I never thought I'd be back here after May - Help! Grade drop 2nd sem. senior year

Parents Forum
1

<p>This is kinda urgent as I really need to do this today as I'm going up for advising tomorrow. And I needed some parental guidance on this one.</p>

<p>Okay, sooooo I made 49 As and 1 D in HS - The D second semester senior year in Honors Advanced Chemistry (and yes, you could look back on my old posts to see I was looking for help BEFORE the fact...but whatever! >_<). </p>

<p>Main reasons were:
-Relapse in bro's mental illness and I was involved in his care and this class involved the most work/time
-TERRIBLE TEACHER
-Standard "senioritis"</p>

<p>It's also interesting to note I had the 4th highest grade out of 10...so what does that say?</p>

<p>Anyway, I just got an email from my college (I took out all the references to people):</p>

<p>Dear Kevin,</p>

<p>You are receiving this email because the Office of Undergraduate Admission has received your Final Transcript Report Form. Since we want to ensure that all of our incoming students experience a smooth transition to academic life, we would like some more information about the issues surrounding your spring semester performance in Honors Advanced Chemistry. Congratulations on the rest of your transcript, which is exemplary! We simply want to help you determine how to achieve success in all academic areas.</p>

<p>At your earliest convenience, please send an email to the Associate VP for Undergraduate Admission, in which you reflect on your spring semester performance, reflecting on what happened and what you will do differently. It does not have to be a lengthy email (a couple of paragraphs will do). Please CC: me.</p>

<p>We look forward to hearing from you, and hope to help you make your transition as successful as possible. Please feel free to contact me at with any questions you may have, and we look forward to welcoming you this fall.</p>

<p>Best,</p>

<p>Senior Admission Counselor</p>

<p>CC: Associate VP for Undergraduate Admission; Director of Academic Advising; Associate Provost for Undergraduate Affairs; Senior Admission Counselor, Undergraduate Admission</p>

<p>AHHH! Why so many people?! Anyway, I'm wondering what I should include in the letter...Out of the reasons outlined above. Would it be bad to mention the teacher? Here's what I have so far:</p>

<p>Dear Mr. blah,</p>

<p>This is in regard to my spring semester grade in Honors Advanced Chemistry.</p>

<p>I received this grade for a couple reasons. Mainly, this class was the most difficult and required a great amount of time to be put into it. However, my older brother (who is living with my mom and I) relapsed in his mental illness and I was involved in his care. Obviously, this took a lot of time out of my studies. Luckily, I was able to salvage the grades in my other classes while I let Chemistry slip.</p>

<p>It’s also interesting to note that I had the median grade in the class (4th highest out of 10). The majority of the class failed. While I know this doesn’t make my performance any better, it shows how bad the teacher was – which is the other main reason I received this grade. </p>

<p>When I attend in the fall, I know this will not happen because I really do take my academics very seriously. As a XXX Scholar, I know what will be expected of me and how important it is to maintain an exemplary academic record. I will work doubly hard to maintain my grades in college and learn as much as I can. </p>

<p>Sincerely,</p>

<p>Me</p>

<p>Should I mention the teacher? Should I mention being a scholar w/ the full-tuition scholarship?! How does that look?? Thanks for your help!</p>

2

<p>Kevin, don't send this email - it's too negative, too long, doesn't take enough responsibility, too many "I;s", etc. Please wait and let another parent who will be better at this help you craft a response - I can offer up something but the other parents here will have far better advice...meanwhile do not send the email.</p>

3

<p>Also get your GC to write letter of support documenting your stress over your brother's mental illness, and the fact that your grade was 4th highest in the class. </p>

<p>Offer to take the class in summer school or community college so you can demonstrate that you can do better than a D.</p>

<p>Include in your letter what you've learned from this experience and the actions that you'll take so that you won't get bad grades if there are family problems or a difficult teacher.
Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Also, have a back-up plan in case they let you keep your admission, but take away your merit aid.</p>

5

<p>I would drop the bad teacher part. Looks petty</p>

<p>I would leave the 4th out of 10 though and let them draw their own conclusions on the class.</p>

<p>Is chemsty in your major field? If not you could talk about focusing on your future field of study with the limited them you had due to your brothers problem.</p>

6

<p>I second Late and NSM. Rework the second paragraph, taking out the bad teacher reference and making it something about the difficulty of the class. The third paragraph, as NSM states, should have some tangible things you'll do. Does the school offer study help that you can take advantage of?</p>

7

<p>I would take out all references to "letting this class slip". And I would go to my hs guidance counselor and have them help with the letter/explanation. It sounds like the school wants an explanation. It does not sound like they don't want you to attend.</p>

8

<p>Thanks for the prompt advice! I will def. work it all into my email.</p>

<p>I don't know how I could have my GC do something though. They're not at school now and I don't know how to get a hold of him.</p>

<p>It's not my major field, but I plan on taking it this fall...I'm pretty sure I can handle it as it will be my 3rd year of chem class.</p>

9

<p>Dear College X,</p>

<p>I feel badly about my grade in honors Chem. During my last term at school my brother, who suffers from ____, suffered a relapse and I spent a great deal of time helping my mother with his care. </p>

<p>I would also like to note that while I received a "D" in this class, it was in fact the median grade for the class, and the fourth highest score out of a class of 10. I'm sure my guidance counselor ___ would be happy to confirm this.</p>

<p>Sincerely,</p>

<hr>

<p>I'm looking forward to attending college ___ in the fall, and I am sure that I will not have similar problems next year.</p>

10

<p>I agree with Mathmom, but I would add the following last paragraph. </p>

<p>I will continue to strive to perform at an exemplary level. I have learned that increased challenge requires increased focus. I am focused on making a smooth transition to my studies at _________. Thank you for your understanding.</p>

<p>Sincerely,</p>

11

<p>
[quote]
...reflect on your spring semester performance, reflecting on what happened and what you will do differently.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I sympathize with your situation. Be sure to hit all of the points above. In particular, can you provide any assurances that the matter with your brother won't be a continuing commitment that will affect future performance? Best of luck.</p>

12

<p>And a minor point ... but your brother doesn't live with "my mother and I", he lives with "my mother and me." If you ever wonder which is correct, drop the first part of the phrase, and just keep the reference to your self. You would say "he lives with me" not "he lives with I."</p>

<p>I was an editor in a former life; reading your post was like hearing nails on chalkboard. When you are trying to come across as a high school graduate that deserves to attend ABC Uni as an XXX Scholar, you don't want them to question your English abilities also!</p>

13

<p>Make sure that you don't use anything verbatim from this site in case someone does a google lookup on your note.</p>

<p>You might want to mention what you're writing to your mother and brother as you are indirectly giving out private information about them to others.</p>

14

<p>Mathmom's note hits all of the right notes--short, sweet, explains the situation, not whiny. I would also add that I plan to re-take chemistry at the college level and plan to do better.</p>

<p>agree with cnp55--check for grammar mistakes!</p>

15

<p>Okay, thanks again for everyone else with advice! I will be sending off this email today! CC never disappoints. :) (Well, usually)</p>

<p>:o I was unaware of the "and me" rule and I consider myself to be somewhat of a grammar Nazi. (SOMEWHAT). Thanks for that!</p>

16

<p>I believe the message you received was due to an algorithm at this college that required a message be sent to anyone who received a D or F in his last semester. It doesn't look like a very "personal" message.</p>

17

<p>Kevin -</p>

<p>I liked your draft best. It reads like it was written by a high school senior and it sounds honest, and both of these are good. The more it gets cleaned up and polished, the less authentic it sounds to me. (Do the grammar fix, though :-)).</p>

<p>Like others, I would get rid of the phrase about bad teacher, but that's it. I would just point out that having the 4th highest grade out of 10 shows that it was a hard class.</p>

18

<p>Thanks everyone, I sent it off! :)</p>

<p>(So, more advice would just be baaaaad :P)</p>

19

<p>The median is the middle value in a distribution. The fourth highest grade in the class could be the median, but there could be ties and it still could be relatively low (if 1 person got an A and 8 got D's and 1 failed, D would be the median). Saying it's the median doesn't add to it being the fourth highest grade, so leave out that reference just in case whoever reads it is a stickler (like me).</p>

20

<p>Yeah, I noticed that too so it was taken out! :D</p>