Like many others, I was recently rejected from UCLA. There have been many things that may have factored into this decision, and I know that I don’t know for sure why I was rejected. Nonetheless, I do suspect that me having included more details about my circumstances would have helped in my admissions decisions. I’ve written an appeal letter to UCLA, and I wanted to get your opinion on it.
My stats are: 4.0 UW UC GPA (school doesn’t have weighted), 31 ACT, 6 ECs (mostly standard, but I did start an online ecommerce business that grossed 50k), and meh PIQs.
Major: Computer Science and Engineering
My parents read and edited a lot of my PIQs, and they were against me talking about my story too much in my application. So I’m thinking this may have factored in a lot into me not getting a more positive admissions decision.
Without further ado, here is my letter:
**Moderator’ Note: post edited to remove letter for concerns over plagiarism and privacy. **
This appeal letter can still be updated, and it may be a little too long. I’ll cut off parts if I need to. But I was in a really unique situation in high school. Thanks in advance for your input!
Too long. Should be one paragraph with written documentation (from your high school) of what changed since the application. Appeals may work if there was something missing from your application/documentation. The tone of this “letter” is very angry. You’re not going to win any points for this letter. Wait a couple of days, calm down, if you wish to file an appeal.
The reasons you may not have gotten in:
-Too, many applicants 109K
-They only admitted 6300. Do the math.
-ACT scores are too low for what they are getting from applicants-range looks like you should be 33-35.
A very, very impacted major!
They didn’t “disparage you”; please look up the meaning of this word.
Whoops! I misedited and wrote a wrong word. My bad. I’ve edited disparaging to disappointing.
Most of this was missing from my application, and it wasn’t really explained. I wasn’t trying to come off angry, but I can see where one might see it that way.
From checking the UCLA website, it says that things such as extenuating circumstances are grounds for any sort of appeal. These circumstances weren’t really mentioned in my application, and I do believe it made a difference. I’ve had a rejection from UCSB, which I also may have been able to attend if this was more clear.
I understand that it is extremely difficult to get into CSE, and that my major is highly impacted. However, my ability to perform in school and show myself to be qualified may have been different under other circumstances. I’m hoping to show the UCLA admissions committee that I statistically underwhelming only because of these things, and that I’ve endured hardship to even get what I have now.
With that all considered, I do understand if I still cannot get in. This major is almost a lottery to get into, and I do understand how competitive it is. I actually talked about this in my first draft of this letter, but had to cut it out because it was too long.
As for the length, it is slightly longer than UCLA will accept, which means that I will have to shorten it. This is only a draft, and doesn’t necessarily represent the finished letter. I was hoping to get some feedback from you guys, so thank you for letting me know about the length. I’ll definitely fix it.
I didn’t get a chance to read the letter entirely but make it a little shorter. Also there are thousands of viewers on these forums and might plagiarize your letter. It’s better to solicit help from long time users who aren’t applicants (applicants are like the blind leading the blind usually). If you’d like me to edit your post to delete the letter for privacy please either @ me or PM me.
Hi, I’m looking into appealing my decision as well. I’ve been searching on the web for some information regarding the appeal process and materials I would need to submit along with the actual letter itself but could not find any information. I was wondering if anyone knew the required supplements for an appeal? (ie: recommendation letter, transcript etc). Thank you so much in advance!
@10s4life Hi, I’m also in the same boat and trying to make an appeal. I tried to message you but my account won’t let me. Is there any way that you could look at my appeal and message me privately please?
Does anyone know HOW to submit the appeal? The appeals page says to submit online today through the 15th, but there are not any links on my portal and I could not find an online form anywhere else. Thanks!!
Same I can’t seem to find out where to submit the appeal and I’ve been googling like crazy trying to find it. So does anyone know how to submit an appeal?
Haha in the same boat as you guys, I heard it was through a portal, but whenever I log into mine it just shows the beautiful letter I got last week haha.
