<p>Hey guys. I guess my first post on the forum will be a bittersweet one. I recently finished my freshman year at UConn with a low GPA (1.5) I havent been officially notified yet but one of the coordinators for the school of engineering told me that I've been placed on the dismissal list and that I need to write an appeal to let me stay. I've been talking to my advisor and she said that as long as I have a decent appeal and follow through, I should be fine since I am only now becoming a sophomore. Below is my appeal that I wrote a few minutes after the coordinator told me the ill news. Should I talk more about how I feel towards the major? Should I axe out the cheesy sentiment from the final paragraph? Do I give too much exposition where it's not needed?-Feel free to critique and offer some insight on what I should add,take out and modify. Scathing criticism of my situation isn't required but i guess it's a forum for a reason. On the opposite side of the spectrum, if anyone has any great advice for me, I'd really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<hr>
<p>NAME
Student ID:1234567
Letter of appeal
5/18/13</p>
<p>My name is NAME (Student ID:1234567). I have just finished my
freshman year at the University of Connecticut and I have just been notified that I’ve been placed on the dismissal list due to my poor performance these past two semesters.</p>
<p>I’m not going to recount the amount of times an evil professor didn’t take my assignment for lack of a proper reason or belittle the performance and clarity of a lecturer with this appeal. Since this is the first time in my life I’ve ever had to write an appeal for school purposes (let alone dismissal) as I’ve never failed in anything before college, I searched online for help on the matter and asked various friends who are savvy when it comes to writing for help as well. The unanimous response to my queries was to take a long hard look at my own performance and be as honest as possible. I couldn’t agree more. </p>
<p>With the first semester, it was just the change in pace that made me trip up. Not just with the courses but also the lifestyle. It was unprecedented to me at the time the amount of “freedom” available to me. I got so lost in the social aspect that I did poorly in the academic aspect. I started this last semester with the goal of the dean’s list on my mind and I certainly thought that it was achievable. But throughout the semester, I was very sick for long periods of time with a “bug” or a “virus.” Being a portly fellow who didn’t really diet or exercise, my immune system was weak and sickness was a prevalent presence throughout the year. This severely hampered my academic ability for a few weeks during the semester. Other than the reasons listed above, I’d have to say the main reason why I did so poorly was myself. I didn’t study hard enough and shrugged off important aspects of the courses thinking that I had all the time in the world to master the material. I didn’t and it certainly shows through my transcript and through the fact that I’m writing this appeal in the first place. I’d do very well in certain aspects of the class (I did rather well in many quizzes and homework assignments) and by doing so gain a false sense of confidence that wouldn’t dissolve until the mark on the transcript has been set. It’s a pretty painful experience because I’m used to being a great student from my days in high school. I guess I just underestimated the severity that small decisions like not studying hard enough could make on my academic career and no matter how this appeal goes, I’m a better man for realizing that. Regardless of this appeal, I’ve been rectifying these issues on my. I’ve been exercising and dieting and I’ve been mentally steeling myself for studying with summer classes coming up. </p>
<p>I don’t want the appeal board to think that I’m a bad student by any means. I’m certainly not a bad student. It’s just been a strange experience for me this first year coming from a mostly-easy high school career to a challenging major in college. Things that ranged from the anal-grading of the math department to the new style of college essay-writing really got me confused. To me, high school was black and white but college is not only gray but also consists of a whole palette of colors that are still slightly foreign to me.</p>
<p>By the time I’ve started writing this appeal letter, it’ll have been about a week since I’ve taken the dreaded final exams that of which results probably propagated such an occurrence to happen to me in the first place. Ever since my first grade of an “F” showed up on my transcript, I started rapidly emailing my advisoon what to do about the situation. I’ve sent a grand total of 10 emails to her over the period of a few days just to get a grasp on the situation.</p>
<p>Along with flooding my advisor’s mailbox and with the encouragement from her and my parents, I came up with a game plan that would get my academic standing not only beyond the trappings of probation but into a territory where this whole situation could be something that I laugh about when thinking back to it in the future. If allowed back this fall semester, I’d not only retake the two classes I failed last semester and do very well in them but also take at least a single course from further along in my course track in addition to courses on my track that I’ve already met the pre-requisite to take so that I wouldn’t have to make up as much ground and still come out of this whole debacle with a very good term GPA. I’m already registered for summer classes at STATE University and SKOOL Community College for meeting the pre-requisites. I’d also register for a summer session to do courses that I didn’t have time for sophomore year and maybe retake a course I think I could do a lot better in from freshman year to bring up the overall cumulative GPA to a good place as well. I’m willing to sacrifice an entire summer or more if necessary to fix my situation if I’m unable to do so within the time-frame of a single semester. I’ve even lined up a prospective job on campus at a Dining Hall to help me pay for the summer classes so that my parents don’t completely have to pay for my mistakes.</p>
<p>In junior year of my high school, I was rejected admission from the National Honors Society for not having a high enough GPA, not having enough volunteer hours and not being in good standing with some of my teachers. Having received that letter of rejection, I knew that I had to change drastically. Within a period of 5-6 months, I was standing at the very ceremony that I had been rejected from. I went above and beyond the base-minimum required of me and earned my spot in the National Honors Society. I was given another chance and I was able to prove myself then. Now I am at a similar yet more severe impasse but I am confident that if you, the academic appeal staff give me that one more chance, I shall not put it to waste and I will go above and beyond your expectations. I’m not saying that it will be easy or that I will serve up a 4.0 right away but if I could bounce back with a force during my junior year of high school with such a tough situation, then I can certainly do it now with my incoming sophomore year of college.</p>
<p>I love being a student at the University of Connecticut. I’ve met so many people and have already had so many life-defining experiences and I’m not even a sophomore yet! I love everything from the infinite green of Horsebarn Hill to the Ice Cream served campus-wide. I’m always proud to say that I go here. It would be an honor and privilege to be given a second chance to succeed at this university that I love so much and I am confident that if given this second chance, I will in fact succeed.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your consideration,
Rishi Vasudevan</p>