I know students are allowed to call school admissions and request the reason why they were denied but are students able to do that in reverse? For example, I get accepted to UCI. Am I able to call and ask what stood out about my application specifically or would that be detrimental/waste of time to my case?
Just curious.
Thank you.
To be honest, it looks as though you’re just looking for a huge pat on the back… The most wonderful things about you, the things we couldn’t live without are…
I know that’s probably not what you’re going for, but I would avoid it. If you want affirmation, ask mom and dad and not your college.
If you were accepted why does it matter?
You can see your app & associated notes under FERPA
Colleges will not give details on why a candidate was accepted or rejected. Celebrate your acceptance and move ahead.
“You can see your app & associated notes under FERPA”
I strongly suggest that you not do this. Many students who have done this find that while they can see notes, comments and numeral marks assigned to components of their application, without the explanatory “legend” or guide to deconstructing and fully understanding the value of those notes, comments and marks, they are left in the dark about how they stack up overall compared to other students.
When their peek in at their own file is now a kind of sample of one, with nothing to compare it to, and nothing to flesh out its true composite meaning in any way, it can leave a void in a student which is, frankly, a distraction and source of irritation which in no way moves one’s life forward.
If UCI is like other UCs, two readers have read your application and given scores from 1 (best) to 5 (worst). These scores are averaged, then ranked with scores from other applicants for your division/major. Then a cutoff is determined to admit the desired number of students, and you were above the cutoff.
So, in theory, if you make the FERPA query, you could end up getting just your reading scores and the cutoff for your division/major.
Now, if you are asking about a school with greater transparency like SJSU, you may find all of the information you want on its web site: http://www.sjsu.edu/admissions/impaction/impactionresultsfreshmen/index.html
My general rule when you win in some endeavor is to, be grateful, take the win, and move forward. Don’t go asking a bunch of unnecessary questions. You might trigger others to also start questioning why you succeeded.
A caveat is that you actually have to be enrolled for your admission documents to be considered “student records”. Also you might have checked the box to waive your right to view recommendation letters, so those might be excluded.
@Scipio to distill this down to the old saying: don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. If you’ve been accepted somewhere that surprised you, say “Please and thank you” and carry on.