Alleged Dark Knight Rises shooter rejected at UAB

Alleged Aurora, CO shooter James Holmes applied to the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2010 and was rejected, according to documents released by UAB today.

Holmes applied for a graduate program in neuroscience at UAB in October 2010. He traveled to Birmingham for interviews in February 2011. In March 2011, the university sent him a letter informing him that he was not accepted into the program. The documents released today show his application and rejection letter.

Holmes opened his graduate application essay by saying, "Rational people act based on incentives for self-fulfillment, including fulfilling needs of self development, and needs of feeling useful and helpful to others."

In another part of the essay, Holmes explained his reason for applying to UAB as, "I desire to attend graduate study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a leader and innovator in scientific research, because the university will provide opportunities to pursue my foremost passions, the science of learning, cognition and memory."

He closed his essay by saying, "My life-long goal is to increase the efficiency of how human beings learn and remember."

While Holmes got high marks for his good grades in his application, at least two of his reviewers described him as un-engaging.

One reviewer wrote of Holmes, "Rather shy but top-notch student...His personality may not be as engaging as some applicants but he's going to be a leader in the future."

Another reviewer stated, "Excellent applicant! Great GPA and GRE scores."

A different reviewer also mentioned Holmes' unengaged personality: "He may be extremely smart, but difficult to engage. Hard to tell how interested he is - maybe he just wasn't interested in my research."

All three reviewers checked "yes" that they would accept Holmes as a graduate student. Only one checked both "yes" and "no."

[Read application documents here (PDF) 30 pages]

UAB informed Holmes by letter on March 31, 2011 that he was not accepted into UAB's graduate program.

Holmes also applied to the University of Iowa's graduate neuroscience program in late 2010, interviewed in January 2011 and was rejected by the university, according to the Associated Press. The University of Iowa neuroscience program director warned his colleagues and the admissions committee by email, "James Holmes: Do NOT offer admission under any circumstances."

Holmes went on to enroll at the University of Colorado Denver. He performed poorly and withdrew after the spring semester this year, just before bursting into an Aurora movie theater on July 20 during a showing of "The Dark Knight Rises."

Twelve people died in the shooting and another 58 were injured. Holmes faces multiple counts of murder and attempted murder.

Copyright 2012 WBRC. All rights reserved. WAFF contributed to this report.