When Do Colleges Rescind Acceptances?

[texasstudent2019]

Hey Sally,

Sorry about pestering you with questions like this, but my final grades for the semester came out, and it turns out my final tally for the semester is all As except a single C in CS, which is unfortunate because CS is my intended major at Duke. However, the reason for the C was because my CS instructor gave me a zero for a 30-minute-late online submission worth 10% of my grade because i didn’t have access to wifi.

What would be your suggested course of action, and how real is the chance that my admission to Duke gets rescinded?

[Sally_Rubenstone]

@texasstudet2019-From where I sit, there’s NO chance that Duke will rescind your acceptance. Even so, because you expect to be a CS major and your C was in CS, it would be appropriate for you to write to Duke and explain what you just said here … how the zero on the assignment was the result of your not having WiFi access.

I don’t know if your lack of WiFi was temporary and unusual (e.g., you were on a camping trip or an airplane or visiting your uncle in the middle of nowhere) or if it has been an ongoing issue for you (i.e., no WiFi in your home). But if it’s the latter, you should mention that too.

[rpdladhrwl]

Hi Sally,

My situation is a bit different from others here, as I’m a transfer student looking to join U of Illinois Urbana-Champaign this fall. I’m currently studying at a different 4-year college, and my last semester grades aren’t looking so good. I am currently a sophomore standing student, and I will have exactly 60 credits - so Junior - when I join UIUC.

At my current institution, my last (and first) semester GPA was somewhat of a promising 4.0. This semester, I will have 2 As, 1 B, 1 C and 1 D. That D was in Accounting, which is a class that is unrelated to the major when joining UIUC.

Regardless of it being unrelated to my major, the D letter grade really concerns me, and I was wondering if this would rescind my admission to UIUC. I would really appreciate your help. Thanks!

[Sally_Rubenstone]

@ rpdladhrwl - My guess is that your acceptance won’t be rescinded. But you should be proactive and contact UIUC now and try to explain your downturn. If you struggled with illness or added responsibilities at work or at home, be sure to say so. You can also mention that the accounting course was outside of your major, but don’t make it seem as if you didn’t care about it because you didn’t find it important. Instead, however, you can say that it was unfamiliar material that was difficult for you.

When students appear to care about poor grades, admission officials are more likely to give them a break than if it seems that they don’t care.

Good luck!

[bigsam]

Good Morning Sally,

I am on the fence of earning a C in a major pre req and am worried my admission will be rescinded.
Background- Cumulative GPA is 3.83, with no other C’s on my transcript. Will earn A’s in all other courses this semester which include two other major pre reqs. Term gpa will be 3.41 which will drop my overall gpa to a 3.75.
I am transferring to UCLA from a california CC as a physiology major.
Will this drop in gpa result in the cancellation of my admission?

[Sally_Rubenstone]

@bigsam–Keep in mind that I never have access to all of the information about an applicant that admission officials have. But, based on the small piece of the picture I’m seeing here, I think you should be fine.

[Tryklt]

Hi, I have been admitted to Purdue University CS. Honors program. I just have two weeks left in the school year. My AP Statistics Grade is 72%. C. We are doing a group project and my teammate has not done a good job. There is a high possibility that my score will go down to D. Will my admission be affected because of that? What can I do right now? I have 1 A, 3 Bs in other subjects. My GAP was 3.6 when I applied. Also this is an AP class. Please guide me. I am nervous.

[Sally_Rubenstone]

@Tryklt - If you do get the D, you can write to Purdue to explain the situation, emphasizing that you did thoroughly complete your own part of the project.

My son was in your situation once in high school. He was doing a project singlehandedly after his teammates bailed. Since some of their work was essential to the project, he knew he couldn’t avoid a low grade. But he met with the teacher, and the teacher allowed him to do an individual project for extra credit. It had been my understanding that he would get BOTH grades … the C- that the team had earned for the lousy project plus the A that my son got on his individual one. Yet, when the dust settled, the teacher expunged the low grade and gave my son only the high one. I guess he realized that he’d stuck my kid with a bunch of slackers.

So, if there is enough time left in the semester, you can suggest some sort of extra-credit work to your teacher, too. If you can’t do that, write to Purdue. But emphasize the efforts that YOU put into the project rather than spending the whole message trashing your teammate!! You should be fine.

[Iamkim]

Hello! My daughter was accepted to UNC Greensboro with a 3.85 gpa. This semester she has had trouble with one online class through a NC state program. She thinks she will get a D. Her other grades this semester are two As and one weighted B. She is terrified her offer will get rescinded. What do you think will happen? Should she call the school and tell them? Thanks!

[Sally_Rubenstone]

@lamkin-She should be proactive and explain her situation to her admission officer. You can read more specifics in many of my other comments on this thread. My best guess is that she will be fine.

[koalabear_1]

Hey Sally!

I was accepted to Yale. This semester I will be receiving 2 A’s 4 B’s and 2 C’s. Last semester I had 6 A’s and 2 B’s. In addition, I had all A’s before senior year.
The only improvement I had this semester was that I had a B for AP Lit first semester, but this semester I got it up to an A. the 2 C’s are in multivariable calculus and this independent studying class I am taking (I forgot to turn in assignments because of family issues). Will I be rescinded?

Thank you!

[Sally_Rubenstone]

@koalabear_ I don’t think you’ll be rescinded but I’m guessing that Yale will want to know what’s going on before making this determination. Since you say there were (or still are) issues at home, I suggest that you write to Yale NOW and explain the problems you faced. I don’t recommend that you wait to see if Yale will contact you. Good luck!

[koalabear_1]

Thank you sooo much!!!

[Catsandbooks44]

My son is going to Emmanuel College in Boston. He had a 3.6 average GPA till this semester. He has homeschooled. However this year, he took several classes at the community college. For this semester, he had several at home courses and one at the community college. It was Biology and he got a D. Do you think they might rescind his admission. Forgot to add, I don’t know the other grades, but I’d say around Bs.

[Sally_Rubenstone]

@Catsandbooks44–I’m a little bit confused by your son’s situation. It sounds like he took SEVERAL community college classes over the past year and got a D in one of them (Biology) in the second semester but also a couple higher grades, which you THIINK were B’s, at community college in the first semester. Is this correct?

If your son did indeed get B’s in two or more community college classes in the fall and then one D in the spring, it shouldn’t affect his Emmanuel acceptance. BUT … he should write to Emmanuel to try to explain his low grade. He shouldn’t wait for Emmanuel to contact him to ask about it.

IF, however, you find out that your son’s other community college grades were lower than B’s, that could be a different story. If he struggled in community college classes, it might suggest to the Emmanuel admission officials that he isn’t adequately prepared for Emmanuel classes.

So I think your next step should be to determine exactly what grades he received at the community college (and in what classes) and then to ask your son to write to Emmanuel to explain what he thinks went wrong in the bio class.

As I explained above, if his community college classes turn out to be B’s except for the one D, he should be okay at Emmanuel.

Once you find out what the other community college classes were and what grades your son received in them, feel free to write back with this additional information … either here or via Private Message.

[gsbc12]

Hello,
I recently got off the waitlist at Syracuse and could not be more excited. I am waiting for my financial aid package before making my final decision. I have always struggled with math I ended with a B- freshman year, C sophomore year, and a B- junior year. It has always been by far my worst class and the only C I have ever received in high school. In Pre-Calc this year I ended the first semester barely getting a B- however, I have struggled a LOT second semester and I think I will end the year with a C/C- I know this especially since I just took the final which I do not think went well at all. I plan on majoring in Communications/English the FARTHEST thing from math possible. I am just worried that my offer might be rescinded because of this one C. I take all honors and AP classes except math and I anticipate receiving B+ and A’s in all of those classes. I would just like a bit of insight and possible reassurance.

[Sally_Rubenstone]

@gsbc12 -I can reassure you here. Your C (or even C-) in math won’t affect your acceptance. ?

Good luck as you make your final decision.

[19scohen]

is there like a certain number or rate of students who get rescinded every year?

[Sally_Rubenstone]

@19scohen -The percentage of students across the country whose acceptances are rescinded is very small, although I can’t quote a figure, and this number surely varies from year to year. What I CAN tell you, however, is that colleges really DON’T want to say “Never mind” to admitted applicants, which is why I repeatedly urge students on this thread to be proactive about contacting admission offices if they suspect that an acceptance might be in jeopardy. When the admission folks see that a student cares about grades (or disciplinary issues), they are much more likely to be forgiving than if the student appears to be oblivious to poor grades or bad behavior.

[iamBookworm]

Hello,
I attend Dual Enrollment courses through my high school and am currently enrolled to attend University of Pennsylvania in their School of Nursing. Earlier this semester, in February, I withdrew from a community college math course due to large amounts of struggle despite my attempt to keep up and learn the topics outside of class. As a Nursing major, this class was not required for the major nor was it necessary to graduate as I had already satisfied my Graduation requirements. It was also the second math course I had enrolled in that year. It didn’t drop my GPA but was entered into PowerSchool for each quarter despite being a semester class.If you can’t determine it from my post, I’m worried as I didn’t expect to get into this university in the first place! Thank you for your assistance.