<p>So, I got denied. Although I don't want to sound arrogant, I was surprised because I thought I had a shot at either Cal or UCLA. Anyways, I want to try an appeal. I realize it hardly will work, but I can't settle without my final attempt.</p>
<p>I would greatly appreciate any experience of those who have enrolled after appealing a denial. Please! Provide me with insights! Things that can help me could be what to send, how to write an appeal letter, what the admissions would want to see, etc. Anything.</p>
<p>Sorry to intrude on your thread without answering, but I have a related question:<br>
Would being incorrectly labelled as not ELC be a reason to appeal? </p>
<p>Hi! I got rejected the first time last year and then got in through appealing.</p>
<p>First off, make sure you have new information that was not included in the original application. A lot of people might tell you it’s pointless putting in new awards or new hobbies/achievements because they’re looking for stuff like personal issues. I can tell you right now this is false! People kept telling me to not even try but I did and got in so, yeah, ignore comments like that. This is different for the UCLA appeal though, Berkeley encourages new information for whatever reason while UCLA specifically states to only appeal if there were mistakes in your original application, or at least that’s how it was last year. Also, I’m not completely sure if what they are asking for is the same this year for Berkeley appeals. If not, then I don’t know if any of these suggestions/tips would apply.</p>
<p>My appeal was pretty long. I wrote about trying new things that have happened since sending the application, like trying things I’ve never tried before, winning two different awards, etc.
The thing with my appeal was that I didn’t have any personal issues that most people write about when they plan to send appeals. And besides that, I got straight As all of high school so it’s not like any of those personal issues would have prevented me from doing well either (I was kinda like you where I was surprised because I thought UCLA and Berkeley were a shoo-in)
So I had to find a way to make it stand out. I would say my appeal was pretty quirky in both the way I started and ended it and I did have some subtle humor in it. And if ends up not sounding very formal either, don’t worry because it doesn’t have to be.
Make sure you make the essay unique to YOU. It will be however you want it to be, serious or light or whatever. I spent a lot of time looking up appeals from other people and was getting worried when mine was completely different because I didn’t have hard struggles in my life that so many people wrote about.</p>
<p>First brain storm all the possible things you could include in your essays. Again, new achievements, maybe something you’ve overcame since sending the application that might have changed you a little bit, or something new you’ve tried. If you have always had good grades, mention that you’ve worked very hard to keep it up. If you might have struggled with having good grades and actually do have a really good sob story, you can make that the main emphasis in your appeal as well! Also, a really good teacher recommendation could be the slight difference for whether they accept your or not, so try to get one if you can!</p>
<p>Make sure you don’t make it sound like they made a mistake or that you deserve to be there, because that kind of vibe in an essay won’t convince anyone to admit you in. Remember that it’s a privilege to be given a second chance for something whether you think you should’ve been accepted in the first place or not so make use of it the best you can! Good luck!</p>
<p>@OACLJV hmm I’m not completely sure if that would be a strong basis of an appeal just by itself, but you could definitely mention it!</p>
<p>@ikrchen Thanks for your reply. Did you appeal to both Cal and LA? If so, did you send them the same letter? Also, your saying that an appeal letter doesn’t necessarily have to be formal?</p>
<p>Yup, I appealed to both. Completely different appeals, both in context and style. I mean, it should be formal in a sense, but if you wanted you could write some parts of it in a narrative form as well, which I did but wasn’t sure about doing at first.</p>
<p>@ikrchen so you wrote about different things for Cal and LA? Also, would you say your appeals were more technical in terms of style (like clear list of reasons/changes)?</p>
<p>Yes, I remember LA specifically saying not to include new grades and awards so I couldn’t include anything in there that I had for Berkeley. I don’t actually remember what I wrote about for LA to be honest. I spent two weeks writing the Berkeley appeal and maybe one hour for the LA appeal because I didn’t really care to go there as much.<br>
For the Berkeley appeal, it was pretty technical: intro, each paragraph was a reason/change, and then conclusion. Sorry, not sure if that’s what you were asking.
I love it here at Berkeley and couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. In terms of social life, it’s mostly the community and relationships I’ve formed here that makes it so amazing for me, though I’ve also had a fair share of drama and whatnot in the dorms. Academic-wise, you’ll have your really good, insightful classes and then your really mediocre classes, but some of the professors are really amazing as well. I can’t say anything about how hard Berkeley is in general because it really depends on what major you are and the type of classes you’re taking, but for sure none of it’s easy.
Feel free to ask me anything specifically about Cal or about the appeals process if you have more questions!</p>
<p>@thnkprnctn np! Yup, in the fall @tasmom Yes I did, and I think a decent letter of recommendation will be a good compliment to the appeal, but an excellent recommendation could be the difference of getting in or not if you’re on the border</p>
Yup, in the fall