This time of year I am occasionally contacted by a student who has had their admission revoked because of poor senior grades. Students will sometimes question whether a college has the right to revoke their admission. The college has this right because all admissions on conditioned on a student maintaining a GPA and course level consistent with what they had at the time of admission.
In fact, according to the 2008 State of College Admission from the National Association for College Admission Counseling, 35% of colleges in 2007 revoked an offer of admission. The most common reason? Final grades.
So what do you do if a college revokes your admission? First, call up the college and talk with one of the admissions counselors. Now is not the time to make excuses. If you blew off senior year because you were being lazy, admit it. By taking responsibility you are starting to show some level of maturity. Second, point out that this was a one time mistake (hopefully this is true) and that you have learned your lesson. Third, tell the college that they are your first choice and you still would like to attend. Fourth, ask if there is something you can do to remedy the situation that you have caused.
When colleges have decided to reinstate the admission I have seen several possible options. One is to readmit the student with a warning that they had better be more responsible once they are in college. A second option is to start the student on academic probation based on the poor senior year grades. A third option is to allow the student to attend but with a later start such as second term.
There are no guarantees that these actions will be successful in getting your admission reinstated. But the worst they can do is say that the revoked admissions will not be changed.
If the college does not reinstate your admission then you need to consider your options. If this is truly your first choice college you should ask if they would be willing to consider a transfer application after first attending another college. Hopefully, you will have some colleges that have not revoked your admission that you can attend. Your other option is to take a gap year. This may be a good option as it will allow you to do something to show colleges that you have matured and will not repeat the mistake of your senior year.
Hopefully, none of this will happen to you. But if it does, remember that you do have options. If you are not able to be reinstated and are considering your options, I would strongly recommend that you consider hiring a college admissions consultant to work with you the following year to properly explain to colleges the problems you had with your senior year.
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