In fall 2017, I withdrew from all of my courses because of my mom’s illness. I discovered later then that my classes were never dropped and I received “WU” grade in three courses and “F” in one course. I spoke with my advisor and registrar office, they said it may be a system error. I was planning to retake all these classes, but ended up changing my major. Now, after more than a year, my advisor told me that I can appeal these grade so they can change to “W’s”. I wrote a detailed appeal of what happened and what changed. Can somebody please review it and advise me on things to change like, grammar, word choice, sentence structure, or length? ASAP please because I will submit it tomorrow, Monday. Thank you in advance.
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing to appeal the grades I received in the Fall 2017 semester. There were situations that were beyond my control that contributed to my withdrawal from all courses that semester. However, I received three grades of “WU” and one “F” grade. It is very disappointing and upsetting to receive such grades after officially withdrawing from classes before the deadline. I believe I was not supposed to register for classes in the first place. I admit that this is my fault and I take full responsibility. I do not mean to make excuses or put the blame on someone else, but I would like to explain the circumstances and kindly ask you to please change my Fall 2017 grades from “WU” and “F” to “W”.
In May 2017, during my second semester at [college name], my mother started being ill. In July 2017 after my finals, we traveled to [another country]. She was scheduled to undergo a surgery in [another country] where her primary doctor is and came back to [state name] in late-August. In the Fall 2017 semester, I changed my major to computer science and enrolled as a full-time student. I was advised by many to skip that semester, so I can take care of my mother. I was already late for registration, but I insisted to prioritize my education and with the help of my advisor I registered for four classes. At the beginning of October, in the midst of the semester and my studies, my mother became severely ill due to medications and surgery complications. During this period, I had to drive almost every day to take care of her or drive her to doctor appointments. Taking into consideration that it takes about three hours of driving to where she lives. This long trip cut into my study time. Even when she came back to [state name] after the surgery, she had another minor operation. I became very distracted by my mother’s illness and surgery. The knowledge that my mother has a serious illness made those few months more stress-filled and difficult. Being her primary caregiver, I could not continue attending my classes to achieve a desirable outcome. Regrettably, I was forced to withdraw from all my classes on November 9th, before the deadline with a very few days.
After a challenging and stressful couple of months, fortunately, life began to wind down. My mother was slowly recovering and moved to live with me, which was a relief for me. In the winter session, I came back to [college name] to retake one of the courses I got “WU” in and successfully achieved “A-”. My Fall 2017 grades have prevented me from many academic opportunities, they drastically lowered my GPA, and they are part of the reason I was denied financial aid for 2018-2019. I wish I knew that I can request an appeal to change my grades earlier, perhaps that would have helped me, but I was just advised recently of this opportunity. Retaking the Fall 2017 courses will not count towards my current major and will be time and money consuming. They will also postpone my graduation from [college name].
Right now, I am devoted to my studies to significantly improve my academic performance. I have discovered my passion and settled down on my final major that I am going to graduate from [college name] in, which is Business Administration. I maintained straight As in all my business courses and will continue to do so. I have discussed my situation with my advisor, and we set up a plan to ensure my success in the upcoming semester, which hopefully is my last. I will retake some of my low-grade courses to raise my GPA (for example, Chemistry I) beside the remaining courses to complete my degree. I am planning to take advantages of the tutoring services on campus. I will always consider communicating with my professors, especially, when facing any academic difficulties. Also, a valuable lesson that I have learned going through such personal and academic difficulties is that I will neither register for any course that I know I may not be able to complete nor withdraw from any course. I have learned my limit in terms of academic credits and withdrawals, and will stick to that limit in the future.
Changing the Fall 2017 semester grades to “W” will remarkably change my personal and academic life. It will open doors for me in terms of transferring to a 4-year college to pursue my career in business. Studying business administration is my passion. And, I almost achieved most of my dream at [college name]. It would mean so much to me to graduate with a degree in business administration from [college name]. I hope you understand that I had a difficult and stressful time that semester and give me a second chance. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,