Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies),
My name is JinRun (Jason) Cai and I am requesting to appeal for credit standing in Econ 351 taught by professor Brent Hickman.
I had Econ 351 final on April 26 and I did not do well. The main reason is that I found out during half way of the test that the available time was only 2.5 hours; it is different from the schedule posted on Solus (please see the attachment). I arrived at the exam center at 6:55 and the proctor had already finished announcing the test policy. Due to that, I didn't know the test was only 2.5 hours until halfway where I stuck on one question. Since I couldn't figure it out, I went to the front page of the test booklet and double check if I have written down all my information correctly. However, I suddenly saw that the test length was only 2.5 hours, so I started to stress and to sweat a lot. I realized that I couldn't complete the whole test and I wanted to do as many questions as I can in order to pass this exam, but I was panicking so much that I couldn't properly focus, think and perform. Before I had gone to the exam center, I was already very stressed and uncomfortable with the difficultness of the course. I felt that I had a mental shock and my mind was been breakdown by the fact that I have to finish such a difficult exam within 2.5 hours. There was one question that I wanted to leave it till the end to finish because I wanted to finish the questions that are slightly easier first. Due to the shock of realizing I only have 2.5 hours to finish the exam, I couldn't finish that one question and because I was rushing with stress and panic; I did not do well on the rest of the questions. I understand that it is my responsibility to time and train myself to finish an exam within the given time, which I thought and confirmed on Solus that it was going to be 3 hours. Unfortunately, the professor did not announce it before the test, and I was not prepared for such an uncontrollable situation. I was already stressed when I saw that exam because most of the questions are very unfamiliar compared to the homework, and the only one practice final, which the professor posted. I do understand that it is my responsibility to answer better and think deeply for the questions, but Professor Hickman did not give me the chance and time to do so, and he had made me worse. The uncontrollable situation, which is half an hour less than it was scheduled, disordered my brain and I had to perform in such a high pressure, stressed, and anxious mental condition. The fact that the professor had changed the time from 3 hours to 2.5 hours really made me panic the whole time after I found it out. I had an extremely painful time and for many times I thought that I couldn't breathe well. I wanted to let the proctor know that I had an emergency, but I am afraid that they will not do anything and so that I would waste the valuable time to finish the exam. I really wanted to focus on the exam, but I just can't.
I was so hopeless and painful in that 2.5 hours. I thought the feeling will go away immediately after the test, but it did not. It accompanied me for many days until I have reached out to my friends and families, and they encouraged me to reach out to the Associate Dean (studies) office. I am entreating that the Associate Dean (studies) can understand and approve my request because this is my third year and with such a bad grade, my overall GPA is already been dragged down. Since I didn't know the exam time length could be different from the one posted on Solus, in the future I will always time and train myself by using the timeless than expected and be prepared for any uncontrollable situation similar to this one.

Sincerely yours,
JinRun Cai
Student : 20018269