Incompletes, failing grade...what to do?

Hi guys,

A little about my issue, I recently got accepted into a university and did the very best that I could…in the process I got extremely sick, lost over 30lbs and I am convinced I was clinically depressed, although the hospital could not figure what it was…at the time I was dealing with some major issues that did not allow me to finish my grad edu, which was going well for me even though I was a bit timid and adjusting to the program. I discussed with my 3 professors my issues and ended up receiving a B grade in one course and Incomplete in 2 others. When I came back home it took me over 3 months to get well and to be honest I feel as if I have not fully recovered from that really depressive and sick stage I was in. It’s truly scary; however, the back to the gist…here recently the Incompletes have turned into two F’s and a B and I am just at an all time low of what my next move is…I haven’t spoke with my professors and I do not know where I stand academically with my university. Financially, the school was very expensive and I have no way of going back to the city and making it better being that finances were my main issue when I was there…so, my question is…should I apply to a state school locally where I am interning at a agency that is in my graduate field, will I get in with these grades? should I appeal the grades? can I appeal the grades? I have some of the work that was suppose to be turned in, but I never got a chance to make it back to the city in which I did my one semester of graduate school. So does anyone have any supportive suggestions or ideas? I believe I am in a better mental space to continue graduate school and my desire is to one day get my doctorate and engage in politics. Any suggestions?

Should you apply? Well, that depends. Do you want to start another graduate program? How long ago did you leave the original program? How many semesters were you attending before you got two Fs and a B? (In other words - are they the only grades on your graduate transcript or do you have a long string of success followed by an abrupt departure?) It sounds like you only did one semester and in that semester you got a B and two Fs.

Will you get in? Impossible to tell. Only the program can tell you that, and they will probably only tell you if you apply.

Can you appeal the grades? Look at your former institution’s student handbook. They will have information about grade appeals and the process. The answer is that you probably can, practically speaking. Should you? Maybe. I’m leaning towards “probably not” because the requirements for turning incompletes into grades is usually pretty generous; most colleges give you 6 months to a year to finish the work for the course. In the case that you still haven’t recovered within that time frame, then you really should have a discussion with the appropriate people a priori rather than letting the grades lapse into Fs. However, if the time period you had was very short and/or you can show that you had a severe bout of depression that took months of recovery, you might get some sympathy and support from the university.

Besides, even if you appeal the grades, they will probably turn back into Is and you will still have to do the work.

My recommendation is that if

-you only did one semester at University A, in which you got one B and two Fs; and
-this entire issue was relatively recent (within the last two years)

then it’s probably too soon for you to reapply to another program. Work for a while first and give yourself some distance between the first program and your problems with it.

You also don’t need a doctoral degree to engage in politics, and in fact, if you want to be a politician, I would say that you shouldn’t necessarily get a doctoral degree. You should just get involved in politics. Perhaps begin by working on campaigns and volunteering for candidates and work your way up. Or launch a campaign for a local office. (Now if you meant that you want to work in policy, that’s different. But even then, unless you want to do policy research - and you have a really burning desire to direct that policy research and ask some specific questions in research - then you can probably get an MPP or the equivalent and do what you want.)

Do you want to go to a program in the same field? If so, it will be tricky, especially if you were only there for 1 semester.

I had a similar situation, except I was in the program for 2 years, and my grades were good for a while, then dropped over a couple terms (but not Fs, still bad grades though). Never dealt with incompletes though, so no idea how to approach that.

I’ve decided to go for an M.S. in a different field and have been taking deficiency courses (with A/A- grades) as a part-time student elsewhere so I can be eligible for admission. I’ve used this time to earn good grades and prove that what happened was just a fluke and my health issues are in good order now. I’ve also taken (and aced) a grad class in addition to my deficiency classes.

Just an idea to consider. Of course I haven’t applied yet so I can’t tell you if it will work or not with 100% certainty. I doubt I’ll be getting into any top 20 programs, but I think top 50 is a reasonable goal.

If you want to stay in the same field, it’s hard to say what to do. You need to do something to prove you’re in a better state of mind now. Given the current economy, it seems unlikely you’re going to get a career-oriented job as a grad school dropout, especially if you don’t already have a decent job. You could take classes part-time like I am, but if you already have the classes you need to get into grad school, I don’t think there’s much point.