Letters Of Appeal For College Admission

This second chance will give me the opportunity to prove that I really want an education and will do everything and anything in my power to get one. You can expect nothing but the best from me this time around. Another chance will benefit me and help me push my education to even greater levels. Getting a good education will make me a better person and I am sure it will make my mother, family, and loved ones in heaven so proud of me. I plan to put my academics first and make a better future for me because this is really what I am in school for so it will be my first priority always and forever. I now have a better understanding of life and education is the one and only thing on my mind.

How to Write an Appeal Letter for College

Reasons to appeal (and reasons NOT to appeal) your college admissions decision

Introduction

The deadline to accept a college admissions offer is May 1. And while you’re celebrating your child’s college acceptances, you may still be lamenting their rejections from their dream schools.

Perhaps you’ve heard that students can appeal college rejections. You may even know of someone who successfully changed an admissions committee’s mind.

That’s the good news. However, there are two main pieces of not-so-good news:

• Not every school accepts appeal letters. Therefore, you should check with each school before sending an appeal.
• Appeal requests are rarely granted.

Despite these points, your child may still want to appeal their rejection.

However, before they prepare their appeal essay, your child should understand what admissions committees consider good (and not-so-good) reasons for appealing. That way, your child can write an appeal request that has a significantly higher chance of being granted.

What not to mention in a college appeal letter

1. The reviewers missed the memo about your parents donating money to the school.

Any piece of information already contained in your child’s college application was already evaluated.

2. You’re more qualified than your classmate who got in.

College admissions committees review applications holistically. Therefore, it’s impossible to pinpoint the one reason for your child’s rejection, or for another student’s acceptance.

3. You got into another prestigious school, so the school that rejected you should feel lucky to have you.

Unfortunately, colleges have a limited number of spots for every entering freshman class. In addition, different colleges have variable admissions priorities, so some may not feel that your child will be an excellent fit at their institution at this time.

4. It’s just plain unfair.

College rejections can be very difficult to accept, but writing an appeal letter that stresses unfairness is unlikely to work.

5. Listing things from your application in paragraph form.

Again, everything in your child’s original college application was already evaluated, so this approach is highly unlikely to work.

Good reasons to appeal

If your child decides to appeal, they should make sure to write a very polite, positive, and humble letter. Moreover, they should acknowledge the admissions committee’s difficult task and thank them for considering their original application and appeal.

It’s also crucial that your child discuss their reasons for appealing within the context of the college. They should treat their appeal letter like a mini “Why us?” essay, linking their reasons for appealing to what makes the school a perfect fit for them and what they will contribute to the school.

Below are the most compelling reasons included in successful appeal letters:

1. Your child has a major accomplishment to report since submitting their original application.

Improved grades do not count, but accomplishments such as winning the state science fall under this category.

2. Your child achieved a significantly higher SAT or ACT score.

100+ points on the SAT or 2+ points on the ACT would be considered meaningful, as long as your child’s new high score is at least within the middle 50th percentile of what the college typically accepts.

3. Your child left out a significant experience or fact about themselves in their original application that may change the way an admissions committee views their accomplishments.

This is the approach I took with my successful appeal request in 2004.

I disclosed growing up with Tourette Syndrome and wrote about how so many individuals with this condition don’t end up going to college, let alone use their experiences to serve others (it’s no coincidence that I’m a psychologist).

You may wonder why I didn’t write about this in my original application. I wonder the same thing.

Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world’s foremost experts on college admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into top programs like Harvard, Stanford, and MIT using his exclusive approach.

How to Write an Appeal Letter for College

We’ll just come out and say it: applying to college can be challenging and stressful, especially if you get rejected from one of your top school choices.

Deciding to write an appeal letter is a dedicated and courageous choice. You need to persuade the admissions team they were wrong about you, and your appeal letter must include all the right elements.

In this article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about writing an appeal letter for college and how to make it as strong as possible, with the goal of getting accepted. Read on to learn more!

What Is An Appeal Letter for College?

You may choose to write an appeal letter if your application is initially rejected by a school you want to attend. An appeal letter is your chance to make an excellent case for why your admissions decision should be overturned.

You should only write appeal letters to one or two of your top schools because your goal is to make a strong case for why a specific school should accept your application and letter. Most colleges will only consider reversing an admissions decision if you have new information that wasn’t on your initial application.

Janet Gilmore, senior director of strategic communications at the University of California-Berkeley says:

“Examples of significant new information may consist of semester grades, additional achievements for us to consider, or information that has come to light between the time of the application submission and the delivery of the office’s decision.”

Since you applied, maybe you’ve aced your final AP course or retook the SAT and achieved a higher score. These would count as significant pieces of new information for which you could write an appeal letter. If you’ve experienced extenuating circumstances like a medical issue or other significant life changes, those are other reasonable factors for filing an appeal.

It’s also important to understand that writing an appeal letter doesn’t mean admissions committees automatically reverse their decision and accept you. Gilmore says that UC Berkeley admitted just 3-5% of freshman appeals in the last three admission cycles.

But don’t let this discourage you. It’s worth the effort it takes if the school you’re appealing to is your first choice. You have to be highly motivated to want an education at a specific school for your letter to be accepted.

How to Write An Appeal Letter for College Admission

Appeal letters should be well-crafted of course, but how do you write a good appeal letter? This section goes over precisely what a well-crafted appeal letter looks like, so you can use these examples to guide your writing.

Structure

The structure of an appeal letter should be similar to other letters you’ve probably written. Include the date, your name, phone number, and address at the top. Like this:

January 1, 2022

John Smith

123 Fourth Avenue

Your Town, MA 55555

(555) 555-1234

Then you want to include the name, title, and contact information for the person you are writing to:

Jane McDonald

Admissions Counselor, Smithtown University

789 Tenth Street

College Town, CA 44444

(444) 123-4567

Below their contact information, you can start your letter with a greeting. Appeal letters are formal, so you should address the contact person as Mrs., Mr., or Ms. If you are unsure whether the person you are addressing is a Mrs. or Ms., use Ms. For example:

Dear Ms. McDonald,

After the greeting, you can start writing the body of the letter.

Tone

Your appeal letter should be treated as a formal or business letter, with a less conversational tone. You can still be friendly, but don’t use slang or other casual types of language that you would only use around your close friends and family. Be direct and clear in why you’re appealing their decision.

As an example, instead of writing “I really want to get into [this school],” try something along the lines of, “I’m writing today to request an appeal on my initial application decision.” You can see the difference in tone and how one is more direct than the other.

Your tone should also be positive. Don’t dwell on the fact that you were rejected because that can be off-putting. Instead, use an optimistic tone that shows you are passionate about attending this specific school.

Length

An appeal letter should be four paragraphs with an introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You should aim to keep your letter between 250 and 300 words total. You want to keep it concise while still touching on everything you need to cover. Try not to add any fluff or unnecessary information.

Content

The exact content of your letter will ultimately depend on what has changed since your application. Here is a general overview of what you should cover.

Introduction

How you start an appeal letter is crucial to the overall success of your letter. The introduction is where you can acknowledge that you were initially rejected and an overview of the new information you plan to present in the body of your letter.

For example:
“I understand that you must receive hundreds if not thousands of appeal requests, but I have valuable updated information that wasn’t available when I initially submitted my application. I have since received my SAT retake score and it has improved considerably.”

You don’t have to go into too much detail about your circumstances in the introduction. Just touch on what you plan to discuss so you can grab their attention right away.

Body

The body of your letter is where you get into the details of what’s changed since you first applied. Include any new information that’s come to light or been presented since you submitted your application.

For example:

“The SAT score that I submitted on my initial application was 1250, and on a retake I scored a 1500.”

The body is also where you would also provide specific details about why this wasn’t part of your application or how your circumstances have changed since then.

For example:
“When I initially took the SAT, I was experiencing a medical issue that affected my focus and study ability. At the time, I didn’t have answers from doctors about what was causing my symptoms that ranged from excruciating migraines to incessant nausea.
Once I was able to get help from doctors and begin treatment to keep my illness under control, I knew I could improve my score and that’s what I set out to do.”

Then you want to explain why they should reconsider you for admission.

“It has been my dream to attend [school name] ever since I can remember. I’ve always known that I want to be a journalist and I’ve worked really hard to create a path for achieving my goal. That includes attending [school name].
The journalism program is one of a kind and I know I could get the best education for what I want to do after college.”

You should also use this as an opportunity to talk about extracurriculars you’ve been involved with to prepare for your preferred program. Or you talk about the schools’ clubs, culture, or other specific attributes that make you so passionate about attending.

“I’ve been part of my school’s newspaper and yearbook staff for the past four years. It’s been a great experience and I’ve picked up a lot of new skills I can take into my journalism classes. While attending [school name] I hope to join the student newspaper club so I can continue building my knowledge and skill set.”

Conclusion

Here, you should wrap up what you’ve said and reiterate why you would be a good choice for acceptance at this particular school. Focus on why you should be accepted and what makes you an excellent candidate.

Be sure to thank them at the end for taking the time to read your letter.

Appeal Letter for College Sample

Here’s an excellent sample of an appeal letter for college. It’s important to note that our samples are only meant for use as a point of reference when crafting your own letter. Plagiarism is not a good idea in any scenario, but especially when you’re trying to appeal a college decision!

January 1, 2023
Academic Appeals Committee
Benedict College
1600 Harden Street Columbia,
SC 29204

“Dear Appeals Committee: It has come to my knowledge that I have not met Benedict College’s standards for satisfactory academic progress and it is due to my cumulative grade point average 1.5 which is below the required minimum of 2.0. During the spring semester of 2011, it was a real struggle for me physically, mentally, and emotionally, while trying to maintain my academic progress.

Financial duress has made this semester difficult. I have a single parent with six children, including me, she does her best but money has been hard to get. I was so worried about the spring semester and about how my mother was going to pay the bills and the loans she had taken out for us. Knowing my mother was struggling, not having a stable car, and had to stretch money between us to meet the needs of all her children had a major effect on my academics. She called me everyday checking on me to see how I was making sure I had money, even though sometimes I told her I had money and nothing was bothering me so she would not worry herself.

I have been looking for jobs this whole semester and even applied for work study a couple of times, but it is hard to get hired with the economy like this. I want this second chance to better myself and be successful because of her and to put her in a better position. I don’t want my mother to worry or struggle anymore and an education for me will help me accomplish that and more.

Transportation has been a bother, even though during the semester they had buses to get us to and from campus it wasn’t always reliable because I would go out and wait for the bus two hours before class some times and still end up being late. Being I do not have a vehicle, trying to get home from school on breaks to check on my family so I would not be worrying about them and can focus on school has been hard and even going job searching. Between financial problems and death of loved ones my academics dropped below the university’s standards.

This letter was a wakeup call for me as an adult student in the real world. I now realize it is time to get back on track. I plan to study harder until I get a better understanding of things or ask the teacher if I can stay after class so he/she could explain it more, set up meetings to go by their offices, and get a tutor to help me improve my academic status. The spring semester of 2013 was a major setback that I plan not to have again. If given this second chance I plan to do whatever it takes to be successful. I promise there will be a major improvement in my academic grades and progress.

This second chance will give me the opportunity to prove that I really want an education and will do everything and anything in my power to get one. You can expect nothing but the best from me this time around. Another chance will benefit me and help me push my education to even greater levels. Getting a good education will make me a better person and I am sure it will make my mother, family, and loved ones in heaven so proud of me. I plan to put my academics first and make a better future for me because this is really what I am in school for so it will be my first priority always and forever. I now have a better understanding of life and education is the one and only thing on my mind.

Sincerely,
Signature
Student Name
Student Number
Student Address
Student Phone Number”

Tips for Writing a College Admissions Appeal Letter

As you prepare to write your appeal letter, there are a few things that you should keep in mind.

Understand Your Schools’ Appeals Process

You may be able to find specific information about your schools’ appeals process on their website. If the information is not on the schools’ website, you should contact the admissions office to learn about the process.

Some schools have specific timelines for admissions, and those can vary between institutions. In fact, some schools don’t even have an appeals process – meaning you can’t appeal your application. That’s something you’ll want to find out before you start writing.

Take Your Time…But Not Too Much!

While this information isn’t readily available for every school, schools typically only read appeal letters for three to four weeks after they make their admissions decisions.

But don’t be too hasty. You should take a few days (or even a week) to think about what you want to say. After a rejection, you may feel angry, sad, confused, or a mixture of all three.

Wait until you have your emotions under control before crafting and sending your letter. Waiting also gives you time to solidify what you want to cover in your letter.

Have New Information Ready

As we mentioned earlier, when an admissions officer looks at an appeal letter, they’re looking for new information that either wasn’t known or wasn’t available when you submitted your application.

An appeal letter isn’t an opportunity to plead with them to change their minds. It’s an opportunity to let them know that they missed an important detail or key piece of information.

Be Specific

The weight of your appeal letter is lessened if you write generically and without specific details. Save the time and energy it takes to write an appeal letter for your dream school – maybe your top two if there are two schools you are equally passionate about.

Since these are your first-choice schools, there are probably specific points about them that made them your top school choices. Talk about those points in your letter. Use the format we’ve provided above, but plug in your information.

Don’t Rely on a Reversed Decision – Have a Backup Plan

The unfortunate reality is that most appeals are not accepted. But don’t let this discourage you from trying! Just know that it’s something to keep in mind. If your appeal is not accepted, have a backup plan.

Whether your backup plan is to attend a different school, or you plan to wait until the next admissions cycle to apply to other schools – make sure you have a plan in place before you send off your appeal letter. Having a plan to fall back on can give you some comfort and peace as you wait for the appeals decision.

College Appeal Letter FAQs

These are a few of the most frequently asked questions about college appeal letters. Find the answers to your questions here!

1. What Are My Chances of Acceptance If I Appeal an Admissions Decision?

It’s dependent on the school, but it’s important to understand that the numbers are fairly low. For example, UC Berkeley admitted just 3-5% of freshman appeals in the last three admission cycles. We don’t tell you this to dissuade you from writing an appeal letter – only to prepare you.

However, if you feel like you have a strong case for an appeal based on the information we’ve provided in this guide, you should absolutely give it your best try and write a letter.

2. Who Should I Address My Appeal Letter To?

Send your letter to the school’s admissions office – if you can address it to a specific person, even better. A quick search on the schools’ website could give you a particular name of someone in the department that reviews appealed applications.

3. For What Situations Are Most Appeals Accepted?

Most appeals are granted due to inaccuracies in the initial application. If this is the case for you, your letter should clearly state which pieces of information were inaccurate on your application. An explanation of why the info was incorrect is beneficial too.

Some appeals are granted if a student had major health or personal issues to deal with during the application cycle that were outside their control.

4. When Should I Send My Appeal Letter?

Check the school’s website or contact the admissions office for an exact timeline. Most schools will only accept appeal letters for up to four weeks after admissions decisions have been made.

5. How Long Should My Appeal Letter Be?

Between 250 and 300 words is the ideal length. This length gives you plenty of space to include the right information.

6. What Tone Should I Use In My Appeal Letter?

You should write with the same tone you’d use in a professional letter, like a cover letter. Try to be positive and friendly, but don’t use slang or jargon. Be direct and specific, too.

7. How Do You Write a Strong Appeal Letter?

When asking how to write an appeal letter for school, consider your reasoning. A strong appeal letter can only be strong if your reason for writing the letter is clear and valid. For example, if you simply missed the deadline, you may struggle to write a strong letter.

However, if you experienced a difficult life event, you may have a very valid and strong reason for writing your letter. As for formatting, typical professional letter formatting is generally preferred.

8. What Are Good Reasons for an Appeal for College?

You can write an appeal letter for college if your poor grades can be explained by a challenging life event, or if you have more valuable information that would improve your application that you weren’t able to submit previously.

Final Thoughts

Before you submit any letters, research the school’s appeal process. Each school is different, and some may not even accept appeal letters. Spending just five to ten minutes researching can help you find this information.

And remember: this article isn’t meant to dissuade you from writing an appeal letter. Our goal is to present you with the facts so you can make your case for appeal as strong as possible. We hope this information has helped you understand appeal letters and how to write them.

Good luck in writing your appeal letter!