Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Queens Associate Dean,

I am requesting a late course drop regarding both BIO102 and IDIS 173 from the fall 2025 semester due to significant health circumstances which severely impacted my academic performance during the semester.
I am a student who has now completed my first year at Queen’s University, but during the first fall semester of 2025, I had endured multiple barriers which heavily impacted my academic performance. I am diagnosed with major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and depersonalization/derealization disorder.
In late October, I had gone through a severe depressive episode lasting for about 2 months along with suicidal ideations. This happened due to social conflicts involving other people and an overall change in my environment and lifestyle that I had not been able to stabilize yet. The episode severely affected my ability to function daily, attend classes, and complete coursework. During November, I stopped attending lectures and labs, fell behind in assignments, and became unable to manage my academic responsibilities. With support from friends and residence mental health services, I began seeking treatment and academic support, such as the Victoria Hall residence therapy, to see what I could do to be able to bring my mood back up, along with improving my grades that had dropped so heavily. With this, I was able to start my QSAS application to help me gain the help I needed to become more stable, along with other sources such as SASS. I had gained some motivation to start working better again.
But by mid-November, I had become extremely ill and went to the walk-in clinic to be diagnosed with mononucleosis on November 28th. My doctor had advised 1-3 weeks based on my recovery about how many classes I would be unable to attend, which covered from November 28th to December 19th. I had to take over 3 weeks to fully recover, which meant I was unable to attend my exams for the fall semester. I could not stay awake to complete any work or study, once again plummeting my academic performance, or even being able to sit up and think clearly. I had only completed my exams during the deferred exam period, which was still hard for me to complete since I took my winter break time to recover as well, meaning not as much studying as I would normally have achieved was done. It turned out I actually had strep throat once the test came back positive, and I did end up receiving medication during the winter break, which greatly helped.
Overall, the timing of my depressive episode going right into the intense illness severely impacted my motivation and physical ability, as my academic ability had been greatly compromised, which I believe was out of my control. With this, I believe my grades achieved from the fall semester do not accurately represent my academic ability at all. Most specifically, my two failed courses were IDIS 173 and BIOL 102, and a D+ in ANAT 100.
Over the winter semester of 2026, my mental and physical health had improved and stabilized so much due to a better social friend group and support, along with academic support from QSAS accommodations. This is reflected in the final grades of my winter semester classes. I received an A- in both BIOL 103 and COGS 100, and an A+ in ASCX 150. I had also received a B in PSYC 100, which was originally a D after the midterm. I ended with a term GPA of 3.54.
With a new, strong support system from both friends and Queen’s and treatment for the illness, my true academic ability was able to be revived and accurately portrayed again. Along with advice from the academic advisor, Emma Varela, who recommended a petition for my circumstances and future academic opportunities.
I ask for my two failed courses to be dropped as they drop my GPA extremely low, impacting my ability to apply and be accepted into my desired major of science psychology, which is a huge motivator for my current life.
I appreciate your time and consideration regarding my history and troubles, and thank you for reviewing my circumstances, which can further support my academic abilities, success, and passions.

Sincerely,
Cassandra Ramjitsingh