Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Sir/Madam,

10057594


My name is Mohammed Homsi and I¿¿m appealing for a late drop of the course Math 121 (Summer 2015). For several extenuating factors, I was unable to perform on my midterm exam, which was 30 of my grade.
The week before my exam, I was in Kuwait because my residency in the country would have dropped unless I personally came and dealt with the paper work, which was an urgent case because as a Syrian citizen my residency in any other country is vital to my family and myself; otherwise, I had no plans of leaving Kingston. I wasn¿¿t feeling very well starting June 12th as I would recall, where I thought I was experiencing the normal symptoms of flu, and dizziness from my flight in my ear. On June 15th, I went to one of the clinics in Kuwait (Health Department of Hawalli), because I could not sleep from how sick I was. I was diagnosed with Otitis Media, which explained the fever and my lack of sleep. They advised one a week full of rest and antibiotics which I did not take when I was fasting the day of the exam. I had two exams on the 18th, which were French and Math. I told my parents that I did not want to put them off and I did not want to cancel the flights which we would have been expensive to replace, and the injections made me feel better; and thinking that my math final exam would replace my midterm grade as I misinterpreted the syllabus, I thought that this was the better choice. I was allowed a dictionary in my French exam, and I felt more comfortable writing it although I felt I would have done better had I not been ill. For the week prior to my exam, I was ill, preoccupied with paper work, and barely had the time or the effort to study for my Math exam. I sincerely thought that my midterm grade would be replaced by the final exam grade by misinterpreting the following segment of the syllabus:

¿¿In-Term Tests and Exams:
For any test written in one half of the course, the test grade will be replaced by the exam grade from that half if the exam grade is higher.¿

Although I¿¿m aware that I bare responsibility of misunderstanding the syllabus, I only chose to go on with the exam whilst in a condition that was out of my control because I thought it would not count towards my final grade. Fortunately, when my grade came out, which was below a 30, where I had lost 23 of my final grade; I emailed my professor for reassurance of my perception (misperception) of that segment of the syllabus, which I think I was lucky to find out rather than go into my final exam and then be shocked when my final grade comes out. Had I seen my grade before the drop-deadline, I would have emailed the professor and done the same because I frankly did not think I failed that badly; and then I would have proceeded with dropping the course on time. Typically, I would get my midterm grade prior to the drop-deadline, since the midterm grade is a strong indicator to whether someone chooses to continue to be enrolled in a course.

At this point, filing for an appeal for a late dropping of the course; the midterm grade being an anchor to my final grade; and with content increasingly becoming more difficult and with me fasting everyday until 9 pm; it is clear that my potential of doing well in the course is slim and that an appeal is my only viable option. I have never filed for academic appeal in my life, nor have I missed an exam or a midterm. But I really cannot afford anchoring my GPA due to extremely inconvenient extenuating circumstances that were out of my control. I plan on re-taking the course the first chance my schedule allows me to, because it is a requirement for me to graduate with my BA in Economics. In the future, I¿¿m always going to make sure that I fully and clearly comprehend the syllabus and I will avoid the mistake that I¿¿m sure I will never make again.


Note: Attached is the medical report which includes the date of my admission to the health department as well as their given diagnosis. Attached also are copies of my travel documents. Please let me know if there any further collaboration I could provide.

Thank you for your time
Mohammed Homsi