<p>My suggestion:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>She should delay signing the form so that it doesn’t show up on the transcripts that are sent out with her applications.</p></li>
<li><p>She should also initiate whatever procedure is appropriate for review of the grade.</p></li>
<li><p>She should repeat the failed class at her home university, ASAP.</p></li>
<li><p>If she gets an interview, she should disclose the situation to the interviewer, in the following manner:</p></li>
</ol>
<p>She should explain that she studied abroad for the semester and that her grades have come but have not yet been posted to her home college transcript for administrative reasons. (My d.'s study abroad grades took a couple of months to post, even though she signed all the forms ASAP at the beginning of the semester, so delay in posting is not unusual). </p>
<p>Then the d. should say that she found study abroad an interesting experience and that she did very well in some classes, not as well as others – and that there is one class that she failed where her final grade does not seem in line with her average going into the final – so she has initiated a request for review to determine whether there was a mistake made in calculation. She should explain that she is retaking the course at the home u. in any case, since it is important for her to master the material and the poor grade in Sydney is an indication that she has not, whatever the reason for the grade – and, given the distance, she has no opportunity to discuss the situation with the prof. to gain a better understanding of where her weaknesses might be. </p>
<p>The reason I suggest this approach (hold back the transcript but disclose on interview) is that she will be disclosing in the appropriate situation where she will also have an opportunity to explain-- so she is not being dishonest. She is just ensuring that for the time being that the F isn’t the factor that prevents her getting an interview. </p>
<p>I don’t think she should make excuses when she discloses other than noting factual difference in course structure or grading system that may have come into play while she was abroad. But she should describe those differences in a positive way, as a valuable lesson. (Example: “We had to do calculations by hand during the exam, while we would always have calculators to use here! That might have been the reason I didn’t do as well – I’ll bet that with the pressure of the exam I probably made some mistakes on the math. But that made me realize how dependent we American students are on our calculators and computers! I’m going to pay more attention in the future to my math skills – it was a tough lesson, but I think that’s one reason study abroad is so valuable.”) In other words… she’s got to turn her lemon into lemonade.</p>