Coming to XXX as an International Student from a small Island in Greece, I have experienced difficulty adjusting to a whole new country with a different educational system. I did not have the opportunity to attend any orientations since I was overseas. As classes started, I realized that the terminology, in the courses I attended, was too difficult and I was not able to understand the material. Even though I went to several TA office hours, they were not enough. By the time I tried to seek help from the tutoring center on campus, it was too late. I take full responsibility in my lack of work and the academic suspension. I have not shown my best work, but I am hoping that I will be able to do so if my appeal is approved. I plan on making my schoolwork a priority and doing my best to achieve a higher GPA. I will obtain a tutor and go to the scheduled office hours of each instructor regularly. I am certain that if I am given a second chance, I will be persistent when facing with challenges that structure my skills which can be demonstrated through my grades. I will work extremely hard in order to show that the second chance was not taken for granted and will take any other steps needed to receive the grades I plan to achieve. I have planned to discipline myself in every single aspect of my life because I do dream with that diploma from XXX. Please understand that my low GPA does not indicate that I am a bad student. I am a good student who has the capabilities to do better and who wants to have a better future. This incident made me into a stronger person who is more serious and committed to my education. I know I will be more responsible for my actions. Nothing is more important to me than a good education. I sincerely hope that this appeal shows that I am dedicated to being a successful student here at XXX. Thank you for giving me the chance to appeal my suspension and thank you for your time.
Here’s the problem I have with your letter:
You state that the biggest issue was language-- the terminology was simply too difficult and you were not able to understand the material. And even going to office hours, you were in over your head.
How will you resolve that issue? It seems to me that you either need to work to be able to understand the terminology-- is this a language issue, or is it because of the technical vocabulary of your major? Or else you need to take courses that won’t include the types of terms that give you trouble.
I think that if your appeal hopes to be successful, it needs a concrete plan for success, beyond just working harder and studying more.
Does that make sense?
@bjkmom Thank you for your response. To be honest, it was both the language and the terminology. I believe, high school students here, who know what major they’ll be in college, have the opportunity to take classes related with that and are familiar with most of the terminology by the time they come to college. Unfortunately, on my island, they do not offer that. When you say that “it needs a concrete plan for success” what do you mean? Can you give me an example or give me a recommendation on what to write? Thanks again.
You need to outline your plan with how your grades will change and who you’ve contacted to help you-
-Advisors in your major, their names and how you plan to access their help.
-Tutoring center evaluations or appointments you have scheduled (when do you plan to go to the writing center to help with your edits?)
-Which office hours will you be attending on which days?
-What is your proposed academic schedule for the Quarter?
-Who is going to monitor your progress? Academic advisor?, Major advisor? International office?
Rather than just, “I plan to” or “I will,” they like to see what you’ve done that has led to improvements, even small. Because, how do they see you’re actually on the right track, now? Just telling them you’ll be better isn’t the same as actions you’ve taken.
Right. So how will you fix the problem?
Will you audit a class over the summer at community college so you’ll have the background you desire? Have you started to watch online videos-- if you have a real, concrete source, perhaps from someone at their university, perhaps mention it-- that will help fix the problem?
You’ve identified the problem, but they want to know that it’s fixed, that you’re now set up for success.
There are many classes taken by many American students that were never taken in high school. For example you don’t need to have taken economics, psychology, computers etc in high school to take an entry level class in college. Usually an entry level class is designed to teach you the basics.
What courses did you take that were a struggle? Will you be taking ESL classes now to help improve your language? I agree that just saying you will work harder will not tell the college that you are doing anything to help improve the issue.
@“aunt bea” I understand what you’re talking about, but in my case, I would’ve had my academic advisor to monitor me but he is retiring. He also isn’t helpful at all with the petition sheet. Also, the office hours don’t come out until the week after classes start so I can’t say anything specific. The tutoring center also opens the week classes start. Thank you for your response.
@lookingforward I understand what you mean, thank you for your response.
@bjkmom Thank you so much for your help.
@momtogirls2 In my major -Civil Engineering, most of the freshmen came in with 20 credits from classes they’ve taken in Highschool, that’s why I mentioned it. I also met with the Dean of my major and talked about it and he said he will argue my case so the courses that I struggled with and me taking ESL classes were mentioned in the meeting. Thank you for your response.
Your letter is too vague. I would want more specifics on what went wrong to make sure you understand. Colleges have orientations for foreign students right before class starts…why didn’t you attend that?
Colleges have international student groups…did you join/make use of that?
How are you giong to understand the US education process?
A successful appeal must do several things:
- show that you understand what went wrong
- show that you take responsibility for the academic failures
- show that you have a plan for future academic success
- in a broad sense, show that you are being honest with yourself and the committee
Here are some examples:
Some of this is general, and some specific to your situation.
- search this topic on CC and you will see many other posts on academic appeals
- Make sure your letter states what the issue was that caused you to have academic difficulties
- Did you talk to your professors/dean of students about the issue?
- Did you make use of the many resources your school has? if not, why not?
- Find out what those resources are…e.g. counseling center, talking to professors, talking to your adviser, withdrawing from class, talking to dean, maybe taking incompletes,
- State how you would use those in the future
- How are you addressing what caused the issue? Have you addressed the depression?
- Think about if you should continue at college, or take a break.
- Think about if you should continue at a community college, to be close to your family
- How is your college funded? Will that continue?
In general, keep in mind what the college wants…they want students who can succeed. They need to know that you understand what the issue was, know now the resources that you can use, how the problems is resolved so you will not have academic issues in the future. Also I am not sure if visa issues come into account.