Academic Probation? How to save my scholarship?

Okay so I was going through a lot of mental health issues in my first semester of college and it led to my grades dropping severely and I had to switch my major as well. The school knows about it, but they are getting all of my medical info about it in the spring. I have a W in one class and I think I failed two others. I know I know, its bad. I got an A in one class and I don’t know what I got in another, a B or C. I have to take four classes instead of five next semester. I am going to retake pre-calc and I already know a lot of it now and I feel I can get an A. My other classes I feel I can do well in as well. But is there any way to save my scholarship after this? I need a 3.0? Do you think there is a way that if I get really good grades the next semester, they may give me another chance? I also visit the school psychologist and plan on going to the psychiatrist. I also have a letter from my doctor that lets me take my test in a specific area due to me often having panic attacks during tests. My friend has severe mental illness and apparently only needs a 1.5 GPA to keep her scholarship. I don’t know what to do.

Have you spoken to the Dean of Students?

  1. Were you medically diagnosed with depression? If not, have you seen or will you see a doctor? If so, then you may be able to get a retroactive medical withdrawal. Talk to the Dean of Students about this.
  2. Have you seen a doctor? Is your depression under control? What evidence do you have?
  3. Can you appeal your dismissal?

A successful appeal must do several things:

  1. show that you understand what went wrong
  2. show that you take responsibility for the academic failures
  3. show that you have a plan for future academic success
  4. in a broad sense, show that you are being honest with yourself and the committee

Here are some examples:

http://collegeapps.about.com/od/Academic-Dismissals/a/Sample-Appeal-Letter-For-An-Academic-Dismissal.htm

Some of this is general, and some specific to your situation.

  1. search this topic on CC and you will see many other posts on academic appeals
  2. Make sure your letter states what the issue was that caused you to have academic difficulties
  3. Did you talk to your professors/dean of students about the issue?
  4. Did you make use of the many resources your school has? if not, why not?
  5. Find out what those resources are…e.g. counseling center, talking to professors, talking to your adviser, withdrawing from class, talking to dean, maybe taking incompletes,
  6. State how you would use those in the future
  7. How are you addressing what caused the issue? Have you addressed the depression?
  8. Think about if you should continue at college, or take a break.
  9. Think about if you should continue at a community college, to be close to your family
  10. How is your college funded? Will that continue?

In general, keep in mind what the college wants…they want students who can succeed. They need to know that you understand what the issue was, know now the resources that you can use, how the problems is resolved so you will not have academic issues in the future.

Update: I failed two classes, one I am retaking and one that would be pointless to retake. I have a C- in one and an A in another. I have a 1.35. Now if I got all A’s in all of my classes, I can actually bring my GPA to over a 3.1

I have a note from my doctor and the school has a psychiatrist that is licensed and can actually diagnose me. I am on medication from my regular doctor. He also wrote me a note to be able to take my tests in a place where it is safer for me to be since I had the habit of having panic attacks during tests.

Thank you @bopper . I am not being dismissed but am under academic probation. I don’t think I am going to really fight it, but I am going to try an inform them of my condition and visit the psychiatrist. I also have a very deep rooted family history of depression so that maybe a factor as well. I will update the situation when I find out so those who are freaking out can hear my story.

No one here can help you without knowing the specifics: the terms of your scholarships, your GPA, whether or not you’re on academic probation, etc.

This is a time to talk to your advisor and to the people in the financial aid office (where you can find out more about your scholarship.)

Get stabilized and talk to your scholarship office. It’s going to be their decision and there’s not anything you’ll be able to do about it. If you retake all of those failed classes, the new grades should replace the old ones and it’ll be like you never failed anything. My first semester in college was a 1.7. I retook my failed class and ended up with a 3.0 cumulative for my second semester. It’s far from the end of the world.

Update for anyone that is curious, I discovered that I actually only need a 2.0 for my scholarship so as long as I can somehow get up to that, I’ll be good.

Ideas that may help:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/1920853-college-is-a-step-up-from-hs-16-tips-on-doing-well-in-college.html