<p>I was denied from UCD today… it’s my top school and I REALLY REALLY want to go there. Can anyone help me out and give me good advice on how to get the best chance of being accepted through my appeal? Here’s my info:</p>
<p>Objective:</p>
<pre><code>SAT I (breakdown): 2110 (CR-690, M-680, W-740)
ACT: 29 (but didn’t count because my SAT was higher than my ACT)
SAT II: Biology (Molecular) - 730, Math Level 2 - 700
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.00
UC GPA: 3.47
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A (guessing around top 50%)
ELC?: Nope.
AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology (4), APUSH (4), Microecon, Calc AB, English Lit
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc AB, AP Econ, AP English, Art 2, Spanish 4 Honors, Physics Honors
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
</code></pre>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<pre><code>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 1660 Hours of Programming for a registered corporation in my city. (all 4 years)
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: 960 Hours of tutoring students at my school (3 years), 36 Hours for Interact Club (1 year)
Personal Statement:
</code></pre>
<p>Pretty darn good in my opinion. I wrote it about 3 days before I submitted my apps but they turned out to be really good either way. I wrote about how I helped a blind student and tutored him my sophomore year and how my family has lived in over 25 different cities and how that has culturally enriched me. My essays definitely gave the admissions officers what they were looking for dead on.</p>
<p>Other</p>
<pre><code>Applied for Financial Aid?: Yeap.
Intended Major: Electrical Engineering (SUPER competitive)
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender:
Income Bracket: Low
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.):
</code></pre>
<p>Please help me out… any help is GREATLY APPRECIATED. :(</p>
<p>The only problem is that the GPA is way too low, even as low income and first generation college (good for you) without being top 8% or so, that’s your explanation.</p>
<p>Go ahead and appeal, I would say something new you haven’t said, perhaps explain the GPA. Your SAT is very good though. Also, engineering is competitive, it’s possible you were denied because your GPA would indicate that you might be likely not to last as an engineer.</p>
<p>I’m a first-year student at UCD right now, I know several people on academic probation already, many of them are engineers who got brutally weeded out by MAT 21A.</p>
<p>Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions, unfortunately I don’t know much about the appeal process other than you absolutely should. I know a bunch of people who got in on appeals.</p>
<p>Yeah, its definitely my GPA. Ok so they’re asking for my senior year grades (1st semester) and I have a 3.667 UC Weighted. Do you guys think that’ll help me out a bit?</p>
<p>Also, would it be advisable to call the admissions department and ask them where my application fell short? people have done this in previous years for UCSD. Thanks again!</p>
<p>The above poster would answer your questions better; but I don’t see why not, to both the questions above. Your app looks very strong. If your senior year grades are going up, and you manage to show some interest, you should not be denied. It’s pretty weird that you did. Appeal, for sure.</p>
<p>A 3.667 weighted will help more than it will hurt because it’s better than your overall UC GPA, but it doesn’t guarantee you anything, I would think. Help a bit though, I imagine it should.</p>
<p>It can’t hurt to call, but I’m not sure what they will tell you or if you would even reach them (with results coming out today, lines could become crowded). Go for it and see what happens. Worst that happens is they won’t tell you anything useful, which just puts you back where you were.</p>
<p>If it lends you hope, I know people with comparable GPAs, worse SATs, and less impressive EC’s that have gotten in. The difference most likely is that they basically always compare well to their fellow classmates in terms of rank, which you don’t particularly.</p>
<p>But I absolutely recommend appealing. I’d say all solid applicants that appeal to UCD have a pretty realistic chance. Good luck again</p>
<p>For your appeal to be considered, you must prove that you are a much stronger candidate than what was presented in your application. Specifically, you must present new and compelling information that was not previously available to the admissions office. So if you failed to include information regarding extraordinary hardship or exceptional talent/extracurriculars on your application, you can discuss these things on your appeal as reasons for Davis to reconsider you. </p>
<p>Go back and review your UC application (you can see and print a summary of your application by logging into the UC online application site at <a href=“UC Application - Message from the system”>UC Application - Message from the system) to see if you left out anything major (medical/family problems, significant extracurriculars, etc.) and determine what “new and compelling information” you will use for your appeal.</p>
<p>While you have the option to appeal, you should do so with the understanding that decision reversal is very unlikely. The appeal will most likely not be in your favor and you may end up feeling rejected again. On the other hand, if you feel that you need to go through the appeal process so you know you have done everything you can to get into Davis, then go ahead with the appeal. Hope for the best but don’t expect miracles.</p>
<p>Typically better academic and extracurricular achievements in senior year are not considered new and compelling. But if you can explain why you are performing at your full potential now and why your achievements from previous years were not reflective of your ability as a student (hardship, medical/family issues, extenuating circumstances), then that might work.</p>
<p>I just got rejected and don’t really understand why, because there are people at my school who got in over me that I don’t think should have.</p>
<p>SAT I: 1900
SAT II: Spanish: 650 US history: 610
UW GPA: 3.3
W GPA: 3.5
UC GPA: 3.9
(My freshmen year I got a 2.8 and 3.0, so that’s why my cumulative GPA is so low)
Since I improved from a 2.8 first semester freshmen year to 4.17 second semester junior year I thought I should have been admitted. I guess they didn’t consider my upward trend…</p>
<p>Explain why your GPA was so low. With a 2110 SAT, they should realize you’re a very bright student. Maybe your school was overly competitive and that hurt your GPA? Maybe you were going through some hardships that you forgot to mention in your UC Application?</p>
<p>If you did have difficulties/hardships, mention how you overcame those and how much better your grades are right now. Also mention how those difficulties are pushing you to be successful and how you’re much more driven now because of those difficulties.</p>
<p>If there wasn’t a reason for your low GPA other than laziness, there isn’t any point to appeal. Getting a second look on your application won’t change anything if you don’t have anything new or compelling to add.</p>
<p>Yes my school is insanely competitive… the APUSH and AP Bio programs are the toughest available ones in our district. My GPA was low, not because I was lazy, but because I am the type of person who masters the subject material AS the class goes on. so basically, I’d get a grasp of the subject AFTER I finished taking a test on the subject… taking the test, and possibly getting a low score on it, reinforces my mastery on the subject for some reason. Thats why I may have gotten relatively low grades in my AP classes (mostly Bs) but I received excellent scores on the actual AP tests.</p>
<p>Ms. Sun, it doesn’t seem like UC Davis did holistic reviews this year, does it? I found this on their “Non-admitted Students” page:</p>
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</p>
<p>They mention that a portion of the application is scored electronically and that the highest scoring applicants are admitted. Doesn’t that pretty much mean that they still on the point system and that they admitted students with the highest number of points?</p>
<p>AlamedaAndre, your SAT and GPA are still not above what you typically see, especially the unweighted. Unless your SAT was miles better than people in your demographic/at your school, a 1900 is solid but it isn’t remarkable, it’s just on par with everyone else who applied. So is your GPA. I would have chanced you at 50% for most of the UC’s, so not getting in, while unfortunate, is not anything to be too distraught or confused or shocked about.</p>
<p>My girlfriend goes to SJSU, it’s a decent school too. UC Davis is really hard honestly, it might behoove your sanity and happiness to take 2 years at SJSU before transferring to a UC anyway. That goes for almost anybody. Best of luck in your appeals and upcoming admissions!</p>
<p>Alright so there IS one thing that I held back from my original application because… well, i just didn’t want to feel like i was insulting my parents by whining about them. basically, i grew up in a very extreme and restrictive/conservative culture. i wasn’t allowed to have friends, couldn’t have a social life, couldn’t talk to anyone outside my house once I got back from school, and I wasn’t even allowed to attend study groups. </p>
<p>this type of lifestyle seemed fine at first and my grades soared because I had tons of time to study. But mid-sophomore year, they began to plummet as I got more and more depressed about “not having a life” like the rest of my friends who also had stellar grades. So the bottom line is that my potential to succeed and receive good grades was hindered by the fact that the environment in my house was not conducive to studying. I just couldn’t focus and unleash my true talent the way I could have if I had a “normal” social life. </p>
<p>I’m planning on stressing the point that going to davis (college in general, but i’ll say davis so that they’ll know that i’m genuinely interested in attending) will place me in a position where i’ll thrive by being around the vibrant social and academic environment. it’s not that i was being lazy, i just wasn’t able to perform to my fullest because my parents unknowingly held me back. and i’m sure that my relatively high SAT score (2110) will let them know that i AM indeed a bright student and not another whiner who’s trying to get in with a fake reason. i’ll also make it clear that just because i didn’t have a life in high school, doesn’t mean that i’ll be partying my butt off in college. i’ll state that i am determined to maintain a healthy balance between school and fun and make full use of what UC Davis has to offer me.</p>
<p>what do you guys think? Does my appeal sound convincing?</p>
:(</p>