SAP Appeal letter advice
Hello, first time posting. This is the first time I've ever had to deal with this and I was wondering I could get some tips before I submit. I feel like I wrote too much and not enough at the same time. Everywhere that says "see attached" is documentation. I'm not trying to make excuses but it feels like that is all I'm doing. I am thinking of waiting until after my advisor appointment to send it, as I have until the 29th to submit it. If I do that, I'll have more documentation. But I also want to have it in quickly and my school already gives us a short amount of time to complete the appeal process
Can someone give me some advice on how to strenghten it?
Dear __________________ University Financial Aid office,
My name is _____________________ and I am writing in hopes to appeal the decision regarding my satisfactory academic progress (SAP) for the 2026-2027 school year.
I understand that this makes me ineligible for financial aid this academic school year. I take full responsibility for the actions that have led up to my unsatisfactory marks. However, I’d like to explain myself and request your reconsideration for my financial aid eligibility.
When I first began my academic journey at_______________, my father was having health issues, which caused me to have issues focusing on my education. I was able to make up most of those credits with a passing grade, however I had to take a few more credits then I would’ve liked to stay on my graduation plan set by my major advisor and myself. This led to me taking 20 credit hours and not my normal 12-15.
This semester began very strong with high marks, I had put structure in place to achieve well academically and end my final semester leading into my fourth year strong. All of my assignments were completed on time and I was getting good grades. Things started to break down when I caught an illness and had to be absent from my placement on February 27th. Following the Office of Partnerships and Field Experiences (OPFE) procedures, we had scheduled that absence to be made up on spring break. The same day, my cooperating teacher (CT) told my supervisor that I was no longer allowed in the classroom. I had a meeting with my supervising teacher, this is when I learned that my CT had told OPFE that I was unprofessional and questioned my passion for teaching.This was not an issue that she originally brought up to me, and she had only been giving me positive feedback at that point. I had assumed things were going well and I was doing things right. The incident was resolved and I was given a placement in the summer time to make up for the issue, but my mental health spiraled from there.
The experience left me with an extreme mental and emotional breakdown that affected my life beyond my academics. I had a hard time getting out of bed. I’d go weeks without showering or eating, and only able to get up to work (which was also very few) or school occasionally. Even then, I wouldn’t actually be there. It was the worst mental health has been and now that I am out of it I can say that at the time I was passively suicidal. I felt like a failure and I didn’t know how to tell anyone that I was feeling like this because I also decided at that point that I had no right to feel like that. I was questioning if I was even a good fit for education and if I had just wasted the 3 years I had worked towards it thus far. Again, it was a very dark time for me.
Towards the end of my depressive episode, I got really stressed about my course load and the further behind I got, the more anxious I got to reach out. I was able to catch up on work for two of my seven courses with the help of the professor of those two courses.
This is all my responsibility, as I should’ve reached out for help and communicated my needs to my professors. To work through the issues that the experience has caused me, I reached out to an online depression support to share my feelings as I discovered I accidentally left the Counseling and Wellness fee waived for the Spring semester. I have attached a letter from the person who runs the online group as documentation that I was attending. For the summer semester, I have signed up for counseling at the Counseling and Wellness Center to further speak with a professional about the situation and any other underlying mental health factors. As of writing, I have an appointment on (See Attached) .
As far as my GPA is concerned, I already almost finished retaking my Summer semester teaching placement and following the expectations that they have set in place (see attached). I am also taking two other English courses in the summer semester that I will replace the current grades in my degree plan. I already have good grades in these courses, I’m ahead in course work, and I’m on a good way to completing my open courses with 100% (see attached). Lastly, I have a meeting with my academic advisor ___________________ on May 26, where I plan to discuss a strategy with her to discuss academic strategy so I can be further successful with my courses and not overload myself again (see attached).
To maintain future success I also plan to utilize on campus resources like the writing and academic centers.
I am committed to improving my academic performance and I have already made necessary steps to achieving academic success. I would like you to reconsider my financial aid eligibility to allow me to continue to do so and finish my degree.
Thank you for considering my appeal.