<p>A friend of mine recently got dismissed, and I was just wondering what you all know about getting dismissed. What stories about dismissal have you people heard of? How likely are appeals able to succeed? My friend was a freshman for the 2007-2008 school year and had family problems and a bunch of other problems. In his first semester, he was just a little below a 2.0 and then second (and evidently his last semester at Cal) was just the bare 2.0. His overall GPA is a 1.967 right now and the university is dismissing him. I suggested the idea of appealing, but now I'm having the impression that he'll still get dismissed right now. I guess he could do as the advisers suggested - to take off a semester or two at his local community college, but how likely is my friend able to return to Cal? Does anyone have advice? I'm now realizing that appealing is a long shot, but I still think it's worth a try.</p>
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I guess he could do as the advisers suggested - to take off a semester or two at his local community college, but how likely is my friend able to return to Cal?
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<p>My guess is that if he does reasonably well at community college, he is very likely to be readmitted, or whatever they call it.</p>
<p>At Cal, you have one semester to get off of academic probation. That's it. If you do not have a 2.0 after your semester of probation, you are out. I would think, however, that if the student went to CC for a year and significantly improved his academic performance that Berkeley would definitely let him back in. The people at Berkeley love CC transfers. Really love them. Your friend should make contact with the dean of his college and ask him to support his readmission after he proves his ability at a CC for one year. He should see if there is a separate readmission application, which I know exists for certain situations. Berkeley is all about the connections once you are a student there and it is up to the student to make those connections. Your friend should also make himself VERY well known to his academic advisor at the CC so that person can help him get readmitted by writing a recommendation if possible or making a phone call or whatever. It is not easy to do, but it can be done with a little diligence on his part. Good luck to him.</p>
<p>I would recommend the student to look closely at why she failed the freshman year. As I understand this is quite an unusual outcome for students that were good enough to be admitted to Berkeley, and as such cannot be explained by lack of academic ability.</p>
<p>As you say, it was due to "family problems". Now it would have been a good idea to tell the academic advisor about these issues and get a break from study to sort their life out or at least to have some mitigating circumstances on their file, but I suppose this is coming late. Nonetheless, not all avenues are closed.</p>
<p>Did the student suffer from depression? Did she experience social withdrawal, irritability, apathy, over-eating or over-drinking? Could she get her friends to confirm this? Recommend her to visit a psychologist. If she suffered from depression, it would be good for health and would get a letter certifying this; if not, then fake depression and get the letter anyway. In her appeal, use the letter and the testimony of friends/acquaintances, if obtainable, to plead mitigating circumstances against the dismissal. It would look better if you have this supporting evidence than asking them to have mercy on her and give a second chance. (They don't tend to do mercy or give second chances when it's much easier for them to give the place to a new student who is much more likely to succeed).</p>
<p>Finally, and this is an important point, point out that depression IS a mental illness/DISABILITY, and as such outright dismissal could be construed as DISCRIMINATION. This is particularly germane to the situation if the Berkeley support system did not notice or act upon the symptons of the depression. Not only would they be seen to not care about the welfare of their students, but actually punish them on grounds of their disability, which is ILLEGAL and can be challenged via the courts.</p>
<p>My advice to you?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Don't rely on their "love" as suggested by bessie. The reality is that they don't particularly care about individual undergrad failing students and would much rather give their place to a more promising (for their reputation, their money, etc) student. I am very skeptical about the chances of readmission via this route.</p></li>
<li><p>Get your friend to a) try to get a letter from a psychiatrist stating that she has depression and b) try to get fellow friends/acquaintances to confirm that assessment by saying how they noticed depression-like symptons throughout her freshman year. Of course in a perverse way it helps if she really did have a serious depression, but if she didn't, well...medical diasnostics on mental health issues aren't very reliable today. Play the system.</p></li>
<li><p>In her appeal stress her depression caused by "family problems, etc", and if necessary hint that Berkeley support system failed to diasnose and treat her, and that dismissal is discrimination against disabled students. </p></li>
<li><p>Never forget. THEY MIGHT NOT LIKE FAILURES BUT THEY LIKE LAWSUITS EVEN LESS.</p></li>
<li><p>Good luck. For all the above you'll still need a lot of it.</p></li>
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<p>That said here is the more conventional advice:</p>
<p>Guidelines</a> for Applying for Readmission After Dismissal</p>
<p>Still it will not hurt to mull over the depression = disability = unfair dismissal idea.</p>
<p>College</a> Policies-Academic Probation</p>
<p>If you believe that extenuating circumstances affected your ability to return to good academic standing, make an appointment with an adviser.</p>
<p>About</a> L&S Advising</p>
<p>Lol actually got me interested in researching this question. Now if I can find some stats...</p>