How to appeal a university's rejection?

July 22, 2006 5:50 PM

Does anyone have an experience appealing an admission decision by a university? I recently applied as a transfer student to a private university in California and was rejected. I'm putting together an appeal now and I was wondering if anyone had any tips or advice from first hand experience.

I'm currently at a UC right now with a 3.4 GPA and applied to a large private university in the LA area with strong extracurriculars.

I know that quite a few people with my stats have gotten into this school, and I feel that if I wrote a strong appeal they might reverse my decision, or at least offer me spring admission.

posted by petah to Education (15 answers total)

Not to be pessimistic, but based on what I know, I am very doubtful they would reverse their decision.
posted by lunchbox at 5:54 PM on July 22, 2006

One thing to be aware of is that admissions standards for transfer students are often quite a bit higher than those for freshmen.

Also, be aware that the number of transfers a university takes is often strongly dependent on the size of the incoming freshman class; often a large freshman class means no room for transfers.

You can send a letter of appeal, but I would consider other options as well. I would make sure the letter of appeal stresses things that weren't as apparent in the application; you need to give them a strong reason to reconsider their decision rather than just presenting the same package again.
posted by JMOZ at 6:01 PM on July 22, 2006

I second JMOZ. Transfers are often given the backseat to incoming freshman and returning students. In addition.... it's a bit late to be applying - they may have already closed the door on any reconsiderations.

Given that, I offer you the best of luck.
posted by bradth27 at 6:06 PM on July 22, 2006

Before you spend a lot of time drafting an appeal, call the admissions office and very calmly and maturely ask to speak to the director of admissions, or to someone who reviewed your application. Ask them what factors they found unsatisfactory and what you would have to change to gain admission. Do not say, "I know other people who got in; this isn't fair!" (Transfer admission can be a serious crapshoot-- sometimes the school decides they have too many kids in your major so someone with a different major and a lower SAT score than yours gets in, sometimes they don't have as many spaces available as they have in past years, and so on. Transfer admissions and rejections can seem very random.) If, after having this discussion, you still feel like you would be a good fit for the school, ask how you might go about being a better applicant in the next round of admissions. I'm sorry, but I highly doubt they'll let you in this time around.

Incidentally, I was rejected as a transfer student and it ended up being one of the best things that's happened to me. I knew I didn't want to go back to my old school so I took some time off and gained some real world experience, which made my later college experience immeasurably better. And when I applied to come back, the school that had previously rejected me welcomed me with open arms... but this time, I rejected *them* and went to an even better school. ;-)
posted by chickletworks at 6:07 PM on July 22, 2006 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Well I got my rejection letter just this last friday and in my appeal I was thinking about leaning towards a spring admission, but a fall admission if possible.
posted by petah at 6:28 PM on July 22, 2006

Response by poster: And out of curiosity lunchbox, do you have any details regarding your knowledge of appeals? You're kind of vague.
posted by petah at 6:31 PM on July 22, 2006

The only experience I have with this process is also with a private college, "classified as highly selective", but it should be pointed out that these private colleges can vary greatly in terms of their process and selectivity. In my case, the admissions committee felt I was lacking in a couple of prerequisites, and so they denied me. I was encouraged to appeal by the admissions counselor, and their process was such that the appeal went to the admissions director who had final authority. He looked at my transcripts and read my essays and then talked to me on the phone. He told me my essays were very good and that he'd think about it. His ultimate determination was a provisional admission provided I took a couple of courses he recommended elsewhere and received a "B" or an "A" in them.

I did so, and was later admitted. And it changed my life.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 6:55 PM on July 22, 2006

Yale flat out says they will not reconsider decisions, & will not discuss details of any particular application. I remember reading a WSJ article that suggested one or two people (at most) a year appeal successfully, and it seemed to be, for the most part, for special circumstances, with substantial new/different evidence (one teacher I got a recommendation from said they had helped one student appeal to Pomona successfully, and that it required submitting a significant amount of graded, certified work from several teachers).
posted by devilsbrigade at 7:27 PM on July 22, 2006

Sorry for the vagueness petah. I don't have any inside view; I've just seen this happen before without success. But you might be able to make a persuasive case for yourself. Best of luck!
posted by lunchbox at 8:11 PM on July 22, 2006

A glowing letter of recommendation from someone in a high place, if you can get it. Sounds like you're right on the edge. I was in the same situation when applying to college, and I'm pretty sure it was the letter of rec that reversed the decision.
posted by Orrorin at 8:58 PM on July 22, 2006

Just FYI, I don't know of any schools that will talk about why they made the decision they did. It's a really bad precedent for them, and no matter what your situation, I suspect they'll just avoid the issue entirely.
posted by heresiarch at 10:05 PM on July 22, 2006

Petah, I was initially rejected from UC Santa Cruz as a freshman applicant on March 6, 2001. They were the first of nine colleges I applied to to reject me. However, they had been my backup-of-backups, and I was concerned that I wasn't going to get in anywhere; further complicating things was a class trip to China I was taking from March 13-30.

I was in an absolute state of panic and called my International Baccalaureate coordinator, who told me that he'd seen denials turn into admissions after a phone call and an appeal letter, perhaps with a personal recommendation letter.

So I called the Office of Admissions that day on the number listed on my denial letter and did not ask to speak to anyone specifically; I told the person on the phone my situation and asked why I was denied and if I could appeal.

Contrary to heresiarch's statement above, I was told exactly why I was denied - low math grades in my final years of high school which didn't make me look like a committed "all-around" student capable of working outside of my preferred areas of the humanities and social sciences - but I was told that if I appealed, I would stand "a very good chance of being admitted," and I was given instructions on how to appeal *and* someone to call in case I had any additional questions.

I crafted my appeal letter that night, got a letter of recommendation from my IB coordinator, and sent it all off on March 9. I was admitted to UCSC on March 18 - fastest decision ever! - and found out about it via e-mail from my friend back home, who'd been called by my computerless parents who had received my admission letter a day or so prior.

My friend back home apparently even announced the decision to our Humanities class, who were happy and relieved that the appeals process worked, and took it as a sign that everyone else would be able to get in somewhere.

Fast-forward some years: remember the "admissions crises" of 2004 and 2005, when hundreds of people were admitted to UC campuses relatively late into the summer? I worked as a tour guide and orientation leader for the Office of Admissions, and we were still able to accomodate people in housing and classes for the fall term.

Best of luck - and remember, universities are mostly full of people who are there to help you make the experience work for you. Don't fret if you don't hear back right away - if they admit you, you won't be left out in the cold.
posted by mdonley at 12:36 AM on July 23, 2006

Admissions teams are trying to sort out the best bets. One of the things that helps their stats is finding people who will persevere and not drop out. So this is a situation where bugging them (politely) can pay off. Call and tell them how much you want to be accepted, and ask them what would help your appeal. Show you are persistent, and write up evidence of your stickability -- you obviously have to present your reasons for transferring carefully.
posted by Idcoytco at 10:58 AM on July 23, 2006

Clear-eyed, absolutely mature persistence may be your only chance. I have been in a somewhat admissions-officer-like situation (panelist for various grants and workshop participants) and from that perspective I will advise you not to ask them to discuss their decision or what you could have done differently, but instead to make it clear that you accept their decision as it was made and you wish to offer SUBSTANTIAL new information. I will echo many other posters and say it's extremely rare for a decision to change, and in many cases the policy is that decisions are final.
posted by lorimer at 1:40 AM on July 24, 2006

One thing I wanted to put in: the system of transferring is designed more for junior college-to-4-year-college transfers, rather than 4-year-to-4-year school transfers. I work at a state school so I can't speak for the private ones, but that might be a factor for them.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:17 PM on July 26, 2006