Hey guys,

I just started third year, and due to a quick impulsive turn of events, I might need to take some time off.

Either this full term at the least, and possibly the next as well.

Thing is, the final date to drop courses was this past friday. Also, I haven't payed the school yet. I am on OSAP agreement and my payment due date is Sept 31.

1) What should my plan of action be to drop my courses and take some time off school? Who do I notify?

Are there any severe financial penalties/academic penalties? Can I take the full/close to full tuition fees off until I am back in school?

How does the OSAP work in this case? Obviously I'd have to notify them, so I won't get funds for my courses in January but they've already given me funds for the courses right now.

Much appreciated!

So, you can still drop the courses but you will incur a financial penalty. I believe you will only get back 80% of your tuition (I'm not sure how supplementary fees work in this case).

You can talk to an academic advisor; sometimes if there are extenuating circumstances and you just barely missed the deadline, they'll waive the financial penalty. It's not something you should count on, but it is a possibility.

As for OSAP, you should talk to SFAS. You may have to repay the money they've already given you, but you should be more concerned about interest and paying back OSAP, assuming you have received it in past years. I know there's a year grace period, but you should make sure that if you do end up taking the full year off, you won't get charged interest or have to start making payments.

Should I be looking at making a 'withdrawal'?

I understand this is a very different scenario. Most students go through some course drops or cancelations at some point, but few pause their studies.

Talk to your academic advisor asap

Hi forcajovem,

Thanks for turning to the MacInsiders community for help.

First thing is not to panic. Stuff happens that is out of your control and though I don't know your specific situation, it sounds like you can make a case for it being special circumstances.

The biggest thing, as starfish pointed out, is OSAP. You will need to notify them so that you don't get docked interest and can pay back anything they've given to you for this year of school. Last thing you want is having interest on money you didn't need.

Before talking to them though, you should first speak with an Academic Advisor in your faculty. They will have dealt with cases similar to yours and know the best course of action to minimize any more stress for you.

So first thing is tomorrow morning go to your faculty office right when they open usually around 9 and let the receptionist know that you have an urgent academic matter that is time sensitive and you need to speak with an advisor as soon as possible. They will then book you in for a meeting, or potentially let you speak with someone right away if they are not seeing anyone.

Explain your situation to the advisor in detail. Letting them know that you received the OSAP payment but haven't yet paid the school. He/She will let you know of any possibilities of getting a full tuition payment refund. Most likely you will be able to get back a large portion but not all, so ask what you need to do to pay off just the penalty amount.

With this info now you'll know how much you owe Mac to drop the courses, and how much OSAP you will need to use to pay that, and how much you can return back to them. Then have the advisor refer you to SFAS so they can help you process that.

Talking with the advisor you will hopefully also get some clarity towards how many courses/semesters to drop. Withdrawing from your program entirely is probably not necessary, you may have options to catch up with the missed courses such as summer classes or taking extra courseload in 2nd semester.

But in the meantime for tonight, just try to focus on you, your health, and get a good night rest. Try not to overthink things. Everything will be taken care of with the advisor tomorrow and all your questions answered.

All the best! Keep us posted on your situation.