A school, whose PhD program I applied to, denied my application with words such as "Your record is strong, but...". I am kind of confused. Is such a reply simply a "polite" way to decline a person? Should I believe that the sentence "your record is strong" is a compliment, or it is simply a decoration?
To me, such a compliment does not seem to help because obviously, for the school, my record was not strong enough to be admitted, so speaking of "your record is strong" is almost meaningless?
I would take it as simply a polite way to decline your application. They no doubt really do get a lot of strong applications (every decent program does), and in many cultures such as the US there is a tendency to "sugar-coat" bad news with compliments (I don't know if your application was in the US, but I believe this practice turns up elsewhere as well). You would actually probably get less praise if you got in---after all, the acceptance is compliment enough.
Those kinds of general compliments are typical platitudes included in rejection letters, whether for an academic application or a job search.
In general, if the letter feels impersonal or looks like it might be a standard boilerplate or form letter then there is no point in trying to interpret any deeper meaning behind the contents. There is simply no way to tell from such a letter alone whether they really considered you a strong candidate or are just sugar-coating their rejection.
Only if you can tell that the letter was written for you personally or when it references some particular quality you have should you accept it for the compliment it really is.
if the letter feels impersonal or looks like it might be a standard boilerplate or form letter then there is no point in trying to interpret any deeper meaning behind the contents - exactly. +1.
What would you do about it anyway? Whether the compliment is genuine or part of a boiler plate rejection letter, so what? Aside from softening the blow of rejection, what difference does it make?
I suppose if a compliment was very specific, like, I don't know, "you are very articulate and your grammar is impeccable", that might tell you that this is NOT the area that you need to work on but rather you should concentrate on other things to improve your chances the next time around. But something like "your record is strong" is so general as to mean almost nothing.
The only times I would recommend to entertain the idea of a compliment in a rejection email is if 1) The compliment is something specific to your resume or work, such as 'Your paper on X was very impressive...' (im not sure this ever happens with a rejection) and 2) You are asked to apply or automatically accepted into a different program. Of course in this situation you were rejected from the one you wanted, but the compliment is not empty-handed. I have seen this in both art/design and music. For example, applying to a specialized program for '3d animation', and being rejected to that program, but automatically considered and accepted for the 'new media design' program.
When I got in the MS program I received a note from the coordinator prior the decision was posted to my account. In that note I was merely congratulated and informed that they let me know sooner in case it would be helpful to me.
On the other hand however, wherever decided to reject me sugar-coated the decision letter and it usually came when I myself was almost sure that they did not want me there. I got the acceptance email a month before the deadline! While I thought I would not be hearing from them for at least two weeks after the deadline. Bottom line is, if they want you they let you know quickly; otherwise, it is just a formality to help people get less disappointed.
