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I was sure my application was going to get accepted but unfortunately, it wasnt.Should I email my research supervisor to explain to him that I will not be his future student? Is there a way that he could fight for me?

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To be honest, my supervisor received an email from the committee asking him why they should accept me. I am 100% sure he forgot to send them the letter explaining why he wants me as a MSc student. Otherwise, they are unreasonable for rejecting because we already formulated the research proposal etc. How can I email my supervisor about this?

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Yes, email him and explain and ask if there's anything he can do. The answer might be 'unfortunately not', but what if it isn't?

A very similar thing happened to a friend of mine (paraphrasing from an old email here). She was in touch with a supervisor she really wanted for a master's degree, and applied to the program. One of her reference-letter writers messed up the online submission form by uploading a letter but not clicking 'submit'. The application was incomplete, and Friend of Mine received a letter of rejection. She wrote to Prospective Supervisor and asked what could be done. Prospective Supervisor wrote back unaware that Friend of Mine had received a rejection letter and said she'd go talk to the committee about the incomplete application. She argued for putting Friend of Mine on the waitlist, and the committee agreed. A sufficient number of people turned down the program in question that Friend of Mine got in...and ended up doing both the master's and a Ph.D. program with Prospective Supervisor.

It's not going to happen like that everywhere. Each department, school, country is a bit different, and admissions committees vary widely in terms of how much input a separate faculty member can have. But you never know.

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Sorry to hear. I'm afraid there's no way he can fight for you once the official decision's been made. You should book a time to sit down with him or talk to him about it though. In addition to letting him know you didn't make it in, you can ask him for pointers on what the committee might've thought you were lacking, and what steps you should take next, especially if you're thinking about applying again in the future. Chin up, and good luck!

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    I'm afraid there's no way he can fight for you once the official decision's been made -- Not so fast; perhaps OP applied to a school where a potential advisor could vouch for a candidate to help get them accepted. The point is, we don't know what the policies are at this particular institution.
    – Mad Jack
    Jun 5, 2017 at 14:49
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    To be honest, my supervisor received an email from the committee asking him why they should accept me. I am 100% sure he forgot to send them the letter explaining why he wants me as a MSc student. Otherwise, they are unreasonable for rejecting because we already formulated the research proposal etc. How can I email my supervisor about this?
    – Emma
    Jun 5, 2017 at 14:52
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    @Emma: I am 100% sure he forgot to send them the letter explaining why he wants me as a MSc student. -- Perhaps I'm reading too far into this, but that might be a warning sign.
    – tonysdg
    Jun 5, 2017 at 18:13

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