Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,

I am writing to appeal dropping my entire first year at Queens, fall and winter term 2017/2018 for credit standing.
Due to insufficient diagnoses and lack of medication, my transcript by no means reflects myself as a student. I was taking a heavy course load consisting of BIOL 102 (Intro Biology of Cells), BIOL 103 (Intro Biology of Organisms), CHEM 112 (General Chemistry), MATH 121 (Differential and Integral Calculus), PHYS 117 (Introductory Physics), and PSYC 100 (Principles of Psychology) and received D+'s in BIO 103 and PSYC 100 and D's in BIOL 102 and CHEM 112. I dropped MATH 121 and PHYS 117 after taking the Mid-Year exam realizing the dire situation I was in to avoid decreasing my GPA further. I received a 1.15 cumulative GPA and was put onto academic probation on May 14, 2018. Subsequently, I requested accommodations and obtained access to additional time (1.5) for examinations for my summer course, PHAR 100 (Introductory Pharmacology) and achieved an A-. When I returned for the 2018 fall semester, I underwent a Neuropsychological Assessment at Queen's University with Beth Pollock and was diagnosed with Persistent (Chronic) Adjustment Disorder with mixed anxiety and depression and Attention Deficient Disorder (ADD) Inattentive Type. The diagnoses of the two disorders symptoms were mixed making it difficult to determine the main cause. However, I have been diagnosed with ADD/inattentive type previously when I was 15 and was prescribed Adderall. I stopped taking Adderall in high school as I started to develop negative symptoms and received average grades. When I came to Queen's, I was no longer able to cope without medication due to the vast difference of education level and increased work load. Therefore, after taking the assessment with Beth, I continued to receive 1.5 time on exams for my fall and winter semesters and was prescribed Vyvanse. As result, I received a 3.03 GPA in my fall 2018 term.
I plan on enrolling in the Biopsychology Specialization Program in May. Additionally, I am currently retaking BIO 103 and PSYC 100 and am prepared to take BIO 102 over this summer and CHEM 112 in fall and winter 2019/2020. With my first year included, I was able to raise my GPA to a 2.06, but with my courses appealed for credit standing, I will be able to raise it even further and show my full potential.




Thank you for your consideration,

Lena Campos