Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it concerns,

My name is Benjamin Smith. I am a first-year student studying at Queen¿¿s University, with hopes of being accepted into the Chemistry program. I am writing this letter seeking to withdraw from the course Math 112, Linear Algebra. The circumstance which is causing me to seek this appeal is that I do not require Math 112 to apply to Queen¿¿s chemistry program, as I was lead to believe by a peer advisor in September of 2017. I believe that this course will have a severely negative effect on my GPA, and may harm my chances of being admitted into the Chemistry department, due to a very low mark in this class or a possible failure.
When I was selecting courses for the 2017-2018 year study, the Queen¿¿s website indicated that Math 112 was required to apply to the department of Chemistry, and so I selected it for the Winter 2018 semester. During frosh week many peers in my group told me that they did not have that course selected despite intentions to apply to Chemistry as well. This prompted me to seek an appointment with an academic advisor in order to sort out my required classes. I was told to wait for a peer advisor, because as a first-year student an academic advisor was not available to me.
I was advised by a student named Charissa on September 11th, 2017, who informed me that Math 112 was indeed a required course to apply to the Chemistry program at Queen¿¿s. Based solely upon her advice I kept Math 112 as a course in the Winter 2018 semester, despite knowing that I would have trouble handing it. I am currently finishing a semester containing Chem 112, Math 121, and Phys 104/106, all of which contain a high amount of commitment to in and out of class work. I have attached all the evidence of this meeting available: a review sheet showing the date, topic, student in question and the peer advisor. This picture of the information was provided by Heather Carter of the Academic Advisory office.
On March 6th, 2018, at 6:30pm I attended Queen¿¿s Chemistry department meeting for first-years, in which I was informed that Math 112 is not required to apply to the Chemistry program, as it is only a prerequisite for a third-year quantum chemistry course. I was taken aback to find out that it is very common for chemistry students to take Math 112 in second or third year, with the aim of avoiding negative impacts on their first-year GPA.
This information was presented to me exactly four days after March 2nd, 2018, which was the final date to drop the course without academic penalty. I am submitting this appeal to you to explain that this situation was not the result of my own ignorance or lack of work ethic, but rather due to a mistake originating with a peer advisor. I took the advice of Charissa, a representative of the University, as gospel, and now find myself struggling to stay afloat in a course that is not a prerequisite to the program I apply to.
Please understand that I have tried my best to balance the work load that I have been given. I would not appeal this course if I had other options. I believe that the peer advisor gave me information that was false, and that this constitutes an unusual academic event which resulted in me taking a course which I now wish to drop. Thank you for your consideration, and I await your decision.
Sincerely, Benjamin Smith