Transfer for Fall 2014 from UH

dysarray
Sun, 31 Mar 2013 22:55:53 +0000

I am a junior at the University of Houston, with about 50 hours left to complete for my bachelor’s of science in electrical engineering.

Unfortunately, I have major health problems. I have been forced to take medical withdrawal 3 times during my undergraduate career. This semester, I will be taking medical withdrawal again, for the fourth time, due to complications of a rare autoimmune disease I have.

I ended up in sepsis over spring break from the treatments I received. I am also receiving ongoing treatment. In addition to this, I am having surgery to place a medical device very soon during this semester.

There was nothing I could do to prevent the situation during my undergraduate career. There is only one lab in the US that tests for the disease I have and there are only case reports of it. I am trying my best.

The disease I have is not degenerative, and at some point my health will improve. Because the autoimmune disease does not damage my body, the issue is more of clearing the antibodies out of my body. My neurologist says there is always another treatment available.

I am facing an “enrollment cap” at the University of Houston (and at any public secondary institution in the state of Texas) due to attempting too many hours that do not count towards my degree. I am literally one credit hour away from having to pay out-of-state tuition for the rest of my undergraduate career. This was incurred entirely due to medical withdrawals, and it is not exempt from the laws in the state education code. The only person who can make an exception to this rule is the provost at the University of Houston.

The engineering college at the University of Houston is not very accommodating, even if you have an extreme circumstance. I asked for incompletes one semester because I was in the hospital-admitted for 4 days-during finals week. The dean took no responsibility and left it up to my professors to assign me incompletes-if they wanted to. Basically I was forced to take medical withdrawal because ONE of my professors gave me an F instead. He refused to give me an incomplete because the “final exam was worth 50% of my grade”.

Also, I will be on engineering probation-and I also have been in the past-due to medical withdrawal (had nothing to do with my engineering GPA). Because I will be taking medical withdrawal after the drop date, I will receive F’s in my engineering courses, even though the grades will (and have been changed in the past) to W’s. The policy is (posted on UH’s engineering website), once you receive the email at the end of the semester saying you are on engineering probation, you’re on it no matter what.

Anyways, I am just sick of my school. I have been screwed over so many times by them.

Rice is my only other local option. I have to stay in Houston because my doctors are there and I need continuous treatment.

Is there anything hope of being able to transfer to Rice, in to the engineering school, with a major of electrical engineering?

GPA: 3.3 (University of Houston)

-Academic Excellence Scholarship-Awarded by UH for notable academic progress
-Golden Key Honor Society-Top 15% rank in UH’s class (determined by GPA)
-Shell Drilling and Production Camp Attendee
-Active Society of Women Engineers Member
-(Offered 6 month internship with Intel in California, but had to decline due to health reasons in January 2012)

***I plan on retaking the ACT (or maybe the SAT) before I submit the score to Rice.

***I was admitted to Texas A&M this summer as a transient student to take electrical engineering classes. The admissions counselor in the electrical engineering department said my academic record was strong. Due to my health, I will be unable to take summer courses there.