Academic Probation Letter

Student Lounge College Life
1

I would like feedback on my academic suspension appeal letter. I think it’s a bit long but I’m willing to shorten it if need be. Thanks in advance!

Dear members of the Student Scholastic Standing Committee,

I am writing you today to appeal my academic suspension for the University of Minnesota during the 2018-19 academic school year. I am not surprised by my suspension as I understand that I was not able to meet the college’s academic standards of maintaining a least a 2.00 term GPA. However; I am writing you in hope to appeal my suspension and reinstate me for the next semester and prove that I can succeed at this university. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read this letter.

Over the past year, I will admit I’ve struggled with my coursework and my grades suffered as a result. I full-heartedly accept that my current GPA and academic standing with the university is my own doing. I’m not writing this letter to make excuses, but to give a little bit of background of myself, why I believe I can succeed at this college and what I will do differently moving forward if reinstated for next semester.

Hello, my name is XXXXX, I am a 22-year-old sophomore/junior here at the University of Minnesota majoring in Communications and will be minoring in Japanese. Attending the University of Minnesota has been a dream of mine since middle school when I had a field trip here with my AVID group for a tour of this campus. Granted, my time in High School does not reflect this, it was still my dream when I graduated.

The reason I believe I can succeed at this university is that I have been on academic probation before, and had come back with a strong desire to succeed because of it. During my time at Saint Paul College, I was put on academic probation during the spring semester due to working 40 hour weeks on top of a full-time student workload. During the spring, and onward, I buckled down and got myself together to leave academic probation and transfer from SPC to the U with a strong GPA. I know I am capable of succeeding at the U, and I am more upset with myself than anything that I was not able to meet the expectation I had placed upon myself during my time here.

The main action I will take to ensure my success is meeting with a therapist/counselor every week. Meeting with them my goal is to help with maintaining a healthy mental state in order to achieve the goals and expectations set by the University’s policy and myself. I will also be cutting back on hours at my job, just enough to pay bills since I will be living with my parents. The one action I plan on taking that will be the hardest is asking and seeking help. I admit I have a more of a ‘sink or swim’ mentality, and asking for help has always been tied to ‘sinking’. During my time here, I understand that that kind of thought is discouraged with all of the communities and support systems that are available on this campus. And that professors are more than willing to help, as long as you ask.

All in all, I want to continue my time here in the fall. I want to keep moving forward and to continue to chase my dream. The University of Minnesota has become like a second home, and while I can come visit and see the friends I’ve made over the past 2 years without being an active student, it wouldn’t be the same.

I know that asking for a third chance is a lot, and the committee nor the dean have any reason to give me one. But as many of my mentors have said: The least you can do is ask.

Thank you again for reading this letter, if anyone has further questions, I will be happy to answer them.

2

Given the number of chances you’ve had, some time off from school would probably do wonders for your motivation.

3

I do not think I would mention that I was on academic probabtion at another school! You are just showing them they are right!

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. You knew that working 40 hours a week caused you to have trouble, yet you worked too much again. a normal 15 credit semester is the equivelent to a full time job between classes, studying/homework/reading.
  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, Mention these specifically…what does YOUR college offer?
  6. State how you would use those in the future
  7. How are you addressing what caused the issue?
  8. Think about if you should continue at college, or take a break.
  9. Think about if you should continue at a community college,
  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.