I'm going to fail a subject again.

Post Reply New Topic

This is a nice long vent and I'm too tired to try to edit it for brevity, but too awake to go to sleep.

So earlier on in my degree, due to personal difficulties and poor subject choices, I ended up failing enough to be classified as a Student At Risk. What I didn't realize is that it didn't go away after I passed so many semesters or even completed the degree part of my combined degree/diploma. So last semester I failed one of four subjects (after passing a course load of 3 subjects each semester for two semesters in a row). Simply because the subject was a core for one of two possible majors my subjects allowed for in this second course (and the one currently on my course plan) I got called to front a committee.

I got given a bunch of sanctions for this semester, of which only one I didn't follow. It was to attend all classes and while I had the best of intentions of doing so, there were morning classes where I was too tired to go and I'd occasionally not go to classes for the subject that I'm repeating as the content was the same.

In the time since doing the subject for the first time, I have been used to doing subjects with an 80% or more exam at the end of the semester, so I've tended not to stress about tests or assignments during the semester. Unfortunately with this subject most of the assessment was during the semester. As well, they changed the course structure so I wasn't able to get an exemption from the stuff I already passed.

I have a small exam left for the subject and marks for 2 out of 3 components that I already did. The third one is missing, which is worrying because if I relied on the 2 components, if I got 100% for the final exam, I would be 0.5% off from passing the subject, so if I go into the exam I'm unlikely to pass the subject no matter how well I do in the exam. I couldn't withdraw from the subject as my study allowance and my accommodation are tied to me studying full time and I was doing the minimum full time load as it was.

Personally, if I failed the subject again I would be disappointed and have to just get a suitable completed subject from the other course to replace it. Academically however, I may be called to meet the committee again and unless I can give them really good reasons for failing a subject twice or even just failing another subject they'll kick me out of the course.

I have the grades to go into Masters for my degree major, and the deadline for mid year entry closes in a week and a half. I already have a supervisor lined up for entry next year (he thought it was cool that I decided to finish my diploma first). All I would need to do is see if he's happy to hasten it by a semester and to make sure my possible bad performance won't hurt my ability to get in.

While I want to finish this diploma because I'm nearly finished and everything, I'm scared that I won't be able to cope with another semester and that I may not be allowed to continue it. If I'm not allowed to continue and I get told after the closing date for mid year entry into Masters, I will not be a student anymore, I will have to resign from the committee of my favorite club, I will lose my accommodation, my study allowance will be changed to unemployment allowance and I'll have to quit my casual job. On the other hand my only problem in going into Masters is that I'll be going in mid year so my course planning will be affected and adjusting to the new course.

In three and a half hours, if I'm still awake from all this stress I will be going to a course adviser to see how bad they think the situation is and if there is any way to fix my situation with this subject. I'll probably drop by and see my potential Masters supervisor to see if he's ok with me starting research with him in the next semester.

Have any of you been in a related situation? Am I doomed?

Hi!

I can certainly relate to your fears there - I failed one subject last semester which means my GPA is on the cusp of being ousted from the degree for being too low I'd love to drop a subject next semester so I can concentrate on only one subject and finishing my thesis, however, in order to survive on my government payments I need to be full-time so I'll either fail again, but still have an income - but that means I'll likely be thrown out anyway.. or I go part-time, lose payments, have to work part-time and fail anyway since I won't have enough time to study.... Vicious cycle.

You are not yet doomed! Talk it over with your adviser and see what they can do. Do they know of your diagnosis in your college - if so, they SHOULD be able to give you some sort of special consideration. Did you end up seeing your course adviser?

Thanks for your reply . I talked to a course adviser and they said I had a 50/50 chance of staying in the course if I failed the subject (although he was being pessimistic). I got enough marks in my previous assessment in the subject that all I needed was about 66% in the final exam. Unfortunately I was sick during the exam (and failed) and during the supplementary exam too (which I have no marks for yet). I have applied for special consideration again for that exam because there was no way I passed it this time.

They do know about my diagnosis, but at Uni they tend to give disabled students more accommodations instead of special consideration. I flaked out on getting extensions for my assignments this semester (one of my accommodations) which I'm kicking myself for - if I got the extra time in and got, say 30/40 rather than 20/40 I would've passed the subject without having to sit the supplementary.

I did apply for the Masters of Science (Chemistry), as I've already completed my Bachelor of Science in the same major, but instead got accepted into the Postgraduate Diploma (they have an access scheme for which I qualified in three categories but I wasn't able to get in the paperwork for that). Because I'm brave/over-confident I decided to stay in the math diploma and defer the postgraduate diploma. I have a few factors in my favor, including the fact that it's my last semester in the degree/diploma, and that I've actually completed the degree already.

I'm still worried about this semester, but I'm a lot less stressed now because I have lots of factors in my favor if I do fail that subject. I will probably have to throw everything including the university policies themselves at them but I should have a decent chance of continuing. If I'm lucky I can do all four of the subjects I am enrolled in for my final semester instead of crediting a degree subject towards the diploma.

One of the accommodations we give some students is relaxed attendance policies.

I suggest meeting with your disability advisor.

Thanks for that suggestion. I just went and looked it up and my uni also offers that too. The only problem is that most final year math subjects at my university tend to have a situation where you have to go to the lecture and copy what's down on the board in order to get the lecture notes. Which would mean that I'd also have to get a note-taker, which requires notice 6 weeks before the semester, and my classes start next week. Another alternative would be to find someone in each class with good attendance and good handwriting to let me copy their notes but all the friends I had in the diploma who'd fit that criteria have already graduated.

What I would probably need the most is someone to help me get around my executive dysfunction (or a good app to keep me organized), but I'd have to find that on my own. My executive dysfunction keeps getting worse each year .

Have the audacity to ask your teacher to bump you up if you get an amazing grade. Some teachers will do that. [My brother skated by doing that. He didn't study and couldn't stay awake during class, but even with that bare minimum he was able to get a high C. He had a seventy-eight in economics and asked the teacher to give him a B since he got an A plus on the final, and because the teacher knew that he understood the material she gave him the B. She also liked him. Otherwise she would have laughed.]

If your teacher likes you, it's worth a shot. Teachers will make exceptions if they like students enough.

Thanks for the suggestion but my University tends to be really strict about grading procedures.