Do's and Don't's of What to Write in my Waitlist Appeal Letter/Essay

Colleges & Universities University of Washington
1

<p>My case was the one where I had everything great (2200 SAT, 31 ACT, 13 honors classes and 4 AP’s and 4 Running Start classes, essays with great content, significant volunteering and employment hours: 150 hours and 15 months respectively, 9 year art portfolio, trilingual, etc.) except I had a 3.2 unweighted GPA.</p>

<p>Since the only thing I need to defend/explain is my GPA, it’ll make it easier to streamline the letter. My GPA goes from about a 3.43 in 9th grade, second semester, to about a 3.05 in 10th grade 1st semester, to about a 3.4 again this past semester in 12th grade.</p>

<p>I have three to four big arguments -</p>

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<p>I think I’ll shy away from topics that place the blame on other people. Instead, I’ll focus on simply explaining the circumstances that led me to make some mistakes that led to my GPA being a 3.2 instead of like 3.6.</p>

<p>Thing is, do any of the above topics sound like things I shouldn’t do?</p>

<p>And for my second page of the letter, I wanted to make the case for why I KNOW that UW is the school for me. In this case, how much a<strong>kissing is too much a</strong>kissing?</p>

2

<p>Can you appeal? I was waitlisted too, but I am out of state. What I took away from the letter was that they base the waitlist off of your senior year grades. But I could be wrong. Maybe it’s different for in-staters. </p>

<p>I know nothing about writing a letter of appeal, but as an objective observer I would definitely shy away from making excuses. Focus on talking about the future, not rectifying whatever mistakes you made in high school.</p>

<p>I’m sort of in the same boat as you, low GPA due to serious extenuating circumstances. But it was only really low for one semester, my first of freshman year. It just brought the whole cumulative down. My circumstances persist but I overcame them for the most part.</p>

<p>Good luck. What I’ve taken away from U Dub admissions from the articles I’ve read and the things I’m hearing, it’s kind of a crapshoot. I got into NYU which was the most competitive its ever been this year, but U Wash obviously didn’t see the same in me.</p>

3

<p>Appealing is a completely different process from being on the waitlist.</p>

<p>You appeal a decision because you believe that admissions has wrongly waitlisted or rejected you. If you appeal and are denied, you are still on the waitlist. Anyone waitlisted or rejected can appeal.</p>

<p>Don’t blame anyone. Take responsibility for your grades, but talk about how the circumstances threw you off. Talk about what you learned from them. Talk about your dreams and how your past affected it. Don’t make it sound whiny, because that conveys immaturity. Don’t list your big points right after another, either. Make your appeal sound very thought out. </p>

<p>Start working ASAP on writing it and have some English teachers read it. Give it to a close friend to read. </p>

<p>Your GPA is what is holding back your admissions to UW. Let’s assume that all teachers grade the same. Why would someone else have a 4.0 and you have a 3.2? Part of it is the time spent studying. Part of it may be the public speaking fiasco. I know you mentioned that you spent a lot of time helping around the house. Talk about how family is important to you. You could have chosen to be the child who said, “I need to do school work. Sports. etc… why should I help you (mom) with <kid>? Why should I spend MY time doing things around the house?” You could have been a problem child, come home at 9pm every night. Instead, you stepped up and took responsibility. I do want to commend you for that, even if you felt like your mom was forcing you to do stuff (I don’t know the entire story XD…). Unfortunately, that time took away from school work. Convey that point. Perhaps you learned to manage your time well as the years went by, leading to a higher GPA while taking harder courses.</kid></p>

<p>Why do you think UW is the school for you? Talk about your goals and dreams. What were you thinking about with “a** kissing”? Perhaps you can incorporate the story of your grandfather here.</p>

<p>You sound very serious about this appeal and I wish you the best. I’m also sending you a PM, so look out for that (in case no notification pops up >:O)</p>

4

<p>You sent me the appeal a few days ago. It’s what got me started on this whole process. It’s really helpful, by the way, so thank you. I just still wanted to post this topic.</p>

<p>As far as “a*<em>kissing” - I obviously want to articulate why so many of UW’s aspects fit with what I want from a college experience. And at this point, I kinda want to get across the point that hey, you guys are my last and best and only shot at achieving my dreams. I know that’s not *entirely</em> true, but hyperbole might help in this case, because I don’t want to come across as the kid to whom getting into UW isn’t a top priority, who doesn’t <em>really</em> need to get in. Me? I need to get in. I didn’t apply anywhere else in-state (again, not my call) and it’s looking pretty likely that the rest of my out-of-state schools reject me too. So if UW doesn’t take me, all my hard work is wasted and I go to UW Bothell or community college for a few years.</p>

<p>Coming back to the topic of a**kissing, I mean that how much restraint is required when talking about how great UW is, in my opinion? So that I don’t come off as “trying too hard”? I feel like I showed considerable restraint on my application, and since that doesn’t seem to have helped me, maybe now’s not the time for holding back or being subtle.</p>

<p>I don’t mean straight-up begging to get in, but positively talking about UW (a lot) in relation to how it’s like a perfect fit for what I want out of college - that’s what I meant to do.</p>

<p>As for what someone said about talking about the future rather than making excuses…valid point, but with a 3.2 GPA, wouldn’t they want to know the story behind it? What’s the point of talking about the great things you’d be able to achieve at UW if they still have that 3.2 sticking out at them like a sore thumb?</p>

5

<p>Oops, I have bad memory. :D</p>

<p>I think in terms of saying how UW is great and you want to go there, you could talk about what UW has to offer for you. The admissions people at UW KNOW that they’re ranked, have great opportunities … but what can you bring to UW and what can UW give you? You can be very direct about it, but by choosing your words so that they aren’t phrased as “UW IS GREAT, LET ME IN” will work in your favor. </p>

<p>Yes, I think UW would want to know what happened. However, what is more important is what you got out of the experience. For example, the presentation in front of the school. You got a D, and that impacted your GPA. Did you learn something from that? Did you practice speaking for presentations after?</p>

<p>If I put myself in the admission people’s shoes, I am curious as to why you had a 3.2 since you are appealing. However, I also want to know how you grew from it. With that second part, your appeal will be full of experiences that will help you in the future rather than full of excuses.</p>

6

<p>Right. So for every reason I give, I should focus on how I adapted to it and overcame it.</p>

<p>Would that still seem credible (just looking for an outside POV here) if my GPA didn’t go up THAT much? Like, I’ve still hung around the 3.3 area, just barely surpassing it these last couple semesters while taking more advanced classes, instead of rising up to a 4.0 like so many people on here talk about doing?</p>

7

<p>You took harder classes, right? And there still is a small upward trend. There’s no reason to dismiss it because it isn’t like you jumped from a 2.5 to a 3.8 in a few terms.</p>

8

<p>Yeah, I did. Even with the regular weighting system that disregards my 2-years-above advanced math classes and Running Start classes, I still went from a 3.3 9th grade to a 3.6 last semester. Cumulative 3.45 GPA.</p>

<p>If I weight my math and RST classes by half, I went from a 3.4 to a 3.91, with a cumulative of 3.56.</p>

<p>If I weight my math and RST classes the same as AP classes (they might as well be!) I’ve gone from a 3.49 to a 3.99, with a 3.65 cumulative GPA.</p>

<p>I might just mention these numbers somewhere in the appeal. Maybe seeing a solid number like that (since UW doesn’t weight GPAs) might add to my argument.</p>

9

<p>I wouldn’t waste your time appealing. You’re shocked and angry now, but it will pass.</p>

<p>I had pretty good stats and was waitlisted, with the good senior grades to boot. I spent a good deal of time worrying over my appeal, got everything together, and was very promptly responded to with a denial.</p>

<p>Eventually they accepted me, with the inconvenience of applying for housing late (something I am still living out the consequences of). It was difficult listening to the reassurance of many people telling me that I wasn’t going to get in, and I already started making plans to help guard myself from the worst.</p>

<p>And guess what? I ended up passing my 5 AP tests senior year, entered UW with 30 AP credits, am now a sophomore, and have made the Dean’s List my first two quarters here. With the way things turned out I sometimes feel like I should have gone to a better school than UW, but unfortunately I was too stubborn to take the SAT a second time, and the grades from my first and second year of high school was something that no college was going to let themselves look past. College admissions are ridiculous, and many of the decisions are pretty arbitrary. Even though UW is a large state school, they are no exception to this. If anything, that means they view of a lot of their admits as business decisions.</p>

<p>I would predict that, like me, your appeal isn’t going to be accepted. Do so if you feel it’s necessary. And if you do, just focus on how you see the importance of education, and what college can do for you. You would be hard-pressed to find a high school student who wasn’t depressed at some point in time, or who had to deal with some nasty situations. The reason my grades were bad my first two years of high school was because I rarely sat down and did homework, and spent more time smoking pot and skateboarding. But the college doesn’t care about that. There is an element of a** kissing; many colleges as part of their regular admissions process have Why Us? essays, where it seems that they just want to read how good they are over and over again. More so however, is that they want to know why and how you will fit in academically and in a couple other ways you can figure out for yourself. </p>

<p>And when you get here (which I know you will if you decide to matriculate), you’re going to discover that many of the freshman are pretty dumb. They’re loud and obnoxious, frequently reference “that kegger”, watch Spongebob, slog around in their pajamas, almost never read a book outside of their syllabi - if I had to guess, I would say many of them were not the standout students of their high school (though I may be wrong), and indeed, many of the people from my own high school who got accepted outright had poorer stats than I. I’m honestly going to college because I find it enriching, but you’re going to realize that it means many different things to each student. My point is that it really isn’t the end of the world if even you don’t get in. It’s a good school and has many good resources, but it (and presumably most other colleges) just isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. </p>

<p>Just a bit of dribble that I hope you will find helpful.</p>

10

<p>@ctc414: With all due respect, I don’t think you should be criticizing metalninjacake’s effort. I frankly admire what he is putting into the appeal because he knows he is passionate about the school. Yes, your appeal might have been rejected but that doesn’t automatically void his chances of getting accepted. In my opinon, no two applicants are the same. Might I add, to be blunt, that you seem to come off unnecessarily bitter about your choice with UW. With that said, your opinon does not represent all those at UW so I don’t believe you should go around generalizing certain aspects of the school. </p>

<p>Finally, I’d like to add that in no way, shape, or form is sitting around smoking pot and being a skater ANYTHING like having a close one pass away or introducing a newborn into your household. I frankly do not appreciate your comment and I personally wish metalninjacake the best.</p>

11

<p>Not to hijack the thread or anything, but I was wondering if it would be wise to send a letter the Admissions Office reinstating my interest in UW as my top choice.</p>

12

<p>Some of you may not like this, but why should adcoms change a decision when you emphasize all the hardships? Aren’t you suggesting that next time someone gets ill or dies, family responsibilities distract you or you take rigorous classes, you may also suffer? The kids who are really impressive endure all sorts of challenges, take tough course loads and still get great grades. Instead of portraying yourself as subject to pressure, empahsize your strengths. Impress them with your maturity and any recent accomplishments or awards that make you a better match than before. And, A-kissing only works when you apply it most wisely- eg, a nice note adding info about why you want to work with professor X or participate in the Y program. Ie, make yourself relevant. Good luck to all of you.</p>