hey guys,

Well last year was horrible for me. My stepdad got into an accident and seeing as how he was our only means of income, my mom had to find a job and I was left to take care of my 3 year old sister and autistic brother and do all the household duties. My Stepdad couldn't do anything and was forced to be in bed the whole day for a few months really. Due to this, I really had no time with school work and balancing school/personal life was far too difficult for me. I went from a GPA of 9 to 3 in a matter of months due to this and now i'm on academic probation.

Is it possible at all to get my marks removed from my transcript? I really want a second chance at school.

Originally Posted by Skip

hey guys,

Well last year was horrible for me. My stepdad got into an accident and seeing as how he was our only means of income, my mom had to find a job and I was left to take care of my 3 year old sister and autistic brother and do all the household duties. My Stepdad couldn't do anything and was forced to be in bed the whole day for a few months really. Due to this, I really had no time with school work and balancing school/personal life was far too difficult for me. I went from a GPA of 9 to 3 in a matter of months due to this and now i'm on academic probation.

Is it possible at all to get my marks removed from my transcript? I really want a second chance at school.

I don't think you can just remove a mark from your transcript.

I think this is the type of thing you're supposed to discuss with the school when it's actually happening.

I hope I'm wrong though! I know someoen else will be able to give you a better answer.

You really should contact someone at the school about this. I doubt many people here will be able to give you a really good answer to something like this. You'd really have to discuss it w/ the right people.

Perhaps someone here can point you in the direction of the office you'd need to visit to discuss your last academic year.

visit your faculty's student advisor

show him/her proof of everything and maybe they'll be of some help

Once a grade is on your transcript it is considered permanent, unfortunately.

However, if you're applying to a post-grad, they usually allow a section where you explain why some of your marks are so different than the rest.

I would suggest your first step is to talk to an academic advisor. They are really easy to get appointments with and they are very knowledgeable. They will lead you in the right direction. It is possible to get these marks removed through petitioning.
BUT don't get your hopes up. I have a friend who was incredibly sick for an entire year, did very poorly in all her classes and almost failed, but she had ALL the medical documentation in the world - and she wasn't able to get the marks removed.

It doesn't hurt to try. Start with an academic advisor and go from there.

Unfortunately, since a transcript is meant as a complete record of your entire academic history at McMaster, removal of any grade, even upon re-taking the course, is impossible. (It will still show both course grades)

As for your GPA Calculation, that's another story of course...


But don't despair, your means of evaluation varies from school to school: many academic institutions only consider your 4th year grades, or your 3rd and 4th year grades...or your top 60 course units...or various other ways.

Not to mention, if you sort of 'crash land' at Mac and do what is, in your opinion, rather poorly, but then your grades skyrocket then you'll come off as a very dedicated student. (:

Just continue to work as hard as you can, your hard work will still pay off in some form or another. (:

Acccccctualllllly... there is a way.

You can retroactively remove yourself from courses. Basically it is the last and most drastic of measures you can use in order to rectify past problems. Basically it involves a plethora of doctor's notes, and a lot of good finagling.

The unfortunate thing is... you probably should have started the appeals process in June once you got your marks...

I've had a friend do it one year, but this was after she was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder that really affected her marks. She was taken out, but did not get any refund on the courses etc, so it was quite an expensive write-off year.

Go talk to CSD first, then academic counsellors, doctors, and pray.

Talk to an Advisor. You should re-instated yourself. Your reason seems valid enough to get it.

Good Luck!