I am a 29-year-old microbio major with a 3.76 GPA along with multiple instances of volunteer work and also working part time. I am currently taking an organic chemistry 2 class along with the lab and I have been having issues with the professor because she has issues with accommodations that are available to me from the disabilities office. It’s gotten so bad with this professor that she blamed me for the mistakes of two other students who were late to class and therefore the quiz which led them to not being able to take their quiz. She blames it on me because usually the quiz is given at the end of the class but because I have to take mine in a Proctor room, she decided to move them to the beginning of the class. Hence the reason why she was blaming me. If I would have just taken the quiz in class, it would be at the end of the class and those two students wouldnt have missed their quiz. Anyway, I was checking assist and it says that organic chemistry 2 and lab is highly recommended but not required. I believe I have pretty strong insight questions, but I dont know if personal insight questions would be enough to get me into UCLA. My counselor wants me to stay in the class even though I’m being bullied by my professor, this impacting my grade. The bullying has impacted my grade immensely and theres a high chance I will fail the class. Would it highly impact my acceptance if I dropped the class?
Have you talked to the professor? What is she doing that is causing your grades to drop?
Have you gone to speak to the office of student disabilities about your issues with this professor?
Bullying a student due to his or her disability is akin to bullying one for their religious beliefs or due to the color of their skin.
In short, it’s illegal.
The fact that the other students came late to class and missed the quiz is an issue between them and the prof, not you.
You haven’t explained how your grade is being affected and why you are almost failing. The syllabus should describe how evaluations are done for the grade.
Well. I have severe anxiety and depression so it’s difficult for me to take the quiz in class. When students begging to get up and leave before I finish, i get panic attacks and have to get out and so I turn in my papers even before I’m done. If fainted a few times during this and the ambulance had to be called. The professor has told me that it’s my fault for her having to move the quiz from the end of the class to the beginning of the class which is why the professor said I am a problem and caused other students to lose the ability to take the quiz. I’ve spoken to multiple counselors and all of them want to me just “stick it out” even if I’m failing. Her quizzes and exams are all written. And she gives partial credit at her discretion. I’m a 4.0 student and I have never failed a quiz or test before. I’ve checked my quizzes against other students and although I have the same answers, I lose more points than other students. She has favorite students and in chem lab, she has mentioned that if she had a headache from the ether smells, the class would lose points. She is very retaliatory and I’ll most likely be dropping the class. Before the first day of class, she emailed me stating that she didnt have a good relationship with the disabilities office and, long story short, she bullied me into taking my first 2 quizzes in class, despite knowing about my issues, which I went on to fail, miserably. I’m supposed to talk to a compliance officer but I dont know how to handle her anymore and my situation for transfer has gotten more difficult. I believe I found organic chem classes at UCLA extension but I wanted to be sure so I called them. Do you guys think UCLA will reject my application because of this situation?
Immediately go to the disabilities office and tell them what you have told us. Also talk to the Dean of Students.
If you can show the evidence about the quiz scores.
make sure you are talking to a counselor/therapist about your anxiety.
If you find it hard to talk to these people, then get someone to go with you.
@Hopeful0821 Between your OP and reply, I’m not still not clear on the context of the teacher blaming you for the performance of the other students and the timeline of when and why you started failing the class. Apparently she did make the original accommodation you requested. Have you had a meeting with your professor? If so, was it initiated by you or by her?
She is blaming me for “forcing” her to move her quiz from the end of the class to the beginning of class because I need accommodations at a proctor room that closes at 5. I’ve had a meeting with the chair since and of course, he sides with her saying that the disabilities office doesnt accommodate students after 5pm (the class starts at 6:30pm). She is afraid that if she makes the quiz at the end of class (as she normally does) then I will be giving out answers to the rest of the class during the lecture. Hence the reason why she moves her quizzes from the end of class to the beginning of class. I initiated a conversation with her, but tensions are still high and she still insists that disabilities office is an issue. The chair said “the disabilities office is on her $hit list”.
I’ve spoken to the director of the disabilities office. She has referred me to the compliance officer. Which now I have to make an appointment with. I’ve also spoken to my doctor who has told me to drop the class if it is affecting my mentality to the point where I want to self harm (which is getting to that point).
Doesn’t the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) apply in your situation ?
@Hopeful0821 As a disclosure, I am the parent of a college-bound HS student. Most of the others who have responded are also parents and your OP story of being “bullied” by a teacher appeared to have the desired effect of gaining sympathy. You implied, but didn’t say directly, that the professor commented about you in the classroom, but now I think that these complaints came out in your private meeting. From what you say above about “self-harm”, I imagine she sees you as a “difficult student” and she feels confident enough to tell you directly how she feels. (A possibly risky move on her part.)
The obvious advice first - don’t harm yourself, either physically or academically. Second, see the power struggle between you and the professor for what it is, a negotiation for accommodations. Ultimately, she has a class a run and it’s nothing personal. Her point is that you are asking for too much. You have at least partially won by requiring her to give the quizzes at the beginning of the class instead of at the end. FWIW, I don’t think her argument about the two students being late and missing the quiz is your problem, since they should be expected to show up for class on time. My real advice is to try apologizing for causing any imposition and see what effect that has. I suspect it might go a long way toward reducing the “high tensions”, as you put it. Good luck!
4.0 or 3.76? Or possibly failing? Do you get accommodations after 5pm for a class that starts at 630? Never heard there are time of day factors. You want to transfer to ucla?
You need to speak with the right people. If that’s the compliance officer, then yes, do that. Some of this is confusing. Good luck.
Sorry for the late reply. I ended up having to drop the class because it got worse.
Publisher - I spoke to the schools ada enforcer and he made note of the violation.
Damon30 - I’m not trying to “gain sympathy”. I’m trying to see what I did so horribly wrong to make her dislike me. Just because I need accommodations, doesnt give her the right to tell embarass me in front of the whole class. Yes, she singled me out as the student with a disability in front of the whole class. There goes the privacy that I was supposed to have. Regardless of her difficulties with the disabilities office, it shouldnt have affected my grades or what happened to me in class or in the Proctor room. I failed both quizzes when I took it in her classroom and recieved 95% and higher on the next two quizzes I took in the Proctor room. I brought this to her attention and she said that she couldnt do anything about the first two quizzes even though she asked me to take them in class. I have never argued or talked back to her, even when she belittled me in her office. I sat there and accepted it and stayed quiet. You’re telling me to apologize to someone when I havent fought back in any way. I have a right to these accommodations and her thoughts about it shouldnt affect my mental health or my grades. But thank you for your insight and opinions.
Lookingforward - I’ve been to multiple colleges, but at the community college I’m currently at I have a 4.0. With the transfer grades from the other schools I have a 3.76. There are no accommodations after 4:30pm. The compliance officer said he knew the professor and had complaints about her before so this was nothing new to him.
Anyway, thank you for your advice guys. I do appreciate it. I got into UC Berkeley but because I dont have the required classes I was supposed to finish this semester, they will probably cancel my acceptance when I tell them. If you have any advice on THAT, it would be great. Thanks again.
Hopeful082q