Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean of Arts and Science

Dear Madam,

I am a second year student at Queen¿¿s University, currently doing a major in Life Sciences and a minor in World Language Studies. This letter is my appeal to drop my elective course this semester, ANAT 315 (Fall 2015).

I¿¿m currently struggling in my third year anatomy course, ANAT 315, because of the vast difference in the structure of the course in comparison to my other courses due to the self-learning aspect. With such little time to study for my 9 midterms over the span of 6 weeks, along with an assignment, a lab, or a presentation due every week its been really hard to thoroughly study all of the content in depth before the frequent exams. With my anxiety disorder, it¿¿s been particularly hard to cope with all the assignments and exams this year, especially given the emphasis on self-learning. The development of anxiety has impaired my ability to focus and has thus made it difficult to study for the various exams within such time constraints, while also ensuring my assignments were completed to the best of my abilities. I assure you that I have given my best efforts despite my medical condition. I was unsure of my academic standing in the course prior to the course drop deadline, as the grades for the course had not been released.

I understand that the deadline to drop courses has passed and I assure you that in the future I will stay on top of the deadlines and ensure I am aware of my standing in the courses prior to, even if the assessment grades are not released before the deadline. I have looked into further options and plan to repeat the course next year, after preparing outside of the academic term, and when my major and minor requirements are less constraining. My current aspiration is to attend medical school after my four years at Queen¿¿s and this requires that I maintain a high GPA and actively engage in extra curricular endeavors. As my academic record indicates, I am a strong student and I can assure you that my performance in ANAT 315 is due to the excessive amounts of work and my difficulty in coping with anxiety. To help with the stress, I have altered my course schedule for next semester and have enrolled in a lighter course load. I am now taking antidepressant and anxiety medication and have arranged to meet with an upper year student regarding ANAT 315. When I was prescribed the medications I did not receive any documentation regarding the disorder, however, I have continued to take the medication. I assure you that I will continue my best efforts in this course, as I wait to hear back from you. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,
Arthi Chinna Meyyappan