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What is an appeal?
An appeal is a student’s formal request, in writing, that a college reconsider an application for admission. The appeal letter should be about one page and should explain your position why you believe you should be reconsidered for admission. Some colleges also invite you to include extra material that wasn’t in your original application, such as another teacher recommendation or a report card from the first semester of the senior year. While most appeals are not successful, students who can present compelling new information sometimes benefit from the formal request to be reconsidered.
Who should appeal?
As unfair as the admissions process may seem at times, most colleges are very thorough in their evaluation of candidates. That’s why the few appeals that are successful usually bring to light new information that was not available to the college when they were reviewing your application. For example, if your 7th semester grades were a dramatic improvement over your previous grades, or your club that you started raised a large amount of money for a charity event you planned, or the new internship you just secured happens to be in the field you plan on majoring in, these are things that can be taken into account when reconsidering your application. Students who do not have new information to share have a very difficult time presenting a compelling case for an appeal to be accepted.
Some students want to appeal a decision because they simply believe they are stronger applicants than other students from their school who were admitted. Unfortunately, while the fact that these students were admitted and you were denied may frustrate you, the colleges will not consider this a valid reason to overturn their original decision. It’s important not to criticize the decisions that were made in favor of other applications. Keep your tone positive and focus on what you have accomplished since you applied. Do not compare yourself to other applicants who were admitted.
How to appeal
1.
Carefully read the decision letter the college sent you, and research the admissions section of the college’s website to see if any information about appealing decisions is provided. Some colleges will come right out and tell you that they do not accept appeal requests. Other colleges will not only tell you that they accept appeals, but will also tell you exactly what to do in order to appeal the decision. Follow all instructions the college provides. And if any of their instructions seem to contradict what you read in this guideline, do whatever the college tells you to do.
2.
Write a letter as soon as possible explaining why you want the admissions committee to reconsider your application for admission. Be polite and respectful, and make sure to present new information; don’t just rehash what was in your application. Time is of the essence when it comes to appealing, so don’t wait to do this.
3.
If the college indicates that extra letters of recommendation will be accepted in appeals cases, consider asking a teacher to write a letter of recommendation (a different teacher than you used before). However, you should only do this if you feel this teacher will be able to present new and compelling information. For example, if you recently raised your grade dramatically, excelled in a class project, or received an academic award for your work in a particular teacher’s class, it might be worth asking that teacher to write a letter for you.
4.
If invited to do so by the college, consider submitting a recent paper or project you have completed in your senior year. If you will be submitting a paper or project, make sure you reference it in your letter, and make sure to explain.
5.
Send all of these materials in one envelope to the admissions office.
Final appeal thoughts
We know it’s disappointing not to be accepted to a school you really wanted to attend, and we understand why you might decide to try an appeal. But we want you to be excited about whatever college you ultimately attend, so we feel compelled to say that the very best thing you could do while you’re waiting for your appeal decision is to start falling in love with one of your other colleges that said, “Yes.” Visit those schools again. Buy a sweatshirt. Start imagining yourself there. You’ll feel much more positive and encouraged by focusing on a great school that admitted you, rather than lamenting the decision of one who said, “No.”
And remember that the vast majority of college freshmen report that they are happy with their college experience, even those students who were not admitted to schools that were their first choice at the time. Whether or not your appeal is granted, you’re going to go to college with a bunch of 18-22 year-olds and all you have to do is learn and have fun for four years. It might not feel like it now, but you’re going to be OK.
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Dason and Chris, two young Hong Kongers now studying in American universities, talk about their experience preparing for their standardized tests at the Princeton Review in Hong Kong.
In this short video, two members of the Princeton Review Hong Kong team introduce the school and answer questions about what students need in order to apply to an American University.
在這影片中, 兩名香港Princeton Review的職員將會為大家介紹學院及解答有關同學們申請美國大學時應注意的事項.
By ERICA HARBATKIN
Staff Writer
Michael Shmulevich decided last summer that his first-choice school was Princeton University.
But the Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies senior had been preparing for Princeton long before he decided he wanted to go there.
As the number of high school students applying to college balloons to record numbers, college admissions are more competitive than ever. And that means students need to begin preparing for the application process years before the senior year application deadlines, guidance counselors and admissions experts say.
“When we meet with the parents of the eighth-grade students who are applying here, we tell them that too early is never early enough,” said Glenn Methner, principal of Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies, a public school for engineering-oriented students in Edison. “When you start your high school career you have to be focused on what you’re gonna be doing after postsecondary.”
KEY FACTORS:
Grades and strength of schedule are the two most important factors in most colleges’ admissions decisions, which means students should enroll in challenging courses beginning in ninth grade. Test scores are the next-most-important consideration at most schools, guidance counselors say.
“The academic record is, without a doubt, the single most important factor in admission to college,” said John Mammon, the counseling department chairman at Piscataway High School. “The standardized test definitely has its place, but it’s secondary to the academic record of the student.”
At both Piscataway High School and the Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering, students take the PSAT in ninth, 10th and 11th grades to prepare for the SAT. They should take their first SAT in 11th grade, admissions experts say, and can repeat the test in 12th grade, if necessary.
Meanwhile, the ACT has become a practical alternative in recent years, said Dan Coggshall, executive director of the Princeton Review of Central Jersey.
“One of the new realities is the SAT and ACT are equally accepted by colleges. There’s not a college out there that doesn’t accept the ACT if they accept the SAT,” Coggshall said. “Students should really be looking at both tests because there are significant differences between the two tests and some students do better on one than the other.”
Students can take both tests and only report the higher score, he said.
Shmulevich, an Edison resident, has a 2,190 SAT score on a scale of 2,400 and a 5.175 grade point average — the highest possible on the school’s grading scale.
SOMETHING EXTRA:
But Princeton is looking for more. In 2008, Princeton had 21,370 applicants and admitted 2,122 of those — less than 10 percent. And the admission rate for applicants with perfect GPAs wasn’t much higher — the university turned away five out of six applicants with perfect GPAs.
“Putting it real simply, they have to have something else of distinction about themselves,” Mammon said. “That could be the outstanding athlete, the gifted musician, another kid may be a tremendous leader.”
Beginning in ninth grade, students should participate in extracurricular activities that they enjoy enough to stick with through four years.
For Shmulevich, 17, that meant science and math league, debate club, model United Nations, tae kwon do and the student newspaper. He also volunteers with a group that refurbishes old computers and donates them to homeless shelters and church groups.
“Anything I had time for, I tried to be involved in,” Shmulevich said, adding that his interest in those activities made it easy to commit to them. “I wouldn’t suggest joining a club or anything that the person doesn’t find fun — but something they wouldn’t mind devoting a lot of their time to.”
The quality of the commitments is more important than the quantity, admissions experts say.
“What students should really be focused on is not a laundry list of activities, but really choosing two or three different activities that they’re truly passionate about and really focusing their time,” Coggshall said. “Colleges are looking for a significant commitment — not just showing up to one French club meeting your sophomore year.”
MORE COMPETITION:
Meanwhile, as the economy continues its slide, state schools are becoming more competitive. Rutgers University received a record 32,816 applications from first-year students in 2008 and accepted just under 60 percent of them. In 1999, the university accepted 67 percent of 26,593 first-year applicants. And the applicant pool is getting stronger, university officials said.
“We are seeing the academic profile of our applicants rising,” said Sandra Lanman, a university spokeswoman.
At Franklin High School in Somerset County, guidance counselor Ammon Barksdale tells students that beginning the application process early is paramount.
“A major fear (among students) is they think it’s a hassle or it’s highly stressful, but it’s only stressful with the points you can’t control — and that’s the getting-in part,” said Barksdale, the chair of the guidance department. “I tell students if you can master . . . time management and organization, the process is really quite simple.”
He recommends applying to seven to nine schools, including a “reach” school, “high-confidence” schools that students have an 80 percent chance of getting into, and a “safety” school.
“That way they’re covering all the bases,” Barksdale said. “We’re always reaching for the stars but preparing for the worst-case scenario so there will be a school to accept them once they graduate.”
March 16, 2009 Monday
Column: Despite drop in rankings, Brown is still stellar
By Nick Hagerty, Brown Daily Herald
Brown U., PROVIDENCE, R.I.
There’s been a lot of talk recently on this page about the essence of the Brown student. But what about the identity of Brown University?
University administrators and students often compare Brown to the ultra-prestigious trio of Harvard, Yale and Princeton. They mourn as that authority of authorities, the U.S. News and World Report, mercilessly drops Brown’s annual ranking among National Universities from 14 to 16. Last place in the Ivy League!
But high school students, at least, see something else in Brown. For despite the U.S. News ranking, Brown ranks sixth as high schoolers’ “dream college,” ahead of Columbia, Penn and MIT. A 2004 “revealed preference” study by Harvard researchers, which compared schools by how often students choose to attend them over other colleges, ranked Brown seventh. (Unsurprisingly, they put Harvard first.) And for what it’s worth, Brown is perennially among the top three on the Princeton Review‘s “Happiest Students” list.
So what is it that causes Brown to perform so much better in those more illuminating rankings than its basic statistical indicators, as aggregated by U.S. News, would otherwise predict?
The standard answer is, of course, the New Curriculum. But perhaps equally important are Brown’s commitment to undergraduates and its “university-college” model. I chose Brown because yes, I would be able to do cutting-edge science research and see speakers like John Edwards and Ricardo Lagos, but at the same time, professors would know my name.
Jan Tullis, a professor of geological sciences, attended Carleton College and later UCLA. At Carleton, she said, faculty were out of date with the material, while at UCLA, undergraduates were not valued. Brown gets the balance just right.
Despite the current recession, though, Brown is in a substantial long-term expansion of its faculty, graduate school and research power. So will moving further away from Carleton bring us closer to UCLA?
No, Tullis said, and I agree: not necessarily. Only preeminence in research can give undergraduates such opportunities as recent fieldwork trips to Greenland and the Galapagos. Research and teaching are not a zero-sum game, said Chung-I Tan, professor of physics and chair of the department.
But the current scene of teaching at Brown, especially in quantitative subjects like physical sciences and economics, is already far from the university-college ideal. Any concentrator in these fields can name several professors who were clearly not hired for their teaching abilities.
Some professors are not comfortable enough with English to engage the class. Some have good intentions but are unable to explain concepts at a fundamental level. Others simply appear not to care about teaching – for example, rarely do the worst instructors ask for course feedback.
One semester I tried to take ECON 1210: “Intermediate Macroeconomics,” only to find that the professor had not written a syllabus, couldn’t answer organizational questions and hadn’t given any prior thought to the course beyond selecting a textbook. I know several students who were too discouraged by intermediate economics courses to continue in the department.
I could easily go on – similar scenarios are all too common. However, it is not all bad news; there are many excellent professors throughout Brown.
Tan told me that the physics department provides graduate teaching assistants for the introductory physics courses. But when I took PHYS 0160: “Introduction to Relativity and Quantum Physics,” the professor taught the problem sessions himself because he wanted to get to know his students better.
Particularly exemplary is the geological sciences department. Renowned nationally for a top research and graduate program, it is also known around campus for being close-knit and especially supportive of undergraduates.
“There’s definitely a lot of attention paid to undergraduates,” said Jon Wang, a geo-bio concentrator. The department hosts numerous community building events, he said, including a holiday party, a fall picnic and departmental field trips. No matter how busy professors are, they’re always willing to talk. “I can just wander around, find them and talk to them,” he added.
When it comes to hiring decisions, undergraduates actually have an important voice, said Timothy Herbert, professor and chair of the department. Candidates for a faculty position meet for an hour with a group of undergraduate concentrators. The students then submit written summaries, which are considered in the final deliberations.
If the university really wants to improve science education and retain its focus on undergraduates amidst ambitious expansion, academic growth must be managed carefully and deliberately. It is critical that faculty hiring, promotion and tenure decisions more strongly take into account teaching skills and enthusiasm for undergraduates. Other departments, especially in quantitative fields, should look to geological sciences as a model.
Brown’s unique identity rests on not having to choose between picnics and John Edwards, and all they represent. But unless the university remembers that first-rate higher education requires all professors to be genuinely dedicated to undergraduates, we risk losing that identity and becoming just one more “top research university.”
Jamey Akien shows Lee Kolbert some of the great ways this product can helps student prepare for standardised tests. Like it or not, they are going to take these tests somewhere along their lives and to prepare for taking them is the first step.
LEE BIERER,
Special Correspondent
Most parents don’t spend much time worrying about the safety of their children on what they believe are, for the most part, idyllic college campuses. And until something happens to someone they know, most students assume nothing can go wrong in their “college bubble.”
Students often get caught up in a false sense of security.
But, unfortunately, bad things do happen.
Here are some suggestions of ways for students to stay safe on a college campus:
Don’t walk alone after dark. Use the campus escort service. If you must walk alone, stay alert, don’t listen to your iPod and don’t stop at an ATM. Be sure to walk on well-lit paths and know where the emergency phones are located. Know the number for campus security; plug it into your cell phone. Keep the cell phone handy so you can make a call, if necessary.
Make sure someone knows where you are at all times. Text when you arrive safely at your destination.
Enter your “In Case of Emergency” (ICE) numbers in your cell phone. ICE is commonly known by security forces, police departments and paramedics. If something happens, it will speed up contact with your loved ones. Also, know the phone numbers you will need to call to cancel your credit/debit cards if your wallet is stolen.
According to the Parents’ Guide to College Life and a survey done by Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, more than 100,000 property crimes on college campuses are reported to police each year and thieves make off with an average of $1,250 in stolen student property per theft.
Get a locking device for your laptop. Ask someone to watch your belongings when you head to the restroom or take a break at the library.
Lock your dorm room door at all times. People in first-floor dorm rooms should also lock their windows.
About 25 percent of all college-age women are victims of rape or attempted rape. Feelings of invincibility by male students lead them to riskier behavior than their common sense would dictate. Approximately 1,700 students die from alcohol-related injuries each year.
Avoid drinking too much. Do not accept a drink from anyone other than a bartender. Date rape drugs are easily slipped into drinks. Never go home with a stranger. Bring enough money to pay for a taxi back to your dorm, if necessary.
Despite these statistics, college campuses are still generally very safe places. Still, the best bet is to be smart and be vigilant.
Lee Bierer is an independent college adviser based in Charlotte: lee@collegeadmissions strategies.com; www.college admissionsstrategies.com Countdown to college notes
Campus crime resource: www.securityoncampus.org
Recommended Reading: “Parents’ Guide to College Life,” Robin Raskin
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