<p>I applied to graduate school last year and got rejected by every school :(. Now that I am reapplying most of them have spaces on the forms which ask "Have you ever applied". Last year I applied only for engineering programs even though I was a physics graduate. I think this is the main reason I got rejected. This year, I want to apply only just to physics programs.</p>
<p>Do you guys no how badly previous applications especially one in a department would affect another? While googling I saw a statement on Yale's graduate website:</p>
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Previous applicants to the Graduate School and applicants who declined a previous offer of admission must submit a new application indicating the year for which their previous application was submitted (for example, if you submitted your application in September, 2008 for the Fall 2009 entering class you should list 2009 in response to the “previously applied to…” question in the online application.</p>
<p>Records of applicants who did not enroll in the Graduate School are retained for two years by the Office of Graduate Admissions and will be combined with new application records. The new application must include all required or desired documents, such as transcripts, letters of recommendation, personal statement of purpose, the application fee, and any other credentials required or desired to support your application, even if such materials were already included in your prior year application.
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<p>is this fairly common in several schools- SO worried so hope someone knowledgeable answers quickly</p>
<p>I’ve gone through the reapplication process.</p>
<p>Basically, all you really need to do at this point is get in touch with the Graduate School (not the department!) and ask them to reactivate your file and re-use your old transcripts and GRE scores (if nothing’s changed since). You should really fill out the rest of the application anyway as to give update on your contact info, programs, letters of references’ names, etc. You have to pay the fee anyway so you might as well fill out the online applications. The GRE scores and transcripts should be more of your concern because you don’t want to shell out all the money again and spend unnecessary time filling out the paperwork.</p>
<p>Part of the reason why you should contact each school is that some schools don’t keep rejected application files from year to year, others do for up to two years.</p>
<p>My question is- will this negatively affect my current application. The fact that I applied to another program in the university the previous year? Like my research options have changed drastically in the year I applied. And what i will be applying for will correlate more with my previous research experience whichwas not the case when I was applying for engineering.</p>
<p>However if professors see that I applied for engineering albeit in areas related to my research interest as a physicist- will they look down on my application? I feel the biggest reason i got rejected was because I had no background in engineering</p>
<p>Absolutely not. It shows that you’re still determine to get in that school. Also you’ll want to address why you’re shifting fields in your statement and why physics is better for you.</p>