<p>I am now a sophomore student. I am attending Richard Bland College of the college of William and Mary (a junior college/community college). Spanish is my major and I have no idea how this happened. I got an ‘F’ for Spanish 201.
I was taking my final when my professor told me I had 10 minutes left. The college gives everyone 3 hours. I have generalized anxiety disorder and trichotillomania. When she told me I had 10 minutes left, I still had two 1/2 full pages to do. I told the professor how many pages I had left and she said “You had 3 hours. I will give you an additional 5 minutes but it won’t make a difference.” On her syllabus it states:</p>
<p>The final exam will be comprehensive and will be based on chapter exams. SAVE THE CHAPTER EXAMS TO STUDY FOR THE FINAL. (Note*** You must make a passing grade [i.e. 60% or higher!] on the final to pass the course.)</p>
<p>I knew this going into the test. I was nervous the entire time. When she gave me the answer that she did, I began to have a panic attack. My mind went blank and I began to cry. I couldn’t remember anything whatsoever. I finished what I could-scrambling and putting answers everywhere randomly, trying to use context clues to remember words. She told me time was up and I grabbed my things and had the remaining of my panic attack in the restroom. I checked my grade on my transcript and she gave me an ‘F’. I had an 80 and studied enough and knew the material to pass with a high B/low A. I received a “52%” as my final exam grade. I have no idea what to do. I would have had a 3.1-3.3 GPA for this fall but I now have a 2.57 with an ‘F’ on my transcript. I take medication for my disorder and ran out of pills a day before my test and tried calling to get my prescription refilled but had no luck because no one was in the doctor’s office. I don’t know what to do because I studied hard for it and I know I would have done very well on it. Spanish is my major and there is no reason why I went from getting A’s and B’s in Spanish to getting an F. Does anyone have any advice?</p>
<p>Talk to the dean of students to see if they could do anything about it. Usually, before a test, if you are on record for having a disability that would normally grant you extra time, you would contact a professor or the dean of students ahead of time for special accommodations to be made. Several of my professors this year have made that an option, but it is important to note that many of these professors ask for at least a week’s notice in advance. Explain your situation and check if a retake is possible. </p>
<p>I’m sorry that you had this experience. I’m guessing that you’ll be retaking that class next semester?</p>
<p>You may need to find out if you can get special status at your school to allow you more time for tests.</p>
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<p>This jumped out at me. If you’re taking a medication that REALLY needs to be taken EVERYDAY and you have a stressful situation coming up (final exams), WHY would you wait til you’re down to your last pill to call your doctor’s office? You could see what’s in your pill bottle every day! </p>
<p>When you’re down to the last 7 days’ worth of pills, THAT is when you need to contact your doctor’s office for a refill. Even if the pharmacy can’t actually fill the Rx until a certain day because of your insurance, the Rx can still be called in…and then be ready before you run out of pills. </p>
<p>OP: Have you considered taking a semester off? That would give you time to assess where you’re at and where you want to go and how you’ll get there.</p>
<p>@jalfred I can’t take a semester off. I already know what I want to do. I would like to go the MSTP route if possible. I am currently applying for summer research programs at the moment and have been doing research since the spring of my freshman year. I also did SMDEP this past summer which really helped me a lot. If I took a semester off, I wouldn’t know what to do. I wanted to do a gap year before college but my parents wouldn’t let me because I was 17 at the time when I graduated high school. @mom2collegekids I will more than likely be retaking the course next semester, but not with the same professor and not at richard bland. They only offer one professor at richard bland. I live in Richmond and may take it at VCU for my credit. I am really worried because I went from a private school, to community college to finish my associates and help take care of my dad, and I am currently looking for another four year school to finish my bachelors degree. I don’t want to go to VCU because it is too big and I tend to do better at smaller schools (hence the reason why I went to a private school in the first place -900 students). As for the medication, I had no money at the time when I was attempting to get it before finals week. I support myself and quit my job that I was working on the weekends about an hour and a half from the school. I moved back to richmond like I said to help take care of my father. I asked that my paycheck be mailed to me at my current address and apparently the post office sent it back even though the address if valid. I had to ask for some money from my sister but when I was calling the doctors office that week, either the nurse wouldn’t answer or the office was closed. I attempted to call yesterday and yet again no one picked up at the nurse’s station for my physician or nurse practitioner. So I am not sure if they are on a break or if I am inconveniently calling at the wrong time. I also called in the morning and afternoon last week. </p>
<p>I called registrar yesterday (and yet again I began to have a panic attack) and they told me to contact someone about my disorder on campus and to email them. I did that. They also told me to contact the professor and ask for a grade of Incomplete or a retake under the right circumstances (me taking my medication). I emailed her as well. The professors are out on vacation as well so I am not sure if I need to wait until January to hear a reply from my professor. I just hope this gets solved soon because an F in a course I need for my major as well as on my transcript for medical school admissions does not look pretty. It looks like I didn’t care.</p>
<p>It will be the best if you can negotiate with the prof to get the grade changed to an I. a F is not going to bold well with your MSTP application which is very competitive.</p>
<p>I am also in the middle of applying to schools to finish my education after I receive my A.S. degree in the spring and on the list were George Washington University, UNC-Chapel Hill, and the college of William and Mary. I don’t want that grade to ruin my chances of acceptance for any of those. Especially with WM and GWU because they are in my top 3 schools for me to attend. WM mostly because I can commute to school everyday from my grandmothers house (I lived there for 5 years). GWU because I could commute from my aunt’s house (she lives 35 minutes from GW). I am also applying to summer research internships at the moment and will be applying to 15 to increase my chances of acceptance at the programs. I have to send my transcripts to those as well. An update though, I did manage to send the Department Chair an email today and hopefully I will hear back from him soon.</p>