Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Hi there,

I am appealing to drop STAT351 (Fall 2017).

I changed my program from Biology Major to Biology and Math Specialization this May, so I have only taken MATH121 before. I enrolled in STAT351 in the beginning because STAT268 has a conflicting schedule with one of my biology core courses. I can take either STAT268 or STAT351 for my degree plan. I am attending and fully participating in this course. I struggle sometimes, but I work hard and go to office hours. I thought I was doing fine. I got my midterm mark back on Friday, Nov 3rd, which was the last day for dropping a course without academic penalty. I was devastated when I saw my midterm mark. I wanted to take time to think and talk to my Professor about where I went wrong. I went to the office hour on Monday and Wednesday to see Professor Magpantay, and I realized that the math background required is much beyond what I have. Professor Magpantay and I discussed my potential of success in this course and I got the sense that I would not make up for the marks in the final. I realized that I am behind since the beginning. I know that no matter how much I work, I will still be behind other students who have taken much more Math/Statistics courses which were not mentioned on the prerequisite requirement. Having an F in my transcript would devastate my chances of being admitted into graduate school, which is a really important goal of mine.

I will take STAT268 in the future, perhaps in the summer with Letter of Permission or next Fall term. I will work hard in STAT268 and will have much more background then. I will be more mindful for the drop dates as I now understand the consequences of missing the drop dates.

Thank you so much,
Yuan