Host: What options does a student have if they are rejected by a college?

Jerome Cole: I would say for a student that has received a rejection or a denial letter from the college, the first thing that you want to do is go and look at your other schools where you have been admitted. Go back and revisit those schools, give them a second look. So, that is first. The second thing is, if you have been rejected by a school and you feel like, maybe they did not get all my information, I am really curious as to why, I thought I had a really good shot at getting in.

Pick up the telephone and call. They are not going to tell you why they have rejected you or what they will do as they will, you can verify with them, whether or not they received everything. Did they get the mid-year report which schools traditionally send out in January time frame? Did they hear about the fact that you got a particular award and it was late in the school year? Did the counselor give that information to them?

Once you verify that they did in fact, have all the information, they may give you a little feedback, but they will never tell you specifically why you were denied. So, the last option that you would have before you is to ask for a review. Now, colleges do this all the time, but I will have to caution students and families about asking for a review, unless, there is some significant information that the school was not privy to when they initially reviewed your application, the chances of them reversing your decision are not likely.

So, it s a long shot, but if you feel like, You know, I want to give it one more shot. Then, ask for the review. Some schools do it, it is not something that every college or university does, but some schools do and you certainly can ask. So, that is an option, but I would go into that not being very optimistic, I would go into that with the thought of, I want to focus on the schools where I was admitted and just give it a shot and see how it turns out.