Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I am writing to you today because I would like to explain my circumstances and sincerely hope you are able to understand. I am petitioning to late drop POLS 112 (Winter 2025) and STAM 200 (Summer 2025), both of which I received a grade of F, as well as PHIL 151 (Fall 2025), which I received a grade of C+. These grades do not reflect my abilities as a student whatsoever, and I do not wish my GPA or transcript to express this inaccuracy.

For POLS 112, the course grade was dependent on a final essay assessment. However, I fell ill during the week of the deadline and was unable to submit the assignment on time. While the course policy outlined deductions for late submissions, this should not have applied to me since I received Academic Consideration from March 11-13 and March 13-15. But, my TA did not have any record of an extension, resulting in a final grade of F. This is especially very frustrating because my TA had actually given my essay an A, which would have otherwise also given me an A for the course. I instantly reached out to the professor to ask about this, but I never received a reply. During that time, I thought that there was nothing I could do, until I finally met with my academic advisor just recently. After discussing my situation, we eventually concluded that my extension may not have been communicated to my TA due to the ongoing strikes. I completed all of the work with high excellence, clearly showing that a final grade F does not reflect my abilities as a student at all. Knowing that I should have finished the course with an A, but was instead given an F is extremely frustrating and should not be represented in my GPA.

For STAM 200, my poor performance was the result of many oversights and the negligence of my severe ADHD. Due to financial constraints, I was unable to take my ADHD medication. I took the course over the summer online while living in Alberta, and the time difference always made me confused about deadlines. My ADHD just intensified this issue, which made online challenging because I would often just forget about the course entirely. It was so severe that I also missed my final exam, which is ultimately why I failed the course. I had initially scheduled it for July 27, the day before my flight to China July 28/29 (I had a layover in Japan, but I do not have receipt of flight from Tokyo, Japan to Beijing, China, because it was booked with a Chinese airline company), but in the midst of preparing for travel, I forgot about the exam entirely. By the time I realized, I was already in rural China, and could not contact my professor due to the firewall and internet restrictions. This extreme oversight is very uncharacteristic of me, and I take full responsibility for this mistake. After returning to Canada in late August, I thought my only option was to retake the course or complete an equivalent. Since a statistics course is required for my program, I enrolled in PSYC 202 for Fall 2025, assuming that it could replace the failed grade. I earned an A- in PSYC 202, demonstrating that I have the ability to succeed in the appropriate environment, resources and mindset. However, my advisor did make it clear to me that PSYC 202 cannot replace STAM 200, which was unexpected and extremely discouraging. I did not drop the course nor was I registered for academic accommodations because I did not know I had the ability to. These combined factors make STAM 200 an outlier in my academic record, and I hope this context clarifies that my performance in the course does not accurately reflect my capabilities.

For PHIL 151, I was involved in a NAM case this fall semester that stressed my ability to manage my courseload. As PHIL 151 was an elective, I prioritized my required psychology courses, especially after receiving an F in STAM 200. This led me to focus mainly studying those core courses, but at the expense of my elective. I am not petitioning to drop POLS 111, another elective I took during the same semester, since I performed relatively well in that course. But this was mainly because I just prioritized POLS 111 over PHIL 151 after my earlier experience with POLS 112. During the month of October, the demands of the NAM case made my workload feel unmanageable, and I struggled to balance all five of my courses effectively. Although I received a long term extenuating circumstances notice, which allowed me to better concentrate on my required courses, I was still unable to dedicate sufficient time and effort to PHIL 151. As a result, my performance in that course does not reflect my true academic ability.

My future plan is centered on prioritization and responsibility, both of which I have already begun to implement in this academic year. After the summer, I took time to explore strategies for managing my responsibilities and identifying the learning methods that work best for me. I found that organizing all deadlines in a calendar and setting multiple reminders has been highly effective in keeping me on track. I have also recognized that in person lectures are the most ideal learning environment, and that I study the best by paraphrasing lecture and textbook notes into a way I can understand it. Furthermore, I learned that Queen’s provides so many resources to support students. Currently, I am registered for QSAS to receive the proper accommodations for my ADHD. I have even reached out to an Occupational Therapist to help with my time management and daily routine. I also asked for an increased medication dose, which I have been taking since the beginning of the Fall semester. The positive impact from all of these efforts are clearly represented by my improved grades, which more accurately show my academic abilities. For example, PSYC 202 definitely showed that with the proper environment and focus, I am able to achieve the grades that reflect me. Looking at my expected grades for this Winter semester, it is even more clear that my current study habits are effective, as I am sitting at the A range for all of five of my courses. I even believe that my courseload for this semester than last semester, as ⅘ of my courses are all required psychology courses, yet I am still able to stay on track. This just goes to show that the extenuating circumstances I experienced truly did impact my ability to perform at my standard high academic level. Going forward from today, I plan on continuing to explore even more options to discover what works for my ADHD. I plan to really work on my time workload management by creating a daily To-Do-List each morning. After the summer, I realized the significance my medication has on the functioning of my daily life, so I will continue to monitor my medication usage, and will reach out for financial support to ensure that I always have it available to me.

So, I ask that my situation be considered and I hope I proved that these cases are not reflective of my abilities as a Queen’s student.

Thank you for your time and best regards,

Rachel Wu
20493965