Thank you to everyone for your feedback. I really appreciate it.
Maybe for a first offense…but this student was already on academic probation for this program…and it is very clear that failing a class is not allowed once one is on academic probation…per the OP.
The student failed the class. Frankly, he is lucky that he isn’t being asked to take time off from his college.
@thumper1 yes, but if he plans to appeal the decision, to me, proving he can be successful is the only real basis for appeal.
Wait, you failed because you planned your work around the curve you anticipated?
Um, if I were on the committee that would be a huge red flag. You planned to do the absolute bare minimum to get through, and miscalculated.
I think I would find a more compelling reason, beyond “I have no ambition for anything but the bare minimum.”
That’s not how I interpreted the situation. If the OP had known that failure was mathematically inevitable based on the actual, correct mid-term grade, then the OP would have withdrawn. I completely understand that regret.
However, if the OP could indeed, with reasonable grades like a B (assuming hypothetically that ability is a factor, not effort) overcome the midterm failure, then the OP has no case.
If college is a struggle, as it is for many, I think other paths need to be honored more by our culture. There is a lot of suffering going on due to pressure to get a college degree.
Aimed low, missed.
College is an opportunity to learn. If you only want to learn the minimum, why bother?
@MysteriousShock, What type of program are you in? Do a lot of students struggle or was the 12% curve a one time thing?
@austinmshauri Im in medical school. I’m not sure how often this happens but the 12% was added because everyone did badly on the exam
I’m having an extremely difficult time dealing with this issue and I sincerely appreciate all your responses and guidance. It really means a lot.
Can i be honest @MysteriousShock ? I know medical school is a tremendous amount of learning, but I would not want a doctor who tries to learn the least amount and still barely pass.
OP- how were you going to manage to drop a class in med school before the final- even if you had known your accurate grade?
Big hug to you, I’m sure this is scary and traumatic and horrible. But I’d encourage you to make an appointment to see the Dean of students and lay your cards on the line. Not for an appeal to be reinstated- but to discuss your long term goals, study habits, etc. Get some outside perspective on how you are doing before you go to the mat trying to get reinstated.
@bopper you are right and I thought the same thing thing as well. Why would a patient go see a doctor who didn’t do well. But my mistake does not reflect my level of effort. I took the last few days to really reflect on my future, whether I should pursue other options, but I know I am capable of doing it. I know I can be a good physician. I’m just trying to figure out how to persuade the school to give me one more chance to prove it.
@blossom we are given the option to drop a course up until a few weeks prior to the finals. The Dean’s and many of the school’s offices are closed for the break.
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You are in medical school and you have failed two courses?
Seriously doubt the med school will consider your appeal…at all.
I don’t get how an 87 on the final and a 60 on the midterm cause one to fail, if the passing grade is 70. By my reckoning, if the midterm and final counted equally, the average would be 73.5. Usually, the final counts more than the midterm, which should make the average even higher. So there must have been some other poor scores. The people to whom you appeal will not miss this point.
This student is in medical school. I think there is more to this story.
Do medical schools really give you the option of dropping a course? Especially when you have already failed one?
Drop? And then what, you’re in the next term, re-taking a course from the prior term, alog with the usual sequence? Doesn’t make sense. And med schools have standards to meet before graduating a student. If they don;t see you progressing, why let you continue?
We don’t know how much the final counted.
I have heard of medical schools allowed a student to withdraw from all classes in a specific term–though only for serious personal reasons ( a major mental health crisis, a critical family emergency like a the birth of gravely ill child or an only child who becomes the sole caretaker of a dying parent), not just from one class. Med school curricula are not distinct separate classes for the most part, but part of a interlocking whole.
In med school, the curriculum is highly sequential and a specific course is only offered once a year. Retaking a class usually means not being promoted and repeating a whole year.
As for the OP: One failed class—> probation. I’d be surprised if a student who failed class wasn’t also required to have mandatory tutoring and mandatory mental health counseling. A second failed class while on probation—I don’t see any possible positive outcome for the OP. Dismissal is pretty much automatic.
@WayOutWestMom what kind of institution of higher learning has mandatory tutoring and mental health counseling? I’d be very surprised if that were the practice anywhere in any field at any level of post-secondary education.
This student is in MEDICAL SCHOOL. Medical schools accept students because they believe they will succeed. They really don’t want students to fail. So, yes…they can and do require tutoring if a student is doing poorly.
Medical schools have required courses…no choice…and the instructors are assigned. And the medical schools can require you to withdraw if you are not meeting their standard…which means that you are not demonstrating that you will be able to pass your Step exams.
WayOutWestMom seems to know an awful lot about med schools, CctoAlaska, so she probably knows programs that require tutoring and counseling. Med school is so expensive. I hope they have something in place to help students.
OP, I’m sorry you’re struggling. My concern for you isn’t that you failed. It’s that you don’t seem to understand that the reason for your failure isn’t because you miscalculated your grades. It’s because you didn’t understand the material enough to pass. Not even getting an 87 on the final was enough to bring the average up to a 70, so you must have struggled a lot or something was so heavily weighted that you couldn’t overcome it.
You can appeal, but I’m not hearing any solid reasons why they should give you a 3rd chance. Usually when students fail they tell us about extenuating circumstances or a lack of awareness about the rigor of college, and they describe a concrete plan to improve (tutoring, going to office hours, etc). You don’t seem to have any extenuating circumstances and your plan, if I understand it correctly, is to find out you’re failing early enough to withdraw from the course. I don’t understand how that will help you complete the program.
How much does it cost to repeat courses and how are you paying for it? I think med schools have a responsibility to students. If they don’t believe a student will be successful in their program it would be irresponsible of them to allow the student to borrow ~$100k or more to keep trying. Do you have a counselor in the program who can guide you? What are your parents saying? It sounds like you may need a back up plan in case your appeal isn’t successful. Try to find people around you who can help you build one.