Hello everyone, just this afternoon I was rejected to UC Riverside and I am hoping I can appeal it. I noticed it says on MyUCR that my appeal letter should only be 500 characters? Is it bad if I go over? I tried my best keeping it as low as 500 words minimum however I went over 175. Can you guys please read this and let me know what you think? Thanks in advance!
As a longtime Riverside resident, I feel it’s necessary for me to give my long desired dream school another shot. The year 2014 was a difficult year for my family and I, especially in November. Just a month before UC applications were due, my father who has bipolar disorder and refuses to take treatment sparked a family fight, which took my attention away from the things I needed to do in my life. As November 31 approached, I struggle to fill out my application while under the circumstance of my father constantly attempting to argue with me. In addition, my job at Starbucks has brought great stress to me as we prep for Thanksgiving, Black Friday, as well as early Christmas shopping. I believe that as long as I trust in faith, everything will work out. All I can do is submit this appeal and let faith work its way.
I think it should be more straightforward. Talk about why it is your dream school and why you would be such a good fit for UCR. And I would not mention faith. While nobody can deny you for your beliefs, religion is polarizing, and probably not something you should bring up. Definitely do not go over 500–they might just toss your appeal if it is.
This is from Ms Sun’s UC blog regarding appeals. This website has been very useful so I suggest you follow her advice:
Guideline on Writing Your Appeal
Remember, telling the admissions officers they made a huge mistake is not going to help your case. For your appeal to be considered, you must prove that you are a much stronger candidate than what was presented in your application. Specifically, you must present new and compelling information that was not previously available to the admissions office. So if you failed to include information regarding extraordinary hardship and/or exceptional talent/extracurriculars on your application, you may discuss them on your appeal as reasons for the UCs to reconsider you. Make sure you describe exactly how the exceptional talent/extracurriculars make you well qualified for UC admissions and/or how the hardship prevented you from achieving academic success.
The focus of your appeal should be why you are an excellent candidate for the UCs, not why your hardship is horrible or why the UCs must admit you. Your objective is to explain why the UCs should be interested in you, not how much you love the UCs. State your case concisely and don’t exaggerate or try to be dramatic. Keep in mind that the acceptance rate on appeal is generally low (in the last two years the decision reversal rate was often less than 10%) and you should have a backup plan in place if the decision is not reversed.
Campus-Specific Appeal Filing Instructions
Each UC campus offers a set of instructions on how to submit an appeal. You MUST follow the instructions to ensure proper and expedited processing of your appeal submission. Failure to comply with the instructions may result in dismissal of your appeal.
Did you know that there are only 30 days in November?
Yep thanks, saw that. Must have been a typo