<p>I'm going to be attending the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering. I had MAJOR senioritis and ended up with 2 Ds and 1 C in AP Calc BC, AP Macoecon, and AP Bio (respectively). I had all AP classes and my final GPA was around 3.7. I recently received an email saying that I have the chance to explain my poor grades before the Review Committee makes a decision on my admission. </p>
<p>So...three questions.
1. What are the chances of me being rescinded?
2. Around when do colleges tell you their rescind decision? I heard it can be as late as August?
3. How do colleges tell you that your admission has been rescinded? I've heard that they call? But I'm not entirely sure. </p>
<p>Thanks so much for all of your help and I look forward to hearing from people! I'm freaking out and I REALLY need advice!</p>
<p>A prospective engineer who got a D in calculus, and another D and a C besides? Because of senioritis? You’ve dug a deep hole for yourself.</p>
<p>You should not be waiting around to see what UIUC is going to do. You should be on the phone with the admissions office at UIUC to find out what you can do to mollify them. I suggest that at a minimum you enroll in calculus at a community college this summer…and excel. Because no college or university is going to want an engineering student who got a D in integral calculus.</p>
<p>Will UIUC rescind its offer of admission? Nobody knows. But they have good reason to do so, and to offer your spot to a student who didn’t quit working a semester too early. So your best chance to head that off is by keeping in close contact with them.</p>
<p>When do “colleges” make these decisions, and how do “colleges” make notification? There are about 2500 universities and four-year colleges in the U.S. They don’t all do the same thing. And you don’t care what 2499 of them do; you care only what UIUC does. The way to find out the answers is by talking to them. Which you should be doing anyway.</p>
<p>In my experience they are looking for a valid reason to continue your admission based on the grades you presented. That valid reason would be a major life change (death in family, of close friend, chronic illness, etc) Being lazy is exactly what they don’t want to hear about. Take the above poster’s advice and get moving. You may also want to see what your community college registration deadline is so you have a back up plan for fall.</p>
<p>You sound like Harry Potter when he had to appear at the Ministry to explain fighting the dementors. You need to call the admissions office now and ask what the procedure is. Own this. Think about why you did this, and tell them the truth. Excuses will be the kiss of death. Tell them how you really messed up and you HATE how these bad grades feel and that you understand if they rescind your decision, but you really hope for the chance to prove yourself. Offer to be on academic probation when you start. And the other poster has a good idea, repeat these classes this summer. I feel bad for you. I made mistakes when I was your age. We all did. You will grow from this and be a better dad one day for it. You can’t change the past, but go forward now with renewed focus and vision for who you want to be. (Is there some inner reason you don’t WANT to go to this school? I think you need to examine that possibility. Sometimes great aberrations like these aren’t accidents.)</p>
<p>The key idea in all of this, David, is that there’s really no good reason for your grades. You weren’t hospitalized, your house didn’t burn down, you didn’t have a death in the family. And in general, it’s good that none of that stuff happened! But it creates a problem for you here, because the two remaining explanations for your grades are: (1) you’re not that smart, or (2) you’ve been something of a slacker. </p>
<p>Neither is good, but slacker is easier to fix than stupid. (Well, I guess being such a slacker was kind of a stupid thing to do in and of itself, but slacker is easier to fix than generally stupid.) So you need to convince UIUC that you’re still smart enough to study engineering there, and that you’re never going to try coasting like that again. Retaking the class shows that you recognize you’ve created a problem, and you’re proactively doing something to fix it. Excelling in the class shows that you’ve got the smarts that UIUC thought you had.</p>
<p>It might or might not be enough, but I think it’s at least a show of good faith on your part and a huge step in the right direction.</p>
<p>The common theme here for you David is be proactive. If you’re acting defeated already and waiting for the axe to drop— you’ll eliminate any chance you would have had to avert the recission.</p>
<p>Remember that you’re not rescinded YET and it means you can still do something about it. Read carefully the great advice you’ve gotten, muster up the courage/strength/maturity and attack this problem. Don’t sit in denial. Don’t imagine back up plans. Attack this problem.</p>
<p>Maybe they will let you take AP or placement tests related to these subjects to help your case if you score well on them? And study like crazy before you take them!</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for all of the advice! I will call and talk to the admissions office ASAP. I’ve already sent an email explaining my reasons for the bad grades and that I’m prepared to do anything and everything to stay. </p>
<p>Thanks so much for all of the advice! I’m going to try my very best to convince uiuc how much I want to stay. Thanks again! Everyone’s advice was great and extremely helpful!</p>
<p>Just remember, they not only want to understand what happened and that you’re taking ownership, they want to know what your plan is going forward if you are allowed to attend. There is far less structure in college, but many demands. Make sure you communicate a plan for success in the fall term and beyond so they can be assured you won’t repeat this. Be specific. This shows reflection and understanding of this past semester, and the ability to regroup and formulate a more effective plan for success in the fall term and beyond. </p>
<p>They sent me the email mid-June. I replied with an explanation in the same week. I also called and talked to the person who sent me the email. They haven’t given me a reply yet, I’m still waiting…I explained that my grandmother was going through health issues, and I just bit too much that I couldn’t chew…and some other stuff. </p>
<p>What is your problem? Have you gotten an email or something from them as well?</p>
<p>Let’s not miss all the solid poster advice here. Explaining the context isn’t the same as doing something about it. I wish OP the best. But you never want to leave adcoms with a hint that the next time there is a family issue, crisis or stress, your college performance will suffer. You counteract what did happen through the steps you take immediately, to turn around.</p>
<p>Interesting how you thank people for their advice and then didn’t follow it. You made up lame excuses and said that you “bit off too much that you couldn’t chew”???</p>
<p>As lookingforward said, that implied to the school that you can’t handle pressure, and that the courses were too difficult for you. </p>
<p>Honesty probably would have been the best possibility.</p>
<p>IF you can still attend, have you learned anything? Or will you be posting next fall asking advice for your letter attempting to avoid academic suspension because you spent too much time enjoying the freshman social scene and not spending time with school work?</p>
<p>I’ll be curious to see how it plays out, but I tend to think your admittance isn’t going to be a problem - Your scholarship offers on the other hand…well…that is a much larger issue and they could easily rescind any money offers. State schools tend to not be as rough on kids who drop a bit as long as you still fulfill their basic requirements on classes and it appears your ‘bad classes’ were all above and beyond those basic courses required (I’m just guessing they require 4 years of English, 3 of Math and Science and Econ was totally optional, so the Calc, Bio, and Econ were all above and beyond their basic requirements). For that reason, I just don’t see admittance as being at question.</p>
<p>LookingForward and KKmama, I was very honest about everything. I did mention briefly that I had bitten off more than I could chew, but that wasn’t what I mainly talked about. I gave reasons for why my grades slipped, but I was sure to mention (multiple times) that I don’t believe in excuses and that my poor grades were a mistake that I will always regret. I stressed that grades should always be a priority, and nothing should get in the way of that. I also mentioned a concrete plan that shows how I’ve learned from this mistake and how I will have academic excellence in college.
Of course I learned from this. This is the first time I’ve ever had grades this poor, I’ve always been an A student with one or two Bs, and it’s something that will NEVER happen again. If I was asked in 20 years about what I regretted the most, I would say my poor grades senior year. I’m never going to let something like this happen again. EVER.</p>
<p>I hope you can still say that 20 years from now. Twenty years is a long time, and it gives you a lot of time for way worse screw-ups than this. </p>
<p>Not that I’m wishing that on you, of course, David!</p>