Can you submit an appeal? And would my situation serve as suitable grounds for an appeal?

<p>I recently got my decision back for engineering and computer science at UMICH, and I was waitlisted. I was actually pretty satisfied, considering how hard engineering is to get into.</p>

<p>However, I just realized I could have selected computer science under the College of Letters and Sciences rather than under the school of engineering. Given my stats and essays, I am pretty confident I could have been directly admitted if I chose comp sci under L&S rather than engineering. </p>

<p>1.) Can a submit an appeal to UMICH regarding a waitlist or admission decision?</p>

<p>2.) If I can, do you guys think my appeal would have proper basis considering my oversight? UMICH was a school I really wanted to attend, and while I have several other great offers, it sucks that I might not get in considering I just clicked the wrong major.</p>

<p>Would you attend Michigan if you got in? Ask yourself that question first. If the answer is yes…and presumably you know what it costs, then you could certainly file an appeal. Some years no one comes off the waitlist so know this going in. If it’s just that you want to know if you could have gotten in, skip it and move on.</p>

<p>I am interested in attending the school for sure! As such, I believe an appeal would be worth the time. However, does anyone know how exactly an appeal is filed and where I would go to do that? I plan on calling the admission office tomorrow, but I’m just trying to gather as much information as I can on this matter.</p>

<p>It looks like you are also appealing Austin from one of your previous posts…sounds to me like you need to fall in love with one of the unis where you have an acceptance and see where the chips fall with your waitlists. If you have something significant that has changed since you filed your app let the admissions counselors at these unis know. If finances are not a consideration figure out where you want to go and put your energy there. Collecting more acceptances does not make the choosing process easier.</p>

<p>My plan is to submit my letter of intent to one of the three acceptances I have, and from there see where my appeals and waitlists pan out. I knew the selection process was going to be tough, but I think I would take the schools I am appealing and waitlisted on over the one’s I have been accepted at. Again, I am just going to have to see how it all pans out.</p>

<p>Do you really think it will make a difference?</p>

<p>Being wait listed is not an exclusive club. A couple of years ago they offered the wait list to over 14,000 students. Now, picture yourself working in admissions as the onslaught of thousands of wait listed kids call and email to let them know why they really should be admitted. Also, picture the thousands of rejected kids that want to call and email because they applied to the wrong school or have an “improvement” for their application. </p>

<p>It’s not going to be a fun Monday in admissions. </p>

<p>I agree with sundaypunch–I don’t think that tactic will work. “I didn’t get in because I applied to CoE, but I totally could have gotten if I had applied to liberal arts!” won’t sway many adcoms.</p>

<p>However, if you do decide to approach admissions in Ann Arbor, you’ll want to make sure you’re getting the name of the college right: College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA). Making your waitlist appeal using the wrong name will not help your case at all. </p>

<p>Yikes, I got the Berkeley school confused with the one at Michigan. Thanks for catching that.</p>

<p>I definitely understand what you both are saying, and it has been something I have been thinking about as well. The only reason I am even considering an appeal is because the waitlist chances seem slim to none, and I thought maybe explaining my situation would grant me a better chance of consideration than just staying on the waitlist. Obviously, I can’t say for sure. I’m just a bit frustrated I applied to a more competitive school than I needed to apply to, but at the end of the day that is my fault and not the admission committees fault.</p>

<p>I still have several other great choices, and judging by previous statistics I have a really good chance of getting off of UC Berkeley’s waitlist (well, at least a MUCH better chance than getting off of Michigan’s). </p>

<p>I might just look into it considering I have nothing to lose, but I understand it probably won’t be all that effective.</p>

<p>Thank you all for your input.</p>

<p>My son was in the same situation last year. He applied to CoE, EA, and was initially deferred, waitlisted and finally received his sorry letter on the last day. He too was convinced that his stats (3.8 UW, ACT 29) would have merited admission to LSA. UofM was his dream school, and he was devastated by their decision.</p>

<p>He enrolled at MSU for his freshman year (Finances precluded OOS for us) and has been accepted as a transfer to UofM for his upcoming sophomore year.</p>

<p>Basic lessons I learned from the journey:

  1. Many students are waitlisted. Very few come off the waitlist.
  2. A higher probability route (transfer) that many take is likely to pay more dividends than one which is less likely (appeals, etc.)
  3. If you want it enough, there is often a path; but this path isn’t necessarily an easy one.</p>