Letter of Appeal for Stanford

[DoctorE]

I was wondering what the process was for appealing a pre-interview/post-secondary rejection. I have heard about people sending letters appealing the schools decision. What kinds of things should be included in such a letter? Should I also mail in extra letters of rec.? Has anyone appealed their rejection from Stanford in particular or know of anyone who has?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[63768]

i was debating it, but i figured a class of 86 is too little of a chance for my stats.

 

[dmtang2]

I was wondering what the process was for appealing a pre-interview/post-secondary rejection. I have heard about people sending letters appealing the schools decision. What kinds of things should be included in such a letter? Should I also mail in extra letters of rec.? Has anyone appealed their rejection from Stanford in particular or know of anyone who has?

honestly, i would not send a letter of appeal. my friend who has a 31 mcat and a 3.6 gpa got rejected from stanford very very early in the cycle. he is from cali.

stanford is very numbers based, unfortunately. if u cant hit their numbers mark, they will reject you.. regardless of your activities, LORS, etc.

 

[owenmichael]

honestly, i would not send a letter of appeal. my friend who has a 31 mcat and a 3.6 gpa got rejected from stanford very very early in the cycle. he is from cali.

stanford is very numbers based, unfortunately. if u cant hit their numbers mark, they will reject you.. regardless of your activities, LORS, etc.

hmmm i disagree. I think stanford is alot like mayo. Loook for unique applicants that are very dedicated to the disciplines they emphasize (teaching, academic medicine, research, public policy). If they really were number ******, their average MCAT (33) and GPA (3.72) would be a lot higher.
Just my opinion though

 

[Mogwai]

haha. I would not send a letter of appeal. I mean comon....use the time to make your application and you yourself stand out more for other school. Theres plenty of good schools out there.

 

[yrodri15]

I know for a fact that Stanford is NOT numbers based.

They thoroughly look at your activities like the above poster said.

 

[supersash]

i say what is the harm in trying? if stanford is high on your list, you will always think, what may have happened if i sent that letter.

spend a little time putting something together, but don't get crazy about it, and be sure to still put all the time and effort into your other secondaries/interviews etc.

if you do end up getting accepted to stanford, GREAT! if not, remember that everything happens for a reason 😉

good luck!(ps-i am not sure what to put in there, but some type of letter of intent, and i think more lor sounds good to me)

 

[CircleTheDrain]

I know for a fact that Stanford is NOT numbers based.

They thoroughly look at your activities like the above poster said.

HOW do you know for a Fact that Stanford is NOT numbers based?
If you claim something is a fact then you must provide documentation!

 

[yrodri15]

I attended a summer program there - I know their process very very well.

 

[AJM]

I know for a fact that Stanford is NOT numbers based.

They thoroughly look at your activities like the above poster said.

yrodri is correct. Stanford is NOT numbers based. They are much more concerned about your other activities, and in particular your leadership potential and interest in research. The reason I know is because I did admissions work when I was a student at Stanford. I can't provide you with any hard evidence, because most of the admissions details are confidential.

You can appeal, but you will probably be wasting your time. Appeals are treated seriously, and when you appeal, your file is re-evaluated by the Dean of Admissions personally. However, even if you happen to get an interview after an appeal, you are really fighting an uphill battle. You can appeal in different ways -- for example, one is to write a letter to the Dean, another is to have a faculty member who's been supportive of you call or write the Dean of Admissions.

I only know of one person who appealed his rejection to Stanford. He had been doing research with a big-name faculty member, who personally contacted the Dean after my friend found out that he was rejected. This person ended up getting an interview (my guess is that this was a courtesy interview, because this faculty member who was supporting him was so high-profile). Long story short, my friend got rejected anyway -- the only benefit he had from appealing was that he got to spend a day interviewing.... good thing he was in the area and didn't have to pay for travel.

Good luck.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

HOW do you know for a Fact that Stanford is NOT numbers based?
If you claim something is a fact then you must provide documentation!

What are we, in a court of law here? Tough crowd...

 

[SeventhSon]

yrodri is correct. Stanford is NOT numbers based. They are much more concerned about your other activities, and in particular your leadership potential and interest in research. The reason I know is because I did admissions work when I was a student at Stanford. I can't provide you with any hard evidence, because most of the admissions details are confidential.

I think I am hard evidence

 

[studentstudent]

I just wanted to know why I got rejected when I called them, and well, ended up filling out a letter of appeal instead. It only takes a few minutes, but they said I won't hear anything for a long time. I was just curious about how I got rejected so quickly (right after they got my money, of course), but I think this thread helped me more than they ever would have. I don't have a strong research background and I didn't show interest on my application to go into academic medicine.

 

[temmie]

i completely agree with yrod, stanford is not number hungry. I was also there for HCOP2004 and heard some great testimonies, so i think everyone should definitely apply. you might be the exception
good luck