FREEBIE: Retroactive Withdrawal Guidelines for College Students
Let’s start with what a retroactive withdrawal even is. First, not every college offers this as a withdrawal option, so I encourage you to do a little recon to see if it’s possible at your institution. The withdrawal itself is an appeal process where you submit a personal statement describing extenuating circumstances that happened to you during a semester (or several semesters), detailing how you were unable to withdrawal by the withdrawal deadlines. Additionally, you will be asked to provide documentation of extenuating circumstances. Most colleges or universities will limit extenuating circumstances to serious medical complications, or death in the family. Some are becoming more empathetic to the mental health struggles of students. Regardless, this is a process for the student to submit after-the-fact of the semester where they received F’s on their transcript.
Note: this is a comprehensive guideline for college students, not parents of college students. This is for students to read and understand before writing a personal statement and/or submitting any paperwork for a retroactive withdrawal. If you are a parent who is looking for guidance around helping your child submit a retroactive withdrawal, this guide will be helpful for you to share with them. It is on the student to complete and submit their own appeal. I cannot emphasize that enough. It is not appropriate for a parent to submit this on behalf of their child. Please along your child to take the lead on submitting their own appeal.
If after reading this document you still aren’t certain you sure you have extenuating circumstances that would approve of a Retroactive Withdrawal, feel free to schedule a time to talk with me.
xx
Joanna
