Academic probation extension appeal?
 

C

Why do you need the extension? How many semesters have you been on probation?

I

I think you need to write the letter yourself.

Kateee, I am not a member of your organization, but I agree with Nutbrownhair. First, writing the letter yourself demonstrates a level of commitment that may weigh in your favor. Second, writing the letter will provide practice and discipline in an area that you believe requires strengthening. Perhaps your college has a writing lab with teaching assistants who help students become better writers. The letter may be a good project for a few sessions there.

That said, I will provide a few writing pointers. Look at my paaragraph above. It starts with a concise statement of the topic or purpose. Follow the lead-in with a few focused, concise arguments in support of your statement, leading with the strongest. Then conclude with a summary statement. Another pointer is not to be afraid of editing your work.

Good luck!

You need to be sure that the letter is in your "voice". Whoever you work with on the letter should know you well enough to make sure that it's true to you. Do you have a chapter sister that could be of help?

Since this letter is for your sisters, as opposed to the school, I think it's okay if it's not "perfect".

It sounds like you've worked very hard to make academic and health (physical and mental) improvements. Good for you! That is very difficult.

Good Luck!

]

thank you! i am going to write it myself but i am completely lost as to how to do it. but starting with the strongest point first sounds good and thank you for the advice about how to structure it.

Kateee, here are a couple of other thoughts for your consideration. You may benefit from sessions post-class with a statistics TA. You might also benefit from some organization assistance since you seem to fall behind when you became ill.

I found the TAs to be enormously helpful with my calculus classes, 12 credits of which were at that time required at my university (and I was a liberal arts major!). A STEM student I was clearly not, and I didn't understand a single formula in the large lecture hall classes. The TAs took time and helped me understand (not simply memorize) formulae. On the exams, I was happily surprised when I recognized a fact pattern.

Viel gluck! (Where is the umlaut key???)

Wait a second. You didn't make grades Fall 2013, so were on probation for Spring 2014. Now you haven't made grades again - for Spring 2014? You didn't say why you didn't make grades last Fall.

I have to say that this is very concerning, and I think you need to really look at whether you are able to meet the demands of sorority membership as well as your academic studies. These words may sound harsh, but having been a scholarship advisor for several years, I know what I'm talking about.

Going back to the structure of the letter and taking AZTheta's concerns into account, your supporting points need to explain how you are going to achieve the objective of making grades this coming semester. The letter needs to include an action plan.

Not to diminish the issues last year, your supporting arguments nevertheless should not read as a list of woes. Clearly something was amiss to cause you to miss the grade requirements. Instead focus a supporting argument on how you will get from point A to point C. You may need a mini-plan for each academic area (such as the TA for calculus class and maybe taking meals with the German house residents so that you have time to practice your language skills.).

kateee, aside from everything else, make sure you have exhausted the resources available to you at the school. If you have some sort of diagnosis which interferes with your academic success, I feel like that knowledge (and a subsequent plan) will provide a pathway to GPA recovery.

I

I agree with AZTheta. Until you can get your life under control, Greek life and maybe even college life are beyond you. As a former professor, I have never heard so many excuses.

Can you improve your GPA and avoid probation through summer school? It might be too late for that now, however.

T

Troll in the dungeon.

Your community college class won't improve your GPA.

I'm beginning to wonder if this is really the kateee we know. Carnation, do you know something we don't know?

Right between the asterisks, AZTheta! Plus we've had to delete some of her recruitment posts.

I'm not trying to defend kateee or suggest that she isn't a troll, but it's common for students to deplete their student loan amount over the traditional academic year, leaving no funds available for summer school. As such, it's completely plausible for someone to have told her that her student loans wouldn't cover summer classes.

Very confusing thread. :confused:

!!

I've had that happen to me, but I just went and found private loans. No problem. (until it came time to pay).

I would recommend OP sit down and first decide how to organize this letter (unless there's some form I'm unfamiliar with, and this is a huge lane swerve). I'd recommend the following paragraphs:

I. Introduction, OP admits that she has fallen short of the standards, she would do well to mention the standard so that the reviewers know she knows where the mark is.
II. OP should explain what the mitigating circumstances are, i.e., why she failed to meet those standards. Discuss both the previous semester and the current semester. Include any exhibits you might have as evidence, e.g., doctor's notes, prescriptions, things which prove she was really sick and not missing class because XBox One was released and she finds TitanFall to be addictive. Here, she should also explain what she tried to this past semester (tutors, etc.) and why those didn't work. Provide documentation.
III. She should come up with a specific regimen for herself for next semester. She will then be on double-secret probation in all likelihood, so this should basically be the plan the sorority should adopt to ensure she succeeds this semester. I would recommend things such as not being allowed to miss a single class for any reason except for health (which must be documented with a doctor's note) or other emergencies which must be approved by someone in a position of authority; the use of tutors; retaking classes which have adversely impacted her GPA; the requirement. Whatever. She should come up with a plan and expect to be held to it.

I think that's a winning plan for such a letter. However OP organizes it, it needs to have those things.

And really guys, a troll? Unless someone has some specific information, that's just being paranoid. This is a pretty innocuous situation, no?

I agree on the troll stuff. I think that kateee's situation, while unfortunate, is not uncommon. I don't know what she's posted that makes her sound like a troll. Has she overshared on the internet when she's super identifiable? Yes. Trolled us? Not in my opinion.

Unless you know something we don't know, I found this to be a little rude. Having dealt with severe depression at one point myself, I know that it can be EXTREMELY debilitating and can affect a person to the point where he/she truly cannot get out of bed during the day. Yes, she did list many reasons for her grades to drop - but I don't think any of them were just completely invalid. It seems like all of the problems she had stemmed from two things - physical illness and mental illness. Katee, maybe instead of listing every single, specific problem you had this semester in your letter, you could just emphasize your physical and mental health and explain how those two things affected the other aspects of your life.

Katee, I would follow Kevin's advice about how to structure your letter and what content to put in it. I couldn't have said it better myself. I would also add that, in your letter, you need to accept some personal responsibility and explain how you will handle school, etc. if your health (physically and mentally) deteriorates again. The members of your sorority need to be assured that if you find yourself going through a rough patch again, you will be better equipped to handle it and your grades will not suffer as much.

I have/had 8 years of experience as an Academic Adviser at a major university. I dealt with students like kateee on a daily basis. In my professional opinion, nothing she is saying is out of the ordinary.


I am quoting Kevin's post because I think he put up a solid suggestion. It follows a key format: 1) Accept responsibility 2) Explain what happened 3) Describe what you plan to do to make things better in the future.


When my students faced having to write an appeal letter to the Dean, they often felt overwhelmed and struggled to find a starting point. I always suggested that they consider writing their narrative in something of a chronological format. "Back in fall 2013 this happened.....then in spring 2014 I attempted to......but by the end of the spring 2014 semester I found myself in this position........now going forward into fall 2014 I am planning to......" I found that writing in a chronological format helped many students to focus their statement and kept them from spiraling off into left field on some tangent.

One thing I also wanted to add to this was that there are resources for the OP. Katee, please consider registering with your campus disability services office. That office on your campus can be a great resource and you can possibly get special accommodations for taking exams and your school work if you have documentation that you suffer from a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety. Because Greek life membership is for life, I actually commend you for wanting to stay involved while bringing up your grades. Good luck.

I agree with everyone who has been supportive of Kateee. I think you've been given some great advice, Kateee. I suffered from depression and anxiety in college, and my grades were awful for a couple years. Now I'm a Ph.D., full professor. I'm much more empathetic to the struggles and learning needs of students because of the challenges I overcame. The college years can be challenging for many students...support makes a big difference.

.... random thought....
what kind of winterguard competes on Saturday morning?!

my competitions were always in the evening. I'm also intrigued as to what college has a competitive winterguard. I can only think of 2 around here. I wish UMass had a competitive winterguard when I was there.... sigh.

Kateee, I am just catching up and continuing to wish you well. Kevin provided a more concrete outline for the letter than I did, which should be helpful. I also recognize that you are a devoted member of your organization, which, taking the long view, is an asset and deserves mention. You may wish to cut back on non-sorority extracurriculars (other than physical activities -- exercise is good) so that, until the academics have righted themselves, your focus is not spread too thinly. Continued best wishes to you.

I'm sure that if she was taking any kind of pain meds or antihistamines for the sinus infections/tonsillitus, that almost certainly exacerbated the depression issues. Getting that under control should help a lot.

Katee, definitely get in touch with the academic counseling center at your university - showing you have a clear plan in place is a point in your favor. You have to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, don't count on others being there to help you. Life is too uncertain for that.

T

So sorry for the double post! I should clarify, we met Saturday mornings to practice before competitions but would usually compete around dinnertime, so it was an all day affair. But I had lots of time to study on the bus and the president of my sorority was the captain so she kept me on track ;) haha. Winterguard is very new to my campus, as is our marching band in general (4 year old marching band, 2 year old winterguard). There are only 2 other schools in our division as well. It would be nice to compete against more.

Sorority probation advice aside, I'm genuinely shocked that you were sick and seeing a doctor who you didn't have that doctor write a note explaining the situation to your Dean or advisor and the registrars office to appeal the grade.

I had a mental breakdown during a semester and just stopped going to class, I failed every single one. When I was healthier my psychiatrist wrote a letter and I wrote a letter explaining what had happened and my grades were switched from an F to a medical withdrawal.

I know you're still deciding what to do. Have you considered taking the fall semester off to work on yourself. Maybe get into some counseling, find some support networks, you can do volunteer work. Really just take time to be introspective and figure out who you are and what you want to do.

Kateee, I think you are wise to reevaluate your entire college career at this time. Maybe it would be best for you to take a break and resume when you are at 100%. It sounds like you are incurring a great deal of debt to pay for college, so you will need to obtain gainful employment upon graduation in order to repay that debt. With extremely low grades, the chances of getting a good job are significantly diminished. This could lead to severe financial woes that could follow you for much of your life. That could certainly exacerbate depression, as well as get you off on the wrong foot. You need to try to think ahead to what is best for you in the long run, not just the next couple of years. College should be the foundation for a better life, not the first step to financial ruin.

Maybe HQ and your chapter officers can just read this thread and you won't even have to write a letter.

Why, oh why, would you think it's a good idea to go to a Greek message board for help with this? Local, in-person support would be much more appropriate.

katee, considering your circumstances and your overall academic history (good freshman year, tough sophomore year) I am willing to bet that your chapter will work with you for a positive outcome. You're not one of the "party girls" that thinks this whole scholarship probation is a joke and really doesn't care about grades.

Initially I felt the exact same way, but she has received great advice and support in this thread. She may not have gotten the same response had she kept it local, in person.

Or she may have gotten the same response had she kept it local, in person. Maybe posting this on GC will receive a negative response from her chapter. Who knows. Good luck to the OP.

/lane swerve