When Do Colleges Rescind Acceptances?

Thank you so much!

@Sally_Rubenstone Hi Sally, I got acceptted as transfer to UC Berkeley, however I got a C in spring and it is math llinear algebra, which should be the easiest in all my four classes. I will end up with a GPA slightly lower than3.0, but I have 2 As for winter grade.
I emailed the UCB today and haven;t received any response yet

@Sally_Rubenstone

Hello Sally!

One of my conditions of admissions,as a transfer student for UCD, is to get a 3.4 or higher GPA by the end of the spring term. However, I am will be getting B’s in two of my classes so I will not be getting a 3.4 this semester.

Will they rescind my acceptance? I have called them, but they said to update grades, when available, and a counselor will check to see if it will affect my admission.

:frowning: I am really worried.

@Sally_Rubenstone
Hello Sally
I had a question I am going to attend Chico state this fall and I was wonder can they still rescind my acceptance because sophomore year I took chemistry and passed it then junior year I took ap chemistry but by then I was already done with my two years of science recommended so that ap chemistry was just an elective but I ended up failing it and dropped out I was wondering will that get my acceptance rescind ?

I want to point out, since I teach college, that nothing drives college professors MORE nuts than a student suffering through family and health issues during the semester, and trying to stick it out, and then getting a bad final grade so they think after the grade is posted is the time to ask for consideration.

Both for HS and college students, if you have trouble keeping your grades up because of health or family reasons, let your teachers or professors know, and follow the school rules to get approval for submitting work late or taking exams late. You will be very glad you did.

So PLEASE talk to the college - where I teach, their counseling center and Dean of Student Services are excellent and bust their buns to help students with health or family or personal issues.

The absolute WORST thing you can do is just hope and wait.

And if the HS is not accommodating a diagnosed illness, and you are in the US, the HS is violating Federal law and possibly state laws depending on your state.

If on the other hand, she feels she has anxiety but wants to “work on it herself” with no diagnosis or treatment plan or communication between health officials and the high school, that’s an insoluble problem.

@rhandco -Great advice, thanks. I should also add that, while many students can be embarrassed about certain medical conditions or home-front situations, most college officials are like doctors … that is, they have seen it all already, and they are there to support you, not to judge you. So don’t hold off on talking about your concerns with teachers or administrators because of the nature of these concerns. It may be tough in some cases to be candid, but you’re most likely to find that, after you’ve done it, you’ve eliminated some of your stress.

I was rescinded. Should I even appeal? This is what they sent me:

The Admissions Review Committee had a meeting this afternoon and we discussed your case. I regret to inform you that we will no longer be able to offer you admission to our campus for Fall 2015.

We expect that students will meet the Conditions of Admission, which include Cs or better in all courses senior year. Unfortunately you were not able to complete this requirement.

Please understand that we are sympathetic to the situation you have gone through in your lifetime. Other than the low grades, your academic history is strong and we are proud of the fact that you are attempting to overcome your personal situation by improving your surroundings through academic excellence. Our hands are tied at this point due to the fact senior year courses need to be completed with Cs or better. If you are still interested in attending UCSB, we would encourage you to apply with us again in two years after meeting the requirements to transfer.

If you haven’t done so already, make sure you contact any other schools that have admitted you to see if you are still eligible. There might be a school that will still consider you admissible.

Best of luck to you in your future endeavors!

@anth97- Again, sorry to hear about your situation. It does seems as if UCSB considered your extenuating circumstances but rescinded your acceptance anyway. As I’d mentioned to you in an earlier post, there may be concerns that your family situation will keep you from performing to the best of your abilities in college, if they were to allow you to come. My best guess is that an appeal will not be successful, but if you can set up an appointment to meet with an admission official in person, I guess there’s always a chance you might prevail.

I think the best bet, however, is to get your guidance counselor to telephone your admission officer at UCSB and lobby for your acceptance. It may be hard to track down your counselor since it’s summer now, but some counselors work year round … or close to it … so if you have a decent counselor and you are able to contact him or her, that’s what you should attempt to do. At the same time, you should start making arrangements to enroll elsewhere. There are still colleges taking applications, if you want a 4-year-school, but you may not get adequate financial aid at this late date, if you need it.

I have decided to appeal. Do you think I need to add anything or take anything out?

To the Admissions Committee at the University of California Santa Barbara,

I understand and regret that I have not met and fulfilled the conditions stated in the freshman contract, but I urge you to reconsider the withdrawal of my admission. The situation I was in prevented me from attending school regularly and hindered my ability to perform well in school.

I was only sixteen when I found out both of my parents had cancer. We weren’t close to our extended family and I am an only child. I was incredibly scared. I thought my parents were going to die. With that thought in my head, I focused all my attention towards my parents rather than my studies. My mother became unable to work and we lost our family business. My dad became the only source of income for our family. As he was dealing with his own illness and attending radiation treatment every day, I became my mother’s caretaker and took on many other responsibilities to lessen the load on his shoulders. I kept track of bills and insurance claims, took my mother to her all her treatments, kept track of her medications, and took care of her. The chemotherapy treatments caused her to become very weak. Following chemotherapy, she had a surgery where they removed her entire stomach and inserted a feeding tube. She then became bedridden and entirely dependent on me to care for her.

By the time I was admitted into UC Santa Barbara, my grades had already suffered and there was not much time left before the school year ended. Although I tried, ultimately, I was already too far behind. The numerous responsibilities I had, along with the emotional stress I was under, affected my academic performance. I understand that that is not an excuse for my poor grades, but I tried my best under the circumstances that I had.

If re-admitted into UC Santa Barbara, I assure that I will excel and succeed in my studies. The events that have occurred, though terrible and unfavorable, have forced me to grow up and mature. I am much more prepared for college and just life in general than I would be if these events did not happen. I am extremely motivated and driven to learn and make a positive difference in the world. I have always been interested in the medical field but now I know that that is the path for me. What happened to my parents have inspired me to become a doctor and help people in whatever way possible. My hardships have only made me stronger.

I have dreamed of studying at UC Santa Barbara for an incredibly long time now and it is unfortunate that these hardships at the very end of my high school career has interrupted my goals. Please let me know if there is anything I can do or any way to allow me to attend UC Santa Barbara, such as beginning the year on academic probation. I look forward to hearing back from the Admissions Committee.

You’ve clearly spelled out the stress you’ve been under in a well-written letter. Perhaps you should also explain why you know that you can succeed at UCSB. Won’t you continue to be under stress or have your parents improved significantly? I do worry that the admission folks may not be convinced that your troubles are behind you so they are most likely concerned that you’ll continue to be distracted from your studies by your family duties.

I will definitely add that to my letter! Thank you.

Hey Sally!.. So my final IB results came out and i missed my predicted score by 7 points… I was predicted 40/45 and i got 33/45… Should I try enjoy the rest of my summer or should I be expecting a ‘rescinded’ letter from UPenn?.I am seriously worried as i am an international student and so IB grades are my only grades :frowning:

@neptuneking-I think you’ll be okay but you might want to call Penn to confirm. It’s not as if you’ll be alerting them to a situation that they otherwise wouldn’t notice. Because someone there will be reviewing your results if you don’t have any final grades to send. You’ll enjoy your summer more if you face the music, and I really do think that the news should be good. Let me know.

Hey,Sally. I’m transferring from De Anza College to San Francisco State University, and my transcrips are due on July 15. I ordered my final transcripts a couple months ago, setting them up to be delivered to SFSU electronically once final Spring grades posted. The charge for this service did end up in my online bank account right after I purchased it, but I wasn’t paying attention, and the charge disappeared a few days later without me noticing. The company that handles transcript orders for my college has sent all the SFSU transcripts today, and tried to charge my card for this, but my bank declined the charge because I don’t have enough money. I get paid either tomorrow or the 15th (it isn’t consistent) and can pay the fee then, but if I have to pay on the 15th I don’t know if SFSU will get the electronic transcript the same day. If they don’t, does that mean my acceptance will be rescinded for missing the transcript deadline?

@Spaceship - I suggest that you email SFSU and explain your dilemma. I feel it’s highly unlikely that they will rescind your acceptance if you explain that it is a financial hardship to send the transcript before you get paid. You should also tell them the grades you got. Even though they will still need an official transcript, it can’t hurt for you to give them your grades in the meantime. Good luck!

Hi Sally!
I was wondering if you could chime in on my situation.

I was accepted as a spring admit to USC. At the time of acceptance, I had already sent in my spring grades (they asked for them through spring grade request). However, when I sent in my transcript for spring grades, I already had classes registered for summer (these classes are non pre-req, non-GE, they’re just standard elective units) which were in preparation for transfer next year in case I DONT get accepted to USC.

Since I was accepted, I dropped those classes (without any W’s) since I had no use for them.
They said they will review the situation, but do you honestly think I could get rescinded?

Also, my conditions didn’t have any specific requests, just the standard “no academic or behavioral misconduct” message.

My admission counselor (and another usc counselor) also told me that my conditions were only based on spring grades (which I fully met to their standard).

This is really a question for USC, but if I’m understanding your situation correctly, I don’t think you would get your acceptance rescinded because you didn’t take summer classes that you originally said you’d take. But because I’m not fully up to speed on your situation, I can’t say for sure. Also, if you won’t be able to enroll at USC until next spring, can’t you take these classes in the fall if USC threatens to revoke your spring acceptance?

Yes I was planning on enrolling for these classes for fall just in case…
Basically, I dropped a couple summer classes after being admitted, and when I do eventually send in my final transcript, it will have a couple missing classes in the summer section as compared to the transcript I sent in a month ago.
Hopefully it won’t be a problem…
Another question, how much do you think universities (USC in particular) weigh their conditions because it doesn’t say anywhere in my conditions that I specifically needed to get those summer courses done…

Conditions are critical. Students are expected to meet them. The summer classes may not be
a “condition,” but any time a student lists a pending class, the college expects to be notified if the student drops or changes one of those classes. This has nothing to do with “conditions.” However, because you planned on taking summer classes only if you did NOT get into USC, I suspect that you won’t need them to keep your acceptance. Yet again it’s impossible for me to know exactly what your situation is.