<p>I figured we could keep things cleaner by having one big thread for all appeal issues/questions/etc.</p>
<p>So, I'll start off with my question: Is it a good idea to appeal for anyone who got waitlisted, or does it depend more on the circumstances? </p>
<p>I have a 3.79 but only a 1780 SAT. UW is where I really, really, really, want to go, other wise I'll be in debt at Uni of Oregon, far away at a crappy school (Eastern WA U) or at community college. Ugh. My SAT score is low because I have really bad testing anxiety. I never mentioned that in my app, but I'm not sure that they care.</p>
<p>They’re good, as far as I think anyway haha. These were my grades last semester:
Chem - B+
ASL 2 - A
AP Lit - A
Adv. Math topics - A-
Civics - A
Leadership - A</p>
<p>portableheart: I highly recommend you to appeal, especially if you want to be admitted. Your grades will help out. Write about what you’ve learned or personality/skills/etc you’ve developed in the past year.</p>
<p>Boltz: The C is a sore spot, to be honest, but the rest of your grades are fine. Think carefully about what you’re going to write in your personal statement/appeal to the admissions people to sway them on the decision. </p>
<p>“worthy” of being admitted is not something I can judge with your grades, not knowing what exactly was on your application, and not knowing what the other people on the waitlist is like. Also, let’s say that more people committed to go to UW than originally planned. Nobody would get off the waitlist unless it was through the appeal process, which is completely separate.</p>
<p>Also, do you guys have third quarter grades? Like an unofficial transcript for whatever you’re taking second semester senior year?</p>
<p>So, if my appeal were to be accepted, I would be admitted regardless of my waitlist status. However, if my appeal were to be rejected, I would still remain on the wait list – correct? Sounds like appealing is basically a win/win? We don’t do quarters, but I am taking the same classes I was last semester because they’re all 1 credit classes rather than .5 credit classes. I assume my grades will be similar (but maybe a tiny bit worse… senioritis is killer).</p>
<p>We have three, six-week grading periods. One is ending soon, however… the six week grading periods mean hardly anything, seeing as most of my teachers get so behind in their grading, the reports aren’t even accurate. For example, I miss class for leadership a lot, so then stuff goes in the grade book after I turn it in from being gone as a zero. Teachers take forever to grade absent/late work, so half my grades currently are totally off since there’s hardly anything in the gradebook at this point haha. The 2nd six-week grading period is more accurate.</p>
<p>speedsolver, do you have any advice on the do’s and don’ts of writing the appeal letter/essay? I’m gonna start writing mine tonight.</p>
<p>My case was the one where I had everything great (2200 SAT, 31 ACT, 13 honors classes and 4 AP’s and 4 Running Start classes, essays with great content, significant volunteering and employment hours, 9 year art portfolio, trilingual, etc.) except I had a 3.2 unweighted GPA.</p>
<p>Since the only thing I need to defend/explain is my GPA, it’ll make it easier to streamline the letter. My GPA goes from about a 3.43 in 9th grade, second semester, to about a 3.05 in 10th grade 1st semester, to about a 3.4 again this past semester in 12th grade.</p>
<p>I have three to four big arguments - </p>
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<p>I think I’ll shy away from topics that place the blame on other people. Instead, I’ll focus on simply explaining the circumstances that led me to make some mistakes that led to my GPA being a 3.2 instead of like 3.6.</p>
<p>Would a good thing to write about in my appeal be that I have testing anxiety, hence my SAT score?</p>
<p>Also, I was reading over my application and I made a couple typos (left out a word in a random place or two like I do constantly whenever I write anything even semi-long)… Whoops. Surely that didn’t help me. My AP teacher read over this stuff even… Yay for public education!</p>
One thing to keep in mind about college is that tests are very difficult and it can be ultra competitive, especially when grades are based on a curve. Be sure not to overdo it and put yourself in an academic setting that’s too much of a challenge. There’s no harm in building confidence and test taking skills in a community college or less rigorous school. If you have been wait listed at UW, it could be wise to start with something more doable and transfer after two years. College should be a fun time in your life, but if school is too hard, everything can be a struggle.
Basically I want to appeal and I’m not sure if it’s worth it! I’m out-of-state (Idaho, so does WUI play a role?), going to one of the top public schools in the state, taking full IB, immigrant and ESL, with a senior year gpa of 3.98/4.44 and SAT score of 2000.
Is there any point to vying for UW’s affection? I’m kind of bummed because I thought there was a lot of emphasis on the essay so I spent a lot of time on it. No hard feelings anymore, though! Getting waitlisted actually kind of motivated me, ha!
