Mdthbs

I applied to a British university for a PhD in mathematics. I was interviewed and now I am waiting for the result.

I had also applied to a research opportunity abroad, which is organized by my current department head. I was very hopeful that I would be selected for this opportunity because I am the first-ranking student and my English is very good. I spoke respectfully with the head professor about it on several occasions, but it seemed like he was making excuses and was not fairly considering me.

I recently found out that my classmate was selected for the opportunity abroad. He had performed much worse than me on classes we had taken together, and his English is very weak. I lost control and told the department head that I would report this obvious injustice to the leading mathematicians at a top university that had interviewed me recently. I did indeed e-mail my interviewers at the other university.

Now that I have calmed down, I realize that I should not have emailed my interviewers in this manner. Could it affect the outcome of my application?

I am going to just be honest in this response.

Why would the researchers at the British university you applied to care about what professors do at another university?

If I received an email from an applicant to my university about a matter at another program, I would think it was strange. Why would I care?

"Leading mathematicians" at a university unaffiliated with the research program you were not accepted for likely do not have time to become involved in petty politics and fights that are irrelevant to them.

Now, as for how it will affect your application, your email might likely mean nothing in the end. The interviewers will likely blow it off or do very little about it. This plays in your favor. Least said, soonest mended.

This being said, sending an email like you did could give an indication to the interviewers that you are whiny and immature.
I would consider sending a follow up email to the interviewers saying that you acted in haste and have realized that it is obviously not their job to referee such disagreements. More often than not, the interviewers would think it odd that you had initially emailed them, but will also move on with their day as normal if you recanted what you said and just moved on. At least for me, I do not have time to psychoanalyse every applicant I come across for maturity.

I had some troubles following your question, but if I understood correctly then I would assume that:

1. 
   The professor interviewing you is highly confused right now. They seem to have literally nothing to do with your university, the program, you (other than having interviewed you recently), and the person that you accused of being unjust - and yet they are drawn into a conflict that they have no stakes in nor responsibility for.


2. 
   You may indeed have lowered your chances of getting accepted considerably. In the best case your email would be seen as odd. In the worst case it would be seen as grossly unprofessional, painting you as a trouble maker who will randomly lash out whenever something happens that you consider unjust. I have seen students like that, and I know of no professor / admission committee that wants to bother with this kind of drama.

However, now that I have calmed down I have realized that I should not have let even injustices affect me and it was unnecessary to email my interviewer.

I think your reflection should go deeper than that. It is true that part of being a professional is also being able to absorb smaller perceived unjustices like that (empathy and an ability to accept that grades aren't everything helps here), but I also can't help but wonder what you were trying to achieve with this email in the first place. To me (and note that I am only going by your short recap) this sounds rather vindictive, serving no other purpose than to get back at the person not recommending you. If that is indeed the case, you should take a good hard look at your actions in this case and learn from that for the future.

Throwing accusations around without proof of wrongdoing will not make you any friends, not at your university and neither where you applied. First, let's address the accusations and why you should have kept them to yourself:

• You didn't attend the interview of the chosen student. He/she might have shown desirable traits beyond academic prowess


• Maybe the student had relevant experience that you were not aware of


• Most people are a poor judge of their own ability

Even in the case where you, objectively, were the better student, it still is not proof of any wrongdoing and learning to take defeat graciously reflects much better on you than throwing a tantrum.

Finally, this email you sent will definitely affect the way you are seen by the interviewer. At best, it will be seen as childish/petty, but it could also reflect a troublemaker personality. I suggest you immediately retract what you said in this email unless you have proof, along the lines of 'I now recognize I was too hasty in throwing such accusations, and I'm sorry for involving you in this matter'.