<p>I was rejected by XXX school exactly 7 days after submitting my app (4 business days). I can not help but to feel a bit unsatisfied by the university's holistic application review process as a result of my quick rejection. If they had sent me the rejection letter 3-4 weeks after I had completed my app, I would have felt a lot better about it but I am just a little bit irked by the hasty decision. It was so unexpected as well. I was sitting in the airport and decided to check my email and there it was in my inbox; I was literally shocked and so stunned at first that it did not hit me. Is there any possible explanation for this? I have never heard of someone getting rejected so quickly. And also, is there anything I can do? Call the admissions people, etc and politely ask for the reason perhaps? I was planning on applying for the fall 2011 semester if I did not get accepted for the spring 2011 semester but now I am having major second thoughts, thinking to myself that my 4.0 GPA this semester will not even make the slightest bit of difference. Sorry for the rant, but getting rejected by your dream school less than 5 business days after the received my application is a little upsetting. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Well, just exactly how long have you been at your current college/university? Is this your first semester, your second, your third, or what? </p>
<p>What do you know about transfer admissions at this “dream school”? Do they prefer students who have completed a full two years? </p>
<p>What is your record like? Is this your first 4.0 semester?</p>
<p>Go ahead, give them a call and ask them how you can IMPROVE your application before you submit it in another semester. If you are lucky, they will give you some advice.</p>
<p>Not every school has transfer openings every year. Perhaps it was as simple as the school deciding not to take transfers. Or perhaps they do not take spring transfers. Did you check their website carefully?</p>
<p>I can’t help but feel your pain. I just found out I got rejected from a public school in my state with a 3.9 gpa with 49 completed credits (another 21 on the way), and pretty good SAT’s. Now numbers are just numbers, what makes it worse is they sent me a letter saying my application wasn’t going to be reviewed for the spring because you need one full year of college work (24 credits) and they said I didn’t have it. I was confused because I have 49 completed credits. Then I got a letter today, dated two days after the last one saying that after initial review of my application I do not meet the criteria for spring admission. In between these letters I got a phone call saying the first letter was an incorrect letter and the 2nd one was the correct one. I am baffled because I meet all their transfer requirements online, and have worked hard to show my capabilities in the classroom. By the way, these letters came 11 days after I turned in my application, and 7 business days. I can’t help but believe that my application wasn’t even reviewed. It makes you feel pretty disappointing in the college admissions process. You would like to believe that after all the time you spend on your applications, that you trust your work will be reviewed. I mean these people aren’t just deciding on your acceptance, but rather your future and life. I know I most likely sound bitter about rejection, but in reality I am just bitter about the feeling that my application was not even reviewed after I have paid $50 dollars to have them review it. After I have spent the last year and a half working to have them review it. And after receiving these two letters I can’t help but lose faith in the college admissions process and the people that decide on these things.</p>
<p>To reply to the last 2 messages directed toward me: I was applying to Michigan for the Winter quarter (starts in January) and I actually had more credits than they would accept (60), so I would be considered a junior transfer. My grades were a little lower than their averages, but I felt like the situations and circumstances I have faced over the past few years could have helped explain that in a way. I had a very serious family medical issue as well as my best friend passing away all within 6 months of eachother. I was actually admitted to UM after 1st semester freshman year as a sophomore but could not attend due to financial difficulty. My essays, IMO, were superb, and I do not think I could write them any better to tell you the truth. I am just baffled about this hastily made decision. I think I am going to call them and hopefully get some insight on where I can improve my application, if I can at all. I really don’t buy any of this “holistic” review process at all to be completely honest</p>
<p>Michigan has some very competitive programs. Did you actually decline the last offer for admissions or did you just not reply?</p>
<p>I declined, but that was for admission for Fall 2008, so a while back. I know UM is extremely competitive, but 7 days seems way too short to evaluate someone’s application. I don’t know, I think I’m gonna give them a call. I don’t think I got a fair shake somehow</p>
<p>Try to keep in mind that even holistic review doesn’t take long. At a large state school the time admissions staff spends with any one application can be measured in minutes, and probably less than 20 of them. While I certainly understand your disappointment, why you think this should have taken longer is unclear.</p>
<p>When I applied as a transfer to Michigan back in 2008, it took around 2 months for them to give me a decision and when I was browsing old threads it seemed like the timeframe from submitted app to decision was 3 weeks to a few months, thats why I think it is a little odd. There was a minor error in my application this time however that may have lead to this. I originally submitted it on September 26th for the October 1st deadline, but I found out that in the supplement I had by mistake checked off Spring 2011 semester as the semester I would want to enroll when it should have been Winter 2011 semester. This issue was corrected on October 20th or 21st. Maybe they had already accepted all of the students for the Winter 2011 semester and simply did not have enough room by the time they started reviewing my application (Oct. 20/21), thus leading to my quick rejection</p>
<p>what was your SAT score buckley99?</p>
<p>I had a 1350 between Math (750) and Critical Reading (600). I also had a Writing of 570.</p>
<p>I know SAT scores aren’t super important for transfers with a good amount of credits, but I submitted them because the average SAT score for admitted freshman at this school is a 1150. And the middle 50 percent is 1100-1230…So I figured My SAT scores would look pretty good</p>
<p>OP, it’s true that the timing of correcting the error could have simply meant that they had filled the class. I will offer some other outlier possibilities you might want to ask about when you call. </p>
<p>I am sorry for your disappointment, but I am slightly confused about a few things. If you have more than 60 credits, and declined acceptance in 2008 as a sophomore, how long have you been at another institution? And was it a college, with which they have in-state agreements with about transferring credits, or is it another university or out of state? </p>
<p>In terms of speed of rejection, I do believe that it is more common to have a speedy rejection at UM than a speedy acceptance due to their deferral and waitlist practices – and I also know students with excellent track records who were rejected more than once (and speedily) when applying for transfer. That is the case among 60% of the transfer applicants each year.</p>
<p>Further, since they will only allow 60 credits (and based on the timeline I am trying to figure out here), if you’re considerably OVER 60 credits AND previously declined an offer for financial reasons, I can see how they could pretty quickly determine that it may not be in your best interest to transfer (thereby wasting the credits you’ve earned.) Tuition has not gone down since 2008 – and they meet 100% of need (eg. less the EFC) for in state students. So your having declined previously would telegraph that you could not meet your EFC, and there’s not much they can do about that.</p>
<p>Also, as I suspect you know, UMich is deadly serious about the GPA as proven in the field. That means the min. transfer GPA is 3.5 with a rigorous program and prereqs fulfilled, but typical admit is more like 3.8 and includes strong recommendations from college professors. GPA carries more weight than SAT/ACT. </p>
<p>Of course, you can and probably should ask why – you never know, they might tell you, although they are not obliged to be specific. Eg. they may be concerned about gaps in your timeline (declining as a jr. in 2008 means you either couldn’t possibly have spent the last two years at a full-time course load OR you have substantially more credits - eg. 80. There is also a rule that to graduate from MI you must have a certain number of credits FROM Michigan, and perhaps you’ve exceeded that possibility.) Again, both cases would net your application a rejection without necessarily reflecting on the quality of your overall scholarship/essays etc. </p>
<p>Considering all these possibilities as reasonable grounds for rejection and considering how intensely competitive transfer admits are, I don’t actually think you’ve been shortchanged in terms of your holistic review. All that extra staff this year was essentially sitting there waiting for the Nov. 1 EA deadline reads…it would not be difficult to circulate your app to three readers and two committees in four days. I’ve also seen a few super sure-fire acceptances move this quickly as well. It’s everybody in the middle of the criteria who suffers the impossible waits.</p>
<p>If the transfer applicant pool is extremely competitive then that could explain the quick turn-around. If the people reading your application had some experience with who gets in as a transfer at this school then they can more quickly see that an applicant isn’t going to make the cut.</p>
<p>Hate to be “that guy,” but maybe your application just wan’t that competitive…</p>