I am writing this letter to appeal my academic dismissal from XXX. When I received the notification of my dismissal on XXX, I was incredibly saddened. I take full responsibility for my actions that have gotten me into the predicament I am in now.
After high-school, I successfully completed two years at XXX and knew early on that I wanted to come to The XXX. I was more than excited once I received my acceptance letter. I was beginning to mark things off of my bucket list and make my family proud of me. Once becoming a student at the XXX, my trials began to increase.
My first 3 years of college were paid for by my mother. But this did not come without a price. My responsibilities increased. I became responsible for taking my younger sister to school, picking her up, picking her up from cheerleading and taking her to ballet and many other things that were requested of me by my mother. Most of my sister’s events took place in the middle of the day so I was able to get about an hour of studying in then I had to leave and take care of my other responsibilities. It seemed that within that hour I would begin to get in my “study groove” and become completely focused, I was interrupted minutes later with an alert on my phone letting me know that it was time to get my sister. Once I was able to get her home and feed I was able to go back to the library and continue studying, most nights this was not until after 8pm. By that time I began to grow tired. My father was able to help with the duties of my sister until his work schedule changed and he was no longer able to do as he once did. This past winter semester my Cell Biology and Organic Chemistry tests fell in the same week. Each of these weeks, I was solely responsible for my sister. This resulted in incredible stress and poor performance on my exams. However, I am committed to ensuring that my education be placed first in the upcoming semester. It soon became clear that my funds for college were beginning to run out. I care a lot about my education so I picked up a job to help fund my college education. As a result, I had even less time to study as I was now working.
Because I was having trouble mastering the material, I made frequent trips to meet with tutors and attend SI sessions (which can be supported by documentation). Most weeks I met with the tutor twice a week and others I met with them three times a week. Given my circumstances, I tried my very best to be successful; unfortunately, I did not reach my goal. Since the fall semester, I have had discussions with my parents about improving my GPA and they showed support to aid in my efforts of improving my GPA. I have also resolved to begin tutoring earlier on, attend office hours, significantly decrease my work hours, and focus solely on my education
I completely understand that attending XXX is a privilege. If I am reinstated into the University, I will do everything in my power to successfully graduate from the XXX. I have intentions to retake the classes I did not do well in and I can guarantee that there will be an improvement in my grades.
Please read the thread I have just posted. This person went through several versions of a similar letter and just got reinstated. The college doesn’t care about your reasons for failing. They want to know what you can do to rectify the problem, should you get another chance.
Forget the excuses about your sister. It is enough to say that your family began to rely on your heavily for various reasons and you allowed it to interfere with your schooling. Apologize, show remorse. Acknowledge that you screwed up, and most of all, how you intend to remedy the problem. Be specific (I will go to chem tutoring twice a week at 2 pm. I will meet with professor X every week to check my progress.)
The thread I posted shows a very thorough progression from not-great letter to a letter that expresses genuine remorse, acknowledgment of failure, and concrete solutions to the problem. I urge you to read it, it will help you. Also, do a search, as obviously many students are posting about the same right now.
Can I just say, I seems like your parents bear some of the blame. Poor little sister needed to go to cheerleading and ballet while you tried to get a college education. Sounds to me like they can afford to hire someone to drive your sister to all her activites. This explanation of why you couldn’t study is absolutely NOT going to tug at heart strings. I would not mention your sister once, unless she is ill or something, which I hope she isn’t. If you must mention her, say “I was responsible for the sole care and duty of my sister on a regular basis.” I do hope she isn’t older than about 8, or they may not care. I am sorry that the irresponsibility of your parents put you in a difficult situation, and they let the problem go on for far too long. Best of luck to you.
@Lindagaf I have edited, do you mind taking a look? Thanks in advance.
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter to appeal my academic dismissal from XXX. When I received the notification of my dismissal on January 5, 2016, I was incredibly saddened. I take full responsibility for my actions that have gotten me into the predicament I am in now.
After high-school, I successfully completed two years at XXX and knew early on that I wanted to come to the XXX. I was more than excited once I received my acceptance letter. Once becoming a student at the XXX, my trials began to increase.
My first 3 years of college were paid for by my mother. But this did not come without a price. I was responsible for the sole care and duties of my sister on a regular basis. It seemed that within an hour of getting to the library after class, I was interrupted by having to go pick up my sister. Once I was able to get her home and feed I was able to go back to the library and continue studying, most nights this was not until after 8pm. By that time, I began to grow tired. This past winter semester my Cell Biology and Organic Chemistry tests fell in the same week.Each of these weeks, I was solely responsible for my sister. This resulted in incredible stress and poor performance on my exams. However, I am committed to ensuring that my education be placed first in the upcoming semester. As if I didn’t already have enough on my plate, it soon became clear that my funds for college were beginning to run out. Because I care about my education, I began working to help fund my college education. As a result, I had even less time to study.
Because I was having trouble mastering the material, I made frequent trips to meet with tutors and attend SI sessions (which can be supported by documentation). Most weeks I met with the tutor twice a week and others I met with them three times a week. Given my circumstances, I tried my very best to be successful; unfortunately, I did not reach my goal. Since the fall semester, I have had discussions with my parents about improving my GPA and they showed support to aid in my efforts.
I completely understand that attending XXX is a privilege. If I am reinstated into the University, I will do everything in my power to successfully graduate from the XXX. I have intentions to retake the classes I did not do well in and I can guarantee that there will be an improvement in my grades. I will continue to attend tutoring at a minimum of twice a week. I will attend my professor’s office hours at a minimum of once a week, to check my progress and make sure that I am truly understanding what I am learning. I will also be at the library very early in the day before classes begin to start my studying. I will no longer be responsible for the care of my sister, I will also be reducing my work schedule to less than 10 hours per week and my spare time will be devoted to my studies. This fall semester I have enrolled in 4 classes at XXX. I have had a lot of time to engage in self-reflection and I believe I have what it takes to be a successful Wolverine. I will now be able to focus solely on my education. I want nothing more than to graduate from the XXX and be a proud XXX. Thank you for taking time to read this letter.
Shorter is better, so get rid of the small paragraph saying “after…” It is not needed.
Your paragraph beginning with “my first three years…” is too long. Simply say, “for the first three years of college, I was given the responsibility of the sole care of my younger sister for x days per week. These duties left me little time to study and I fell behind. At the same time, my funds for college began running out, and I had to take on a job, givng me less time than I had previously. The result has lead to my dismissal.”
In the following paragraph, I do think you need to address the situation a little more in regards to what arrangement you came to with your parents on the issue with your sister and your financial situation. If you are no longer responsible for caring for your sister, say that. If they are providing more money, say that. They need to know the same problems won’t happen again.
And I see you have addressed those concerns in your final paragraph, so move that info to the one I just mentioned. Also, you don’t need to keep saying that you are a proud student of XXX. I think you wrote that three times, once is enough. End the letter by saying “thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you will reconsider my dismissal.”
@Lindagaf I have made the corrections you suggested plus some.
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter to appeal my academic dismissal from XXX. When I received the notification of my dismissal on January 5, 2016, I was incredibly saddened. I take full responsibility for my actions that have gotten me into the predicament I am in now.
After high-school, I successfully completed two years at XXX and knew early on that I wanted to come to the XXX. I was more than excited once I received my acceptance letter.
My first 3 years of college were paid for by my mother. This financial burden made me responsible for the everyday care of my sister. After my evening responsibilities were completed, I was able to go back to the library and continue studying- most nights this was not until after 8pm. This past winter semester my Cell Biology and Organic Chemistry tests fell in the same week. Each of these weeks, I was solely responsible for my sister. This resulted in incredible stress and poor performance on my exams. However, I am committed to ensuring that my education be placed first in the upcoming semester. Additionally, it soon became clear that my funds for college were beginning to run out. Because I care about my education, I began working to help fund my college education. As a result, I had even less time to study. These duties consumed on average over 40 hours a week. I think they have strengthened my work ethic, but they also hampered on my academic potential.
Because I was having trouble mastering the material, I made frequent trips to meet with tutors and attend SI sessions (which can be supported by documentation). Most weeks I met with the tutor twice a week and others I met with them three times a week. Given my circumstances, I tried my very best to be successful; unfortunately, I did not reach my goal. Since the fall semester, I have had discussions with my parents about improving my GPA and they showed support to aid in my efforts. I will continue to attend tutoring at a minimum of twice a week. I will attend my professor’s office hours at a minimum of once a week, to check my progress and make sure that I am truly understanding what I am learning. I will also be at the library very early in the day before classes begin to start my studying. I will no longer be responsible for the care of my sister, I will also be reducing my work schedule to less than 10 hours per week and my spare time will be devoted to my studies.
I completely understand that attending XXX is a privilege. If I am reinstated into the University, I will do everything in my power to successfully graduate from the XXX. I have intentions to retake the classes I did not do well in and I can guarantee that there will be an improvement in my grades. This fall semester I have enrolled in 4 classes at XXX and am doing well. I have had a lot of time to engage in self-reflection and I believe I have what it takes to be a successful XXX. I want nothing more than to graduate from the XXX and be a proud XXX. Thank you for taking time to read this letter, I hope that you will reconsider my dismissal.
As I said, get rid of the short paragraph beginning “After…” Serves no purpose. Also, I really suggest you reread what I said above. Your paragraph all about your sister, the exams in the same week, etc… is too long. Minimal is better.
The paragraph about all your steps to go to extra help etc… is a little long. State the steps, “I will continue to see the professor, got to the tutoring center, and…” Get rid of the sentence saying you tried your best to be successful, and you talked with your parents. Your paretns are not trying to get back into college, and they may not think you tried your best, because they dismissed you. They need the basic and important information.
-you screwed up, you regret it.
-here is a very basic explanation of why.
-here is what I am going to do to to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
-please consider reinstating me
Short, contrite, acknowledgement and ownership of failure, plans to remedy the situation. That’s what they need to read.
90% of the points your university cares about are in this section of the letter. The rest, as others have said, can be shortened drastically. I’ve sent you one possible revision via PM.
As a general rule, for anyone in a similar predicament, these letters can be half the length of the one above.
thank you guys so much for your comments, I am honestly struggling with making this letter shorter, when I make it shorter I feel like I am leaving out key points which Im probably not. thanks for being patient and not give up on me! I will edit this more and post again!