Writing a reconsideration letter

[adc.]

Hi all

 

Just so you know, the results for the entrance exams were released this January 28, and I didn't meet the quota scores for both my courses, because I didn't realize they were both in-demand and I didn't know there was a quota for the university.

 

I'm writing a reconsideration letter, generally, a letter to the dean of your preferred course, a report card of your grades and finally, an interview.

 

I'm going to need help writing my letter, aside from my parents and some sources, this forum is one of the things in the net I trust.

 

So, anyway, the letter needs to be convincing, not boring, interesting and probably not too long; imagine how many piles of letters the dean must have on his/her mailbox lol

 

Any guidelines? Tips? Templates? I'm going to need all the help I can get.

 

Good day everyone

[Edgwyn]

My writing skills are focused on a fairly narrow market where brevity and clarity are considered important (so not the academic world). So you may not want to follow my advice:

 

1. Keep it short and factual, above all do not whine, make sure your grammar and spelling are perfect.

2. The first sentence of the first paragraph should tell the reader what you want, without them having to read any farther.

3. The second sentence of the first paragraph should provide any additional details that they need to know about your request, excessive detail should go in an attachment to the letter (for example instead of listing your grades in every course you have taken, you would give a one phrase summary (maybe GPA) and mention that your report cards are included.

4. The second paragraph should contain why they should grant your request in a small number (3-5) of factual sentences. Some things that I think that would be important (I have been away from Academia for over 20 years) are your grades, how these classes will keep you on sequence to graduate on time, why you want to be whatever these classes lead to, etc

5. The third paragraph should thank them for their time and consideration (in general bureaucrats do not get a lot of thanks) and should have your contact information should they have any questions or want to get a hold of you for the interview (e-mail and Cel Phone).

[adc.]

This is exactly what I had in mind, except that it was all fragments and I can't make up the thought, so this was indeed, helpful.

 

Besides, 4th year highschool students barely write official letters regarding this and that, so what can they expect from me?

 

Thanks Edgwyn, I owe you one.

[Edgwyn]

You are welcome. Official/business letters are something that is often overlooked in education. When I took typing class years ago, they taught us format, but not content. Some of my English and History/Social Studies teachers did a great job of teaching the 5 paragraph essay, which is a great format for presentations and reports and is easily scalable up to papers but is too long for letters/memos.

[Randomizer]

This is your chance to show them that you are above your school grade level. A well written letter helps to convince them that the test didn't give the true you. Some people aren't good at test taking or that there was a one time event that made you do worse than normal for you.

 

Also if there is a reason why you would do better in those courses such as you have already been reading material relevant to them because you are interested in them.