What should I write about in my appeal?
Hi there, current USC student here. I just thought I’d chime in: if you are sure appealing the decision is worth your time, effort, and energy, make sure to show the admissions officer something they wouldn’t have guessed about you. Odds are they simply didn’t have space, or somehow concluded you wouldn’t be the best fit for USC’s community; don’t take either personally. So, maximize your chances by telling them, concisely and diplomatically, exactly what you’ve done since applying, and how you’ve grown as a result. As a last remark, I’ll add that I’m a big SC fan, but if I hadn’t gotten in, I would’ve switched my efforts into preparing to attend a school I’d gotten into; contacting professors, researching classes, joining the facebook group, etc. My advice is to appeal if you really want to, but leave yourself open to your other excellent options! Please take everything I’ve said with a grain of salt.
@jj1999 The spots that people decline don’t go to waste. That’s what a waitlist is for. Not to mention, you’ve likely done the same thing with the other schools you’ve applied to. It’s a natural part of College Admissions. That shouldn’t make you that mad as you’re one of the same
@Pastpower - There’s a wait list? I thought the only options were Fall Admission, Spring Admission, and TTP?
@Pastpower There is no waitlist at USC.
what should i write on my appeal
I’m writing one as well 
this has been the worst week for me USC was my dream school
Can you think of reasons why you would be an asset to the school?
I am writing my appeal and was wondering if anyone had any ideas for how you are supposed to format the cover sheet?
Is the appeal supposed to be formatted like a cover letter for a job?
And do you have to enclose your 3rd quarter grades too?
Should I only submit it on the portal? I am asking because I don’t know who all will read it. Part of me wants to send it to the dean of undergrad admissions, dean of Marshall (where I applied), and vice dean of undergrad admissions for Marshall. I don’t know if I should or if it will seem to pushy or annoying. Some people online recommend doing this, but for other colleges, not for USC specifically.
For advice on what to include in your appeal letter, I think #21 is a good post.
IMHO, it is not at all worth trying to appeal. 30-50 is an overestimate and just last year, only ~20 appeals were overturned. That’s literally a 2% acceptance rate. And for everyone who has better stats/ECs, USC won’t choose you because you won’t have any compelling new information regarding your academic process to provide and it will just seem like you’re whining or questioning their admissions process. + USC doesn’t give much money at all to overturned appeals because they don’t need to try to attract you to their school (are you really willing to spend 70k per year for education you can most definitely get elsewhere?) if you try to appeal, you’re going to be building on this empty hope when in reality the chances are really slim of acceptance and you won’t end up being interested in the schools you actually got into/planned on attending. It’s really mentally draining and I hope you guys recognize this. Transferring is way easier if you’re still dead set on USC after a year (or just a few months really).
@49078anon3, That’s an interesting first post. You joined CC to tell other students not to appeal their USC decision?
You really have no way of knowing if any of these students will be accepted. If there’s an appeals process and they want to submit an appeal, it doesn’t hurt them to submit one. They should also pursue other options. Transfers don’t generally get aid, so if they need financial aid applying as a transfer isn’t the best way to get it.
Is the cover letter (Name, School and Address, UCID) on its own separate page from the 1 page letter?
rose1234 I’m wondering who to send it too as well. I applied to the film school
@jelly39 I believe they only recommend submitting it via through the portal or faxing it.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-f-adler/college-decision-appeals_b_2918586.html
This article is about a guy who successfully appealed to Berkeley. He said, “I wrote the letter in one sitting… I addressed one copy to the admissions office, another to a professor in the College of Letters and Science that I looked up online, and the other two to a dean and the chancellor.”
I don’t fully understand their appeal process and this was a while ago, but I doubt they would have recommended sending the letter to all those people. It seems like sometimes in college admissions, making a bold move may work best. I still haven’t decided what I am doing, and I wouldn’t advise anyone to do this, because I have no idea how it might turn out. I think just do what you are most comfortable doing. If you want to send it to others and not just submit via portal, you could probably find the film school dean and others who you might want to send it to.
Do I address my appeal to Mr. Brennan directly, or just to the admissions office in general?
@jj1999 I don’t know. You could do “To Whom It May Concern:”