do universities ever change their decision once theyve rejected you?

i just got rejected from sheffield to do english and philosophy, and im post A level applicant and had all the right grades and everything, and it was my favorite, and im gutted. im gonna ring them tmoro and like beg, or something, i havent quite figured it out yet. do you think theres any possibility ill get anywhere? i mean i dont know the reasons why i got rejected yet and i suppose that will factor into what i say and how i approach it, but has anyone ever heard of a uni changing their mind? i could use some encouragement. feel like ****. urgh. :frown:

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Reply 1

lucy0703

i will say, yes they do change their minds, especially if they think the persons going to make a real educated complaint about it! wait and see what they say, have you got any other offers tho, cos we can't all be picky!!! i got rejected from 4 universities with flawless record ! xxxxx

Reply 2

allmyshoes

it's possible, but not necessarily probable. i would contact them, though, for sure. remember there's always ucas extra & clearing!
i got rejected from the uni i wanted to study at THREE TIMES last year, but i reapplied for '07 entry and now i have 6 unconditional offers from them.

things work out! good luck.

Reply 3

Sammyjo18

thanks for replying. i plan to do whatever i can to get my little voice heard in this ruthless english application round. i guess im kinda annoyed that theres gonna be a load of people applying for it with offers and they wont even use it. and i reallly want it. and if all else fails ill have to have a good look at my other 4 offers. which are good offers i guess.

Reply 4

worldwide

They won't change their mind apart from in exceptional circumstances (such as if you complain about the way your application was handled and your complaint is upheld).

It's extremely unlikely, though.

Reply 5

lucy0703

its not extremely unlikely! i know several people its happened to! english departments are so overwhelmed by applications they often cannot give them the attention they deserve, so if a student rings up who has the correct grades and qualities the university wants, but has been overlooked in this lottery, the pure fact that they ring up shows the university they are desperate to come, and they are often persuaded to give them a place! xxxx

Reply 6

ScarecrowJack

I got into uni after being rejected by basically complaining and being irritating, still not sure how :s-smilie:

but it does happen. E-mail them and don't accept that generic "We have soooo many applicants" rubbish, make them tell you why you were rejected! Say it in a polite way of course.

Reply 7

worldwide

for English, I must reiterate that it's extremely unlikely a university will change their mind. Most of the time, they'll just get annoyed.

Reply 8

ZoyaP

worldwide

for English, I must reiterate that it's extremely unlikely a university will change their mind. Most of the time, they'll just get annoyed.

way to kick someone when they're down by crushing all hope that they have.
i
m in the same boat, got rejected from my top choice and im going to call them on Monday. i found out this morning and im devastated...if i dont get in l'll probably have to take a forced gap year :frown:

. When I do call what sort of thing should I say? i dont want to come across as too agressive/rude but i want to challenge their decision. Any advice?

Reply 9

hobnob

ZoyaP

way to kick someone when they're down by crushing all hope that they have.

Do you think it's better to encourage faint (and possibly unrealistic) hopes, so people will come crashing down by themselves when things don't actually work out for them as they had hoped? :dontknow:

Reply 10

steve2005

worldwide

for English, I must reiterate that it's extremely unlikely a university will change their mind. Most of the time, they'll just get annoyed.

From your profile I see you are 19 and on a Gap Year, so what experience or inside knowledge enables you to say "it's extremely unlikely"

Reply 11

hobnob

steve2005

From your profile I see you are 19 and on a Gap Year, so what experience or inside knowledge enables you to say "it's extremely unlikely"

Hmm, the experience of having applied before (and possibly having been in the same situation as the OP), perhaps? Obviously that's not exactly expert knowledge, but then again, you're a bit unlikely to find that on a forum aimed mainly at students...

Reply 12

worldwide

steve2005

From your profile I see you are 19 and on a Gap Year, so what experience or inside knowledge enables you to say "it's extremely unlikely"

the fact that I know a LOT about English courses having applied twice to UCAS for a variety of them - and done a lot of research of my own. I've spoken to quite a few people about their own applications for this subject, and two of my relatives are English graduates. Oh, and I've spent quite a bit of my time browsing this forum, listening to others' responses, and assisting them myself. And only -extremely- infrequently has anyone got any benefit out of asking a university to reconsider their rejection for exceptionally competitive courses such as English. It's a FACT that unless the admissions process was at fault or there was an administrative error, there is effectively no way that they will change their mind. It's just common sense. Why would they make a decision in the first place if it was open to being changed?
Do you want any other reasons why I'm able to say that with confidence, or are those sufficient?
As hobnob says, hopes of a changed decision are unrealistic, and I would have thought that you could see that without any other experience.

Reply 13

Sammyjo18

wow, i kinda see a devided opinion of people in this post. i have spoke to my first choice briefly. i couldnt get hold of the right person on the phone. but i shall amend that on monday with persistent ringing until someone picks the phone up. ive emailed the head of admissions. and i guess maybe i am after a lost cause, but lets face it. if i dont try then id never get there. even if every good english course is stupidly over subscribed, at least by making the effort to get my application accepted, on whatever sentimental level, i know ive done the right thing. id never get anywhere at all in life if i sat there thinking "i may as well not bother because its so competitive, and they never change their decisions anyway". and i think im doing this because im just as good an english student as any one out there, and i want it just as much, and why should my hopes of getting somewhere decent be any less acceptable than all you lucky people with 3 A's who walk into wherever you wanted. and so help me god, if they say no ill tell the english department im contacting how annoyed i am, mainly in the hope to piss them off. because theyll deserve it. because they look for students who are passionate and responsive, and academically strong, and it makes them hypocrites cos all ive been is consistent. and i know your all gonna say "everyone who applies is consistent and passionate about the subject" and i know someones gonna be dissappointed. but if i end up not getting it changed - which i accept is the most likely course of action - then there gonna know that im pissed off. you cant spend the whole application process wanting an offer and knowing you fit the bill for it to get rejected without thinking what bastards. i mean what are the points of entry requirements if they throw it back in your face? i think UCAS is a flawed system. mainly because a rejection should be accompanied by reasons as to why without having to ask, it should be a mandatory requirement from universities. as students we put all this effort in, working for A levels, wider reading, personal statements, interviews, and then to see of track "unsucessful" and no other explanation and no person available on the end of the phone who has a clue as to why is bloody stupid. and you say "thats they system, get over it" i bet the people saying that have got where they wanted. so, consider, you clinical pessimists, that perhaps i have stronger feelings about this. and when i finally contact the right person and they say "theres no way we can change our offer" ill give them a piece of my mind. and yes, probably false hope, no way in hell that im gonna get what i want obviously. so thanks for sharing, i appreciate it.

this kind of turned into a general rant. and its just me being annoyed. this whole system is crap, and im sick of always being overlooked. lottery defines this. completely. i bet if you work out the statistics for getting anywhere for english then you wouldnt bother. :frown:

Reply 14

ZoyaP

good for you! im calling tomorrow, gettingthe head of english to call and the head of my sixth form to write a letter..it can only help right? there is nowhere else i want to be and theres no other course that i want to take and if they say sorry no to me then im going to say alright but why not? and sammyjo i have 3A's as my predicted grades and im not walking in and im heartbroken but im not going to give up that easily. im going to keep pestering them until they say yes, even if it means i have to wait a year. thats the spirit now!

Reply 15

worldwide

it's been said a thousand times, but you might be predicted the same as the entry requirements, but that doesn't mean you are guaranteed an offer. 'Entry Requirements' simply means the standard offer you will be given IF accepted.
There are many other factors. For instance, which subjects you have predicted grades for. Probably near on a thousand applicants every year are rejected from York and Bristol with straight-A results, for example.
You just have to accept that top universities will only reject you if there are better applicants to have your place, and they assess that on many factors. Whilst it would be nice to have feedback about your application in every case, it would make decision-making even slower for universities, and the majority of the time there's little else to say other than 'there were better applicants'.
Applying for English isn't really a 'lottery', because unis want the best applicants they can possibly get, and will usually find them.

Reply 16

worldwide

but of course, there is no reason why you shouldn't ask for an explanation :p:

Reply 17

pharmgirl

I really do sympathise with your disappointment, its horrible being rejected from anything, be it a uni place or a job. Can I just ask you to consider that if they rejected you and upset you like this, you might not enjoy it as much as you think? I didnt have that experience applying to uni, but I once took up a job I really wanted after they told me that they could only take me on trial because they had a hunch I wouldnt fit in. Needless to say it was a self-fulfilling prophecy and I left after a few months.

Edit: Rejections do get easier as you go through life though, you get philosophical about it and often what you end up doing is better..!

Reply 18

Sammyjo18

worldwide - im post a level, ive been through this all before. hense double gutted. in the same boat as you. i understand how everything works, and the reasons you give are perfectly viable. but i wrote a personal application, and i am going to a personal response. i had the grades, i spent ages on my personal statement and i was really quite pleased with it. and "there were better applicants" is an answer but i want to know what seperates myself from the "better applicants". its turning into a question of why? rather than anything else i guess. i also think that its made me doubt myself. and i know your speaking perfect logic and probably the most sense. but aside from number of applicants and university pressures, applicants have the same pressures ten fold. im fighting my own corner because i can, and i really dont give a **** about number of applicants.