Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: The Associate Dean (Studies)
December 1, 2020

To whom it may concern,

I am writing an appeal to drop a course after the academic deadline. The appeal is for the class CHEM 112 for both fall and winter semesters. I have started to feel very overwhelmed by the course load and final projects in the past few weeks. I feel as I have fallen severely behind in studies for this course and wish to drop CHEM 112 for the remainder of the year.

I took on a 6 course load this semester and online school has proven to be difficult for myself, especially with the amount of courses I was taking. My focuses have been elsewhere, on the courses I need to graduate the GEOL program and frankly, chemistry is not for me.

CHEM 112 does not benefit my degree plan, on track for a 3-year GEOL program. However, If I do drop CHEM 112, it will require a plan to accumulate the lost credit from the fall. My plan as of now would be to take a summer course this upcoming summer semester. This way, I can still graduate in 3-years (with summer) and not have to worry about the stress from another semester of CHEM 112.

I initially chose this course because I had taken grade 12 chemistry and thought I might enjoy rekindling the knowledge I had previously learned. It also kept my options open to possibly transition back to a 4-year honours in geology. However, I now know that this is not something I am keen on pursuing.

If this appeal is approved and CHEM 112 is dropped it will create more space for me to focus on the courses that will help me recover my GPA. As you can see from my transcript I had a difficult first two years at Queen¿¿s. This past summer and the beginning marks of this term should be evidence to show how my efforts have changed.

I hope you understand where my viewpoint is.

I appreciate your time and consideration.

Thank you,

Matthew Simpson
No. 20116473