Seeking advice on appealing a rejection

Applying to College
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Daughter was rejected by a school that should have been an acceptance, based on the info here.

Any tips or thoughts about how one might appeal in a respectful way? We just learned this is a possibility and want to pursue this

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It depends on the school. Is it a CA public uni? They have a process. For many schools, if your child didn’t get in, it could be for reasons you’ll never know, especially if the school uses holistic admissions. You can only appeal if the college actually allows students to do so.

For the most part, appeals are unsuccessful unless there was something significant missing from your original app (a rec letter wasn’t submitted, or there was a technical snafu submitting something that was required by you or the school, etc
), or maybe ACT or College Board messed up something on their end.

You’ll need a compelling reason to appeal, so it depends on how strong your child feels their case might be. Without a compelling reason, it’s a waste of time.

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I agree with linda gaf’s points, definitely need a compelling reason to appeal. What will be the case your D makes? It would be helpful if you told us the school.

Regardless the school, the vast majority of appeals are not granted, so make sure your D is in a headspace to handle another (likely) denial.

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And note that this year in particular, there are a lot of denials and waitlists from schools that seemed like the student should definitely have gotten in. Just meeting or exceeding published GPA and SAT scores (if relevant) doesn’t mean automatic acceptance except at those schools who guarantee admission to students who meet specific benchmarks.

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Thanks everyone. We know it’s a long shot. School is University of Florida

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What info. makes you think that your daughter should have been accepted to UF ?

If she a Florida resident ?

The most important factors for admission to UF are:

Academic Rigor
Academic GPA
Application Essay

Non-academic factors:

ECs
Talent/Ability
Personal Characteristics / Traits

State residency is “considered”, but not an important factor.

Standardized Test Scores are “important”, but not “very important”.

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UF does have an appeal process but it is for very specific things. For example, we know a student that was accidentally enrolled into a psyche class at the local college. Thing was this student already took AP psyche got an A and a 5 on the AP exam and the local college enrolled the student in the course. The student withdrew but the college messed up and sent in a F to the HS which then replaced the A from AP psyche. This student also had a new Dx with finally correct treatment for ADHD allowing for extra time on testing. Those factors are in the appeal now that the F is back to the A and the extended time 504 needs are listed.

Stating that UF admissions are also different. I don’t know if you are InState or OOS but for instate. UF places all students that meet whatever UF decides is needed to get into the school into a pool. That pool then goes through this ranked lottery like system and determines the accepted students etc.

Most qualified students will not get in - just how it is. Process is similar but even less get in from how out of state. I don’t know the current rules but it used to be no more than 10% of any given class could be from OOS.

Our counselors here tell students it’s a crap shoot and never assume UF will be a yes for even the top ranked student or a student that gets into Harvard. On the flip side they will also tell students that think they will only get into third tier schools that at UF there is also a possibility because of how the system works.

So can you appeal? Yes there is a specific process and set of rules. Will it work? In general no. Will it work simply because others on paper don’t look as good. Absolutely not. They qualified as your child probably did too and then the “lottery like” system chose them.

Here is how to appeal:

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Unless your D’s situation fits any of the 5 reasons highlighted on UF’s appeal site, I am not sure it makes sense to keep this dream alive.

If your D’s situation does fall into one of the highlighted reasons, I encourage her to discuss things with her HS GC, and then follow exactly the process laid out in the link above, starting with a call to Admissions to discuss the appeal process
that is the only way she can gain access to the appeal form. Good luck.

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OP: Just proofread the appeals portion of the UF publication, submit the obvious correction, and you may get a reread of your application.

Of course, include any other relevant factor beyond correcting UF’s sloppy published erroneous (mis)information.

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There is an admission person who posts on the U of Florida threads(@melissa). She addressed this on the UF 2026 thread and gave specific reasons to appeal, but grades and scores (correct ones, even perfect ones) is not a reason.

UF is holistic, even more so (IMO) than other schools that claim they are. A 3.85 will get in but a 3.99 may not. A kid from Miami might get in while a student with better stats from Tampa may not.

An option may be to go to Santa Fe and get the Gainesville experience and transfer in a year or two.

Good luck.

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I would carefully read the outlined reasons an appeal is considered and if your applicant doesn’t qualify to appeal, don’t. There’s something to be said for accepting a ‘no’ with grace, even if it’s hard and seems unfair. College admissions is a mess right now, with students getting into places they may not have a few years ago and others not getting into places they certainly would have a few years ago. It is what it is. My DD was rejected by UVA but accepted to Wellesley. We have a friend whose DD was rejected by UVA but accepted to Cornell. None of it makes sense. Teach your DD what it looks like to accept ‘no’ with grace and dignity and begin considering other schools.

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I am wondering the same. My sons second core class teacher agreed to write a letter then was unresponsive until it was really too late to ask another teacher, plus because my D21 was a gap year kid and counselors were so overrun with letter requests which I believe some capped we really could not get another. The teacher responded months later with a sincere apology saying he had been struggling with health issues.

Would that be a reasonable grounds for appeal if my kids stats are reasonably close to the schools? (Vassar)