The part of teenage is the one phase of life where you get selected or rejected or accepted amongst many other things that are all new for you. You get to try a lot of unexplored things and some things will change in your life. It is an integral part of your life and has to be met with enthusiasm. There are a lot of exciting things that will happen, and some things that will make you down. One of them is the acceptance or the rejection that you may have to face by colleges. You would have hoped to get into an institution of your liking, but that institution may have rejected your application, based on various grounds. This is not a dead end but just a hurdle that you will have to overcome in the journey of your life. Let us know about that the Respond To College Rejection.
Although you may be upset over the rejection, you would have to pay concentration to the content of your response letter or e-mail and ensure you are using a formal tone. You would have to put in all the necessary information in your response to the rejection. You will have to ensure you make your point clear and make the response letter precise. This can be difficult to write as you can be clueless as to how to begin or what exactly to put on there.
When it comes to penning a response to an acceptance, the work gets easier as you either have to accept the seat or refuse the same and give the reasons for having turned down their offer. But in a response letter for rejection, there might be confusion as to what should go into the letter. You could be someone sitting and staring at your blank paper or screen for hours together and yet turn up with nothing for the response. But as time goes on and you get nothing, you will be facing a very pressing question…
Why should you respond to a college rejection letter?
Although your application was rejected by a college, it is a good idea to reply to them. If you have applied for another course at the same institution, there is one more reason for you to reply to the rejection letter that you received from the said institution. If you have received a positive reply to your application, it is quite obvious that you would have to reply to it because a lack of response might lead the college to give the seat to another candidate who was on the waiting list. This way, you might lose out on your well-deserved seat. So keep in mind that whenever you are selected for the institution of your liking, the first thing you ought to do is reply to it and accept the seat that they had granted to you.
In the case of a rejection letter, you would still want to reply and acknowledge their letter or e-mail. Although colleges don’t ask for it and you may be better off by devoting your time to other institutions that have accepted your application, it is a good thing to reply to them. If you plan on applying at the same institution for the succeeding terms or years, a reply to their rejection letter or e-mail is a good step in that direction of the same.
A response to their rejection letter can be a good show of your traits and characteristics because most colleges and universities value these in the non-academic arena.
How do you respond to a college rejection letter or email?
When you apply to a college of your liking and you are rejected by the same, there are a variety of emotions that you might be feeling. They may range from frustration, anger, and sorrow to confusion, betrayal, and so on. But you would have to make sure that none of these reflect in your response letter. Your response letter is not the right place to vent your emotions. Rather, it is a place for you to be thankful for their time and consideration of your application.
There is no fixed template as to how to respond to a college rejection, but you would have to finish your letter in the least number of sentences possible. The internet has many sample letters like that and you can draw your inspiration from one or more of them.
Also, remember to reply to rejection emails soon too, and not just acceptance ones. It is true that replying to acceptance emails are of more importance, but these are important too.
Some tips to keep in mind when writing your response
Firstly, keep your tone entirely professional and courteous. It is always good to be polite, not just to those who are superior to you, but to everybody in general. Since this is a reply to an institution, you will have to be professional. You will have to keep in mind that the recipient of your letter or mail would be a dignified authority and you will have to give them the respect that they deserve. It may look like an unfair decision to reject you, but they still deserve respect.
Second, keep your response short and precise. Your recipient will not have a lot of time to read through your entire letter if you beat around the bush. Keep your response limited to as few sentences as possible and short sentences work well too.
It is to be emphasized that the response to your rejection letter or mail is not the place to vent your feelings. Take a deep breath and draft your response. After you finish sending it, you can vent it out to your friends and family. Till then, keep your emotions in check.
Do not include details that are not necessary to the person reading the letter. Including unnecessary details will make the letter too long and the chances of your recipient being bored with it are high. The recipient doesn’t have any use for those extra details and it is better to kick them out of your letter.
Sample template for a response letter
There are a lot of templates that the internet can provide you with, and they may either inspire you to write a letter or may end up confusing you a lot. A basic template that you can follow sticks with the simple template of a normal letter. This is short and precise, keeping in mind that the receiver has to be given the respect that they command in their institution.
<Sender’s Name and Address>
<Date>
<Receiver’s name and Address>
(This has to be addressed to the institution in this case)
<Salutation>
Dear Sir / Ma’am,
<Subject>
Rejection from <institution name>
<Body>
<Introduce yourself>
I am <Name>, a graduate of <your schooling>, and an applicant for <Program name> at <institution name>. I recently received your response to the application for the said program. My application was rejected and I was surprised at the results.
However, I would like to express my deepest gratitude for having had the opportunity to apply. I am thankful to you for having considered my application.
In case of a future opening for which my qualifications seem apt, please contact me at <Contact information>.
Thank you for your time.
Yours sincerely,
<Sender’s name>
This is not a fixed template and you can swerve away from it as you deem fit, but your tone must be professional and formal. Whether you intend on applying to the same institution again or have been accepted into any other college, you will have to be courteous in your response letter.
Rejections from colleges are not the end of your life as there are many more fields and colleges to explore. So don’t give up on your hope when you receive a rejection letter from a college. Instead, keep your spirits up and look for other colleges that match your expectations.
FAQ
Is there a downside to it if I don’t respond to a rejection letter?
Unless you are planning to apply to the same institution for the same or a different program, there might not be any consequences that will affect you in any way. It is not a compulsion to reply to a rejection letter but is advisable to do so to keep up the good spirit of every applicant. The reviewers of your application did spend their time considering you for the seat, for which you would have to be thankful, whether or not they offered you a seat.
Can I respond to the rejection letter by asking for a review of my application?
You can do that. You can ask the college to review your application again if you think there has been some mistake in the rejection process. But chances are, the result will still be the same. Colleges generally have a multiple screening processes. You can still mail them for a review though.
