Question: My grandaughter was recently accepted for admission to UCSC as a freshman, but approximately 45 days or so after acceptance, she received an e-mail that her application/acceptance was to be reviewed. The end result: admission denied. Preparing to attend UCSC, she made no efforts to attend another school. My question is why the review and reversal of the original acceptance? To the best of my knowledge, "Diana" has had one D (in trig) on her report card during high school resulting in a GPA drop to 3.47.

Diana has no vision in one eye and limited vision in the other. She suffered a serious setback related to her condition that resulted in major surgery and five weeks of missed classes. In spite of these absences, she managed to keep her GPA very close to 4.0 but she did miss out on the fundamental concepts of trig. Is there anyone I can appeal to regarding this situation?

I understand your concern, and I assume that Diana also has no clue why her acceptance was reversed. Have you discussed this thoroughly with her? If so, are you convinced that she has been completely forthcoming with you?

In trying to hunt for explanations, I found that I was not clear on your timeline. In particular, did Diana receive her D in trig AFTER being accepted to UCSC? If so, that MIGHT explain the change of heart, especially if the university admissions office was not given any explanation of Diana's medical problems. You should also ask Diana if she had any other poor grades in her senior year.

I'm not sure what ELSE might account for the change of heart. Could Diana have been involved in some sort of disciplinary action, suspension, etc. that she wouldn't want to reveal to you? If that seems unlikely, then one other possibility I can think of is that the UC system "spot checks" applications to make sure that extracurricular activities, test scores, etc., have been reported honestly and accurately. So MAYBE an irregularity turned up if Diana's application was randomly selected for such a check.

Most commonly, however, when admission decisions are revoked, it is due to sliding grades in the final term of senior year or some sort of serious disciplinary action or suspension.

However, rather than speculating, I would suggest that you have Diana contact the office of admission at UCSC and ask for an explanation. Frankly, I'm surprised that she hasn't done so already. You can certainly do so yourself, but you may find that the school will not give out confidential information to anyone but the applicant herself and perhaps a parent. (If you are Diana's guardian, then you should tell them that right from the start.) Even if the admission official you contact will not give the SPECIFIC reason for rescinding Diana's acceptance, MAYBE you can at least flesh out a general reason (e.g., academic, disciplinary, etc.)

Let me know what you discover and perhaps I can then assist you with finding other options for Diana.

Good luck to you.