I’ve Been Rejected. Can I Appeal?

Recently the College Admissions Forum and my email inbox have had a lot of traffic from unhappy college applicants who have been rejected from some or all of the schools to which they applied. The emotions range from disappointment to confusion to anger, but all want to know what they can do now.

The situation is particularly bad this year. Because of demographic changes, the number of 18- and 19-year-olds who applied to college is at an all-time high. Unfortunately, this means that the number of rejection letters being mailed out is at an all-time high as well. A state university that accepted 75% of its applicants five years ago may be accepting only 35% this year.

So what can you do now? Can you appeal the rejection and have it overturned?

The answer is not heartening -- yes, you can appeal at some schools, but appeals are rarely granted. To appeal successfully, you need to present the admissions folks with significant new information. Do you have new test scores to report? Did you win a significant honor since you filed your application? Did you forget to mention your year in China on the original application? You don’t want to call up the admissions office and whine and accuse them of treating you unfairly. Your best approach is a mature phone call or letter to the admissions office that respects the original rejection, but then explains the new information that you hope will make the admissions staff change their mind.

photo by debbiring / Flickr