<p>Last Thursday I missed my final exam because I was sick; I called my professor and he said as long as I had a doctor's note, I could make it up by Monday. So I went to the Student Health Center to get an appointment, but they were booked and told me to try again the next day. So the following day I had 2 exams; one on Friday morning at 8am and one at 4pm. The 8am one I missed because I still felt like crap (and once again, the professor said i could do a make-up exam.) The 4pm professor said I wouldn't be able to make up the exam even with a doctors note, but that he would drop the grade and my midterm grade would be doubled; I did horribly on the midterm, so I came in to take the test, since I was feeling a lot better by Friday afternoon anyway. Then on Friday I stupidly missed my appointment because I slept right through it after the test was over; I called and apologized and they told me to come in Saturday when they only have nursing appointments. </p>
<p>So I came in today and explained the situation, and the nurse was such a jerk about it! She said she couldn't excuse me because I had never been to see them the day I was sick, even though there's record of me coming in that day and trying to get an appointment (I signed in). I have a medical history of migraines, which usually last 12-20 hours and leave me nauseous and vomiting; I've been in there to get treated for migraines before so she knows I have a history of them. I can't make up the exam without a note, and it's 30% of my grade, I'll get an F in the class! It's a chem class, I'm a chem major, it's a prereq for all my classes next semester, i'm screwed....I don't know what to do?! Maybe if I come in Monday to see another doctor they'll listen to me, but that nurse was like "Don't expect us to help you with this blahblah"...:(</p>
<p>Surprisingly, your professors/the school isn’t always out to screw you. They probably want you to graduate. You just have to explain your situation clearly and coherently to your profs/the doctors/nurse. Mistakes happen, people know this.</p>
<p>If your professors are kind, I’d talk to them. If you think you’d be better off with a doctor/nurse, talk to them. Talk to the dean of student affairs if you’re in a lot of trouble.</p>
<p>Explain the entire situation to the professor; maybe ask if you can compromise with a doctor’s note/record that shows your history of migraines. If no luck there, then try talking to the head of the chemistry department. You have a valid excuse; be persistent about it. Maybe talk to another nurse or someone in charge at the health center. Do you know another professor who likes you? Consider going to him/her and asking for help. Keep talking to people; hopefully you’ll find someone with a heart in power willing to be an advocate for you. </p>
<p>Good luck with everything - must be very stressful :(. If that happened to me, I think my chemistry professor would give me a hard time too…she’s just that kind of person lol.</p>
<p>I already talked to my professor when I was sick, he said could make it up with a doctor’s note, which I don’t have! Missing a final exam is a big deal, it’s not like missing a hw assignment. The Director of the Chem department here hates me (and students in general, but especially me because of reasons too long to explain, but I know him well because he’s my advisor and runs my scholarship program). </p>
<p>I don’t even understand why the nurse was so mean, what did I do wrong? except miss the fri appt, but I was exhausted and I called and apologized as soon as i woke up, and it’s not my fault they were booked Thursday. She made it clear she didn’t believe me and thought I was faking.</p>
<p>Well, I’m seeing a neurologist this week because my migraines have gotten significantly worse in the past few months. With my luck i’ll probably have a brain tumor and NYU will not give a rats ass because the administration sucks and they enjoy wasting our time and money.</p>
<p>Thanks skypilot. My chem prof is pretty nice, it’s the dept head who’s a sexist dbag and he controls everything :[</p>
<p>Your profs just want to know that your claim is legitimate. And a lot of medical people are jerks. Just relax and think your situation through.</p>
<p>Okay, so you missed an exam Thursday and one early Friday. The makeups start Monday (when?) so you have to have your note by then. You have to see another doctor by your first exam. Try a walk-in clinic or call around nearby doctors starting at 8am Monday morning hoping for a cancellation. Were you referred to the neuro? Contact that doctor Monday morning and see if they will fax over your situation. Ask that they include a short history and how it disables you. When you bring this to your professors also tell them that your migraines have been much worse these past few months and that you are even seeing a neurologist (whatever day). Then tell them you would be more than willing to scan/e-mail a note from that doctor as well.</p>
<p>Do you have to see a doctor/nurse on campus? That is, could any doctor write you a note? That is, could you look up a random doctor online? That is, could you use his name to write a signature to make a fake doctor’s note?</p>
<p>^ The note obviously has to be legit: on a physician’s stationary. The professor specifically wrote on the syllabus he calls the doctor to confirm if we miss a lab - he will 100% sure check for missing a final exam! The consequences for forging a doctor’s note: F in the class, suspension for 1 semester for forgery, lose my scholarship so I couldn’t afford college, and never be accepted to any grad or med schools. In short, it would be an unbelievably stupid thing to do - please don’t try it! </p>
<p>Ok, I’m going back to the student health center Monday morning (test is at 9:30am!) to talk to a doctor and I’ll calmly explain the whole situation. Hopefully he/she will understand and write me a note so I can redo the exam. The problem is I’ll basically be saying, “Hi, I was sick 5 days ago and missed 2 exams, can you write me a note?” </p>
<p>Probably lots of students fake illness during finals which makes them paranoid. Thanks Yau, if the doc tomorrow doesn’t work out I’m going to try what you said (get the neurologist to help out and fax something).</p>
<p>Well, to be fair to DC, doctors usually have messy handwriting =p. The chem people might not know the difference… but I respect your academic honesty ;).</p>
<p>I would either go to your primary care practitioner or (if it was a migraine that was the problem) your neurologist. Both of them should have a sufficiently good working relationship with you to take you at your word that you were ill even though you are not ill any longer.</p>
<p>Student health services doctors routinely deal with students who are trying to use them to get away with something they’re not entitled to. They often have reputations on campus for being credulous and easily manipulated. So no, they’re not likely to give you a note for an illness they didn’t witness. In the future, if you can’t get in to see one of them, I’d ask whoever was handling triage to suggest somewhere else you can go.</p>
<p>The best thing is to talk to the professors. Asking the nurse for a note seems too late. Maybe bring a friend with you, or your roommate to vouch for you that you were actually sick, and not someone who just wanted to play hooky from finals.</p>
<p>@nontraditional - Yeah but my primary care practitioner is in my hometown…I’m at college and I’m not going home until this Thursday, after finals are over. </p>
<p>@pacificvista: No the policy is they only accept doctor’s notes. Anyone could just get a friend to lie and say they were sick. Plus my 2 roommates have moved out by now.
Hah it’s not even about integrity: the professor calls them to confirm and only accepts it on physician’s stationary with an official stamp on it with date/time of visit.They’re pretty strict about this stuff. Once caught, I would get an F and be suspended too :/</p>
<p>I think my best bet is to go to the health center and talk to another doctor. Like I said, they only accept doctor’s notes as excuses. And to be fair: I checked in and tried to make an appointment on Thurs, I called again on Friday…it’s not like I just showed up Saturday asking for a note. So hopefully the doc will listen to me! :)</p>
<p>No problem. Before I had disability claim (and even now) I’d always run into conflicts like this. You really lucked out that you had the neuro already lined up— gives additional cause to your case that your documented medical issue has been drumming up trouble recently.</p>
<p>I don’t see what the problem is with professors and nurses. Let’s take a look at the aforementioned facts:</p>
<p>-You were sick.
-You signed in at the doctor’s on Thursday, but weren’t given an appointment.
-You have a history of migraines that people at the clinic seem to be aware of.</p>
<p>I think you need to be a tad bit more aggressive. You’re right and they’re wrong. You have rights; take them. Also, to reiterate what Emaheevul07 said, if all else fails, try to salvage an “incomplete”; a WP would do, too.</p>
<p>Hmm… you were able to make it to an exam when confronted with having to use a bad midterm grade, then you KNEW that if you did not have a MD note you would not be excused from exams. Yet you came home and went to sleep and missed the appointment.
I think enough bashing of the health care field has been done here and it is time to take some personal responsibility for your situation.</p>
<p>I haven’t been “bashing the health care field”; what thread have you been reading?</p>
<p>And I didn’t go home and sleep. I had an hour between the appointment and my exam; after the exam I literally fell asleep waiting in the student center. I’ve had 7 exams/papers within the past week and was sick with a fever; I was exhausted. Once again, I apologized several times for missing the appointment.
Since I wasn’t able to see an MD, what was I supposed to do? Forge a note? </p>
<p>The reason I went to the other exam is because I would’ve gotten a D in the class otherwise, and it is a prereq for every class in my major (Calc 3).</p>
<p>Alix, I wouldn’t bother trying to explain yourself. The way this forum works is that sometimes people are going to accept what you say and sometimes they aren’t, and when they aren’t it isn’t worth the stress. </p>
<p>I have missed one exam due to illness and gone to another one in the same day, because one was worth risking literally vomiting in the lecture hall and the other was not-- due to a similar issue of using a midterm versus being able to make up the final. Sometimes these matters are just a little more complicated than sick vs healthy. Generally professors would rather you request a make up than puke on the desk, and my professors generally don’t discriminate between “so sick I am literally incapable of doing the exam” and “sick enough that it is going to seriously affect my ability to perform as well as I could otherwise.” In the latter case, if it’s between doing my best or taking a D in an important class, I’d do my best-- but if the professor would let me take it later I would. I don’t see a problem with that, and neither have my professors in the past when these issues have come up.</p>
<p>“Your profs just want to know that your claim is legitimate. And a lot of medical people are jerks.”
“I don’t see what the problem is with professors and nurses”</p>
<p>I would call the above bashing of health proffessionas. And your answer continues to demostrate that this is everyone else’s problem but your own. You fell asleep and missed the appointment. Your story is also inconsistant. In one place you write you had a migraine, in another you wrote you had a fever. Which was it? See why proffs want legitimate notes from health care professionals. I am a nurse who takes care of students and deal with issues like this all the time.</p>
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