<p>@sakurax</p>
<p>Do you mean we have NO WAY to find out the reason why we got rejected this year and will get no information to prepare for our appeals to Berkeley? I am also preparing in appealing to Media Studeis at Berkeley, but do I have to provide sob story/personal obstacle to prove that I want to pursue Media Studies major? I know GPA is not everything, but I really work very hard to maintain all my As in the United States and I really want to give me another shot. </p>
<p>Thanks so much for your suggestions and guidelines, you are one of the most helpful members in this forum.</p>
<p>Man stuff like this ****es me off. A lot of people get beat as a child and have bad pasts, you shouldn’t be able to use that as an excuse to get a poor GPA. I lost six family members in one month due to deaths this year, had one family member die in a suicide bombing… plus my father beat me and my mother so much from birth to age 16 that he’s in jail right now. I have scars still from where I was hit with hands, belts, pans, anything. BUT, I was stil denied from a couple schools and attribute it to me not having a good GPA. Stop looking for excuses to weasel your way into Cal and accept that you should have TRIED HARDER!</p>
<p>God, stuff like this upsets me</p>
<p>@ jhanago</p>
<p>fortunately you were able to get out of a violent circumstance before you went to college. The OP was stating that they were being subject to violence and harassment WHILE they were in college, so obviously this WOULD affect their performance/GPA. Including this info. in an appeal is completely valid thus.</p>
<p>Still not an excuse. If it was that bad, he would have moved out or something. I moved out when I was 16 and made my way BY MYSELF. My own job and my own spot. Was just as hard but im not exploiting it for a second look on a college application. I dont like that stuff</p>
<p>@jhanago I agree. I’m appealing to Berkeley too, but my situation is a little different. I was diagnosed with a disease last year that made it painful to walk or even get out of bed sometimes. Obviously I missed some classes and my grades suffered. I don’t know why I didn’t bring it up on my regular app.</p>
<p>Yeah if you have an ACTUAL reason then by all means its cool with me. Like SakurxaX up there has a REASON to study psychology (an actual experience that increased interest) which I can respect. However, the OP is just trying to blame his record on an abusive childhood/adulthood… no computer? MAN I bought my first computer this school year! I was walking to the library a mile everyday to finish hw</p>
<p>Hey, there is definitely no need for the mean-spirited, discouraging posts on here! This is mainly just for those of us appealing to discuss the process and help each other out.</p>
<p>I do agree that lots of people deal with some sort of abuse and they are able to achieve a lot academically despite their circumstances. BUT… you have to remember that everyone’s situation is different, and the judging going on here is a little out of control. </p>
<p>Also, there are plenty of people with amazing GPAs, etc that were denied admission to UCB this year. You must admit, that with around 15,000 transfer applications, the admissions process this year was at least a bit of a lottery. NOT saying the people that got in are undeserving, so don’t jump on me, but there are definitely deserving applicants that were rejected.</p>
<p>I personally am appealing because I think that my application did not properly illustrate my passion for my major, and I have a significant amount of new information to report that addresses that.</p>
<p>People who get in through appeals are put through a rigorous process that involves the Dean of their respective college reviewing their original application and appeal, so there is something to be said for those who can pull it off!</p>
<p>Yes UCBwannabe there probably are some qualified applicants who were not accepted and have the right circumstances to appeal. However, it’s also irritating when a lot of people treat an appeal like “Oh darn I got rejected, I think I’ll tell them about my hardships and see if I can get in again” or “Since my GPA is 3.** I think I should have gotten in so I’m going to appeal”. If someone wants to appeal for a reason like that, do it on your own time. But making threads about it only feeds the misconception about appeals, and encourages other people who have no reason to appeal to try. The only thing that results is that the people who actually meet the requirements for appealing get to wait even longer to hear back. You only get one chance to apply and get in, its time to accept reality.</p>
<p>@ucbwannabe</p>
<p>Definitely agree with you. I also think that my personal statement did not demonstrate why I want to Media Studies. But after the application, I wanna appeal to another major with new information and extensive background related to it. Even though I do not know it is possible to appeal to another major, I think I should give it a try.</p>
<p>@rawfulmao</p>
<p>I understand the point that you’re trying to make that people do at times try to fish out every excuse possible to make a grounds for appeal. However, in my situation is something that did affect me greatly and I chose not to mention it because it is humiliating and I never wanted myself to sound like a sob story. Now I’ve realized that I need to be honest with myself and with Cal about I’ve overcome.</p>
<p>@jhanago</p>
<p>I applaud you for every obstacle you’ve dealt with, but it is no excuse to completely negate other people’s experiences. I’m not going to judge you, so please don’t judge other people about things as sensitive as this.</p>