To whom it may be concern:
My name is XXX and I am a Computer science major at XXX. I’m writing this letter in hopes of an appeal the decision of my academic suspension. I understand the circumstances under which the decision was made. My poor performance and my GPA failed to meet the requirements.
Past semester has not been ideal, mental health has been an issue for me. Throughout this semester I suffered with insomnia and depression, one of factors contributing to that was, my grandma expired back in India, and I was not able to do anything on my part. On my academic advisor’s advice, I stayed, to continue with my semester.
I’ve made some mistakes, but I don not plan on repeating them. I have every intension of putting my best foot forward. Given this last chance I promise a world of difference between my previous GPA and the grades I would be receiving next semester. I have developed a plan to make sure that I reach academic success. I will be take no more than 12 credits until my GPA is back on track, retake my CSC-250 and MATH-125 so I can improve my overall grade point average. I will be regular at the supplement instructions for all my hard classes, also I will make sure that I visit my professors during their office hours, and last, but certainly not least make sure I receive counseling or talk to someone if undergoing something that I cannot handle and is a danger to my mental health.
In fact, I’ve already started with the counselling and has found a bit of relief with my various issues. Studying at XXX matters to me, without this college and its community I will honestly be lost. I indent to do anything necessary to ensure my success here. Hoping for a last chance.
Sincerely,
XXX
Not sure on feedback as far as content but needs some proofing:
“I will be take no more than 12 credits…I will be regular at the supplement…I indent to do anything necessary” for examples.
Get someone in real life to proof read. Vague expressions like “I have every intension (misspelled by the way) of putting my best foot forward” undercuts your argument. Of course you have every intention of putting your best foot forward- the school wants to know the concrete and specific steps you are taking to change.
And get those typo’s fixed.
This is a revised edition:
To whom it may be concern:
My name is XXx and I am a Computer science major at XXX. I’m writing this letter in hopes of an appeal the decision of my academic suspension. I understand the circumstances under which the decision was made. My poor performance and my GPA failed to meet the requirements.
Past semester has not been ideal, mental health has been an issue for me. Throughout this semester I suffered with insomnia and depression, one of factors contributing to that was, my grandma expired back in India, and I was not able to do anything on my part. On my academic advisor’s advice, I stayed, to continue with my semester.
I’ve made some mistakes, but I do not plan on repeating them. With intention of putting my best foot forward, given this last chance I promise a world of difference between my previous GPA and the grades I would be receiving next semester. I have developed a plan to make sure that I reach academic success. I will be taking no more than 12 credits until my GPA is back on track, retake my CSC-250 and MATH-125 so I can improve my overall grade point average. I will regularly take supplement instructions, which I very much need for all my hard classes, also I will make sure that I visit my professors during their office hours. At last, but certainly not least I’ll make sure I receive counseling or talk to someone when undergoing something that I cannot handle and is a danger to my mental health.
In fact, I’ve already started with the counselling and has found a bit of relief with my various issues. I must admit I’ve always been on the wrong track when it comes to knowing my professors, but I tried doing so the past semester and I’ll be continuing the process. Studying at XXx matters to me, without this college and its community I will honestly be lost. I want to do anything necessary to ensure my success here. Hoping for a last chance.
Sincerely,
XXX
Please…please have someone who is very fluent in English proofread this letter. It is filled with incomplete sentences, and poor grammar.
Presumably your son is fluent in English. Did he write this letter…or did you (the parent)?
It needs to come from HIM…and it needs to be technically accurate with regards to grammar and sentence structure.
This needs serious editing.
thanks for all the comments
I liked the first version but think it should say he is already doing counseling first and leave out the one about planning on it. I disagree that proofreading is essential. It is clear that this is not written by a native English speaker but that is not a big deal unless it shows you wrote it and not him! Here is my version:
To whom it may be concern:
My name is XXX and I am a Computer science major at XXX. I’m writing this letter in hopes of appealing my academic suspension. I understand the circumstances under which the decision to suspend me was made. My poor performance and my GPA failed to meet the requirements.
This past semester has not been ideal: mental health has been an issue for me. Throughout this semester I suffered with insomnia and depression, partly due to my grandma’s death back in India. On my academic advisor’s advice, I stayed at school, to continue with my semester.
I’ve made some mistakes, but I do not plan on repeating them. I have every intention of putting my best foot forward. Given this last chance I promise to make every effort to be more successful academically, and I have developed a plan to achieve that.
First, I have started counseling and have found some relief with my various issues. I plan on continuing therapy and will talk to someone if anything comes up that is hard to handle or a threat to my mental health.
Second, I will be take no more than 12 credits until my GPA is back on track, and retake my CSC-250 and MATH-125 so I can improve my overall grade point average.
Third I will regularly attend supplementary instructions for all my hard classes, and I will make sure that I visit my professors during their office hours.
Studying at XXX matters to me. Attending this college and being part of its community is important to me. I intend to do anything necessary to ensure my success here. Hoping for a last chance.
Sincerely,
XXX
ps If the depression was diagnosed, it can help to get documentation and include it with the appeal, or at least offer it. If the counselor is on school staff, all the better.
Thanks you
I’ll incorporate all the advice, thanks
I have touched it a bit;
To whom it may concern:
My name is XXX and I am a Computer Science student at XXX. I’m writing this letter in hopes of appealing my academic suspension. I understand the circumstances under which the decision to suspend me was made. My poor performance and my GPA failed to meet the requirements.
I’ve made mistakes. I am willing to take full responsibility and have every intention of putting my best foot forward. Please kindly consider that I had difficulties throughout this past semester with severe insomnia and depression, partly due to my dear grandma’s death back in India. I didn’t attend her funeral to continue study as my academic adviser’s recommendation, but I couldn’t concentrate on study with her thought.
Given this last chance, I promise to make every effort to be academically responsible. I have already started counseling and made realistic plans that I can handle. I believe I can make a difference.
To start with, I have found relief with my mental issues through the counseling. I plan on continuing therapy and will seek for help if anything comes up that is hard to handle or a threat to my mental health.
Secondly, I won’t be taking more than 12 credits until my GPA is back on track, and retake CSC-250 and MATH-125 course so I can improve my overall grade point average.
Lastly, I will regularly attend supplementary instructions for all my challenging classes, and make sure to visit my professors during their office hours.
Studying at XXX matters to me. Attending this college and being part of its community is important to me. I intend to do anything necessary to ensure my success here.
Hoping for a last chance,
XXX
P.S. If the depression was NOT diagnosed, get the diagnose now and include the documentation, as well as counseling related docs (appointment confirmation or worksheets made during the counseling) with the appeal.
And get some grammar reviewed. I am not a native speaker but I saw a bit.
Depression can require some time for treatment to be fully effective. I am wondering whether it might be more successful to take a medical leave of absence, with the intention of returning after the depression has been fully corrected. I know of some cases of this working out very well.
Nice job @SculptorDad . If I may add a few suggestions.
To whom it may concern:
My name is XXX and I am a Computer Science student at XXX. I am writing this letter to appeal my academic suspension. I understand the decision to suspend me. My poor performance and my GPA failed to meet the requirements.
I’ve made mistakes. I take full responsibility for my failings. I can do better, and I will do better. I had difficulties this past semester with severe insomnia and depression, partly due to my dear grandma’s death back in India. I did not attend her funeral so that I could continue my studies as (my academic adviser) recommended, but I found it difficult to concentrate and to not think about her. [maybe delete the words in parentheses]
If given another chance, I will make every effort to be more responsible. I have already started counseling to address my mental issues and will continue therapy. I will not take more than 12 credits until my GPA is back on track. I will retake CSC-250 and MATH-125 to improve my overall grade point average. I will regularly attend supplementary instructions for my challenging classes and will visit my professors during their office hours.
Studying at XXX matters to me. Attending this college and being part of its community is important to me. I intend to do anything necessary to ensure my success here.
Hoping for a last chance,
XXX
Thank you all for so much support and advice.
I am impressed by all the advices given here. I can sympathize. I also received a possible academic suspension letter in college when my GPA dropped to low 2.0 level mainly due to my laziness. Being academically suspended due to a low GPA would have made me ineligible from receiving some grants which allowed me to attend an Ivy college basically for free. Those letters convinced me to change my major to a field in which I could excel without trying very hard. Therefore, consider changing a major. Also, try to bring up your GPA by taking a test in another language if your college allows it.
My goal in attending college was somewhat different from other students in that my goal was never to excel but to fail in some fields I didn’t like and find out what I was interested in, improve some stuff, graduate and then think about what to do with my future. Therefore, I never interviewed for a job with potential employers who came to recruit in my college. I was so nonchalant about grades that even my friends thought I maintained near perfect GPA. I was lucky to have found a major in which I could excel without trying very hard, so I graduated on time despite having changed my major more than 6 times.
One minor point.
Suggest to change
I think he means mental HEALTH…not HEATH.
^^ Thanks for catching my typo 
Academic Appeals
- 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.
- Have you seen a doctor? Is your depression under control? What evidence do you have?
- Can you appeal your dismissal?
A successful appeal must do several things:
- show that you understand what went wrong
- show that you take responsibility for the academic failures
- show that you have a plan for future academic success
- in a broad sense, show that you are being honest with yourself and the committee
Here are some examples:
Some of this is general, and some specific to your situation.
- search this topic on CC and you will see many other posts on academic appeals
- Make sure your letter states what the issue was that caused you to have academic difficulties
- Did you talk to your professors/dean of students about the issue?
- Did you make use of the many resources your school has? if not, why not?
- 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,
- State how you would use those in the future
- How are you addressing what caused the issue? Have you addressed the depression?
- Think about if you should continue at college, or take a break.
- Think about if you should continue at a community college, to be close to your family
- 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. Also I am not sure if visa issues come into account.