Should I even bother with an appeal?

speedsolver
Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:22:53 +0000

Your appeal letter sounds well thought out!

Hmm, what role does your cousin play to you besides just being a cousin? It seems somewhat odd to have a former student, relative, to write a recommendation. Were you both in some sort of activity (ie church, sports, other extra currics) that she could write about? She could compare you as a person to the people she ‘met’ at UW, and how you would bring the most to UW.

Do you have a coach, advisor, or someone else who has known you for a long time and perhaps involved in one of your activities? It would seem more credible to the admissions if you were not related to your recommender. I’m not saying that your cousin will write things and perhaps over-exaggerate about you, but if I take an admissions officer’s point of view, a recommendation from someone outside the family just sounds… ‘better.’

If anyone else has any opinions/advice, please contribute =) This is but my opinion. I had two friends appeal successfully last year (one waitlist, one reject), so this just based on my thoughts and experience talking with them about the process.