Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am appealing to drop MATH 384 after the course deadline. I have been taking the course for the first time in Fall 2018, despite two of its three weekly lecture sections running simultaneously to another core course in my program, BIOL 330. I have done this as I intend (and frankly for work purposes do need) to graduate this year. The reason why my schedule ended up this way as I have been left with very limited MATH/STAT electives to take to fulfill the options within my program, and MATH 384 and 385 (with the former being the prerequisite for the latter) were two courses that required prerequisites that I have fulfilled (unlike one other STAT elective I am currently taking). I had intended to take BIOL 330 last year, though it interfered then with another course. I then attempted to take it on exchange in winter semester, but it was not approved for transfer. I then had intended to take it over the summer online, as it had been advertised as being offered, though this option ended up cancelled for Summer 2018. This year when the courses conflicted, I was recommended by academic advising to take BCHM 218 as a replacement, though after consulting with the biology department, this was the only option that was fully possible to realize.
I have made every effort to keep up with both courses simultaneously, and invested what was likely nearly all of my studying hours in just these two of the six courses that I am currently in. I have been more successful in staying up-to-date with BIOL 330, though I had felt that I was not falling behind fully in MATH 384. After receiving in return last week one assessment that was written on the Friday of the drop deadline day, I found that I was not nearly as capable in the course as I had thought I was. This is not the core reason why I am applying to drop it, however, as I firmly believed that I would be able to catch up.
I recently had a meeting with Professor Devon Lin (UG chair of the math/stat department) in which we discussed the requirements of the BIMA program, and how I was finding it difficult in some respects to keep up. One allowance she made with this was that I could still stay enrolled in MATH 385 next semester (and maintain the option of graduating by replacing what would be the credits for MATH 384 with STAT 269) even if I dropped MATH 384. This was certainly an appealing offer, but I was not certain as to whether it was the best option for me.
One thing I did realize after though was the pronounced impact which the course was having on my mental health. As someone who was typically loath to believe that any course could have a lasting impact like that, this I believe was a good realization for me to make. I had been reviewing at minimum 15 hours each week outside of class for this course, and it was taking a toll on my health in a way that felt like it far exceeded the typical rigours of other courses I have completed. Presently, even thinking about the possibility of not needing to complete this course has alleviating an enormous amount of stress- beyond the typical which has been associated with every course I have taken, with an impact that has felt as if it were remedying my mental health to a very pronounced extent.
This has all come at a time in which I had unfortunately also separated my shoulder, after not having done so in over a year. It is an issue I am accustomed to, though its uniqueness this time has been in the amount of pain associated with it. It is something I have already applied for an extension for in another course, as though it hasn¿¿t prevented me from typing, it has made it nearly impossible to sleep with any regularity. This has also led me to have to cancel many shifts at work, which only exacerbated the impact that I was feeling on my mental health.
Dropping MATH 384 I feel is required for me to improve this state, and also ensure that I am able to properly involve myself for and study for other classes. Unfortunately, this is an option that I only became aware of, and only feel truly realized I needed after the deadline, and am aware of the repercussions, but feel that the attempts I made to remedy the situation before the deadline (in a meeting with academic advisory where it was mentioned that dropping after the deadline was a very plausible option) have been insufficient, and this is my only option.