A few months before my state governor ordered a shelter in place for Covid I got extremely sick out of nowhere and bombed the entire quarter because my health was at its worst. I had to leave during week 6 and I spent about 3 weeks sick and because of the severity it triggered some other health issues and I needed about more 3 weeks of recovery/getting my strength back and the ability to complete daily tasks without a caregiver. That being said I was extremely uncomfortable (during and after being sick) and class was the last thing on my mind. Unfortunately because of my poor attendance, I lost all credit and I was so disconnected from the material/had so many missing assignments that by the time I started feeling slightly (semi alert/coherent) I had three days before finals/end of the quarter.
I basically needed to take an “emergency leave of absence” and I wasn’t in the physical and mental condition to alert academic advising about my situation and my primary goal was going to appts in an attempt to figure out why I got SOO sick in the first place. If the pandemic never happened I would’ve probably taken an official leave of absence but because my classes are online now (an there’s not a lot of physical demand/I can work from home) I decided to do go through with this quarter and I’m doing SIGNIFICANTLY better//I think that will get me out of academic probation with my school.
I was supposed to graduate next month but now I have to do another quarter and I accepted that (although I was extremely sad about it).
When it comes to grad school, do I still have a chance even though this is a HUGE blemish on my transcript
DISCLAIMER: I don’t know if it was Covid -19 or not because they weren’t even conducting tests when I got sick. I had heard of Covid - 19 and did my research months in advance but during that time the United States had very few reported cases. All I know was: I was a healthy 21-year-old one week and then EXTREMELY sick (to the point where the symptoms were getting life-threatening) the next week.
After I got better, I alerted my colleges health center that I could’ve had it but becaause I moved back home with family I was not on sick on campus, basically unintentional social distancing. My school has zero reported cases right now.
I feel sleazy for making excuses but It was basically beyond my control, I was basically in and out of consciousness… What can I say to grad schools?
I’m currently enrolled for spring quarter since the courses are online now (lower physical demand) and I’m doing better academically. I have plans on hopefully doing next fall because my school claims theyre doing 50/50 distance learning and in class instruction unless our governor extends the stay at home order through summer and into fall 2020. I’m also 90% recovered and with summer coming (more time off) I’m predicting that I’ll be ok to do classes in the fall.
My main question: how should I address my failed quarter? It was out of my control and I genuinely thought I was being dramatic but with a global pandemic happening, how crazy/intense my symptoms were I’m thinking my livelihood actually in danger and I wouldve died if I didn’t drop what I was doing and immediately go into hospital care.
Keep in mind: I was never diagnosed with Covid. My doctor told me I had food poisoning on top of having the flu and that’s why I was unable to hold down food and fluids. He also said my anemia was slowing down my recovery. He also said my difficulty breathing/difficulty breathing at night was most likely some kind of allergic reaction to detergent/perfume mixed with sleep apnea and that I probably had undiagnosed asthma
You need to contact your university to obtain a medical withdrawal for the quarter you failed and you should do it right away. Your parents can help you. I would not be thinking about graduate school at this point.
This comment was anxiety inducing. When you say I shouldnt be thinking about graduate school do you mean right now or at all?
Based on the unique way my school is set up I have the ability to write a self evaluation that could be posted directly to my official transcript meaning I can “explain” what happened and it’ll be available to the person reviewing my application… This will give my school away but it’s a liberal arts college where they do written evals instead of GPA/Letter grades. That being said my transcript consists ONLY the credits I received and a written evaluation of my work from the professor.
Basically I have no GPA to report and my transcript will basically say “No credit received” for winter and it’ll have no written eval from my professors. That being said because I don’t have a GPA, my transcript won’t show that I dropped below a “2.0” and the academic probation I was in was actually based on their schools standards and not financial aid. Basically it doesn’t count against me like it would if attended another university.
I’m also interested in graduate programs that require portfolios and doesn’t require any placement tests.
I gues my question is: I’m not saying graduate schools should lower their standards but do you think there will be some kind of flexibility for those possibly impacted by Covid/severe health issues around the time we had this pandemic?
This comment was anxiety inducing and now I’m pretty freaked out. When you say I shouldnt be thinking about graduate school do you mean right now or at all?
Based on the unique way my school is set up I have the ability to write a self evaluation that could be posted directly to my official transcript meaning I can “explain” what happened and it’ll be available to the person reviewing my application… This will give my school away but it’s a liberal arts college where they do written evals instead of GPA/Letter grades. That being said my transcript consists ONLY the credits I received and a written evaluation of my work from the professor.
Basically I have no GPA to report and my transcript will basically say “No credit received” for winter and it’ll have no written eval from my professors. That being said because I don’t have a GPA, my transcript won’t show that I dropped below a “2.0” and the academic probation I was in was actually based on my
schools standards and not financial aid. Basically it doesn’t count against me like it would if attended another university.
I’m also interested in graduate programs that require portfolios and doesn’t require any placement tests.
I guess my question is: I’m not saying graduate schools should lower their standards but do you think there will be some kind of flexibility for those possibly impacted by Covid/severe health issues around the time we had this pandemic?
I really want grad school and this situation sucks because it was beyond my control and extremely unexpected. I’m doing great this quarter and I plan to do well this fall but my transcript would show a very obvious inconsistency where I’m doing solid work all throughout my undergrad but nothing for this particular quarter.
Go to your school’s website and search for ‘medical withdrawal.’ Or email your advisor and/or the registrar to ask about it. A medical withdrawal, if granted, shows as a withdrawal, not a failed semester.
When people say not to think about grad school I think they mean not to add any additional stress to your life right now. Focus on getting better and finishing your undergrad courses first. Have you applied to any grad schools yet? Your college advisors should be able to offer help and advice.
OK, this is different and it helps explain why you didn’t feel the need to contact the school about why you were not able to do the work last quarter. But you should still investigate the medical withdrawal possibility and any note you add to your transcript explaining the recent quarter should be succinct.
I have a story that may comfort you: I got sick one semester in college and failed almost all of my classes because I wasn’t able to attend consistently, and when I was, I was so far behind - just like you. I went on to get into an excellent PhD program, completed it and am now working in my field. So yes, it is possible to get into graduate school after something like this.
There are two courses of action you need to take: one now, and one later, when you are applying to graduate school.
RIGHT NOW, what you need to do is talk to your college’s administration. If you have an academic advisor or advising dean, talk to them; if you don’t, then contact someone in the college’s academic affairs office. Explain what happened and say that you’re seeking a medical withdrawal or leave of absence to apply to last semester. I had to do this the semester I got sick and I got some of my Fs changed retroactively to medical Ws.
I believe that’s what CheddarcheeseMN meant when they said don’t worry about graduate school right now - that’s the least of your worries at the moment. First, you should get your grades adjusted and concentrate on getting better and doing well in your classes.
Then, when you apply to graduate school (don’t worry about this right now), you’ll usually have two supporting pieces of documentation:
-A statement written by you about what happened that semester. Most graduate school applications have a special space for you to write a statement about extenuating circumstances. You can work with your advisor on crafting a statement that hits the right notes.
-It is very helpful if one of your recommenders knows about the situation and can write about it supporting you. My advisor knew about my illness and wrote about it in her recommendation, saying that she knew the circumstances and that my grades that semester were not an accurate reflection of my potential. This is another good reason to talk to your advisor about this and get their help and support in catching up and doing better.