Rose93

Also, the input the admissions person said for a future applications is "gain more experience." I already have plenty of experience (which exceeds their requirement and the number of years and types of experience of other admitted applicants). Therefore, I don't think re-applying in a year would make a difference.

Also, my rejection came a little while ago so I have had time to think about this but it would still be helpful to see if anyone had ideas on next steps I can take since I do want to pursue this.

Thanks for your responses guys. Just for clarification, I don't plan on suing the university for rejection. The purpose of an education lawyer would be to help direct and assist me in writing a letter signed by myself to the appropriate people (ie. dean of school) in charge as there is no appeals process. The person I spoke with was an admissions person who admitted he didn't look at my application himself, but only looked at notes from the faculty which said "not enough experience." In this program, faculty determines acceptance. I felt the information I was given for the rejection by the admissions person did not explain my rejection. I understand and agree that there are many factors which determine acceptance and it was a good point that requirements for application can merely be seen as considerations for the program. However, I still feel after looking at resumes of those who were accepted that there was a compelling reason of which I am unaware for my rejection. I would really like to find out what happened so this doesn't happen in future programs and to possibly be considered again. This is an unusual doctorate program in that it admits a very large number of people several times a year; this isn't the typical small cohort, which makes the reason for my rejection even more curious. What do you guys think of writing a letter to the dean of the school? Effective?

I applied to a doctorate program that I exceeded qualifications for. Much to my surprise, I was rejected. When asked why I was rejected, I was told I didn't have enough work experience (when I already met the work experience required on their application webpage). I learned about some candidates who were accepted with even less work experience than me. Therefore, I know that I was denied admission for another reason. I would like to appeal my decision, however; the school has no appeals process. Has anybody gone through a rejection with a reason which just doesn't add up? What can be done about this? Does anyone know of a good education lawyer who can assist me in writing a letter to the school asking for an appeal? As I said, there is no formal appeals process at the school. Thanks