accounting class. I did not take any marketing class and only took one accounting class. Those courses are offered in UGM and ESE, most of my friends took it. But, somehow, I did not take that requirement seriously. I assumed that because this is an Economics-related master’s program, studying Economics for my undergraduate is enough. I had plenty of credits that I thought could compensate the marketing and accounting requirement. So, by now, we can conclude three mistakes already:
1. I did not ask to ensure that key component and it turns out to be fatal. Had I known this since the beginning, I would have applied somewhere else. Instead, I had my hopes up high already.
2. I only applied to two universities. I am sure that there will be more rejections as I apply more, but now I could not reconsider anything as I was left with no choice. This was a mistake as I underestimated the probability of rejections and other errors I committed. Now you see that I regret for not even trying to apply to other programs.
3. Had I planned this better, I could have taken those two classes.
What’s next?
I can kiss graduate schools goodbye for now. As I mentioned earlier, the odds are not in my favor. If you wonder on what happens to the other application, I got a conditional offer. And the condition is that I should have my diploma sent in August and unfortunately, I have not graduated yet. Further, my parents are worried that the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have not shown apparent recovery signs yet in Indonesia. This leaves a lot of uncertainties, even after the pandemic ends. In the end, we reached a consensus that it’s not ideal for me to leave for now. Hence, I did not proceed any master’s application and cancelled my plans to apply to other universities.
The fact that I am not leaving for master’s anyway makes this rejection seems easier for me. Perhaps you also experience this, but this far the year 2020 has been "interesting." After all, maybe this was meant to be a lesson for me. The next time I’m applying for a master’s, I will be VERY careful and considerate. But for now, goodbye master’s, see you soon graduation, and hello new journey. I know, it is completely different from what I planned, but I am too excited about it. Excelsior.
Part 2: The reflection
This experience somehow reminds me of the “unobservable.” When we are predicting an outcome like grades or probability of success, we can control all different kinds of variables like hours of hard work, IQ, etc. But, apparently these variables are not sufficient to reach a 100% accuracy of your prediction. We still have the “unobservable,” which could not be controlled because they are supposed to be unobserved. These unobservables can be positive in a way that it improves our result, or it can also be counterproductive. LUCK, a pandemic, a bad day/mood, are some examples. So even if I meet the requirements (in which I don't), so on and so forth, it actually still does not give me a 100% guarantee that I will get accepted. However, what we can do is:
1. Do our best and improve in what we can control in order to increase our predicted outcomes like grades or probability of success. As I go on and do more attempts, there will be a better chance that I can meet my “predicted” value.
2. Minimize the impact of unobservables. E.g. keep yourself healthy so that you’re not sick on an exam day, get enough sleep so that you can concentrate in reading and understanding an application requirement hahaha
I try apply this thinking into how I perceive my results. In good days, I remind myself that I am also lucky that I was in a good mood and a good shape. In bad days, when I am sick and could not concentrate, I can be reckless and screw up. So…
1. I don’t know if this can make you feel better. But if you ever fail, don’t worry, I have LOTS OF THEM, really. Sometimes I know why, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I think it’s fair, sometimes I feel cheated. It just happens, it can be beyond my control and it is okay.
2. Try to minimize the impact of our unobservable or accidents. When we are unsure about something and have the opportunity to ask, do not hesitate to ask instead of making assumptions, especially when it’s an essential/fundamental thing. Whether it’s an assignment, a key concept, an application, etc., it’s always better to ask rather than making silly mistakes. We never know, there might be even rooms for negotiations or exceptions (e.g. I do not meet a particular requirement, I can ask if there is a solution/alternative for it, which I did not do)
3. Read applications requirements VERY carefully:’) This sounds trivial, but at least I made that mistake. Don’t repeat the same mistake.
4. It’s better to plan ahead. For example, in applying for jobs or master’s, we can always plan and prepare, have a clear vision in mind. In that way, we can perhaps think of how we can improve our predicted outcomes and minimize the counterproductive unobservables.
5. Confidence is super cool but not to the extent that it could make us underestimate and take things easily.
