<p>This sounds bad but my rejection would have been easier if my friends didn’t get in. They both were accepted with worse gpa’s than me and both of them wouldn’t even have A’s in math or science the last two years if it weren’t for the late nights I spent with them tutoring them. Happy for them! But sincerely jealous</p>
<p>I’ll send my acceptance letter from UCLA with my USC appeal letter. Is this a good idea?</p>
<p>@PantherD4NG, I would not suggest doing that. I think the appeals committee may take it the wrong way. The admissions process is very subjective and different at every university, so your acceptance at one university does not show qualification for another. I got into UCLA too but not USC 
Of course, this is just my opinion and I am new to this whole process too!</p>
<p>Totally confused on what to focus on in the appeal…are you guys basing it on academic info or hardships or info that was just left out on the app? Hope they’ll take more appeals this year being it was the first year they used the common app.</p>
<p>@2016collegegirl I feel the same way! I have not been adversely affected by any terrible hardships as some people have, but I do have a few new pieces of information. My GPA and class rank both improved since I submitted my app in December and I was selected to be part of a special program at my school that raises money tens of thousands of dollars for three charities. I’m just going to talk about those I think. I don’t know exactly what they’re looking for and if it’s better to be personal or more professional in my writing. Ahh! But yes, I hope that because it’s the first year with common app, there are more appeals accepted 
But it also seems more people in general are appealing this year…so that might be a downside too.</p>
<p>@trojans17 I think those are pretty good things to focus on! I hope they take more appeals, honestly it’s our last opportunity to present ourselves! I was talking to some family friends who use to work admissions, and basically they said to make it personal. Focus on some aspects of your academics, but not all of it. The reason being they only read your common app essay which was sent to all your private schools, but USC wants one specifically tailored to their school. So I think it’s best to also mention how you can benefit the school and what going there means to you. But still keep it somewhat professional? Omg I feel like I’m contradicting myself! Haha. Are you a legacy or get that paragraph at the bottom talking about a personalized transfer plan?</p>
<p>Hahahaha yeah I know I feel like we are all so confused about what to do! My problem that I’m struggling with is the one page limit! I don’t know how to express everything I wish to in such a short amount of sapce. I can’t go over all the reasons I want to go to USC and still fit in my new info in my letter. It’s really frustrating. I’m not a legacy and no, I did not get that paragraph I don’t think I actually am on vacation right now so my sisters just read my letter to me over the phone, but I’ll check when I go home tomorrow and see if that paragraph is there. Did you get that paragraph/are you legacy?</p>
<p>WantedToFightOn: I like your thinking! I would definitely still write an appeal if you feel strongly that they should review your decision, however, you have to realize that, realistically, should USC under enroll, it will first fill the gap with spring admits and students who have elected to remain on the waitlist. Best of luck though! I firmly believe that the right school is out there for everyone! Do you have any other schools where you could see yourself? You can always transfer, too. I was rejected from my first choice “dream school” only to realize, with time, that I probably wouldn’t have been happy there (I still thought it was a stellar school, but probably not the best fit for me.) Hindsight is 20/20, right? 
I truly wish all of you the best…I know what rejection feels like, and I know you all will end up where you’re meant to be!</p>
<p>Exactly! It’s one page, single spaced? Still not enough room to express ourselves! Not much has happened to me in the past 3 or 4 months that has been ultimately dramatic or life changing haha. Oh wow thinking about appeal writing while on vacation? So dedicated hahaha. Yeah, I got the paragraph and I’m actually not a legacy so that’s what surprised me the most. I did an good admissions interview last November so perhaps they saw something they liked in me lol.</p>
<p>This is selfish, but don’t tell others that they can appeal… There will be more appeals this year, the only thing we can collectively do to help ourselves is not spread the idea of appealing to everyone else. Call me evil, but I feel it’s the truth.</p>
<p>CollegeChica12: Thanks for the kind words and good wishes! I guess you’re right. Luckily I have a few other schools to choose from that I visited and liked. I’m still going to give the appeal letter a shot, if only just to look back and say I did everything I could as a freshman applicant. I’ll still consider transferring or applying to graduate school down the road if I can’t sneak in now. Gosh I didn’t even know USC had a waitlist… but yeah, I suppose the spring admits would get bumped up if push comes to shove…but maybe that would open up spots for spring enrollment?? haha I’m staying optimistic. USC was my dream, but in the end I know I’ll end up where I’m meant to be. Thanks again and best wishes!</p>
<p>Trojans17:
Hey! I didn’t get the chance to apply to usc but I did get rejected from my dream school and I am planning on sending an appeal. Just wanted to tell u to be as straight forward as possible don’t try to make them feel bad but do add some emotion like how you felt when you first heard their desicion. </p>
<p>Good luck!!! Don’t give up! Prove to them that you deserve to be reconsidered and I hope you get accepted!!!</p>
<p>Sent from my Desire HD using CC</p>
<p>If I had to reflect upon my appeal process to USC, I’d have to say it was suffocating. It wasn’t easy to try to come up with an effective one page letter explaining why I should be reconsider and ultimately accepted to USC’s Class of 2011. There wasn’t much that had changed since I filed the application and in the end, I didn’t send in my appeal at all. My high school academics were average and my reasoning shoddy at best. My uncle gave me this piece of advice that I would like to share to you all. Don’t write something that could negatively affect you in future applicatons.</p>
<p>For example, say you appealed with something that was offensive to one of the readers and you were rejected. Then next year if you decided to apply again, the same reader remembers your name from the previous year and decides to reject you again.</p>
<p>Now the situation I’ve presented is based on the small chance that somewhere along the appeal process, you’ve managed to screw something up and you’re appeal letter was remembered. I’m sure many, if not all of you, will not fall into this category but this is just something to keep in mind. </p>
<p>My classmate who successfully appealed to Stanford, wrote such a lively, engaging, and confident essay that you could feel his very persona leap out at you. I believe if you emulate something like this, a more favorable admissions decision could come your way. Good luck.</p>
<p>@HoneyFlower92 Thank you for your support and advice!!! Good luck with your appeal as well!</p>
<p>@CorruptTheory Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us!! Does your classmate still have his Stanford appeal letter? If so, is there any way you could ask him if he’d be willing to share it to help others and then PM it to me or post it in this forum? </p>
<p>@2016collegegirl So great that you got that last paragraph, you should definitely fall back on that personalized transfer plan if for some reason your appeal does not work out (but let’s hope that’s not the case ) Haha yeah…I pretty can’t think of anything else but the appeal…and to answer your question, I think it is one page single spaced! I had to widen the margins and cut down the tops and bottoms to make it all fit…Ahh! Hopefully that’s OK?</p>
<p>^ Stanford doesn’t consider appeals of any kind - they always state this in the rejection letter, so I’m not sure what CorruptTheory is talking about (perhaps that person’s parents donated millions to Stanford, so they reconsidered him, or something). This has been the case for years.</p>
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<p>[Admission</a> News : Stanford University](<a href=“Page Not Found : Stanford University”>Page Not Found : Stanford University)</p>
<p>I HOPe thats okay to do trojans17 because its the only way to say everything we want to!</p>
<p>Hey guys,
So it ends up I won’t be appealing after all. My parents said that even on the very small chance my decision got overturned, we probably wouldn’t be recieving a great financial aid package at this point so I am headed to an in-state school next year. I’m not sure how to feel at this point…it’ll probably take me a while to re-figure out my whole life plan haha. Though I never wanted to be a transfer, I think I will be looking into that process. I’m not ready to give up on my USC dream just yet :)<br>
THANK YOU to everyone who has sent me encouraging words and to those who shared their advice. I wish you all the very best of luck in your appeals, and please keep posting in this forum and let me know how it all goes!!! If any of you also decide to go the transfer route for fall 2013, keep in touch!</p>
<p>I will try transferring if no appeal!! Good luck buddy</p>
<p>Good luck hope4usc!! Keep me posted!</p>
<p>USC does NOT have a wait list. They only have Spring admits, which is much better than being on a wait list. </p>
<p>A bit of advice from past years:</p>
<p>Focus on things that were either left off your original application, or accomplishments that have happened since you first applied. Help them see you more clearly than they could before.</p>
<p>Do not tell USC they made a mistake or list other schools that accepted you. Thank them for considering your appeal.</p>