Background Information:
- I'm a 5th year senior with approximately 103 credits and 93 credits going towards my degree. I only need 27 hours to graduate. I struggled heavily this summer and in the fall semester after maintaining mostly B's, a few A's and a few C's during my previous four years of college. The letter details why those struggles occurred, what I've done to remedy the situation and my plan for success going forward.
- I transferred to this University in the spring of last year, therefor my University GPA is low (about a 1.7), though I transferred in with approximately 82 hours and a 2.8 GPA (not spectacular), though I did take a lot of hard sciences.
- I have never been placed on academic probation and have never had a full-semester GPA below a 2.0 prior to this fall.
- I would only need 5.5 credits worth of A's or 11 credits worth of B's in the spring to return to a cumulative institutional GPA of 2.0 (overall counting transferable credits is about a 2.6).
- My letter is accompanied by documentation from 2 different physicians I visited that believe that wrote letters supporting my continued enrollment. I have also obtained a letter of recommendation from my counselor, saying that it's 'night and day' where I was in November to where I am now (post-treatment). I also have documentation that my test and project grades were all A's and B's after the treatment and I finished strong.
Please help me critique my letter, it’s due on January 2nd.
December 25th, 2017
Undergraduate Academic Appears Committee
________ University
Committee members,
I am writing this letter to appeal the decision to dismiss me from the College of Education and Human Development as a result of my recent poor academic performance. While there were underlying psychological contributors to my struggles, I acknowledge I failed to respond to the issues accordingly in a timely fashion, whereas I should’ve taken a leave of absence to attend to my psychological needs. With that being said, I believe I have taken all the necessary steps to reconcile the areas in my life that needed to be addressed and believe myself to be a strong candidate for consideration of readmission.
The thing about psychological disorders is that they’re entirely unpredictable and can manifest at any given time with or without measurable cause. During the last several months, I started experiencing severe panic attacks for the first time, though I did not initially take action and was reluctant to obtain mediation due to concerns about the potential for physical dependence. I had initially hoped the occurrences would dissipate on their own, though over time it became clear that wasn’t the case. While most people experience anxiety or nervousness at varying times throughout their life, a genuine panic attack is debilitating, almost as if you have completely lost the ability to regulate your fight-or-flight response. During an attack, I’d start noticing my hands shaking uncontrollably, had difficulty breathing and seemingly simple tasks were associated with extreme physical and emotional distress. While it might be hard for people that do not have panic disorder to understand, the worst aspect is not the symptoms themselves, but the embarrassment that often accompanies a panic attack. This fear of an outburst and humiliation would regularly cause me to miss classes and the anxiety made it difficult to concentrate during lecture. I began to isolate myself from friends and family and entered into a state of chronic depression.
While I acknowledge I should have withdrawn from the university immediately, I struggled with the guilt of disappointing my parents after they’ve invested nearly five years of financial support in my educational pursuits. I was so close to graduating at this point, I misguidedly believed I could return to my previous academic status on my own merit. Upon receiving a notice of scholastic deficiency in October, I came to the realization that I needed outside help in addressing my issues. I visited with a Dr. ______ at ________ in late October and Dr. ______ at the _______ at the start of November, where I was diagnosed with panic disorder and prescribed a long-term solution (sertraline), which would be a daily supplement to control my symptoms. Along with the sertraline prescription, I also received an emergency supplement (propranolol) to regulate the extreme physical symptoms during high-anxiety situations. The panic attacks and acute phases of anxiety almost completely disappeared and I was able to raise my grades substantially in the final weeks of the fall semester. Along with the medication, I have also sought spiritual counselling through _________ and have ended my employment to devote the entirety of my time towards academics in the spring.
I’ve been a college student for nearly five years now and although I’ve never been a straight-A student, I have worked hard and earned mostly B’s at three previous institutions. Prior to this summer, I had only received one D in seven semesters of college, never failed a course, and had only dropped one class over the entirety of my academic career. With that being said, I believe my past record has proven I am more than capable of doing the required of me to finish my final two semesters of college. Given another opportunity, I’d treat every day as a blessing and not take your confidence in me for granted. I want to use my life experiences and this prospective second chance to encourage other people in similar situations and provide hope to those amidst their despairing circumstances. I believe you can learn a lot about an individual’s character by how they respond to adversity. While some simply give up and blame those around them for their failures, those who succeed in life take responsibility for their own lives and never stop persevering. I take full responsibility for not having taken action sooner, though the manner in which I finished my semester on a strong note shows I’ve taken the necessary steps to succeed.
I understand if I have exhausted my opportunities, I have done everything necessary to prepare myself for academic success in future terms. I will continue stay in close contact with my physicians throughout the academic year, adjusting my medication as needed, should I observe any changes in my response to medicine, my finances will be supplemented by a combination of my personal savings and student loans, enabling me to dedicate all of my time to education, and I will hold myself entirely accountable for my academic performance. I would like to say that if you would do me the honor of giving me one final chance to show what I can accomplish, I am ready and anxious to purchase my books.
Sincerely yours,