Denied financial aid. Is this a good appeal letter?

Paying for College
1

To Financial Aid Committee:

I would like to appeal the loss of my financial aid due to bad grades and briefly explain my extenuating circumstances to you. If you were to look at my attached transcript from my freshman year, you would see my sophomore year Fall 2018 grades and Spring 2019 grades were quite unusual for me.

In the Fall of 2018 I chose Biology courses (in the hopes of going pre-vet) I have since realized were too difficult for myself and I became overwhelmed. I was not sure what to expect and learned that my study techniques were lacking, resulting in poor grades. I also failed to attend the review sessions, did not seek assistance from my professor or tutoring help, and as a result I failed my courses. Since it was my first time struggling in any college class I thought I should stay in them through the semester and see what happens. Halfway through the semester I had one pet who got ill. Working full time to pay my rent and bills, I only had time to go to the veterinarian after work which meant heading there at midnight and spending hours there, or on my day off which took time away to do homework and study. After she passed away another pet of mine became ill and after numerous late night veterinarian visits, she passed away as well. At this point I was completely emotionally wiped out and was not at my best to do well in school.

In the Spring of 2019 I decided to try the courses I had failed at from the previous semester again. Realizing halfway through the semester I was still struggling, I met with my advisor who sat down with me and helped me map out a new degree path. After meeting with her I had decided I would go down the Environmental Science path for the Fall of 2019 semester, while also finishing my general Ed’s. Unfortunately at this point I had withdrawn from most of my classes unbeknownst to the fact that I was violating FASFA’s terms for eligibility of financial aid.

Due to these circumstances I have been rendered ineligible to receive financial aid. Without financial aid I will be unable to continue my education because I cannot afford the cost of supplies, fees, transportation, and personal expenses. Without it, I will be forced to take more time away from my studies in order to work to be able to afford a semester’s worth of aid. My academics are my first priority now and I realize I need to devote all of my time to them in order to be successful in the future.

I recently evaluated my plans to improve my academic. I have determined the following points to be the keys to my educational success.

  1. I will balance the course choices better.
  2. I will manage my time wisely on academics, and less on working
  3. I will seek assistance with my coursework when I have difficulties.
  4. I will maintain communication with my professors to ensure success in my courses
  5. Complete classes C or better.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to explain my financial circumstances. I look forward to hearing about your decision.

Sincerely,

My name

Is this too long? Is there anything I should leave out or add more of?

I plan on adding the vet bills as proof- and for anyone wondering my semester grades for my freshman year was:

  1. A, A-, B + a class that didn’t count as a grade GPA- 3.557
  2. A, A, A, C GPA- 3.581

My sophomore grades were

  1. A+, D, W, W GPA- 3.371
  2. D-, W, W GPA - 3.094
2

I’m sorry about your pets…but I don’t think the school will reinstate your aid because of your pets…or their bills.

But you can try.

Right now, all you have is things you HOPE will improve your grades…none yet proven. Just be prepared if that is the decision of the appeals folks. They might suggest time off from their school…with courses taken at a CC to prove that you actually are able to handle these now. And yes…I realize your freshman year was better.

Your letter is OK…except that you don’t really have anything you have already done to show you can be more successful moving forward.

It’s worth a try…

3

Unfortunately this is all I have to use to try and get my financial aid reinstated. I’m not using the pets death necessarily as a crutch but to show I can get good grades when not going through a hardship

4

I would agree that this is worth a try, but I would not count on it being successful.

You are trying to emphasize that you did well your freshman year, so you have already proven that you are capable of doing better. The unfortunate outside issues involving the death of your loved ones are non-recurring, but they nevertheless affected your ability to focus on your academics during your entire sophomore year. You made several bad choices and didn’t pay attention to the terms of the initial financial aid/scholarship.

Perhaps you could request that they reinstate your scholarship for the first semester of the next school year, so you could prove to them that you are committed to taking the right steps to making academics your priority.
Best of luck to you - and as suggested above, if they want you to take time away and take CC level courses to reinstate your academic standing, that might be the best approach.

5

[quote]

  1. I will balance the course choices better. Who, on campus is going to supervise this? Include the name and department.)
  2. I will manage my time wisely on academics, and less on working. Who will quantify this? Have you met the personnel at the learning center/writing center? When are they willing to meet met with you?
  3. I will seek assistance with my coursework when I have difficulties. Where and with whom?
  4. I will maintain communication with my professors to ensure success in my courses. How often? Do you know the specifics from your department?
  5. Complete classes C or better. Who will monitor you? Have you met with the tutoring center staff?]
    They won’t accept generic attempts. You have to be specific about the hours for each center and you need to be in contact with whoever has decided to monitor your year.