<p>Can somebody give me some pointers for writing a convincing appeal? I was rejected despite having a 3.9+ UC gpa (4.44 weighted due to my course load), 2300 sat score, 800 math level 2 score, 780 biology m score, 780 math level 1 score (they don't look at this though), a few hundred hours of extracurricular activities, and decent essays.</p>
<p>Thanks guys!</p>
<p>I think the reason you were rejected is due to the fact the admissions officers might have felt that you were using UCLA as a safety school, even thou it seems that you are really hell bent on getting into the school. </p>
<p>I am fairly certain when the officers were rating your application, the question of "Why did this applicant apply to UCLA, when he/she is a shoe into any Ivy League school of his/her choosing?" crossed their mind.</p>
<p>Aside from that, I am not sure as to why they would deny you admissions. Possibly weak essays, lack of ECs, or strength of schedule, who knows. Nonetheless, lets get down to your appeal.</p>
<p>Historically, only 1 to 2 percent of the appeal pool have their decisions overturned. You must provide compelling information that would result in overturning their original judgment. When I say "compelling" I am referring to any information that you chose not to disclose in your freshmen application (low family income, first generation college bound student, or any hardships/obstacles that you have had to overcome) </p>
<p>Furthermore, if there were any hardships or obstacles that you faced during your senior year (After you submitted your application) then make sure to address that in your letter.</p>
<p>If for some reason you didn't not submit your SAT/ACT scores before the December 30th deadline that alone is a reason for rejection. I know it may seem small and irrelevant, but it's part of UC admissions policy to provide all necessary testing records during the admissions process.</p>
<p>Your Formal Letter
I had my appeal letter and paperwork all ready to go because I anticipated I was going to be rejected back in February. Luckily I got in. </p>
<pre><code>Be very professional in the manner you approach your letter. The biggest mistake I see in a lot of appeal letters is the fact that students mention that another lower qualified applicant was admitted but they were not. That is the worst think you can possible do and it will reinforce the decisions they made prior.
I would underscore the fact, that while the rejection was a blow to your plan of going to college, it never prevented you from trying to get into UCLA. Address what you will do at UCLA. Say that you will do outreach programs, tutor, community service, research, or anything else that would benefit UCLA.
Provide your 7th semester grades or current transcript (They are your 1st semester grades from your senior year.) Hopefully they are above at least a 3.7 UW/4.2W. Provide a list of any awards, honors, or scholarships that you have received since November.
One other thing to keep in mind, dont come off as desperate. While UCLA is a top notch schools there are a lot of other schools that you will get into (Assuming that you applied to Cal and other top programs) If UCLA was the only school you applied to then be sincere and honest, dont come off as overly desperate. Dont say I will die if I dont get in, be truthful to yourself and the admissions staff.
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<p>Youre Faculty/Teacher Recommendation</p>
<p>Make sure that not only does your recommender(s) attest to your metal ability but also your character and your maturity. If your recommender(s) can vouch your case then you put the admissions officers in a tough spot because they have a well put together case from you recommender(s) </p>
<p>I am sorry that I provided so much information but I am a self-proclaimed student admissions officer I know whole entire UC system works like the back of my hand. Which is why I want to be the admissions director at UCLA when I get older or at least and admissions officer.</p>
<p>While I may not have the test scores or grades like you do, I do know what it takes to get into UCLA and you my friend definitely had what it took to get into UCLA, its just unfortunate you got robbed.</p>
<p>Good Luck with your Appeal</p>
<p>Wow! Thank you DanielHagos for all of that input! However, I have a few more concerns that need to be addressed before I get to work. The UCLA website states that "Additional extracurricular activities or fall term grades are not a basis for a reversal of the decision since decisions are based on academic information that was available at the time of application." Should I still address hardships that occured, awards that were given, and grades that were designated after I submitted my application? Lastly, should I include achievement scholarships that were recently given by other UCs?</p>
<p>Thank you so much!</p>
<p>Yes to everything. Here is youre one chance to prove your case, so dont hold back on anything.</p>
<p>mmm. i might as well give you my situation. i have a unweighted gpa of 3.64 or so
weighted capped gpa of 3.8/9
a weighted uncapped gpa of 4.37
i rank 13 in a pretty competitive hs of 748 students in senior class (top 2%)</p>
<p>ive taken a pretty competitive schedule (very competitive, actually, compared to my peers who got in)</p>
<p>2170 sat
700 chem
800 math iic</p>
<p>acadeca (3rd in nation)
csf pres
founded organization wow in community
member of stk
frontline volunteer (weekly for 2 years)
swim team (jv) for 9th and 10th</p>
<p>pretty decent essays (one about acadec, one about csf/stk women/middle east connection, one about wow and the disabled mentoring program i started</p>
<p>i got rejected by ucla</p>
<p>now im thinking of appealing. however, i know that the rate of acceptance with appeal is verrrrrrry slim.</p>
<p>i honestly was completely shocked that i didnt get in. but i tried to rationalize it these past few days...and all i can think of is that they dont see my weighted or my rank and all they saw was my unweighted 3.63ish and my capped 3.84ish and i forgot to put swim team and didnt turn in elc paper (which kept them from knwoing that im in the top 4% of my school)</p>
<p>i told my college advisor and she's like welll ucla is competitive. but i dont wanna settle cuz well, about 20 people from my school got in (that i know of) and i see a trend in high gpa...and i can understand that they took less aps, got more a's and thus had a higher capped gpa... but it doesnt mean that i didnt deserve it. </p>
<p>obviously im gunna send them my transcript and swim and rank... but i dont think thats sufficient for appeal and its driving me crazy.</p>
<p>any input would be appreciated daniel.</p>
<p>Hey Daniel. CC refuses to let me reply to your latest message since it has an inbox limit. Can I email it to you? Sorry about any inconveniences.</p>
<p>Hey Daniel,</p>
<p>Thanks for the awesome information. I was wondering something about the focus of the appeal letter. I'm trying to wrap the whole letter around a main topic rather than do it resume style. Should I be doing it more like a resume isntead? Also, I applied as a business/economics major. And a big reason why I wanted to go to UCLA was because of the Rotaract community service club that was there. I am actually planning on attending a convention they are holding in the fall. Would I be better off concentrating on how much I have devoted towards fulfilling my education (taken numerous business and economics classes) and get a letter of rec from my econ teacher or focus less on the academics and more on why I want to attend UCLA for the ECs (explain the Rotaract situation) and get a letter of rec from a Rotary member?</p>
<p>Go ahead and email me.</p>
<p>Can you pm me your email address?</p>
<p>Thanks daniel!</p>