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Chances of Successful Appeal at Pitt?

Written by Sally Rubenstone | Jan. 10, 2011

Question: I was recently denied by the University of Pittsburgh's Main Campus, my first choice. I immediately requested to have myself reconsidered. If I send in my mid-year grades and score well on the ACT, what are my chances of being granted admission?

I can't quantify your odds, but the chances of overturning a denial are typically not good. If your mid-year grades and ACT score are significantly better than those you submitted with your initial application, then you may have a chance, but it will be a long-shot. So it's worth pursuing the appeal as long as, at the same time, you also pursue other options and, hopefully, allow yourself to get excited about the colleges that will welcome you.

Ideally, you can enlist your guidance counselor to help with your crusade. If he or she is firmly behind your candidacy, then a letter (or phone call) from the counselor to the Pitt admission office might have some impact, especially if the counselor can offer some specific reasons why you should be reconsidered. (Examples: your GPA suffered due to health or family problems or maybe you got stuck with several of your high school's notoriously tough graders. Or perhaps you are simply so charismatic, that you'll be a huge asset to the Pitt community. :))

But, again, don't get your hopes up. Admission officials have enough to do without having to revisit applications that they already reviewed. So your case may not receive any consideration at all. Thus, while you're waiting for your appeal to be resolved, check out this earlier “Ask the Dean" column about appeals and also be sure to read the thread it cites about satisfaction with “safety" schools. See Appealing a “Dream School" Denial and also http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/455645-experience-current-college-students-who-ended-up-their-safety-school.html

Good luck to you, whatever the outcome.

(posted 1/9/2011)

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.