Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am requesting to drop this course because I¿¿ve finally come to terms with the fact that I do not have a chance of succeeding. I went into politics because I was very poor in math and science, but the arts were something for which I had an interest and degree of competence. I was very concerned when I found out Stats was a mandatory course for this program, but it was obviously something I decided I¿¿d have to get through. I became even more concerned when I learned that the stats course required for Politics was one which mostly used examples from Biology, and also required students to learn R, the more difficult computer program in stats. I also learned after the last day to switch courses that many of the Politics students were permitted to take the easier stats course by the program, leaving me to feel even more trapped in a course that I was not confident I could succeed in. I¿¿m not someone who takes quitting lightly, which is one of the main reasons I stayed in the course as long as I did. I truly believed that if I put in the recommended hours of study and went to class and tutorial I would be able to pass this course, but after doing those exact things and now only having the exam to ensure my success, it is becoming increasingly clear that I do not have the required competences in math or science to succeed in this course. I¿¿ve done all I can do, and put in the hours, but this is quite simply not something I will ever be capable of.
It is important for me to note that while I am dropping the course very late in the year, this was not the desired outcome whatsoever. This course has caused a great deal of stress and anxiety in my life, and even made me question my decision to come to university, as it is not something I ever imagined having to take. I continued taking the course, completing all the assignments and tests to the best of my ability, but upon receiving marks it was becoming clear that no matter the effort I put in, I would never really understand the content of the course. It¿¿s just not something I was made to do. While being in post-secondary should always challenge students intellectually, I feel very much that as a politics student, I was out of my depth in this course, and me even trying to succeed instead of dropping it sooner was a serious mistake.
Going forward, I am either going to have to take a stats course next year to accommodate for this situation, or graduate without a degree in politics, which I feel speaks to the magnitude of the situation I¿¿m in. This is not what I wanted out of the course, and I¿¿m very disappointed that I was not able to succeed despite a strong effort and a great deal more work than I¿¿ve ever put into a course in my university career. This decision was one of the more difficult I¿¿ve had to make at Queen¿¿s, but I see no other way as I haven¿¿t the intellectual capabilities to succeed in such a math-heavy course, which is why I see no other option but to drop the course, even at such a late date. I hope that the situation is one which you are able to understand, as it is one that I would never wish on anyone else. Due to the 21 day wait period I will continue to study strenuously for this exam, and will still write it, but I am hoping that I will be able to drop, as this will allow me to possibly take the easier stats next year, instead of having to take this far more challenging course again in order to remove the fail. I hope you sympathise with my situation and understand that this was truly the last resort.