copy paste rejection email

The rejection email that left me disheartened is as follows: Thank you very much for your application to the Department of Anthropology Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan. After careful consideration of your application, we regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you admission for Fall 2025. You have been a competitive applicant, but we have had many more competitive applicants than we have places and funding available. In addition to grades and test scores, the Department looks very closely at statements of purpose, letters of recommendation, and writing samples. We work to balance the interests of our incoming class with those of our diverse faculty, in addition to considering proposed plans of study, intellectual background, and the amount and nature of prior fieldwork during the admission process. We thank you again for your interest in the University of Michigan and our Department and wish you success in all your future academic pursuits.

Received email saying I had made the "short waitlist" after an interview around two weeks ago.

received email

No interview.

Canadian

No GRE, TOEFL 107, Biological Anthropology

I received an email from my POI. There's still hope if you haven't gotten Columbia's invite yet. I believe they're still sending some out.

Master's GPA.

1 conference presentation as primary author, 3 field schools, 1 honors senior thesis, 1 field season (of the 3) as a unit/team supervisor, 3 strong LoRs, 1 published textbook contribution, 3 donor presentations, 1 showcase presentation, 3 consecutive and consistent lab affiliations, 2 academic memberships