SAP Appeal Chances

Paying for College
1

Hi, I am a senior in college and have to do a financial aid appeal. Unfortunately, this is not my first appeal. I had to appeal due to severe depression, major medical illness and homelessness in the past. I am NOT asking for sympathy; I know there are students who have been through worse than me and got degrees. I have made a lot of progress from my freshman year, but I have failed in places as well.

I absolutely cannot pay for college out of pocket, and as a senior, my local community college doesn’t have any courses remotely related to my major that I could take and try to pay for out of pocket. I could just take a random course, but that is my absolute worst case scenario because I’m not sure how I could pay for it and I’m trying not to take up anymore time in school. Not including the courses I’m currently signed up for, I have 19 hours left - three semesters, unless I can convince my college to allow me to take more than the maximum hours in the summer or take certain courses concurrently.

I initially planned on transferring to a different school after failing this past semester, but I only applied for one school at the time and they did not accept me because they calculate GPA differently from my school and I didn’t meet the requirements. I’m going to appeal at my school again, and I need advice on whether or not this is acceptable.

THIS IS NOT THE APPEAL LETTER! Just a summary:

The main point of my appeal is that I got involved in an abusive relationship with an alcoholic midway through the semester. I felt I was doing well in school but very empty in my personal life, and ignored red flags in school and the relationship until too late. With school, I genuinely believed I would pass all my coursework up until finals week. By that point, I had already certainly failed two courses, so I needed B+ to B’s in the rest of my courses, and I only got B-'s. I didn’t drop the failed classes because I wouldn’t meet PACE and again, I thought I would make it out okay in the end.

With my relationship, the binge drinking got out of control quickly. I have photographs of extensive damage to my property from fights, recordings of verbal abuse, text messages between me and friends (who live far away) talking about the situation and feeling unsafe, a chemical evaluation my partner did, and records of AA meeting they attended. I am also attending AA meetings myself now as someone who was addicted to an addict, and have records of that. Finally, I recently got a low key, work from home job that offers EPA so I can go to therapy again. I am considering going to the same therapist I went to years ago to see if they would say I’m better or worse than before. I also might start with someone new since I have had new issues since that time. I also did attempt to go to therapy at my school during all of this but the mental health facility was booked for the ENTIRE semester; I am not exaggerating. They only recommended the support hotline. I don’t have any evidence of physical abuse or the few times contacted the police.

My plan going forward is regular therapy, AA meetings, taking writing-based/less strenuous (for me) courses, and keeping positive habits I made in the past (study groups, reaching out to professors early, doing extra credit, going to class. I plan on mentioning the courses I improved in, how I have a high GPA in my minor which I’ll be finishing this semester, and that I’m close to graduating.

2

Hold it…you are a senior who needs three more semesters to graduate…right.

My suggestion is that yountake some time off from college. Get a job, get your personal life and other issues in order. When that is all settled, THEN consider returning to college.

College will be there in your future, but it sounds to me like you have other things to get in order first and foremost.

3

I understand that I’m posting here humbly and asking for help, but I would appreciate it if we could skip the sarcasm.

I am classified as a senior. I did graduation checkout paper work last semester. I did not pass two classes I needed in the Fall, so I have to retake them and one of them is a pre-requisite for other courses I have, so that has extended the amount of time I have left.

There are no jobs near me that will support me. I have worked throughout college; last semester I tried NOT to work for once to see if that would help me.

As I previously stated, I cannot afford college. Whether it’s today or a year from now, I will still have to appeal for financial aid to enroll in school. I have faced so many obstacles throughout my college career that I actually think it’s the OPPOSITE of what you said – I will ALWAYS have troubles, but I’m running out of chances at college.

4

Also, my question was whether or not the reason listed for my appeal would work, and that was not addressed.

5

Your appeal should focus on what you will do to make sure you pass your courses going forward - basically your last paragraph. I would quickly summarize the problems you faced and have supporting documentation from your therapist and AA meeting leader but again, focus on how you will succeed if you are granted another appeal.

Good luck.

6

I was not being sarcastic in the least. You need three more semesters to graduate.

How many years have you been in college? When was your last appeal? What is your GPA in your major? Really…your minor doesn’t matter.

I don’t know the nature of your previous appeal or when that was. Or how well you did after that appeal…until now. Those things could all play into how successful your new appeal turns out.

I think you need to highlight any positive actions you have already taken to prevent yourself from failing again. I’m not clear that this has been started. Also, how you plan to continue this once classes begin.

You are 1 1/2 years away from graduating. That isn’t “close”. Close would be one term. In addition, you need to somehow demonstrate that you are going to be successful in your major upper division courses.

7

If you don’t have a drinking problem, then you need to be going to Alanon for being co-dependent to an addict.

Your summary is ambiguous…

8

Thumper is right that the best appeals note actions already taken and improvements from that. Also right that one option is to take an official break, ask for reconsideration once you’re back on your feet. In the interim, you find a job, somewhere/anywhere. You may have to move futher from campus to work.

It’s unclear you have left the partner who led to this downfall.

See, the colleges can’t judge just on a description of how bad the situation was (or is.) They need proofs you see the academic problem and are focused on improving it now, can point to progress relevant to them- ie, to successfully completing your education. It does seem you’re just getting started with counseling, eg.

9

I will focus on the improvements made. I increased my scores in two classes by two letter grades.

I’m still on track to graduate as compared to my previous appeals. I’ve been in college since Fall 2014, including 1 Fall intersession, 2 summer semesters, and one withdrawn semester.

My last appeal was the previous semester. My GPA is a 2.25. I stated the nature of my previous appeals. If my appeal for this semester is approved and I finish this semester successfully, I will take summer courses and be finished. I guess close is relative.

I definitely have left my partner and found support groups elsewhere.

I already have a job currently. I just don’t see how taking time away from school will change anything. The only difference is that my appeal would be “I spent the past six months working and maturing and now I’d like to return to school.” I can’t take classes in the mean time, and my school explicitly states you can appeal or you can pay out of pocket.

10

And, between bills and debts and stress from not being in school and taking even more time to graduate, I think leaving college will make returning even harder. I want to appeal because I can. If the appeal is denied, I will walk away knowing I did everything I could and college isn’t for me. Please give any other advice than “wait”.

11

I think we didmgive advice other than “wait”.

Focus your appeal on what you have already done to deal with the issues that caused failure last term. And how you will continue to do these things.

12

Thank you. How long should an appeal be realistically? I see a lot of requests to shorten appeals and focus on the improvements – should it be just three paragraphs?

13

There’s no fixed length. A page or les should do it.
The reason we often tell kids to edit is they go on and on about this issue or that failure and no college admin can figure out the point.

They want to have confidence a kid WILL succeed. That’s less about the problem details and more about the changes you instituted that tell the college you are now on track. Don’t forget the relationship was something you chose- even if it was for the wrong reasons, just beingin a bad relationship doesn’t give that confidence they need that you make wise decisions, make changes as soon as the writing is on the wall, etc.

14

Hi, one more thing. Do you think it’s better to address that I’ve appealed before or leave it out? I rewrote my letter focusing on the changes I made in the past/progress I’ve made, changes I made to rectify the current situation, and things I will do differently in the future.

I may have gotten a bit dramatic at the end by referring that I’ve struggled in the past and I’ve appealed before and asked the committee to grant me another chance.

15

Appealing to be reinstated academically is different from appealing FA for failing to make SAP. Make sure you hit the requirements for SAP, which are very difficult to have reinstated. They aren’t the school’s rules, they are federal student aid rules. If you have failed classes, are you planning to make them up and thereby get credit for them and (maybe) repair your gpa?

Do you have FA for this spring semester? If so, explain how those courses will then qualify you for FA in the summer and fall. If not, I think you’ll have a real issue getting this appeal approved in the next few days to start classes. DON’T start unless you have FA in place.

16

@twoinanddone every school sets their own SAP appeal procedures, and the requirements to bump back up to meet SAP.

IIRC, this is not federally determined.

@kelsmom??