Appealing... Help!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Wisconsin
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Hello!

So, I had applied as a transfer (second semester sophomore) to the College of L&S as an English major for fall 2019. Unfortunately, I was rejected. I am an OOS that attended a 4-year university for 3 semesters. I left before the second semester of my sophomore year and am finishing it off at a community college.

My overall GPA at my university was a 2.5 because I had taken a 5 credit course in foreign language for 2 semesters.
Due to my poor grades in them it significantly brought down my GPA. However, once I stopped taking the classes I was on a high upward trend. At my CC, I plan to finish with a 4.0. (I wish they had just deferred me and waited until I could give in my CC grades… However, I completely understand the flat-out rejection with an original GPA of 2.5). At the end of this semester I would have 49 transferable credits.

My high school GPA was not the best either but that was for personal reasons and I got outstanding grades my junior and senior year (so yet another clear upward trend). Upon my own mistake, I didn’t write about this in my essay. I wrote about how my major (East Asian Studies) at my first university was not for me and the grades I was getting in those courses was not a reflection of who I am as a student. Though, I don’t think I embellished on it enough nor provided much evidence. I mainly focused on how badly I wanted to attend UW-Madison hoping this would work in my favor instead of some story about how I wasn’t good at Japanese even though I worked my butt off.

I had 2 letters of rec (one from an advisor at my job at a law office & one from the president of a student association I was on the executive board for), a bunch of ECs from high school and throughout college, and I believe that my essays were strong albeit the lack of information I provided pertaining to the low GPAs I had received.

I have gotten good grades (nearly all A’s and B’s with 1 stray C) at my 4-year university other than my poor Japanese classes in which I got C’s & D’s. In every writing/English class I was in I never got anything below an A. UW-Madison is my dream school and for the moment I refuse to take no for an answer. I believe that I am very able student and I am willing to jump over every obstacle in order to achieve my goal.

So, that all being said, I plan to appeal my rejection. I know this is almost laughable with a 2.5 GPA but hear me out…

I have contacted an English professor I had at my 4-year university that could attest to my academic abilities. Hopefully he will be able to write me another letter of recommendation I could attach to my appeal. I also was thinking of sending in my ACT scores. My composite wasn’t the best (I am the worst at math), but I got a 26 on the English section. I was also going to attach my original common app essay that I turned in for freshman year that was an explanation for my poor HS freshman and sophomore grades in a creative way. I also plan to get a bit personal and talk about the mental illness that I suffer from which could hinder me academically sometimes. Then, of course, I will stress again how badly I want to attend UW. Cause it’s true. I want it more than anything.

Do you guys have any recommendations on how else I should build my case or what else I could include? I was thinking that maybe since I will be in Madison for almost two weeks in April, I could schedule a possible interview. Though, I’m not sure they accept this with appeals? Or even in general? I know my chances are beyond slim but I don’t want to give up. Worse comes to worst: they don’t accept my appeal. In that case I will just be applying again for the spring semester!

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This “Plan B” sounds more realistic.

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@damon30 it’s completely more realistic because my chances in winning an appeal are almost zero to none. However, trying won’t hurt. I just wanted to know if there was anything I could do to better my awfully slim chances.

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I graduated high school with a 2.35 GPA, had a 4 year gap between high school and starting community college, and was recently accepted as a transfer. I had barely any ECs and didn’t even submit an ACT or SAT because it was a 23. But what helped get me in was 5 community college terms of great grades. 17 A’s and 3 A/B’s, not a single B or lower, including somewhat challenging classes like chemistry, biology, calculus, statistics etc. 2 great letters of recommendation, one of them being from a boss of mine that advocated for my work ethic at a manual-labor job I worked for 3+ years before I went back to college. My essays told a story of the changes within myself that made me go from a 2.35 high school GPA to a 3.88 college GPA. Can your essays convince admissions that you have changed? That is something to think about. The essays in your situation are almost as important as your stats.

Are all of the transferable credits from your CC? Because if you are planning on getting a 4.0 with 56 credits, that is amazing. But I’m not sure if those transferable credits are split between your 4-year college and your CC. Having multiple, recent terms of good grades is a major plus.

You didn’t mention anything about extracurricular activities. Are you doing anything outside of school? I only had one major EC which was the manual labor job I worked. But you definitely need something.

Don’t send in your ACT unless you retake it. I got a 28 on the English section (that’s average) but a 23 composite and knew it would have hurt me if I sent it in. Don’t submit an ACT score unless it is a 30 or above. You won’t stand out with below a 30 because the average ACT score for admitted applicants is 28. And you don’t even need it to begin with. The reason for having the ACT score is for a college to see how prepared you are for college-level coursework. If you are getting straight A’s at a CC they don’t care about the ACT, unless it’s like a 34+. Your time is better spent keeping your grades up.

OOS.students will have a harder time transferring in. I don’t have specific statistics but you are at a disadvantage as an OOS applicant. There are plenty of OOS applicants with great stats that get denied. Look through previous decision threads and you will see that. The people reviewing your application have to be convinced that UW-Madison is right for YOU. Why not go to a college in your state? Even if you have amazing stats there is a decent chance they will reect you in favor of someone who proves they know what UW-Madison has to offer for them. Something like that needs to be clear in your essay.

They say this in the appeal process, but unless you can provide SIGNIFICANT information that you failed to present or has come to light since your initial application, don’t appeal. This is tough love but you need it. I’m 99.9% sure you would be wasting your professor’s time in requesting another letter of recommendation. I don’t think you are in a spot where you have a chance of getting your admission decision overturned. Focus on the spring application. If you have any other questions I will be glad to help.

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Your college record does not look good for a transfer. You may be better off applying to a school you are much more likely to get into. Your grades ARE a reflection of who you are. College is not like HS where the upward grade trend means you have matured and learned how to study. You did not get all A’s except for the one field, you had so-so grades for the rest of them. Definitely have a plan B or C that does NOT include UW-Madison.

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@lohraffy I really appreciate your well thought out and informative response. Thank you so much for taking your time to write that. I still want to go through with an appeal because it couldn’t hurt but I really am not counting on it whatsoever. I plan to remain in CC next semester as well as take summer classes and kill it with a 4.0 for all semesters so I can show substantial evidence of capability just in time for the spring.

My ECs thus far are hefty but not substantial. They include 2 jobs, one at a law office and one at a summer day camp. I also have had articles published on blogs, was an executive board member for a student association, and did a lot of tutoring for english. I plan to get either a job or internship this summer as well as tutor again on the side so I can include that in a spring application.

Now, I’m not sure about the credit transfer situation because I’m unable to receive a true evaluation due to the fact that I’m an OOS that doesn’t have my schools on their transfer credit wizard. I have 49 credits at the moment, 34 from my previous university and 15 from my CC. If I take around 9 credits over the summer and 15 again in the fall I’ll probably have about 39 from CC and 34 from my previous university giving me a total of 73 total possible transferable credits.

In one of my essays I talked about the passion I hold for UW-Madison and how I truly saw myself as a student at that school for multiple reasons. In the other essay I spoke about how my Japanese classes set me back a lot but that I still have a lot of strengths in other areas that caused me to prosper and will do in the future. Though, in my appeal as well as my application in the spring, I will heavily take into consideration your recommendations for being an OOS and how I should talk about my personal growth in regard to grades. Thank you again for that.

As I said, my chances for an appeal are slim to none. Probably even less than that. I will definitely focus on my spring application and work really hard towards making it a strong one because I know I can do it. Congratulations on your acceptance and please do look out for a message from me! I cherish all the help I can get.

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@wis75 Thank you for your brutal, brutal honesty. Truthfully, you could have written a post telling me there’s no chance I’ll never be suitable for UW-Madison in a much less passive aggressive way. However, any help is help, yeah? Fortunately but unfortunately for me, some of the grades I’ve received are NOT a reflection of who I am. I am much better than a C or D. Actually, not to be cocky, but my caliber is within the A-range. I work very hard and do quite well in most areas. Though, just so you can get a better idea of my situation because you clearly have no clue even though you act like you seem to, I am just simply not good at foreign language. I have never been. Taking Japanese was risky but I went for it anyway because you should NEVER not follow your dreams, no matter what. (Keep that in mind for the people you talk to in the future.)

My initial university GPA does “not look good for a transfer.” You are quite right. But I’m not sure if you caught the fact that I will be receiving a 4.0 this semester and probably for my next two as well. Because yet again, I am a hard worker that is quite capable. Some crappy grades in a class I just wasn’t good at (let me tell you, that probably a LOT of people aren’t good at no matter how smart) doesn’t really say much about me.

Upward trends are significant in any situation. Maturing can be done at any age :wink: Though, an upward trend does not always tell a story of maturing and learning. Don’t you think some things can get in the way of grades sometimes that don’t pertain to capability? Also, I don’t think I’d call A’s and B’s ‘so-so’ grades. Quite harsh considering it’s difficult to achieve for a lot of people.

My plan A still will include Madison because I am determined. I was looking for advice. NOT for you to deter me from achieving my dreams. Thanks again for taking your time to write out that thoughtful response anyway.

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I also don’t think you will succeed getting in as a transfer. You don’t just have bad grades in Japanese, you also have a low ACT score and claim to be bad at math. The overall academic picture is mixed. But you can continue to improve and apply again. Getting “personal” and sharing your mental health problems in your application is a terrible idea.

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Sorry Cheddar, but you’re wrong about sharing mental health problems being a “terrible idea”. Sure, don’t be generic and write a shallow essay on how you were depressed and all of the sudden you are the best student…But you can certainly talk about mental health problems. Just don’t drown your essay in sorrowful language. In one of my essays I talked about my mental deterioration at my job and the passing of my mother. But I also quickly asserted that these events served as “vessels that contained the privilege of perspective.” These were the exact words I used and it bridged the gap between my transition from being a bum to a hard working student and employee, while also giving context to my current successes. Conveying you are a human, have emotions and are relatable to the reader are all common tips for writing a strong essay. There are hardly any definitive taboo topics for college essays. It’s all about how you execute your story.

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Our job is not to make you feel good. Better to be honest. I was not passive aggressive. I was being more gentle than I felt- you have triggered negativity with your response to help.

You cannot transfer to UW with too many credits- check the website. You need many UW credits to allow them to grant you a UW degree. 60?

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OP - You are going to need letter of recs again from your professor for the spring appeal when you might have a shot if your grades continue to trend up. I really would not bother this time around and honestly it could hurt your spring transfer chances because not only are you wasting your recommender’s time, but also that of the UW appeal committee.

I also agree 100% with @CheddarcheeseMN about not disclosing mental illness in your essays. That is not the place for it. If you want to include a letter from an advisor or prof that says you’ve addressed the mental illness professionally and are now succeeding, that’s one thing. But, IMO, you’d be unnecessarily raising red flags to write about it in the essay.

It sounds like you are well on your way to turning things around but no school is going to admit you on your potential. They want to see results. I think if you can show them this semester and the next with solid grades, you’ll have a shot at spring admit.

Good luck!

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@CheddarcheeseMN Ah. Tough crowd over here, jeez. Again, appreciate you taking the time to write up a response… I don’t need to submit my ACT score (it wasn’t BAD it just wasn’t a 30+). I was iffy about possibly submitting it if it didn’t do me any good. Admissions doesn’t know I’m bad at math. I was just disclosing that as a side comment. The only thing that shows weakness is my grades in Japanese. Though, again, I don’t think many people would be the best in Japanese regardless of their capabilities.

In regard to mental health - I wasn’t planning on writing a sob story on how I am utterly depressed and anxious and I can’t do my work because of this. However, much like @lohraffy said, I can take my weaknesses and turn them into strengths. I am a writer. I know how to do this effectively without sounding like a pity case. It was a stepping stone into my original university and I’m sure it wouldn’t hinder me in the future. When I apply in the spring I don’t think I plan on mentioning it in my essay. However, just wasn’t sure if I should include it in my appeal or not. I read on some threads to include MI and some saying not to. Wanted to get another opinion. Mental health doesn’t necessarily make someone a weak link :slight_smile:

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@wis75 Honesty is the best policy and I appreciate your honesty. I’m not looking for someone to sugar coat their responses because I do cherish constructive criticism. If I wanted a yes man I wouldn’t have created a thread in the first place. Contrasting opinions and ideas are doing nothing but making me stronger and I can’t be more grateful! However, you essentially told me I had no chance regardless of the fight I put up whether it be now or in the spring and I think that’s a bit negative and not necessarily what I was looking for.

The maximum credits is 72 for a 2-year university and no max for a 4-year university. I would have about 39 from my CC and 34 from my 4-year university. That meets the guidelines!! I plan on contacting UW admissions to see if I can get in contact with an admissions officer regarding my transfer options in a hypothetical sense. We’ll see what they say regarding my credit scenario…

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@momofsenior1 Ah okay! I was thinking maybe an appeal would prove my determination just a little bit more. Though, I’ve not been in this position so could just be naivety. Or adamance… I don’t know! :wink: I’m not too worried about upsetting my recommender. I was really close with him and I actually asked him for a letter of rec originally but life happened and he ended up leaving my university. Not a big deal! I’m going to need to rack up a new slew of recs for the spring I think… Maybe if he writes me a rec for my appeal I can just ask him to submit it in the spring. Who knows… I’ll worry about that bridge when I cross it. However, I’m not top worried about that. He’s really understanding and awesome!

Okay. I see what you’re saying regarding MI. Again, I wasn’t planning on throwing a pity party and trying to say it has done nothing but hinder me. I was just going to try and mention how my weaknesses turned into strengths! Yet again, I am a strong candidate beyond my Japanese grades.

Cool. Thank you so much for taking your time to write me out a response and give me some advice! I really plan to prove myself with two semesters of awesome grades that do showcase my potential.

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UPDATE: I have decided to not hand in a letter of appeal. I really have no chance and even though it pains me to take this attitude, I need to not put my time and effort into the future… AKA making myself the best candidate I can for the spring. Still not giving up.

If you guys have any recommendations for the spring I will happily take them!

Thank you again for all your help and I will see you all in the spring :smiley:

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@carlyb32, I’m glad that you are regrouping and reapplying for spring semester. I would suggest that you talk to someone else about your application essay and change it to be more about who you are, not the person who was chewed up and spit out by Japanese. You can’t say “those bad grades don’t define me” and then define yourself by them. There should be someone to reach out to at your CC who can help you. I would also OK your plan to take 9 credits over the summer with an advisor. That sounds like a challenging workload when you are focusing on getting A’s.

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@rbc1999 Thanks so much for your response! I agree. I think I’m going to take a different outlook with my essay for the future. I actually will be in Madison for 2 weeks starting Thursday of next week and found out I can talk to a transfer counselor at UW so I plan on doing that. I’m not sure taking 9 credits will hinder me much as I am able to juggle the work successfully! I will be ending my CC spring semester with a 4.0 taking 15 credits so I’m sure 9 credits over the summer won’t be too difficult! However, I will definitely check with the UW transfer counselor as well as an advisor at my CC :slight_smile:

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@momofsenior1 There is nothing wrong with disclosing mental health problems in an essay. It’s about the overall content of the essay and how the information is being relayed. I encourage you to watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfqtwb4FcTw

The important takeaway is that there are very few true rules for writing a college application essay. Saying that it “Isn’t the place for it” isn’t good advice. If they decide it is an important part to their story, they should share it. Admissions wants to know that you are a human and have emotions. Dwelling on those emotions for ~500 words would be a bad idea, sure, but there is no foundation of proof that merely addressing it will have a negative impact on the overall essay. I wrote about three emotional moments and my overall mental health in my achievements essay and got in. So with just my anecdotal evidence alone, the idea that disclosing mental health issues has no place in a college essay is essentially nulled.

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@lohraffy favorite person on cc hands down. So informative and well written!!! Thank you!!!

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I wrote about my struggles with bipolar disorder throughout high school and even in college and how I became an advocate for mental illness in my community through it and I was deferred, not because of my essays, but simply because I didn’t have a lot of college credits under my belt yet. I went from a 3.0 in high school to a 3.7 in college and I even withdrew from a semester due to mental health reasons and talked about that as well. I truly believe honesty is the best policy when it comes to mental health, especially if it had negative impacts on grades/performance. In fact, I think my candidness with my essays and how I turned a weakness into a strength is what got me that deferral instead of an outright rejection. Mental health is not a no-no at all in essays, especially if it has shaped you into the individual you are today like it has with me. Just my two cents.