I received an email from the financial aid office saying that I am ineligible for aid because I fail to meet the Satisfactory Academic standing requirement. I transferred last year to Rice and since then I have been really struggling due to a number of personal reasons although nothing particular like an illness or injury. Now the only option I have left is to appeal the decision on the basis of dealing with personal issues with how I plan to improve my grades. I can’t afford to lose my financial aid. My EFC according to FAFSA is 300 and my parents can’t afford to pay 25000. I want to know if anyone has been in the same situation and what did you do? Any advice on how to appeal will also be really appreciated. I am also going to change my major as I learned the hard way that engineering is not for me. Please help!! I feel so helpless, I can’t improve my grade without going to college and I can’t go to college without financial aid.
Did you seek mental health counseling for the personal reasons? If you did, a letter from the counselor, coupled with a leave of absence while you deal with whatever personal issues you had that interfered with school, might help them to give you another chance once the counselor says you’re back on track.
I am sorry for your struggles! There are some resources that will help point you in the right direction, and hopefully they can help let you know what the appeal process is.
- Office of Academic Advising:
https://oaa.rice.edu/office-academic-advising
According to the web site, “this office will meet with any undergraduate student at any time for any reason, advise on academic rules and policies, help you understand graduation requirements, advise on major choices, provide specialized advising for pre-health, pre-law, and pre-graduate students, meet with transfer students, international students, and students experiencing academic difficulty, connect you to campus resources”. *
I would start with the Office of Academic Advising. Rice also has the Student Success Initiative (https://success.rice.edu/ssi-advising/our-purpose), which helps students with advising and engagement strategies. This office would be a good resource for you throughout the school year.
There are also advisors for each major: https://oaa.rice.edu/major-advisors
Best of luck to you - I hope these resources will be helpful to you.
If you are in Houston, you should go by the financial aid office and have a sit down meeting with them. If not, contact them by phone to set up a phone conference. Rice also has resources for transfer students who might have trouble adjusting. Many Rice students change their majors along the way. It is fairly easy to do at Rice. As @Faulkner1897 says set up an in person or phone appointment with the OAA and SSI asap. https://oaa.rice.edu/transfer-credit-questions-and-answers