Hey guys, I’ll try to keep this short. To start off, I’m an undergraduate student at GMU who is majoring in Applied Information Technology.
On 02/25 I actually found out I have a stress fracture on my left foot which made me miss 1 and a half weeks of school since this week was Spring Break. I had 4 of my midterms moved to this coming Monday-Wednesday. Well, on Friday my right foot had me in extreme pain and went to the podiatrist to find out i have a broken bone on my right foot and will need to bed rest it for 2 weeks for the time being.
Now the dilemma I am in is, I’ve talked to a few professors who have suggested to do a medical withdrawal, which withdraws me from all my classes this semester. I’m also currently taking 6 classes this semester and would be done with everything by summer of 2016 when I would have 1 or 2 remaining classes left.
I am now contemplating risking not doing the medical withdrawal and trying to finish all 6 of my classes. I’m almost sure I’ll pass 3 of my classes and maybe 4 but will fail 2 or 3 classes. If I withdraw I can’t finish by next summer and will need to take classes in Fall 2016 to finish it off.
Talk to your adviser or the dean of students. Do you need bed rest or just not to walk? Would a wheelchair work?
Are you in pain? Could you medically withdraw from some of the classes? Do you get your tuition money back?
Failing is no good and brings down your GPA SOOOO much. Try to avoid that at all costs.
You also need to talk with the Financial Aid department to see how a medical withdrawal would effect you financial aid package. You could end up owing money. Also failing courses could also impact your aid.
Doing a medical withdrawal can be a good option but you need to look at all the ramifications. This incudes academics (time to graduate, ability to register, ability to get upper level course, etc.), financially (financial aid, overall cost, loan repayment), health (mental, physical) and housing. Discussing this with the Dean of Students and advisor is excellent advice.
Since you are half way though the semester, doing a partial withdrawal, if possible, might be a good choice if it is medically possible. You should be able to do a medical withdrawal later if needed. Discuss this with the Dean. Most likely, you will not get any refunds of tuition or housing if you are past the 8-10 week point. Check your school policy.