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Reinstatement letter please read

 
Old 05-24-2012 at 02:49 PM   #1
nathanb
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Reinstatement letter please read
please read my reinstatement letter and let me know how it is and how to improve it thank you!


Dear Reinstatement Committee,

I would like to take this time to explain the circumstances to my poor academic performance for my first year of University. The reason behind why I am applying for reinstatement at this time is because I enjoy the engineering field very much and have a passionate interest in robotics. I am looking for reinstatement into the Engineering I program, as the problems that I had been facing have been resolved, as I will explain in the next few paragraphs. If I am humbly given a second chance I will prove to the committee that I deserve to stay in the Engineering I program and McMaster University.

There were many complications that interfered with my ability to do well in school. First off coming to University was an entirely new and different experience for me. I had to commute from Stoney Creek to McMaster, which took an hour to get to campus and an hour to get back home if I were to leave campus before 7:30pm. After 7:30pm I would need to take three buses in order to get home, which took around an hour and a half to two hours. This took away valuable time that could have been used for completing assignments and homework. I believe this was a direct result in poor time management on my part and I take full responsibility for it.

In April 2011 my mother lost her job at Fellfab and could not receive unemployment insurance so the burden was then put on my father to pay for all the bills and mortgages. My father is a cab driver and his job was not enough to pay for both my sisters’ expenses for books, laptop and supplies at The University Of Toronto, my own expenses for books laptop and supplies at McMaster University and all the bills, mortgages and car insurance as well. At this point I was very worried as how we were to get by and what would happen to us if we were to continue living under these conditions. I gave my parents some money I had in my bank from a bursary I had received to pay for the insurance on my fathers cab and for my mother to get groceries. My mother applied to several jobs but was unsuccessful in finding employment. The entire family paid off as much as we could for mortgages and insurance yet we were still behind on our bills. Over the course of the year the family consumed little and used the rest of the money to pay for bills, mortgages, insurance and other home expenses. This distracted me from my studies as it pained me to see my family suffering and my academic performance suffered greatly. By the end of March my mother got a new job at TeesnMore and our overdue bills and expenses began to heal over the course of April and May. I have attached a summary of my mother’s 2011 tax returns to show she had very little income and a copy of her first two pay slips from her job at TeesnMore to show she has received employment. I have also attached a summary of my father’s 2011 tax return to show his low income.

I am currently enrolled in term 1 summer school for MATH 1ZA3 and I am doing exceptionally well as my family’s suffering has ended and I can focus on my academic performance. I am requesting being reinstated back into the Engineering I program at this time as our financial difficulties have healed immensely which have allowed me to focus more on my academic performance. To manage my time wisely I have decided to take classes starting in the morning and have them end no later then 7:30pm to decrease commuting time. I have discussed with my parents and they have agreed to give me rides to and from the university to manage my time more wisely. If there comes a time where I have to stay past 7:30pm my father has agreed to come and pick me up from campus to decrease commuting time as much as possible. To make sure I do not fall behind on subsequent information my parents have agreed to get a tutor and if I need assistance I will go to the help centers for math and to go see the professor during his/her office hours for any assistance I may need to progress academically. I am certain that this will dramatically improve my grades so I do not fall behind on my academic performance. I have also decided to extend my undergraduate career to an extra year and take summer courses to lighten my coarse load and take no more then five courses per term so I am able to focus more on those courses.

I would like to humbly thank the committee for taking the time to read my letter and evaluate my potential in the engineering program at McMaster University. I am certain that if I am given a second chance I will prove to the committee that I deserve to stay in the Engineering program as I have gained valuable experience studying at McMaster University. If you have any questions please contact me at my email at [mcmaster email] or at [personal email] or by telephone at [number]. Thank you for your consideration.

any feedback will be greatly appreciated thank you.
Old 05-24-2012 at 02:57 PM   #2
Commie85071
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i wouldnt include the commute bit. You should also include you seeming some sort of counselling. Suppose one of your parents loses their job when you come back. How would you handle it differently
Old 05-24-2012 at 03:02 PM   #3
nathanb
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Commie85071 View Post
i wouldnt include the commute bit. You should also include you seeming some sort of counselling. Suppose one of your parents loses their job when you come back. How would you handle it differently
why is the cummute bit bad and how could i get councelling ?
Old 05-24-2012 at 03:06 PM   #4
anonanon987
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nathanb View Post
why is the cummute bit bad and what kind of councelling do you mean ?
Commie never said it's bad. He said he wouldn't include it.
Old 05-24-2012 at 03:08 PM   #5
nathanb
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Quote:
Originally Posted by herBs View Post
Commie never said it's bad. He said he wouldn't include it.
so take out the commute bit because it wouldnt help me get reinstated
Old 05-24-2012 at 03:09 PM   #6
rpg51
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there are a lot of kids that commute (from other cities) that still manage to do well. This just makes the letter sound desperate. The student wellness center does counselling i think and helps students with other stuff as well so I would include that in the letter.
Old 05-24-2012 at 03:11 PM   #7
Commie85071
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nathanb View Post
so take out the commute bit because it wouldnt help me get reinstated
it really doesn't really add anything positive to your letter. You need to ensure your starting/ending paragraphs provide support for you receiving reinstatement. Counselling in the sense that talking to someone about your problems to ensure and reducing the toll they have. You need to answer the question on how you would handle the situation differently if one of your parents lost their job again.
Old 05-24-2012 at 03:29 PM   #8
nathanb
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thank you guys so much i really appreciate it. is there any way to get reinstated without taking a year off because if i were to take a year off i don't know how i would pay for online courses as im not entitled to any osap and its so difficult to get a job at all. should i include that in my letter or does it just sound desperate
Old 05-24-2012 at 03:51 PM   #9
shes-a-diva*
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I agree with the others definitely take the commute part out. It's about 50km of a drive to an from school for me every day. And depending the time of day that 50km's can take me 2 hours driving (or more!). I'll admit my GPA dropped a bit since I started driving but it's still at a 7.

Your letter explains why you did poorly, but also how you handled the situation (ie. you did not know what resources on campus were available to you at the time - so you did _____________ and it obviously didn't work), and what steps you will take next time to avoid this from happening again (ie. using campus resources, seeing a counsellor etc.)

Fix up your letter a little but overall I think the school will understand financial constraints are common for students while in school, they try to do everything possible to help.
Old 05-24-2012 at 04:21 PM   #10
MacNeuro
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I personally think the letter needs to be written from a different perspective. I agree that the financial needs of your family can affect you, but that's the situation with almost 75% of the students at mac. Not all of us are doing financially well. I think the reinstatement committee might see this letter as more of an excuse rather than a plan. Financial stability is something that can go downhill again for you and if you are someone easily affected by it, they see you as someone who will not do well again.

All that being said,
The focus of your letter and the majority of it have to be about how you will deal with financial instability if it ever arises again.

Good Luck!
Old 05-24-2012 at 04:30 PM   #11
arathbon
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I disagree about the commute part being irrelevant. Commuting an hour on the HSR sucks all ability to be productive from me. When I get home, I end up just lying around and vegetating for a few hours. That said, I would make it more of an example of how you plan to manage your time better, rather than half of your explantation for why you had initial problems. As others say, many others commute either within Hamilton or from outside of it. Because of this, if it comes across as one of the major reasons why you didn't do well, it almost undermines your case. However, if you don't mention it as a cause, but point out that you will be making improvements in this area as part of your efforts to improve time management, it may help your case by showing you are looking to make improvements in whatever way you can.

Good luck!
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Old 05-24-2012 at 10:18 PM   #12
nathanb
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how to hand in reinstatement letter ?
okay i have made my reinstatement letter and gathered my proof and printed out the application for reinstatemnt form. my question is what do i need to attach. I have the proof to my circumstances is that all i need or do i need to attach my transcript from this past year as well ?
Old 05-24-2012 at 10:35 PM   #13
jim1
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No transcript required, your a mac student.
Not sure what else you need to attach..
Old 05-24-2012 at 10:53 PM   #14
nerual
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Quote:
Originally Posted by arathbon View Post
I disagree about the commute part being irrelevant. Commuting an hour on the HSR sucks all ability to be productive from me. When I get home, I end up just lying around and vegetating for a few hours. That said, I would make it more of an example of how you plan to manage your time better, rather than half of your explantation for why you had initial problems. As others say, many others commute either within Hamilton or from outside of it. Because of this, if it comes across as one of the major reasons why you didn't do well, it almost undermines your case. However, if you don't mention it as a cause, but point out that you will be making improvements in this area as part of your efforts to improve time management, it may help your case by showing you are looking to make improvements in whatever way you can.

Good luck!
I think the point people were trying to make is that although the commute does suck and take time out of the day, thousands of students (including yourself) do it every day and are still able to get decent grades. Commuting does not equate to an inability to get a CA above 3, and if the people making the decision feel that this is one of the reasons why the OP thinks they did poorly, it will probably hurt their case more than help it. It would be better to focus on and emphasize the poor time management aspects, rather than that they have to commute.

shes-a-diva* likes this.
Old 05-24-2012 at 11:00 PM   #15
nathanb
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I was wondering if i should add this part to my letter to show that i tried to get help

"When it came to final exams in April I knew I had to fully understand my material in order to pass my MATH 1ZC3 class and my MATH 1ZB3 class. I then sought out a tutor to help me understand the material as much as possible. I was able to pass MATH 1ZC3 with a 2 but failed 1ZB3 as I received a 50% on the final exam, which was not enough for me to pass the course."

is this a good idea to add ?



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