Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I¿¿m Alyson Davis, I am in second year, and I am in the faculty of Arts and Science. I am writing this letter to you because I am submitting a late appeal to drop GEOL 107, History of Life (Fall 2016).

Firstly, I apologize for my late application. I considered dropping the course but this was after the 8-week deadline. I decided that I would continue to work at the course and get the best grade that I could so I did not have to pay the fine. Once I got my grades back I found out I had indeed failed the course. I was devastated as this would bring my average down tremendously, and I was in the hopes of getting into a Global Development program the following year. I had no clue about appeals until one of my friends mentioned it in the Summer of 2017. She informed me it had to be submitted within the following term. I did not know that there was even a possibility of a late appeal until last week, which is when I began this process and writing my letter with the help from people in Student Services.

When I registered for GEOL 107 in Fall 2016, I was unaware of what the course load was actually like. I was sitting in a class with a lot of fourth year engineers and it seemed like I couldn¿¿t understand anything the professor was saying no matter how hard I tried. To add on to this, I have hearing issues that I would be able to provide a documentation of. Fall 2016 was also my first experience at Queens, and in university alone with no truly close friends I could turn to. I have dealt with anxiety my whole life, and this was heightened due to this huge change. I struggled with being unaware of what I wanted to study, and what interested me. My course load and readings were also very diverse and heavy compared to what I was used to in high school. I am currently doing better in my studies and have a great support system. I am also doing the required second year courses in Global Development, which is what I am intending to apply to switch into in May. Although, even though my grades are going up, the fail I received in geology is bringing my average down exponentially. GEOL 107 was a mistake and a wrong choice on my part, and due to a bunch of circumstances I was not in control of my overall grade in the class was pulled down even further to a fail.

I would like to thank you for reading my application, and I hope you consider it as it would really help me achieve the goals I have for my future at Queens and for after schooling as well.