Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I am writing to present a petition to request your consideration regarding my academic performance for the 2022 Winter and 2023 Fall. I deeply understand the academic standards required by the school. Still, I hope you can understand the severe depression I have experienced over the past year and the direct impact it has had on my academic performance.

During the last academic year, I fell into a severe depression that made it difficult to support myself through my studies. During the fall semester, although I had been trying hard to keep studying, I was doing very poorly. During the winter semester, affected by family pressure, I pushed myself to continue my studies but this only resulted in failing grades (F) in all three of my courses for that term. At that time during the final exam period, I found it impossible to deal with the academic stress, so I applied for a late drop on one of the courses.

Although my family advised me to continue and complete two more courses, my depression prevented me from finishing my studies. During the fall semester, my mother contacted a counselor, but due to my extreme psychological stress, I consistently had suicidal thoughts and even developed a steadfast suicide plan. Fortunately, I spent the summer with Roger, a counselor at the Student Wellness Center. Roger was able to provide certification and support for my mental health, and he understood the severe depression I was facing and the impact it was having on my studies and life.

Therefore, I present this petition to request a late drop for those courses that influenced my GPA. I believe that without the burden of my depression, I could have achieved much better academic results.

Thank you again for taking the time to consider my request. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Ella Wang