<p>Ok here's my question in as much detail as possible. I've wanted to attend University of Maryland, College Park for quite some time now but i'm afraid my GPA may be too low. After this semester it will be around 2.33 with about 52 credits. I plan on getting a good recommendation letter from a reputable professor and i also included in my application essay that i underwent the death of a close family member around a year ago. In this time i was basically going to classes to keep my mind occupied, but lost all interest in going up until last semester when my grades started to get better. Does anybody know what my chances of getting in are? I'm also looking at UMBC for a transfer if UMD says no. Thanks for your help guys</p>
<p>I don’t know about your chances of getting in to those schools, for one, because I know nothing about them, secondly, because I’m just another college student anyway (what the heck do I know about chances?? lol). I did, however, feel compelled to reply to this post because I wanted to suggest that you talk to your current school about your situation. In situations like yours you may have the option of receiving a hardship withdrawal from the semester when the death of your family member occurred, even though we’re obviously well past that semester at this point. You can still explain to them that you didn’t know that was an option, and you can take it all the way to the dean to get an approval. I know someone who had a very similar situation, and they had to keep requesting private counsel with the dean for almost three months before they were finally heard, but they did get it taken care of. Documentation and persistence can really help in these situations, and sometimes you even get lucky and are met with people who have…you know, souls. 
Surely anyone could understand that the semester in question was VERY hard for you, and shouldn’t drag down your record, so if I were you I’d at least start with asking questions about hardship withdrawals at your school so you don’t even have to worry about the issue dragging down your apps to your dream schools. It never hurts to ask- and again, even if they tell you no, or it’s too late, or they don’t do things like that, WHATEVER, just send an email or knock on the door of a higher-up at the school (if you can get to the dean, that’s best). Really- receptionists and work study kids will give you the standard answer, which may dictate that this isn’t an option for you- but you can go above them and get to the nitty gritty with someone that has actual power, and those people can always bend the rules…if there’s good reason to (which your situation definitely is).</p>
<p>I do hope you look into it, as I really know someone who went through this exact issue, and they were even shut down initially, but they just kept going higher on the food chain to request leniency. With persistence, justice prevails. 
Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you for taking time to reply. What you said made me feel better and i’ll do just that. I planned on bringing it up regardless to my school and the schools i plan to transfer to, but i had no idea a hardship withdrawal even existed. Even if i have to go to the very top, i’ll try my best to sort it out. Thanks for your support.</p>
<p>No problem, I’d never heard of it either until it entered my personal circle, but it’s actually not that uncommon. Students are people; things happen, so there are systems set up for these kinds of things.</p>
<p>I wish you the best of luck, and if you think of it/feel like it, keep us posted!</p>