Before I say this, I would just like to make it clear that I am aware appeals rarely overturn admission decisions. I have committed to UCI so I have a back-up. I feel, however, like I may have a decent case for appealing. Last Friday, I found out I was not admitted of the waitlist for UC Davis. When I applied to UC Davis, I applied for an engineering major as my first choice major and an L&S major as my second choice. I didn’t know at the time that UC Davis only considers people for alternate majors if it there is space. When I looked on UC Davis’ website, it said clearly they consider alternate majors. I even called admissions and they claimed people are automatically considered for 2nd choice majors. Because I received information that is not really correct, do you think I could appeal based on this? In my appeal essay, I could tell them how I applied for a competitive first choice major because I believed, based on the information I got from them, I would be automatically considered for my second choice. Otherwise I would have just applied for L&S. I would be appealing mainly for my second choice major. Is this a good case?
This is from the UC Davis website:
You should apply to a major that interests you, rather than the one you think gives you “the best chance” for admission. We also suggest that you include an alternate major in a different field of study when you apply; we MAY consider it if you are not admitted in your first-choice major.
I capitalized the “MAY” since this means it is their prerogative to consider your alternate major or not. When you submitted your waitlist statement did you indicate that you would like to be considered for your alternate major at that time? In January, I addressed your question about alternate majors and my post states “OCCASIONALLY” alternate majors are considered.
I really do not think that your appeal has any basis and I also believe based on what I have seen posted in previous years that UCD does not allow you appeal a waitlist rejection. You can try if you think it is worth your time.
@Gumbymom Thanks for the info. I saw a place on the portal to appeal the decision, where it says I have till Friday. So I know it is possible to appeal waitlist rejections. The quick reference guide on the UC downloadable resource page says that UC Davis occasionally admits to the alternate major, not that they occasionally consider it. I also called admissions and was actually told they automatically consider it. So I will appeal based on this. I did not specifically mention in my waitlist statement being admitted into my alternate major, but I did talk about classes in that major I wanted to take. As I mentioned in the original post, I do not believe this appeal is likely, but it is worth a shot. If it does not go through, UC Irvine is still a great school.
Well you have nothing to lose so best of luck and yes UCI is a great option.
“UC Irvine is still a great school.”
This part I completely agree with. You have a really good university to attend in September.
I think that the chances of the appeal succeeding are not good. Stay calm and polite if you do appeal. Other than the great veterinary program at UC Davis, for those of us on the opposite side of the country it is hard to remember which school is which between UCI and UCD.