Appealing a college rejection letter... suggestions?

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

Does anybody have any experience with this process?

I'm trying to help a friend with writing an appeal letter. She just received a rejection letter to Northeastern University (which I got into, but probably won't attend). I would like to try and help her out a bit. If any of you have any suggestions in how we should go about writing this letter, please post in this thread. Thanks!

[democracyindanger]

1. Dunno, but if she went as you it could make for a wacky comedy screenplay

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

2. LOL

thanks :P

[lenidog]

3. Did they give a reason?

If they did you may want to address the reason as one of the main points in the letter giving and explanation, clarification or depending on what it is dismissing it as a reason for not letting her into college.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

6. Sort of

Our school offers 3 AP classes. She took one, American History. The others are calculus and biology. Like me, she wants to become a writer, so she opted to take a college level english class instead of AP Biology. She is still finishing the regular math track (advanced algebra) this year, so AP Calc was out of the question. When she called the admissions office, NEU said she should have taken more AP classes.

[lenidog]

20. That is BS

how the hell is AP Biology or Calculus going to help her become a better writer? Right there is a possible angle for an appeal letter. You two have to site down and brain storm a totally logical an complete response to such illogical BS. Especially seeing as I doubt they are going to require her to take either Calculus or probably even Biology as a part of her non-major requirements. There is something else you have to do. Get one of the course catalogs for the school and find out what the exact requirements are for her major

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

23. Thanks!

Those are some great suggestions. :)

[lenidog]

36. You are welcome and no problem

The one thing I have always had a gift for is making bureaucrats and pencil pushers bend to my will. These are just off the top of my head, if I had the letter and knew more about the school I could probably have come up with some better suggestions. Another one that maybe a last resort and it depends on school policy is going to the school signing up for part time say 9 credits and doing that for a semester. Then applying in the spring, you can do that at a lot of schools and its a backdoor into getting into the school you really want. It also helps if you ace all three classes.

[JVS]

30. There is something to be said for a well rounded education

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

37. Agreed

but I think that the three years of math and three years of compulsory sciences (Biology, Chem, Earth Science) in New York provides a well rounded education. During the senior year, I believe you SHOULD be taking classes which will aid in your future career.

[lenidog]

38. Very, very true

but if you hit your senior year and you are not well rounded yet then a couple of advanced classes in math or science is not going to help you.

[gyopsy]

4. Here's an idea

I didn't get into the University of Florida when I applied and I remember being a bit pissed off about that.

What you could do is this: (in Florida at least) there's a law that says if you attend a community college for at least two years, they have to let you into any state school of your choice.

Whether or not a school like Northeastern has any such policy I don't know. There are multiple loopholes in the system to be looked into though.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

12. Eh, only at state schools

I believe we have the same process in New York. Our community colleges are affiliated with the SUNY system...

Unfortunately, I don't believe private schools do this :(

[Runcible Spoon]

5. I didn't even know you COULD appeal them!

NYU didn't want me for their Doctorate program :grr: Seems they didn't like my GRE math score! Maybe I will plague them with annoying letters of appeal! :evilgrin:

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

9. You can

It's sort of an unwritten form of protest.

By the way, I'm still waiting on NYU. They better get back to me soon! If I wind up going there, I'll kick their asses for ya. :D

[Runcible Spoon]

22. are you applying as an undergrad or grad?

I really thought I had a shot but I WAS nervous about my GRE math score and didn't have time to retake. I know they use the GREs to make decisions between two good applications.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

35. undergrad

:)

[Rabrrrrrr]

41. I hope you get into NYU!! One of the best schools in the country

After living in NYC and hanging out in NYU terroritory and getting to know a lot of NYU alumns, and seeing the NYU artwork and hearing their musicians and hearing about their films, and working at their hospital, I'm convinced at the excellence of the school. Plus, it's in NYC, which is the greatest living laboratory in the world.

Good luck getting in!

There is no better place for those going into the creative arts or doctoring.

[PartyPooper]

7. Contact John Kerry's office. Tell him you need a favor.

He owes you one for voting for him in November 2004!

:D

:hi:

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

10. haha

But we didn't vote! We were only 17 in November!

agghhhh :D

[DS1]

8. Let me in or you will be blowed up

works every time ;-)

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

11. She thought about the anthrax idea

We decided against it

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. Have your school's guidance counselor help

They should know how to do it, and it will look better to have the guidance counselor making a case to the college than the student on his/her own.

Operative word being "should" since so many "guidance counselors" are nothing more than glorified grocery baggers in skill level, commitment, capability, and intelligence.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

17. Yeaaah

I don't trust our guidance counselor at all. One of my friends was sending out his Columbia app and the guidance counselor forgot his SAT scores. Yeah, that was hard to explain to Columbia...

[Bossy Monkey]

24. Any teacher. Particularly in this case her math teacher, I would think

Crikes, I only took 2 AP courses and got into U. Penn, which at least theoretically is in the Ivy League. Northeastern needs to get over themselves.

[sir_captain]

40. Heh

shouldn't Columbia have gotten the scores directly from ETS?

Anyway, Columbia has been known to do similar things themselves. A friend of mine had to drop off her app materials 3 times at Columbia Med because they kept on losing them.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

42. i have no idea

i believe you're right, i didn't apply there, so i wouldn't know

[DS1]

18. I don't know about that

Grocery baggers have to both ask a question ~and~ process and respond to the answer appropriately.

So. Paper or plastic?

[Kire]

14. I never got a rejection letter.

Of course, I didn't aim very high. But still...

[name not needed]

15. Do not use this

Dear College that rejected me,

FUCK YOU ASSHOLES! I'm gonna firebomb the campus! And then I'm gonna piss on the ashes and build my own super-awesome college. With a porn library and a giant gravity bong!

Wishing you get Herpes,
Awesome Dude

:7

[x-g.o.p.er]

16. Wipe her butt with it and attach a note that says...

"Fuck you, I didn't want to go to your sorry-ass school anyways."

That oughta do it.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

19. haha

oh you guys are too helpful

[x-g.o.p.er]

25. Hey, if nothing else...

she'll feel better about herself. And I guarantee she will be famous at that particular institution.

Or should I say infamous?

[JVS]

28. That just invites them to say, "Your willingness to pay the application...

fee tells another story"

[JohnKleeb]

21. If you're thinking silly ideas

How about you two take the dean or the admission director's kid hostage better yet find dirt on the dude or dudette and blackmail them. Anyhow, in all seriousness, I can't help but I wanted to see if I could get a laugh, good luck.

[Kire]

44. Or you could sell your soul to the admissions director.

Just hope he's not played by George Burns.

[sir_captain]

26. Is she on the waitlist?

[JVS]

27. I wouldn't help your friend.

Part of becoming an adult is learning how to deal with such a thing.

On a lighter note, where do you plan on going?

[Floogeldy]

29. Get the school's rules and find out what needs to be in the letter

They should have a standard that they apply, or factors they will consider, or something identifiable, which you need to know so the letter can meet the requirements of winning an appeal.

Get the rules. Then you will know how to write the letter.

Good luck!

B-)

[SheilaT]

31. What other schools has

your friend been accepted by? Most schools will not be very specific about why they rejected someone, because in the end their decision to accept one student and reject another is rather arbitrary.

Keep in mind that most schools have many more fully qualified applicants than they have room for, so appealing a rejection is difficult, unless someone screwed up somewhere, such as the counselor not sending in test scores, or sending the grades for some other student (who did badly, compared to your friend's straight A's).

If she has accomplished anything substantial, such as won a writing award, since the application was sent in, she can try appealing on that basis.

Failing that, her best bet will probably be to attend elsewhere for a year and re-apply, but she's going to want to see how many transfer students Northeastern accepts. Some schools take few or none.

It's always a mistake to think that one and only one college is right for you. In reality, there are a lot of good schools out there, and most students have choices of where to go, unless they only apply to one school.

[SheilaT]

32. dupe

double posted, sorry.

[Kire]

33. If she needs help writing the appeal...

...are you going to wake her up and give her a ride to class every day, too?

/sorry if I'm being harsh/

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

34. She doesn't need help writing it

She just would like some opinions on how to go about doing it (neither of us have appealed ANYTHING in our lives before) and doesn't really troll around on message boards as much as I do. So I figured I'd ask around...

[sir_captain]

39. To be completely honest

I think it's not very likely to work. Essentially, I think she's best off writing them a letter thanking them for their consideration and asking to be put onto the waitlist while making sure to indicate how badly she wants to specifically attend Northeastern over any other college (and explaining why, of course.) Most likely, it still won't work and she'll have to go somewhere else--and most likely, she'll be very happy there. Colleges are big places, and most of them are big enough to find plenty of nice people and varied enough in their curriculums to afford the opportunity to study whatever one's interest is. And if she still has her heart set on Northeastern, she could try transferring, which I think would have a much higher chance of success.

[Kire]

43. again, sorry for being so harsh

admissions counselors and professors might point out that you did not support your thesis with solid supporting arguments.

warm regards,
Erik

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

46. okay?

She hasn't even written the letter, how do you know if she has solid supporting arguments or not?

Just wondering.

[Kire]

47. sorry, again

your thesis was that "She doesn't need help writing it"

But you backed it up by saying that she would like opinions on how to go about doing it, and she doesn't troll around message boards.

These would be arguments that support the thesis that she does need help.

Of course, I'm being peachy.

[flying_monkeys]

45. I'd tell her to move on

There are better schools out there for aspiring writers to attend than North Eastern. They don't want her - - so advise her to go find a program that does.


I know it hurts to be rejected from the school you *think* you want to attend - - but often times, it is a blessing in disguise.


Go ahead and help her articulate an appeal - - But, be a REAL friend and find her a school still accepting applicants that has a kick ass writing dept....


They are out there - - and good luck!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

48. I agree with flying_monkeys

Sometimes students have their heart set on a certain college for reasons that have nothing to do with its suitability for them: they like the city where it's located, their SO goes there, their relatives went there, their best friend goes there,etc. but then they arrive on campus and find that they hate it for whatever reason.

There are hundreds of colleges where one can get a good education. It's not a disaster if you don't get into ONE.