Major Predicament! I need your opinions on Cal recinding my admission!?!?

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>This is just a nightmare!!!!! I Failed my Organic Chemistry I final because I slept in (my body couldn't handle the lack of sleep any longer, super heavy course load) and missed over an hour of the final!!!</p>

<p>When I talked to my teacher, she said I could possibly get a D in the class even though I had an 82% before taking the final....If I get a D in the class, all will be over huh? This class is one of my prerequisites (CNR Bio major), but I'm also required to take Organic Chemistry II over the summer, and am already signed up for it at summer sessions.</p>

<p>What should I do?!?!?! I'm definitely calling my counselor tomorrow, but I'm just so hysterical! Please help, and let me know if you think I have ANY chance to maintain my admission. Don't be too harsh though, cause I know I'm pretty much doomed if I get the D :(</p>

<p>What do I have to live for if they recind my admission!?!?!?!?! It will be time to pull the triggor.....</p>

2

<p>Man I really feel your pain, I wish I could help. Try to get through tonight without getting too frazzled or frustrated and call your counselor tomorrow morning to find out your options. </p>

<p>Also, it never hurts to try to talk to your teacher again and really beg for a C, did you tell her what’s at stake here?</p>

<p>Let us know what happens!</p>

3

<p>first, i sincerely hope that you’re not serious about that last thing.</p>

<hr>

<p>if you were a good student during the year… came to class, actually tried, etc. then contact your prof and ask if you can take the final over… ask if you could be allowed to do it with a 10% penalty. admit your fault, accept responsibility, but above all, explain that your college admission rides on passing the class. tell him/her how you overestimated your ability and pushed past your threshold… how you’ve accomplished so much (evidenced by your admission to Cal) only to have the fruits of your labor stripped (which they likely will be, if you end up with a D) at the last second because you couldn’t wake up on time… even if you can’t retake the test, any reasonable human being would offer you SOMETHING to bring your grade up to passing. i’ve had two B’s in the past changed to A’s after the fact, one of which was changed a full month into summer.
remember that not only do your profs and administrators want to see you succeed, but it’s also mutually beneficial if you do. it makes them look better when their students matriculate into top institutions… gives them bragging rights and some added funding.
best of luck.
also, if you end up with a D and your prof says no, go to the department head. if that fails, go straight to one of the higher-up administrators… my experience says to avoid counselors altogether, but it might also be worth a shot.
if after two years, this class is your only blemish, berkeley might hold it against you, but i doubt the same would be true of the faculty at your CC.
good luck.
i feel for you.</p>

4

<p>Yeah I did speak with her in her office, overwhelmed with tears, and told her how I got into Berkeley and everything. She seemed somewhat sympathetic but at the same time very strict with her policies. Wouldn’t let me finish the exam, you know? She went over my standing in the class with me and was just saying how she just doesn’t know what will happen until she grades the exams. </p>

<p>It seriously feels like the end of the world right now :frowning:
I’m such a hard worker and literally don’t have a life, let alone see the light of day! Just to survive my classes. Then I get into Berkeley, and after basking in this glorious feeling for over a month, it could be all taken away from me so easily!</p>

<p>I’m gonna get some sleep, but I’ll let you know what happens when I call Berkeley tomorrow. <em>crosses fingers</em></p>

5

<p>Thanks pinkerfloyd, your reply made me feel more optimistic. Luckily, shes allowing me to turn in a few late lab reports with a penalty of course. I just hope those few measly points allow me to pass the class! She would never go for me taking another final though. </p>

<p>The fact that she’s even allowing me to turn in those late lab reports must mean that she’s somewhat optimistic, and wanting to give me the passing grade? </p>

<p>Oh I am sooooo worried! :(</p>

<p>Gonna sleep on this.</p>

6

<p>I highly agree with you, pinker…</p>

<p>talk to your professor is the most important thing now!!</p>

<p>good luck…</p>

7

<p>I love Cal, I understand your pain.</p>

<p>I came close to getting rescinded about a month ago due to the possibility of getting a GPA below a 3.0 (an ‘A’ in Diff Equations saved me) and now need to pass my Discrete Math course (only course left at another CC with a really hard professor who admits that he makes his tests really hard) in order to not get rescinded. The week before, during, and after finals week (waiting for grades) at one CC almost made me break down mentally when I thought I wouldn’t go to Cal. This past test in my Discrete Math class really messed me up. It’s been hectic. I’m not even majoring in Math!</p>

<p>My case is very different from yours though. Personal life, state of well being issues.</p>

<p>Hang in there. I know it hurts. Hope everything turns out okay for you.</p>

8

<p>I am relatively sure you will be fine. Just talk with your teacher. Most CC teachers are super easy going. They know your goal is to go to a UC and want to generally help as much as they can. Since you got into Cal, I have to assume you have been a good student for the past 2 years. Based on that, they should be more than willing to work something out. I had a friend in a similar predicament, he straight up failed the final. He thought once he was in, he could just breeze by the remaining semester. After some conversation with a teacher and a promise to study, she let him retake it with a 15% penalty. He got an 85, which gave him a C (after the penalty). Problem solved.</p>

9

<p>I am in a similar situation. I had a strict statistics teacher this semester who didn’t grade on a curve or anything. It was all cut and dry and based on percentages. Well, I ended up with a 67%, and it sucks because I got B’s on the first two tests, got an F on the third, got a perfect score on the half test, and passed the final with a C. I tried to talk to the teacher and told him what was at stake, but all he said was “I do not decide your grade. I only give you what you earned.”
I took it up with the Math Program Chair, and after all of that, the instructor still didn’t want to give me a passing grade. There’s no point in taking it up with the Dean of the department or Vice-President of the college at this point. I contacted Berkeley, and now I’m waiting to hear if I will be rescinded or not.</p>

10

<p>Thanks for everyone’s input. I’m soo sad and have so much empathy for those feeling this pain!!! :(</p>

<p>Tiberius: I’m so sorry about your personal situation. I can understand your pain as well because this has been the hardest academic year with regards to both rigor and personal hardships. If you don’t mind me asking, what have you been going through? Is it your health or your family’s health, or death? Life can be very painful…</p>

<p>My best friend was diagnosed with cancer in October (only 20 years old), my grandmother who lives at our house had two strokes, my friend who has undergone two transplants is hospitalized regularly & these visits are life-threatening scares sometimes, and last but not least my horse recently died. It’s been a rough life, and classes for me this year :confused:
I haven’t mentioned these things to my professor though, because I feel she would think I’m lying or something, cause it sounds all crazy you know? But it has been sooo difficult to cope with. I also work at an aquarium 8 hours a week. I AM THOROUGHLY EXHAUSTED. If I were to mention my personal life to her, I wouldn’t even know how to bring it up because she seems annoyed with me after I tried to speak with her today.</p>

<p>She said she graded the final exams. She remembers I did poorly, but I caught her when she was leaving her office so wouldn’t discuss my grade with me in detail. I tried asking her if I got a D in the course, but she just said she remembers I did poorly, but could not remember because there were so many exams. It just sucks because she cannot meet with me on another day, and she doesn’t discuss grades via email because it’s campus policy. </p>

<p>T-Rav: She said things similar to what your professor said, such as if I did poorly enough on the final, then I did not “learn” the class material to a satisfactory level, and deserve the grade I get. I definitely agree with her statement, but my situation is very different because I got half the time I was supposed to receive for taking the final, so I wasn’t given the proper chance to show my true knowledge! I politely brought that up again, as well as the fact that I’ve gotten solid Bs on both midterms, and an A on the lab practical. She just said “I cannot base your final grade on your previous performance”.
I wasn’t asking her to do that. If I was, I would be asking her for a B.
I was trying to imply:
Even though my chances for a B are lost now because I was only given half the amount of time for the final exam, based on my previous performance I believe that I should earn at least a satisfactory grade in the class.<br>
I politely asked her if there was absolutely anything I could do to make up for my mistake, to earn a guaranteed C in the class, and she won’t allow any opportunities. She doesn’t seem sympathetic in the least. I regret talking to her because she was in a hurry, and I might have made her frustrated even though I was very polite. I got teary in front of her again because I just couldn’t hold it in! Oh how I regret speaking to her…</p>

<p>It was so strange though because when I logged onto myberkeleyapp tonight, I had a “revised” conditions for admission, and it no longer said that I’m required to take Organic Chemistry II over the summer, which is coincidentally beneficial for my situation right now. So that got me thinking, maaayyyyyybe there’s a chance that I can re-take Organic Chemistry I if I get a D, as opposed to my planned OC II? So that is what I will bring up to admissions on the phone tomorrow…</p>

<p>I’ll keep you guys updated, keep me updated on your situations as well!</p>

11

<p>Go over her head!</p>