Appealing a rejection?

[DrPhysician]

Has anyone ever appealed (or even heard of appealing) a rejection decision (without getting an interview) from a school?

If so, did it help any to do so?

Thanks!

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[Falco2525]

Has anyone ever appealed (or even heard of appealing) a rejection decision (without getting an interview) from a school?

If so, did it help any to do so?

Thanks!

you have nothing to lose but it wont work

 

[Law2Doc]

you have nothing to lose but it wont work

Agree. If appeals were successful any substantial percentage of the time, everyone would do them and the system would grind to a halt. You may hear of one or two freak instances where it did work, but bear in mind that that is going to be exceedingly rare.
A higher percentage play would be to forget an appeal and meet with the admissions office to see how you can strengthen your application for a future cycle.

 

[njbmd]

Has anyone ever appealed (or even heard of appealing) a rejection decision (without getting an interview) from a school?

If so, did it help any to do so?

Thanks!

It is good to appeal a rejection if you know that there was a mistake that caused your rejection. For example, if you know that a document was received by the school yet the school didn't include it in their decision-making or that there was a mistake on one of your transcripts etc. I have even caught wrong names on letters of recommendation. In other words, the LOR for one student was sent to the wrong school and included information about another student.

It is useless to appeal a rejection because you believe you are a better candidate for admission than someone who actually got in. You cannot just compare yourself based on GPA/MCAT alone. There could have been something in your application that made you less competitive that you believe.

Appeals are seldom successful but once in a while, they are. If you truly believe that mistake was made that cost you an acceptance, then appeal. Otherwise, you would be wasting your time.

 

[8744]

Has anyone ever appealed (or even heard of appealing) a rejection decision (without getting an interview) from a school?

If so, did it help any to do so?

Thanks!

Hey.

I was rejected for an interview at Harvard. After calling the Dean of Admissions, the registrar, and my Aunt who is a cardiologist at Boston General I got them to offer me an interview.

I didn't really want an interview so I sent the letter back with "I was just playin' you, biach!" scrawled on the envelope.

Medical school admission is hard work. Sometimes you have to have a little fun.

Sincerely,

P. Bear, MD
Emergency Medicine Resident

 

[babaghannough]

Hey.

I was rejected for an interview at Harvard. After calling the Dean of Admissions, the registrar, and my Aunt who is a cardiologist at Boston General I got them to offer me an interview.

I didn't really want an interview so I sent the letter back with "I was just playin' you, biach!" scrawled on the envelope.

Medical school admission is hard work. Sometimes you have to have a little fun.

Sincerely,

P. Bear, MD
Emergency Medicine Resident

lol! if that's true, then you're the man..on another note, my best friend appealed a rejection pre-interview from ucsf and stanford. those were his two top choices (he's a cali resident and has a high mcat/gpa). he will interview at ucsf in a few weeks. the reason he appealed was that he simply thought he was a worthy candidate and was shafted. i say appeals work more often than you think they do.

 

[Depakote]

lol! if that's true, then you're the man..on another note, my best friend appealed a rejection pre-interview from ucsf and stanford. those were his two top choices (he's a cali resident and has a high mcat/gpa). he will interview at ucsf in a few weeks. the reason he appealed was that he simply thought he was a worthy candidate and was shafted. i say appeals work more often than you think they do.

You should take everything PandaBear says seriously... He's a doctor.

 

[DoctorFunk]

the reason he appealed was that he simply thought he was a worthy candidate and was shafted. i say appeals work more often than you think they do.

I say anecdotal evidence must be the basis of all logic. That's why scientists rely so heavily on it.

 

[Jainraisig]

I heard of a guy who was applying to med school along with his girlfriend. They had similar stats and other characteristics so they assumed that they could both get into the same schools. One difference was that the girlfriend was a latina and they guy was Indian (South Asian American or however it is classified on AMCAS). Anyway, girl gets into Columbia, boy gets rejected. The guy appealed and got his rejection overruled. Anything is possible right? Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
However, I wouldn't have the guts.

 

[bretticus]

I say anecdotal evidence must be the basis of all logic. That's why scientists rely so heavily on it.

Hey, what's with the sarcasm? Doctors administer anecdotes all the time!

Thanks, I'll be here all week.

 

[EAS2784]

Has anyone ever appealed (or even heard of appealing) a rejection decision (without getting an interview) from a school?

If so, did it help any to do so?

Thanks!

One of my friends appealed a preinterview rejection at BU and got an interview 2 weeks after...so I would say that if you're competitive, and only if your competitive, do it!

 

[Twitch]

Hey, what's with the sarcasm? Doctors administer anecdotes all the time!

Thanks, I'll be here all week.

That was on Jay Leno last night.

 

[bretticus]

That was on Jay Leno last night.

Bah! I'm found out!

Man I love headlines.

 

[Funky]

That was on Jay Leno last night.

no wonder it sounded so familiar

 

[DoctorMom78]

Hey.

I was rejected for an interview at Harvard. After calling the Dean of Admissions, the registrar, and my Aunt who is a cardiologist at Boston General I got them to offer me an interview.

I didn't really want an interview so I sent the letter back with "I was just playin' you, biach!" scrawled on the envelope.

Medical school admission is hard work. Sometimes you have to have a little fun.

Sincerely,

P. Bear, MD
Emergency Medicine Resident

What did your Aunt have to say about that? You probably ruined the future appeals process for everyone at Harvard now!

 

[PeripateticMD]

know that "Sex and the City" episode where they talk about dating legends (like urban legends). I feel like we're on an episode about appeal legends... everyone knows a story about a person who knew a person who it worked for. I figure maybe it can get you an interview, but I don't know if it would get you an acceptance... but if they already said no, it can't hurt, eh?