<p>Sigh
Does this vary with schools?
I had received an incomplete in an English class, because I couldn't get together to finish the final paper. ( I also did not receive accommodations at that time & didn't realize that the lack of relevant instruction in my previous class, likely contributed to my incomplete- I just could not write in text citations or footnotes)</p>
<p>Anyway- I am counseling a student who is having great difficulty this qtr in college ( depression etc), they want to only finish up one class ( math) but drop two others, their Dr concurs, but they are worried about financial aid.
I have limited experience in this area, I suggested that they nail down what it would take to receive an incomplete & how long they would have to finish - but all this seems to need to be decided in a couple days.</p>
<p>They are only receiving subsidized Stafford loans for aid- so I suggested to them that finaid shouldn't be their main concern, but how to complete as many credits as they can.</p>
<p>Anyone else have suggestions?
They want to continue next qtr, but I am not sure what other structures are in place so this won't happen again.</p>
<p>The odds are pretty good that officially the student would have one year to finish the incomplete, but if the professor isn’t going to be around the whole time in practice the time limit may be sooner.</p>
<p>If the disability services office is willing to treat this as a disability-related accommodation, and if she can produce the documentation to satisfy them, they should be able to remove all of the sanctions for dropping below full-time status <em>except</em> the ones relating to federal financial aid. </p>
<p>So if I were you or this student, I would (a) talk to the disability services office about getting a medical withdrawal from those 2 classes and getting a reduced course load approved as a one-time accommodation for this semester alone (and then, if they seemed open, get the doctor to produce documentation), (b) talk to the financial aid office about what exactly is going to happen when the student drops those courses, (c) look up the exact rules governing an Incomplete in the student handbook, and (d) talk to the specific professor with whom the student wants to take the incomplete. Probably in that order.</p>
<p>One of my S’s had to take a W on his CC transcript (while in HS) because he had to withdraw from typing because he broke his arm and wrist. I know this is no where near the level of concern the OP asking about, but I am curious to know what the “legalities” of a Dr. note in college are. Do colleges actually offer some relief (I would hope so in the case of a depressed student) and not note it on the transcript?</p>
<p>The school’s policy on incomplete’s should be on their website or in their handbook. At my son’s school, I think that you have until the middle of the next semester to make up work for an incomplete. I’m not sure what the policy is for medical incompletes.</p>
<p>Every place I have been a student or an adjunct, the policy is that you have to have a passing grade when you ask for the incomplete. There were no particular restrictions on the reason for the incomplete. </p>
<p>I, myself, had 2 in my college career. When I was a senior, one of my friends was killed in a car crash at Thanksgiving break, and I took an incomplete in one of the courses I was in (all that was left was the final) and I finished the course in January, without repeating it. In another (graduate) course, years later, I just did miserably, and took an incomplete at the very end, after which I had to completely repeat the course the following fall (ETA: with a different professor thank god). We had 1 year to get it done.</p>
<p>I have only had to give one student an incomplete, which his parents requested after he was hit with a tragic illness. I do not know if the student was ever able to complete the requirements, as the next step in their process did not involve me, but I don’t think it likely :(.</p>
<p>I received an I, as did my S; we both completed these and got our grades. Our D has received a few "I"s as well. Hers were all health-related and she did work with her instructors to make up the work and get grades. She did not receive any FAid, so I’m sorry I don’t have that info. I would also suggest working with the Disabilities Office & FAid to figure out how to deal with all of this.</p>
<p>Profs/instructors can vary as to how long they allow and what conditions they place for make-ups. It’s important to follow up and be SURE your I is replaced with a grade. It is up to the student’s initiative.</p>
<p>I had an incomplete for one class last semester. Had an immense personal crisis during the last two weeks of the semester when I had almost ten papers due and exams, my advisor got the dean involved, and the dean asked that my professors take the matter into consideration, and one professor offered the incomplete. He requested that I have my work completed by the time the next term started, I had an extra two or three weeks. The professors had complete discretion in my situation, and most of my professors were not willing to do anything at all. I was passing all of my classes when this all occurred.</p>
<p>In the end, my grade in that class is noted as “BI.” I got a B in the course but the I stayed. In the grand scheme of things, that wasn’t that big of a deal. Had I not had that bit of charity from my professor I probably would have ended up in a hospital. It was an I or fail and have a nervous breakdown. For that semester, that was my best work and I don’t think I have anything to be ashamed of. Will have to think of an appropriate way to explain it to employers, I suppose, but I think I made the choice I had to make at the time. The issue of financial aid didn’t come up then as it was only the one course, but under the circumstances it would have been necessary to take the hit.</p>
<p>My transcript, S’s and D’s do NOT reflect any I once the incomplete has been made up and replaced by a grade. I had mono and they would not release me from the Health Center to take my final. I made up the I in the 1st month after returning from Christmas break. Don’t know why S got his one and only I. D had some severe chronic health issues that flared and caused her to be unable to complete all her work. </p>
<p>It sounds like it varies among Us/schools as to how they handle I’s and the subsequent grade.</p>
I would find it unlikely that anyone would ask, but in the event that they did I would just say something like “I had some personal matters to deal with and needed to take a little extra time to get everything done that semester.” It seems like a fairly minor thing in the big scheme of things. (Not suggesting that your problems were minor, but the fact that you overcame them responsibly and quickly resulted in only a tiny bump in your record (the “BI” on your transcript)).</p>