Yale Lost

The 2006 Matt's Graduate School Playoffs (MGSP2K6) have their second result, with Yale University losing today. Of the six schools that made the playoffs (Harvard, Maryland, Michigan, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Yale) only five now remain, and only Wisconsin has made it to the final round. The Badgers are still the frontrunners even if some other schools manage to make it past the first round.

Basically I'm saying I got rejected from Yale. This isn't surprising, since the man there I wanted to work with (Robert Farris Thompson - look him up!) is pretty much retired and not accepting students. But what I enjoyed the most was the way Yale rejected me. Usually places send you a nice letter in the mail, letting you know that at least they care. But Yale sent me an email entitled:

2006 YALE ADMISSIONS DECISION

This email linked to my online application, which then linked to a popup window which showed a fascimile of the rejection letter that they are not going to send me. It went like this:

2/20/2006

Dear Mr. Matt:

Thank you very much for applying to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Yale University. I regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you admission. As you know, the very high number of extraordinary candidates among our 8,000 applicants far exceeds the number of places we have in each program, and we are not able to admit many excellent candidates.

We are using this system of electronic notification to communicate with you five to ten days more rapidly than we could by letter and, therefore, help applicants plan their futures quickly and effectively. We wish you every success in all your endeavors.

Sincerely,


Jon Butler
Dean of the Graduate School


cc: History of Art


Translation:

Dear Matt:

We receive a hell of a lot of applications, which is such a huge burden for us to deal with that we would appreciate it if people with substandard applications such as yourself would not even bother applying. As such, please take some time out of your own life to print this rejection letter and save it for your records so we don't have to.

Sincerely,

Dr. Nigel McBetterthanyou



I actually have no animosity toward Yale (I have great respect for their art history program, a longtime frontrunner in the study fo "Non-Western" cultures). I just think it's funny.

MGSP2K6 continues!