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Have you recently received a college rejection letter? Don’t worry! Here are the next steps to take after receiving a letter of rejection.
Receiving a rejection letter can be disheartening, especially if you spent a lot of time on your application. However, you shouldn’t lose hope after receiving a letter of rejection! We’ll cover what to do after receiving a college rejection letter, why colleges send them, and how to cope with a college rejection.
Let’s get started!
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If you’ve recently received a rejection letter from a college, don’t let it get you down. There are many reasons a school may reject you: try not to take a school's decision personally. Instead, refocus on how you can improve your chances of acceptance moving forward.
Let’s go over the steps you can take to deal with a college rejection.
Many students receive rejection letters every year. Unfortunately, you’re not the first student to receive one, and you certainly won’t be the last. Try not to let your letter get you down. Take some time to get yourself into a better headspace first. Then you can pick yourself up and determine your next move.
When one door closes, another opens. If you’ve been accepted to other schools, celebrate those wins! Even if a school isn’t your first choice, it may offer unique opportunities that will give you an amazing college experience.
Listen to your heart when it comes to taking the next steps. Your options include:
There’s no wrong answer here. As long as you keep your head high and move forward, you can pick the choice that makes the most sense for your timeline and goals.
If your test scores were low or you didn’t meet academic requirements at your target school, you may want to use this time to improve your future application. Remember to evaluate the average of the incoming class rather than the minimum requirements when setting your academic goals.
If you want to increase your chances of acceptance, consider reaching out to an experienced admissions consultant. Admissions experts who are former admissions committee members and writing experts can help you perfect every aspect of your application.
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There are several reasons you may receive a college rejection letter. Not getting into a college doesn’t necessarily mean your application wasn’t strong or that a school wouldn’t accept you the second time. Let’s go over the most common reasons colleges send rejections.
One common reason schools don’t accept students is because they don’t meet academic standards or requirements. This may mean you didn’t complete the necessary prerequisite courses, your test scores were below that of admitted students, or your qualifications weren’t at the same level as other candidates.
When applying for college, it’s important to research the average grades of the current class to understand academic expectations. With most schools, only meeting the minimum requirements isn’t enough to get you accepted.
You should also thoroughly research necessary prerequisites and testing requirements before applying to avoid missing anything.
It happens more often than you think; many incomplete applications are rejected each year automatically. This means that no matter how strong your application is, it may have been rejected before an admissions committee got the chance to review it.
Before sending each application, ensure that every field is filled out and every necessary document has been sent to your target school. Similarly, errors can cause rejection of your application before your qualifications are reviewed. Common application errors include:
The best way to avoid rejection because of incomplete applications or mistakes is to carefully review all materials before submitting them.
Program seats can fill up quickly, especially at more competitive schools. As a result, many qualified applicants might be turned away. Sometimes a school will put you on a waiting list or defer your application if this is the case, but not always.
There may not always be a surefire way to avoid rejection at selective programs.
However, you can help avoid the issue by sending in applications as early as possible before the program fills up.
Sometimes a school may send a rejection letter if they feel your goals don’t fit the school. For example, if your application states that you’re looking for a big city experience, but the school is located in a rural area, your application may be rejected.
This typically only happens when the school has to make tough decisions between multiple qualified candidates.
Whether or not you can appeal a college rejection depends on the school’s policy. So, how do you appeal a school rejection letter? The first thing you should do is take some time to gather your thoughts and feelings: you don’t want to communicate with colleges when you’re angry or upset.
There is typically a timeframe in which you can appeal a rejection varies by school. For example, UC Berkeley first-year applicants have four weeks to appeal, while transfer applicants have two weeks. These are the steps you should follow if you plan to appeal:
Ensure you check what the school asks for to appeal a rejection. For example, students appealing to UC Berkeley can write a 500-word letter. Don’t send anything extra that colleges don’t ask for.
Your chance of acceptance after appealing a rejection letter is challenging to gauge, but various estimates indicate you have a 1-2% chance of winning your appeal. If you have new information to provide your first choice school, it’s worth a shot!
If you received a rejection letter from a college and have more questions, check out these FAQs.
Yes, colleges send rejection notices to students who weren’t admitted.
How you deal with getting rejected from college is up to you. You can choose to appeal your rejection, take a gap year, accept an offer at another school, or apply to more schools if you have time.
You could theoretically ask why you were rejected, but you’re likely to receive a generic response (or no response at all). We suggest directing your time and energy toward your next steps rather than lingering on why you weren’t selected.
You can reapply to colleges that rejected you in the next admissions cycle. Ensure you strengthen your application and edit it to perfection before submission.
Although it can be disappointing, don’t let a college rejection letter get you down. Take this time to consider all your options, improve your application, retake tests, and keep moving forward.
If you have more questions about how to get into college after receiving a rejection letter, speaking with a Quad Education admissions consultant can help provide you with the clarity you need. We’re passionate about helping students craft compelling applications: set up a call with us today to see how we can help!
