Dear all, I was suspended from a traditional college after my Fall 2011 semester. In the transcript along with the suspension letter, I saw that I was put in the highest level of probation at the end of the previous semester (Spring 2011). When I looked at the college website after returning home, I worked out that the reason I was put on that level of probation was because I was xx credits short of the normal number of credits by the end of freshman year (yy credits), and that I need to finish the following fall semester with a minimum of zz credits at a certain GPA. Now, I would totally understand how I got here, except that there are a number of things that kinda raised my red flag, and I would appreciate you guys telling me if my suspicion is reasonable (or not): 1) The confusing language in the website regarding what will warrant a probation. For example, they seem to equate "xx credits short in any semester" with "xx credits short at the end of either semester", neither specifying whether either (or both) pertains to semester or cumulative. I was xx credits short cumulative at the end of my freshman year, but my semester credit was well over the limit, if that was what they meant. GPA-wise, I was in the 2.0-3.0 range, and was 0.6 above the limit (they have both the GPA and credit limits). 2) I wasn't informed at all about this probation status. In fact, the word "probation" was never uttered during my meeting with my advisor after I was supposedly under probation. I had a meeting the following summer with the Student Dean, but that meaning was only to inform me that I need to retake a freshman class required to register for upper-level class. I've been emailing the registrar office after my suspension, and was told that a letter was sent to me and my advisor to announce the probation status. I did not receive this letter, and when I tried to request for a copy of this letter a few weeks ago, they have been evasive. Perhaps more telling, they told me that I did submit an appeal for suspension despite they fact that I emailed it to them and they acknowledged it. You're right if you say that I should have taken responsibility of my education. You're also right if you say that I should be aware of my academic status. But I got the impression that I was kept in the dark (for whatever reason), and it kinda rubs me the wrong way. But again, I could just as well be a bitter ex-college student. The main reason I'm posting this is because I'm an international student currently not staying in the US, and even though I was admitted to a community college next fall, the immigration officer will definitely ask me about this suspension, even though my GPA wasn't all that bad (lower end of 2.0-3.0 range). During the months I've been suspended, I've taken 15 online credits, all 100- and 200- level with BYU and LSU, and gotten A for all of them, and plan to take another 12-18 credits this summer. Assuming that I will get A's for all of them, I'm still worried about the coming interview in the summer (though the date is still tentative): what I should say, what strategy I should use to show his/her that I'm serious. I really want to make a new start in my American education, and would appreciate any advice on what I should do. I apologize for the long post, and I thank you all for reading. If any of you want to take a look at the policies for probation and suspension of my previous college, I will be happy to PM the link to you.
I would assume you meant it figuratively (that I should fight to my nails during the interview). I'm currently not in the US so I doubt I would get any legal assistance whatsoever.
No, that's not what I meant. Let's face it, you screwed up. Big time. You can say "I didn't know, I didn't understand," but it will probably get you nowhere. You might just need to show them the new work you've done and beg for forgiveness. If it doesn't work then you find a new school. In either case you need to look in the mirror and figure out how you could have screwed up so badly (don't blame others).
Thank you. I appreciate your honesty. I will try my hardest to earn as many A's as possible from now til the end of the summer. I hope that the busy schedule ahead will help wash out any bitterness left because as much as I admit to my own foolishness that led me to this failure, there's still a small (irrational, immature, egotistic) part of me that's still dissatisfied with how my case was handled. I took your advice of reflecting on the experience and I have been doing so for the last few months. I would say my biggest reason for screwing up so badly is that I don't take initiatives. In my school, instead of the freshman writing and communications classes, we had seminars that tried to accomplish the same thing, but ended up as soap boxes in which people spent time discussing tangential things and not much focusing on the craft of writing/speaking. I recalled this making me really angry, and I did not want to talk to the professors (or any of my classmates) because I essentially did not want to see their faces. When I talked to my advisor, I was told to suck it up and pass the class. This leads to the second reason which is my lack of determination to do things that I don't like, and the fact that I actually had to pay to sit through classes did not help. But I believe the biggest factor for this is my lack of goal, or rather, my inexperience in setting goals for myself. I went to this college because of financial factor (they gave a huge scholarship) and that I thought it would be fun to study in America (obviously, it turned out differently). When I realized that the academic environment of the school wasn't what I expected, I did not try to set goal for myself to pass class. I did try to file a transfer application, but did not finish it (again, failure to follow through) because I was too beaten down and depressed about my grade. I've begun to realize that the ability to "suck it up" by setting goals that I could accomplish, and not let setbacks get to me, will determine my success later in life. The distance classes have so far been a very redeeming experience, partly because I could prove to myself that I'm capable enough for college (I had perfect scores on 6 AP tests in high school, but my brief college stint really shook me). Moreover, the distance aspect really makes me focus on the coursework, and my progress, and not on the other stuff (and studying at home does help a lot). If I am allowed to step foot in America again (since I have been admitted to a community college in the fall), I would be mindful about taking the initiative to reach out to anybody--I'm a shy person--research ways to get out of any setbacks (if I had known about applying to a community college straight away instead of leaving the US, I wouldn't have this problem), and plan and execute them whether I like to do them or not. Aside from being tremendously grateful of course.
Indeed, ignorance is not an excuse... it is at those times when we hit a roadblock that you look back and tell yourself that you should have asked for clarification much sooner. At the end of the day, a policy is comparable to a contract, and you better make sure that you understand the terms of it in case either party breaches it. I think Kizmet has given you good advice (the truth and reality can be, and are, harsh to accept) and rather than dwelling on the past, you need to look ahead and plan accordingly.
Is there any chance that you could maybe just finish out another year totally online? That way you can get your gpa higher and have more work done to show "hey, I screwed up at first because I didnt really understand what it meant to be a college student. But once I figured it all out, look what I accomplished." That way you can still continue on in your studies, work well in the environment you prefer, and make the past mistakes a distant memory. Just make sure you dont repeat those mistakes again. There's no do overs, only second chances. And those are very limited. Good luck!!
