Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: My appeal is in regard to the medical condition that I was diagnosed with almost two years ago. Due to the sensitive nature of the chronic and incurable condition, I have decided to refrain from delving excess detail in this appeal application.

In my third year at Queen's, I suffered mental health issues due to this confidential condition that resulted in some academic decline from myself, who usually did not get a grade below an A-, and had just recently scored in the 96th percentile on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). In my fourth year however, my physical health took a turn for the worse. My condition being autoimmune in nature, many complications arose such as contracting COVID-19 which resulted in my hospitalization in March 2022. I had been (and currently am) taking antiviral medications which resulted in ample side effects and conditions which impacted my ability to get out of bed; yet alone attend a lecture or write a test to the best of my ability. My instructors were all very helpful during this tough semester, during which I was partaking in a clinical trial at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto and was unable to complete some of my work on time. There were periods of time where I had not eaten a proper meal in days, and yet was trying to complete my assignments and quizzes so that I could still attend graduate school in the Fall of 2022.

Overall, I persevered. I graduated this Spring with an Honours Bachelor of Science with a major in Life Science, and overall was quite happy. Nonetheless, my grades do not in any way reflect the calibre of student I am, nor do they reflect the prestige and priority with which I hold academics. I am grateful to have been accepted to multiple graduate programs for the Fall of 2022, all of which I declined and decided to instead take a year off to make sure my physical health is in stable enough condition to pursue higher education. I have a wonderful team of researchers, physicians, psychiatrists, therapists, and nurses who have helped me overcome the trauma of the last two years and get me back on my feet, and now I wish nothing more than to be able to go back and re-do Winter semester.

This is why overall I am requesting that my grades from ENGL 100, REPD 473, PHAR 380, AND MICR 451 be changed to CR grades. I completed each course to the best of my capabilities, and although the grades are not terrible to some students, I truly believe that the grades I earned this semester are not an accurate depiction of my academic capabilities. I am now applying for graduate and professional programs for Fall of 2023, and am mortified every time I look at my transcript and see the plummet from my 3rd year GPA (4.15 in Fall 2020 and 4.18 in Winter 2021) to my 4th year GPA. It is not an accurate reflection of my capabilities, and my caring team of health support personnel agree and are willing to support my appeal application in any way possible.

I just hope to minimize and mitigate any long-term effects that the Winter 2022 semester may have on my life plans; with graduate and professional school being as competitive and challenging as they are, I hope that the Queen's administration is able to help me overcome this hiccup in my transcript.