I sent my appeal out a week ago and was just wondering if anyone could give me any idea of my chances getting it accepted. Thank you!!!
What you need to know:
- Rejected (not wait-listed)
- Strong letter of recommendation
- 3.81 GPA with 7 AP classes (excludes senior year)
- 1820 SAT
- California Resident
- Many EC’s and sports
My appeal:
RE: Request for Reconsideration of Admission
Dear UCSB Admission Review Committee,
I understand the mistake I made during my junior year and the cost it had on my transcript. However, this mistake does not reflect my true potential but rather my willingness to challenge and experiment. By the end of this letter, I hope to have demonstrated who I truly am through the accomplishments that followed my stumble. From there, I place the rest of my fate in your hands.
For junior year, I boldly enrolled into six AP classes while planning to continue my year-round sports and extracurricular activities. Unfortunately, unpredictable things do happen. Before I took Calculus BC, math had consistently been a strong subject of mine. I enrolled into this class in part because the teacher who taught it for the past years was of high acclaim. To my surprise, he left the school unexpectedly. His replacement was someone who stated explicitly that he had no interest in teaching the subject, but was rather forced into doing so due to his seniority. As a junior who skipped Calculus AB with the expectation that he would be taught by a well-respected math teacher, I was disappointed. To make matters worse, issues at home arose as my parents constantly fought over hardships at work. It became difficult to concentrate on studies at home. Looking back, it would have been wise to officially drop the class and concentrate on other subjects. However, at the time, I knew that dropping a class would have only caused further conflict in the family. Please be advised that I do not write this letter to draw attention towards my parents, my busy schedule, or my math teacher, but rather towards myself. I have learned from this experience to adapt to difficult circumstances. As a result, I have grown stronger and more aware of the adjustments necessary to bring about my true potential. Once I began my second semester of junior year, I sacrificed my position on the school’s varsity track team to focus more on academics. By the end of junior year, I finished with a 4.33 second semester GPA and little satisfaction for what I had accomplished. This hunger for more improvement later paved the way for my transformation during senior year.
Since the beginning of this school year, I have devoted myself towards self-fulfillment in school and at home. My most recent high school transcript has provided a more accurate measurement of my true academic capabilities. In my UC application, I stated that I would achieve straight A’s throughout my senior year. Having attained a 4.0 unweighted GPA (4.83 weighted) with six classes – four APs, one honors (UC approved), and one necessary art – I have not only kept my word, but also demonstrated that my junior year of high school is not even close to being representative of my true potential. While it was easy for me to state in my application that I would continue to take challenging courses and achieve a high GPA, I hope you may come to realize, from my most recent semester performance, that when I make a promise I will stop at nothing to ensure its fulfillment.
Much of my performance this past semester attributes to my major shift in priorities. I set aside my passion for cross country in exchange for a less time-consuming membership at the gym and discontinued my beloved club in order to make time for my family. At home, I have been patiently teaching my mother how to write with appropriate grammar and encouraging my father to exercise with me. With both of their moods elevated, my home has become a more peaceful place for studying. Outside of my family, I dedicated much of my free time to the gym where I gained strength and endurance in preparation for my third year of varsity soccer. This year, our team made it to the CIF finals – a feat that had not been accomplished since decades for our school – and I was unanimously elected as the senior player of the team in recognition of my strong commitment and uplifting attitude throughout the entire season. Ultimately, my recent experience as a successful academic challenger, a caring son, and an honorable teammate has enabled me to grasp a better understanding of who I truly am: a matured individual willing to take risks and unwilling to give up when faced with adversity.
Highly motivated to challenge and adjust, I feel that my admission into UC Santa Barbara could be beneficial to both myself and the school. Aside from the beautiful campus and near perfect geology, my insatiable allure to the school lies primarily in its upper tier research facilities, various educational opportunities, well-established faculty, and socially-active student body. I am sure many students have stated that they can bring diversity to UC Santa Barbara, but my contribution will extend past that. Being the founding president of a multi-ethnic cultural awareness club at my high school has taught me to acknowledge others and their differences. With my presence, I will not only bring diversity, but also unification and further student involvement. I realize that UC Santa Barbara is rich in cultures and personalities. Therefore, I plan to explore these differences and help incorporate those who are strayed from such unity.
I may have not succeeded as much as I had hoped to during my junior year, but I learned tremendously from this experience. I was, simply put, “hungry and foolish.” I knew I had the capability to excel and I decided to test myself. I signed up for six AP classes all while juggling a full plate of extracurricular activities and family issues. I stumbled but I got back up stronger and more matured. I hope you can see that, from my mistakes, I have become an individual who is ever more motivated to succeed. Yes, I achieved a 4.83 GPA last semester, but I know fully well that I am yet to have explored the highest of my capabilities. This is just the beginning of my success, and with your help, I would like to continue my journey at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
