Admission Denial Inquiry Forum

[En03l]

Has anyone ever asked the admissions folks at a school they were denied admission for more information about their decision?

[The Lsat Airbender]

They will almost universally tell you that they don't comment on decisions. Would cause all sorts of problems if they did.

At some schools where an acceptance is an in-person interaction (e.g. a phone call), the admissions person might hint at something they liked in your app. That's the closest anyone comes to commenting on decisions.

[cavalier1138]

Don't.

[En03l]

I ask because in the email sent, they specifically say, "If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us." Further assistance could be to know more information about what in the application were weak and strong points. I would not want a comparative analysis, only a general understanding of what they prioritized in the consideration of my application. But I also understand how it could be a practice that schools do not want to adopt. I am still curious to know if anyone has ever done this and what the result was.

[cavalier1138]

I ask because in the email sent, they specifically say, "If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us." Further assistance could be to know more information about what in the application were weak and strong points. I would not want a comparative analysis, only a general understanding of what they prioritized in the consideration of my application. But I also understand how it could be a practice that schools do not want to adopt. I am still curious to know if anyone has ever done this and what the result was.

They say that as a formality, not as an actual invitation to ask for more details about your rejection. And even if they did give you a multi-sentence response, they would likely lie. The answer is almost always that your numbers weren't good enough. If it were something else (criminal record, etc.), you'd already know.

[nixy]

I don’t think you’d get any helpful information in response to such a question; but I also don’t think there’s much mystery. I mean this respectfully, but looking at the list of schools you provided in an earlier post, it looks like your stats are too low. Your LSAT is below the 25th percentile at most of those schools and your GPA is below the 50th percentile. Law school admissions are relatively formulaic compared to undergrad and largely based on stats. Most admitted applicants who have one stat that is lower for the school will have the other one be quite a bit higher to make up for it, so you really rarely have applicants at, say, both 25th percentiles who will get in.

I do think you being a veteran and Hispanic should help you (although boosts for Hispanic backgrounds can vary quite a bit), but those qualities can only go so far.

(I think the fact that there aren’t examples here/elsewhere on the web of people asking for feedback and getting it makes clear that it’s not really productive. Schools can’t provide that info for the reasons people have already stated.)

[En03l]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I am sure it would most likely be a generic response but curious if anyone has ever received anything helpful for considering options to reapply at a later time. I know that, as is pointed out on many occasions, that the numbers are most likely the culprit. But even the numbers only tell you so much as I have seen people post rejections above the school's 75th, and conversely people post acceptance below the 25th/50th (although these are probably more rare). Anyways, I will probably be hard pressed to satisfy my curiosity as the school would likely not respond thoughtfully.

I appreciate the responses and still curious to hear any stories of people who did inquire further. Whether for a laugh or to find someone to sulk in the misery of this process with lol.

[nixy]

Rejections above the 75th percentiles are almost invariably yield protect (possibly terrible C&F as well).

[hatelawandgoinghome]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I am sure it would most likely be a generic response but curious if anyone has ever received anything helpful for considering options to reapply at a later time. I know that, as is pointed out on many occasions, that the numbers are most likely the culprit. But even the numbers only tell you so much as I have seen people post rejections above the school's 75th, and conversely people post acceptance below the 25th/50th (although these are probably more rare). Anyways, I will probably be hard pressed to satisfy my curiosity as the school would likely not respond thoughtfully.

I appreciate the responses and still curious to hear any stories of people who did inquire further. Whether for a laugh or to find someone to sulk in the misery of this process with lol.

Not sure why this would help you in any way. Those are outliers and cannot, and definitely should not, be generalized to an average person's application. At this point I feel like you are just trying to get some sort of sympathy or comfort from people with similar stat and got rejected. It's understandable but ultimately it's not going to help you.

[En03l]

It would be helpful because it would at least give more context. I understand that the numbers are set and schools tend to be pretty rigid with that. But they are still humans checking the applications, not computers. So there is some more that can be gleaned from a decision beyond what the percentiles are.

@Hatelawandgoinghome, I do not need sympathy or comfort but thanks. I thought the purpose of a discussion board is to discuss things with people of similar interests/questions? And of course I am trying to relate to people who have been denied admission, that was the sole purpose of my post (see title). I don't think it is an unreasonable or unfair question by any means. And my stats should have no relation to the question.

[nixy]

There really isn’t much that can be gleaned. If you have C&F problems you should know that; you should have had people read your PS already. To the extent factors beyond numbers matter, schools try to create balanced classes and so how your application is received is necessarily based in part on the other applications they get. If they had a lot of veterans with better numbers apply this year for some reason, say, your application might get a different response than next year when no vets with better numbers apply. That kind of thing.

To the extent the adcomm being a human matters, you can’t control which human reads your application and what their preferences are. So knowing that now wouldn’t help you for the future.

[En03l]

There really isn’t much that can be gleaned. If you have C&F problems you should know that; you should have had people read your PS already. To the extent factors beyond numbers matter, schools try to create balanced classes and so how your application is received is necessarily based in part on the other applications they get. If they had a lot of veterans with better numbers apply this year for some reason, say, your application might get a different response than next year when no vets with better numbers apply. That kind of thing.

To the extent the adcomm being a human matters, you can’t control which human reads your application and what their preferences are. So knowing that now wouldn’t help you for the future.

That all makes sense and gives some context. But my OP was more aimed at hearing stories from others who may have ever contacted the admissions folks to ask about their denial status. I am sure there has to be others that have thought about reaching out to the admissions team, so if anything others may be wondering the etiquette of this also.

I am not a law school application expert, and this is my first time trying. So I am just looking for advice about it from people who have done it, or if someone with knowledge from an admissions person perspective could speak to it. I appreciate the further context some of you gave though.

[nixy]

I don’t have to have had my wisdom teeth out to be able to advise you that it’s better to do it with anesthesia than without. Adcomms aren’t going to give you personal feedback. You’d be better off hiring an admissions consultant.

[hatelawandgoinghome]

It would be helpful because it would at least give more context. I understand that the numbers are set and schools tend to be pretty rigid with that. But they are still humans checking the applications, not computers. So there is some more that can be gleaned from a decision beyond what the percentiles are.

@Hatelawandgoinghome, I do not need sympathy or comfort but thanks. I thought the purpose of a discussion board is to discuss things with people of similar interests/questions? And of course I am trying to relate to people who have been denied admission, that was the sole purpose of my post (see title). I don't think it is an unreasonable or unfair question by any means. And my stats should have no relation to the question.

I don't think your question is unreasonable or unfair in anyway, like I said, it's perfect understandable to feel that way. My point was, and still is, that spending any more effort in this direction is effort wasted that could better your application (i.e. improving your stat). By large, your application is driven mostly by your stats, which is why I said those outliers could and should not be generalized to yours specifically. And even if someone has your same stat and same exact soft factors, they still may perform differently than you due to a number of external factors from the school admission.

[En03l]

It would be helpful because it would at least give more context. I understand that the numbers are set and schools tend to be pretty rigid with that. But they are still humans checking the applications, not computers. So there is some more that can be gleaned from a decision beyond what the percentiles are.

@Hatelawandgoinghome, I do not need sympathy or comfort but thanks. I thought the purpose of a discussion board is to discuss things with people of similar interests/questions? And of course I am trying to relate to people who have been denied admission, that was the sole purpose of my post (see title). I don't think it is an unreasonable or unfair question by any means. And my stats should have no relation to the question.

I don't think your question is unreasonable or unfair in anyway, like I said, it's perfect understandable to feel that way. My point was, and still is, that spending any more effort in this direction is effort wasted that could better your application (i.e. improving your stat). By large, your application is driven mostly by your stats, which is why I said those outliers could and should not be generalized to yours specifically. And even if someone has your same stat and same exact soft factors, they still may perform differently than you due to a number of external factors from the school admission.

Thanks for clarifying.