please help-academic probation/withdrawal

Parents Forum
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<p>I'm not sure how many Cornell students still check this forum, but i desperately need help. I'm on academic probation now and because I have a registration hold from last spring due to a past bursar balance, I couldn't register for fall classes and missed the add deadline and withdrawal seem inevitable at this point.</p>

<p>I bombed last semester (3 As, 3Fs) due to severe mental health issues and instability caused by a number of factors, bringing my GPA down from 3.6+ to 2.9 in a hard sciences major. I stopped going to classes during the middle of the semester, and unsuccessfully tried to communicate my health issues with Gannett (so I did try to get help) when I stopped going to classes, but there was no followthrough with CAPS/therapy from the center. </p>

<p>My mental state mainly deteriorated due to financial reasons--I'm an international student that didn't get any aid since coming to Cornell, but have persistently tried adjusting my eligibility status for FA and succeeded this past August, so now I'm a permanent resident. So I filled out the FAFSA for 2012-2013 aid and should be hearing back about my 2012-2013 aid package very soon. </p>

<p>I can't take out private loans because my parents have bad credit, and I have no one else willing to cosign for me--I have no other family in the States, and I'm a first-generation college student with almost no network to draw cosigners from. Paying even tuition here has been a crushing burden--my family lives off of a <$40K annual income, and almost all of that money has gone towards paying for my first two years at Cornell. That is why I have had a past due balance (usually not more than 5-8K) last year and had to work myself out of a registration hold every semester (because I was at least allowed to register during pre-enroll before the hold took effect). I have repeatedly begged the bursar for a semester deferment on my past due balance so I have a little more ime to pay it off, but the office has been unmerciful and of the attitude "don't let the door hit you on your way out." </p>

<p>After getting placed on probation, I have also pleaded with my college registrar for leniency this semester and a chance to redeem my academic performance through late registration. They have been resistant so far, suggesting that there are "other universities out there for me." I was planning on taking only 12 credits this semester (as opposed to my regular load of 20) to do some GPA repair and show the school that I'm serious about getting back on track. My paren't are bled dry and need a little more time to scrounge up the money to pay off the last of my past due, but the registrar is unrelenting. Only a notice from the bursar asking for a extension on late registration would let the registrar reconsider the withdrawal, and even then I would need to petition to add the classes I need for fall (i've been regularly attending and handing in work). I'm meeting with the bursar tomorrow to see if I can get a week extension on repaying my balance and have them write something favorable to the registrar, but I have little hope of this based on the consistently caustic, unmerciful attitude of the bursar reps I've tried to negotiate with.</p>

<p>The kicker though is that even if I am withdrawn/forced to take a leave, I would still have to pay tuition, room and board for fall 2012 without being able to be on campus. I still would fight to stay, but charging for a term that I can't even participate in AND informing me of this four weeks into the semester is ridiculous.</p>

<p>I'm just stunned by the registrar's lack of understanding and willingness to watch me flounder. Even if I do leave Cornell, what other school of a similar caliber would take me with 3 Fs from my most recent term? My family's already put $60,000 towards my education from their saving and most of their income and I will not see it go up in flames because of one bad semester, and being expected to pay for a semester without attending is ridiculous. That's why, for me, the best option is to continue with Fall 2012, ace my classes, and get off of academic probation so I can be a decent student again.</p>

<p>Sorry for the long post--my situation is very complicated and right now I'm between a very large rock and a very hard place, and I need not only any advice you CC'ers can share, but also your support. Yes, I have so little support in this fight that I have to turn to an internet messageboard for reassurance. Cornell is my life and I want to take it back.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading.</p>

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<p>You need to see an undergraduate dean. Registrars and Bursars are necessarily bureaucratic. They have policy guidelines and have no authority to deviate. You need someone with some juice to personally take an interest in your situation. </p>

<p>When I was at MIT, I found the undergraduate deans really helpful on a number of occasions in dealing with bureaucracy. I even got them to authorize a extra small student loan to meet an unanticipated expense.</p>

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<p>What did you do all summer to resolve this situation? You are not going to like what I say next.</p>

<p>There is no one school that is so important that your family should be spending every nickel they have to send you to school. If you were my child I would tell you to find a less expensive school and tell you to go there. It is selfish of you to put this type of burden on your family.</p>

<p>I don’t understand the academic probation bit. Most schools do not put you on probation if your GPA is 2.9.</p>

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<p>I would say to get your life in order, deal with your issues THEN worry about college. Every school has a withdraw policy and it is highly unlikely you will have to pay a semester’s worth of costs if you withdraw now–a small portion, yes, but all, no. From the Cornell website:</p>

<p>Tuition Liability
Fall 2012 Spring 2013
No Charge 8/22-8/28 1/21–1/27
10% charge 8/29-9/4 1/28-2/3
20% charge 9/5-9/18 2/4-2/17
30% charge 9/19-9/25 2/18-2/24
40% charge 9/26-10/2 2/25-3/3
50% charge 10/3-10/9 3/4-3/10
60% charge 10/10-10/16 3/11-3/17
80% charge 10/17-10/26 3/18-3/28
100% charge 10/27 3/29</p>

<p>It looks like if you withdraw by the end of next week you pay 20%.</p>

<p>Also, you seem to be blaming everything on your “mental state”. Please define that? Also, what did you do to correct that problem? It seems to be way too common of an excuse for kids these days and the long term consequences of that are not pleasant. Please get evaluated for issues if they are really there.</p>

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<p>@classic: how do I go about contacting the Dean? We are actually very friendly because I organized several student meetings for her last semester, but I’m not sure how to approach her about this.</p>

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<p>Call her and ask for a meeting–or most likely her secretary.</p>

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<p>Since your family is low income and Cornell “meets need”, why weren’t you given full aid?</p>

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<p>International student mom2collegekids…</p>

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<p>@steve: see my initial post for the main reasons. I also had a close relative die suddenly during the middle of last semester, and was sexually assaulted towards the end of the semester, which I reported. I hope that puts perspective into my “mental state”. I went to the student health center for counseling, but the clinic stopped sessions after my initial visit. So yes I did try to get help and no, I did not receive it adequately.</p>

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<p>What did you do after they stopped your visits? Most campuses have a mental health department, counseling department, etc. that is outside of the student health department. If nothing else, you could have sought outside help at a medical clinic. Did you talk to your adviser or another professor about your difficulties? Again, you are an adult now, it’s time to stop blaming everyone else and step up and help yourself. Sorry to be so blunt but this is how the world works when you are an adult.</p>

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<p>If your family makes under $40K per year then how are they paying for school? Don’t they eat? pay taxes? pay rent? pay car/public transportation costs? insurance?</p>

<p>Do you have a job?</p>

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<p>If you were having mental health issues that affected your academics, you should have stayed under the care of a mental health professional affiliated with Cornell, and also gotten some documentation on record with the school disabilities office, which could have provided accommodations for you. I realize that, at your age, and relatively alone, you might not have know this.</p>

<p>You need to hurry and contact the dean for a meeting, with anyone who can meet with you asap. Time is ticking and the amount you can get refunded will go down soon.</p>

<p>So you need to find out very, very quickly whether Cornell will let you register, despite the financial hold (unlikely, I would think) or whether you need to withdraw in order to maximize your refund for the fall.</p>

<p>If you ever have mental health problems in the middle of a semester - or anyone reading this- deal with it administratively then, not later. You could have done a medical withdrawal mid-semester and your grades would have been wiped clean.</p>

<p>Now you have two obstacles, one having to do with money and one having to do with grades, and possibly a third obstacle in the form of continued mental health issues.</p>

<p>I think you should withdraw- today - and get some counseling, then either try to return or seek another college to finish at. When you transfer, your transcript retains the bad grades but at the new school, your GPA will start fresh.</p>

<p>Adding one thing that is very important: if you are going to withdraw, then e-mail the dean so that they have the date of your withdrawal in writing. Then, if the meeting is delayed, at least your date of withdrawal will be today - although check to make sure of that.</p>

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<p>@Steve: They stopped my visits because Cornell no longer accepted my insurance for anything outside of basic emergency care. Neither do any of the mental health clinics in Ithaca as far as I know (I have CHIP type insurance because I was 18 last spring).</p>

<p>As for what my parents do, my dad’s a deadbeat and my mom works in an family/ethnic bakery/restaurant. We live in a 1-bedroom gov’t housing apt. within walking distance of my mom’s work. we’ve never had a car in the states–not even a used one. I have an on campus job now—I make about $800/month-- because I now qualify for work study, but as an international, could not get one my first two years. and we all pay taxes–I think you’re thinking that we don’t have SSN’s, but we do, so we have an active file within the IRS. As for eating…my mom’s boss is generous and understanding of my college situation and lets her take as much leftover food as she wants. Rent is a non-issue since I live in gov’t housing.</p>

<p>@compmom: thank you for the info. I had no idea that I could get documented with the disabilities office, and am looking into seeing how i could get a mental health professional assigned to me regardless of coverage. Also, I appreciate your concern, but the entire point of my post was how to avoid being withdrawn. I met with the bursar and registrar again earlier today, and was able to get an extension on paying off my past due balance and avoid getting withdrawn for at least a week. I also scheduled a meeting with the dean to see what I can do about petitioning for late registration. I would rather not transfer since a lot of money and time has already gone into staying at Cornell. I wasn’t a bad student either–I made dean’s list every semester except my last in a quantitative major and had done very well in some 3000/4000 level STEM classses. I just got depressed and afraid to the point where I got into a destructive panic.</p>

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<p>cornellhelp92, here is why I think you suddenly had a problem this year with registration:</p>

<p>Faculty at my university were informed that there had been a change in the Federal financial aid regulations this fall, so that students who had unpaid bills remaining from the spring could not use their financial aid from this academic year to pay off the old balance. They had to pay the old balance first. Then they could register and receive the new aid for this year. [In any event, this is what we were informed–I can’t provide a guarantee that it is accurate.]</p>

<p>Work-study is federal financial aid. Since you qualify for it this year (even though you did not in the past), you are being affected by the change in the regulations.</p>

<p>I think you got caught in a simultaneous change of status and change of regulations.</p>

<p>Does Cornell have an Ombudsman to help students? This would be a good person to see (even better than the Dean). If not, is there a faculty member who knows you and would be willing to act as your advocate? A faculty member who has the time and willingness to help, and some knowledge of the university administration, may be able to help you navigate through the proper offices to clear this up.</p>

<p>From your earlier posts, it was not clear whether it was the death of the relative or the sexual assault that caused you to seek counseling. If it was the assault, I think this should not be classified as a “mental health” problem; it is rather a completely natural reaction of a perfectly mentally healthy person to a crime committed against her. There should be some obligation to provide no-cost assistance to victims of crimes of violence.</p>

<p>Re academic probation: Depending on the school, a student could be placed on academic probation for failing more than one course, even if the overall GPA remains ok. On the “good news” side, private schools often have more generous arrangements for retroactively expunging failed courses from the record (especially under these circumstances) than public schools. A faculty member who is willing to act as your advocate could help you with this.</p>

<p>Also, since you have been an international student, I suggest that you explore the help that you might obtain from groups of your same nation of origin. For example, there may be advocacy groups on campus for your nationality. There may be cash reserves available from some kind of cooperative arrangement among people from your original home country.</p>

<p>Good luck with this.</p>

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<p>@Quant: it was the death of the relative. I wanted to continue counseling, but the university clinic was only willing to give me a referral to nyc therapists because my insurance wasn’t accepted (i’d have to pay a lot more extra for full counseling). I did get a few sessions after I reported the assault at the end of the semester, but since it happened during the last week of finals, my case (I went to the judicial administrator) got pushed to this semester. I left a few days after because I couldn’t handle being on campus at the time.</p>

<p>And you’re exactly right about the past due balance–my aid can’t go towards unpaid spring tuition, so I would need to pay that out of pocket even though the rest of my school expenses going forward are being taken care of. Also I emailed the University Ombudsman about setting up a meeting about late registration and personal difficulties last semester. Thankfully, I have a strong advocate among the college faculty who has already reached out to the registrar on my behalf.</p>

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<p>After the assault, it would be conceivable that a person could have PTSD, though it does not sound like that is relevant here, for some reason. A grief that lasts longer than usual and is “complicated” is also a mental health issue. Finally, if a person is depressed or anxious and reacts to events through the filter of those conditions, it could be a mental health issue. Getting evaluated by a professional would be the only way to assess this, and the only way to get it documented.</p>

<p>Did you waive college health insurance? And does your current health insurance have no mental health coverage?</p>

<p>I understand that you do not want to withdraw, but if you cannot register, after all these efforts, then you will lose more money the more time that goes by. So my only point was try to ascertain whether you will be able to register asap, which is obvious and which you seem to be doing.</p>

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<p>I don’t understand about the health insurance part. Cornell would have not waived the health insurance if the OP’s insurance was not comparable to Cornell insurance.</p>

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<p>I googled “Cornell Undergraduate Dean”</p>

<p>[Cornell</a> University - Search Cornell](<a href=“Cornell University | Search Pages”>Cornell University | Search Pages)</p>

<p>Sounds like you need</p>

<p>Kent Hubbell
401 Willard Straight Hall
Phone: 255-1115 Fax: 255-8082
Email: <a href=“mailto:klh4@cornell.edu”>klh4@cornell.edu</a>
<em>Note</em> The number 254-DEAN (254-3326) also connects to this office.</p>

<p>You pick up the phone, and request an appointment for an urgent matter. Insist it be within a day or so because it’s an emergency.</p>

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<p>I agree with this. If Op is low income from NYC, then they were receiving some type of medicaid, family health plus, etc. This would have not been adequate insurance at Cornell and they would have required that the student be enrolled in the school’s plan.</p>