Academic Dismissal Appeal Assistance

College Life
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Happy holidays to all. Dealing with a situation that I have no idea how to even begin sorting.

Faced with academic dismissal, not sure what my grounds for appeal are. It’s been recommended I write an appeal letter. No idea what to write. Figured I should just describe the entirety of my last school yr and hopefully gain some insight from those who might have ideas on this sort of stuff. Sorry - this is long.

I started the Masters part of my program in January. Rough start. 2.8 GPA (don’t recall the exact number, but like 2.78 or something) after Winter, with only a single class where I get an A. The grad school requires a 3.0, of course. On probation, but salvageable.

No A’s, but I raise my GPA to 2.89 GPA after Spring. Very close to being off probation, but I only have one more term to get it up there. I resolve to raise my GPA above a 3.0 with some simpler summer classes.

Couldn’t attend any classes over the summer. I even have to quit my job, since I become my dad’s primary home carer as he battles with cancer through the summer months. They’ve caught it early, prognosis is good, but of course there’s still surgery and chemo and stuff.

I go back to school in September. My dad has his last round of chemotherapy in September. He’s declared cancer-free, vibes are up. First couple of weeks are rough. But I think I pull through. After some poor results to start the new school year, I go to office hours, study hard and with concrete methodology, re-prioritize my time, do what I think I need to do to get my grades up. B, B+… C+. 2.89 term GPA, 2.86 overall GPA, nothing enough to stop that dismissal email.

The C+ is because I messed up the first assignment in this class worth 30%. One big assignment, one midterm, one final; I try to make it up in those tests but the grade boundaries for this class were tight and it’s not curved. Of course, at the end of the day, I got the grade I believe I deserved based on that first assignment. I messed it up, I get that.

But… otherwise, I’d have continued to trend upwards. I did well on the exams. I feel I would have a stronger performance come New Years, maybe get some As again. I attend office hours, liaise with my academic advisor, study with my peers, for my finals I wrote my own exam papers based off lecturer content and feedback to test myself, did good on those. Obviously not a genius, but… can I argue this upward trend is enough to be reinstated? Not sure how to frame it so I don’t come off as defensive. I’m not. I understand I need to work hard. I have a concrete plan I have started and will continue to employ. I just don’t know how to frame all that in a letter. I mean, look at this post - it’s not concise at all. I’m a STEM major, not an English one (I am very jealous of all of them - the ability to write eloquently but without dragging things on is a skill I seem to lack). Assistance would be appreciated. Thanks to anyone who read this whole thing

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So you were on probation and then had another semester under 3.0 and were dismissed? I just want you to know that there are many degree completion programs, some that accept anyone over a 2.0 GPA (look at UMass Amherst University without Walls, or Lesley LCAL). You might benefit from taking one or two classes to get yourself going again and those “adult learner” or “degree completion” programs allow that, are less expensive, and you get a bachelor’s. It sounds frustrating for you to keep trying and I wonder if you have any ideas about why things are not working. You can write an appeal but your father’s cancer won’t explain the other semesters and if his cancer was early, caregiving isn’t that onerous usually. I have helped with appeal letters but it seems you might want to go along with this one, and talk to someone about how you might return in the future, as well as investigate other programs. I know this is hard and don’t mean to sound unysmpathetic!

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You can bring up your dad situation but you signed up for a program knowing the rules.

So I’m not sure an appeal would work. You might talk to a professor and see if they’d write you a letter of support to include.

Hopefully you can find another program. You can’t think of anything to write because truth be told, there isn’t anything. They have requirements and you didn’t meet them. Let’s say you stayed but missed 3.0 again, then they wouldn’t give you a degree. Is it just one more semester for the Masters ?

But the previous post had ideas of where you might finish.

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I should add that there are online Master’s programs as well that can be done part time. I am sorry, I posted more for BA students. I would also try to get to the bottom of why you are not achieving 3.0.

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Do you have an advisor to speak with?

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This will be your best bet. If your advisors know what you’ve been going through, they go to bat for you. My experience with grad school was the importance of having a graduate advisor, especially because you need to have at least one professor who knows you and your focus well, for your thesis committee.

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That’s fine. I appreciate the honesty.

Yes, I wouldn’t say the caregiving is an appropriate reason. It’s just that there was literally no one else to do it (a home nurse wasn’t discussed, not a lot of money going around), you’re correct in that it wasn’t too difficult. He had a surgery to remove the initial cancer which was the tougher part for a few weeks (he was hooked up to this machine that drained blood, needed help with various things) but after that it was mostly routine.

I mean I genuinely feel (and perhaps it’s too little too late) that come next year I could raise my GPA. if it wasn’t for the first assignment in the class I got a C+ in I would have done it. Of course, everything counts, I’m not saying it should be discounted it’s just that it’s frustrating to get high marks on 70% of the class content and get let down by 30% of it. I’d like to make the argument that my scores in later work for that class show I’m a better student than my grade but perhaps you’re correct I should just cut my losses…

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I spoke to my graduate advisor right before Christmas break and she said that if anything happens with my grades I should come to her. Of course that was in person - harder to coordinate when she’s not around. I emailed her about it initially and after a couple of days she replied with a short email basically saying “yeah, just follow the appeal process”

Is it worth emailing her back saying “sure but I’m not exactly sure what to write” and saying the same things as here? I mean generally she’s been very supportive but I guess I’m anxious her reply will be “well if you don’t know, I don’t know”

I mean… again, I kind of want to write “well this is basically all because of one assignment” but boiling it down that’s not a strong argument for myself and I recognize that.

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I mean whether regardless of the grade I’ve gotten in my classes my scores on test/assignments generally have gone up over the period of each class. It tends to be things early in the classes that have brought my grade down.

I guess my grades don’t strictly reflect it but I really do try damn hard to get the grades I do. I guess that doesn’t bode well for me in the strict sense lol but the reason I feel so strongly about next year is that this would be the first time I’m taking classes that are a continuation of last year’s classes - my summer classes should have been a continuation of what I did in spring but that obviously didn’t happen. But now, for example, I’m taking Dynamics II after Dynamics I so I don’t have to buy a new textbook, learn entirely different content (obviously it’ll be harder but I’ll be building off of what I just did) etc. So I really want that next shot. Obviously I could end up in the same spot and that would be it but I guess I’m quite stubborn.

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Unfortunately you won’t be given the chance.

You can ask the professor who gave you the C+ to note your improvement.

The issue is, you haven’t just missed. After you missed you were on probation and you didn’t improve. The schools have a process for a reason. They will typically follow.

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If you will regret not doing an appeal, then by all means write one, focusing on the fact that that one grade brought you down, and what you plan on doing to ensure improvement. If your father’s recovery from surgery and chemo were a distraction mention that in a matter of fact, brief way.

I would be more concerned about why you have not been able to achieve the desired grades. Have you considered an evaluation for a learning challenge, ADHD, depression, whatever…..If those aren’t relevant, is a different school a fit? A different academic focus? Would working for awhile clarify things?

In the meantime, try an appeal. The thing is, if you don’t know what to write, there might not be justification! You have written to us about your situation and most of what you have posted can be used in your appeal. Go for it, but with reasonable expectations, and please don’t despair: you still have many options for the future,

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I would email her back and ask if she can review your letter prior to sending it.

Graduate schools want their students to succeed. Ask your advisor to read your appeal and provide feedback.

If they do not accept your appeal and you end up leaving the program, I would look into other grad programs that would accept some of your credits (I agree with Happy that you need to understand what is holding you back).

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Agree that talking to your advisor should be your next step. See if there is any path where you could re-enter the program and, if not, if an alternative can be suggested.

FWIW my S was in a grad program that required a 3.0 for graduation. At least in his program the professors were aware of this requirement and rarely gave lower than a B to students completing the course competently. Of course YMMV depending on the school and program. You need to understand what has been holding you back from a 3.0

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Thank you for all your advice thus far, it’s all provided a lot of clarity for both attempting an appeal and what I should be looking for in the meantime. I very much appreciate it

Considering my family history, it’s entirely possible that there’s something quite obvious holding me back. But I’m reluctant to get checked because I don’t know how I’ll feel if there’s something behind my grades, or why i struggle with certain types of schoolwork and not others, but at the same time if it’s really just me not being suited that would be quite frustrating. I know it’s a bad way to be but I feel better off not knowing… but with facing dismissal I obviously have to consider it properly.

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Would you be willing to share your graduate major?

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As you and twogirls have suggested I will contact her again, and produce a rough draft and send it to her for review

part of why i was able to raise my GPA in (though not by enough) the spring was this, in the one class i thought i was pretty mediocre in the curve was very generous and I ended up getting a B+ anyway. This professor that gave me a C+ said “getting a B to meet master’s requirements is between you and your advisor” when asked by another student before our final… I’m not sure there’s any negotiation to be done there and in any case I’m the one who let myself down, not her

Again, thank you all for the advice. I will make sure to contact my grad advisor ASAP.

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Of course. It’s Mechanical Engineering.

I did Electrical Engineering for my undergrad and my GPA was a lot higher, but I’m more interested in this… which is where frustration arises.

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Any letter should be short and to the point with a clear plan for improvement.

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Yes short and how you plan to improve as @happy1 says.

If you think an evaluation will be helpful, please pursue it. If you think it is ADHD primary care can often diagnose: it is just a questionnaire that you can find online. I am not into diagnosing online, obviously, so that is hypothetical. Just saying there may be an approach that could help you, and academic accommodations as well (not sure how that works for masters level). Any chance you can do part-time?

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What is the deadline? It may be hard to reach folks during the holiday.