Failing a class.. what do I do?

[Ianthe]

I am so far behind in one of my online classes (about 7 chapters), I cannot seam to find time for it- I need at least one hour, undisturbed time, which I don't get with a toddler, working PT, plus night school. I am thinking about dropping the class.. For those of you more experienced student mamas, how do I do this? I get 100% Financial aid, and was told this will affect my future F.A. I would be willing to pay the couple hundred dollars to pay-back the cost of the class.

What are my options? What would you do?

Thanks

[Shiloh]

what about deferred standing?
that way you can have a longer time to complete it or do it again next year its an online course they might be more flexible - start making some phone calls now mama.

If not your aid relies on a full course load right?
Fail the course then petition to have it removed based on circumstances after the fail is in....good luck!

have you talked to your prof?

[lolar2]

Talk to the professor before you do anything else. If you can't work something out with the professor, bump the thread and we'll give more advice.

[rightkindofme]

Talk to the professor about an incomplete. It can help quite a bit.

[Carita]

In my Univ - an incomplete is only given when there is one or two big things that are missed - not 7 chapters. Prof usually can't do all that much unless you give them somethign to work with. Do you have DC? I would find someone to watch your child during 1hr/week. It may seem $$, but it will be cheaper than retaking the course. Are you a FT student? If you drop the course, you not only have to pay back the cost of the class, but probably 1/2 of your total aid - I would make sure you know the impact before you go that route - talk to your Fin Aid Officer.

[Ianthe]

Thanks

I will email the teacher, and see what she says, then talk to FA advisor.

I am taking 11 credit hours, which is one credit hr less than full time.

If I do just fail the class, and retake it, the new grade would override the F, right? I've never failed a class before, I have a 3.75 GPA! ACK!

[lolar2]

Originally Posted by LizzyQ

If I do just fail the class, and retake it, the new grade would override the F, right? I've never failed a class before, I have a 3.75 GPA! ACK!

That depends on the school policies. Every school is different, so you will have to ask.

It sounds as though you don't have enough child care for studying, so now you know that next semester, you will need to allow for additional child care.

[ShwarmaQueen]

It's so tough being a mommy and student.

[FtMPapa]

Lizzie - definitely e-mail your professor.

I've been on the other side of this, and if a mama e-mailed me and explained that she is pregnant, struggling to balance care for a toddler and several other courses, I would figure out how to make some allowances.

I might also explain that you know you could drop the course, but that it has serious financial repercussions.

My advice: don't be whiney, and don't act entitled. Something like "I really want to succeed, and I'm trying to put the following in place so that I can catch up..."

If child care is what you need, please get some! Good luck!

[Realrellim]

Talk to the FA officer right away too so you know your options. If you're already behind, you'll need even more time than usual to catch up because you'll be doing the old and new work.

Add me to the list of people recommending that you get childcare. A prof might be more understanding if s/he knew you are taking active steps to catch up (i.e., I realized I don't have enough time to work so now a person is watching my toddler for X amount of hours a week that I am devoting to completing work for this course). I do know that at my school, department policies prevent me from giving students an incomplete unless they have completed at least 75% of the coursework. Nearly all of my students work PT or FT, take a full load of classes, and have families (many with babies or toddlers), so those issues alone wouldn't be enough to qualify for an incomplete anyhow. With a different population, the situation would be different, of course.

[Rosehip]

Originally Posted by LizzyQ

If I do just fail the class, and retake it, the new grade would override the F, right? I've never failed a class before, I have a 3.75 GPA! ACK!

Not necessarily. Every college I know of counts both grades in your GPA. You will likely only get the credits from the passing class, but the F will pull your GPA down.

Talk to the professor first. Good luck.

[Elismum]

I'd talk to the prof first and then see if what info you can find on policies at your school. When I was in school, I could petition to drop one class after the drop date (and for me it was long after the date, right up to when I realized I was failing) with good reason and no repurcussions. I don't know if you school would do that but they might have something along those lines.

[lolar2]

Originally Posted by LizzyQ

Thanks

I will email the teacher, and see what she says, then talk to FA advisor.

I am taking 11 credit hours, which is one credit hr less than full time.

If I do just fail the class, and retake it, the new grade would override the F, right? I've never failed a class before, I have a 3.75 GPA! ACK!

Originally Posted by ToastyToes

Not necessarily. Every college I know of counts both grades in your GPA. You will likely only get the credits from the passing class, but the F will pull your GPA down.

Talk to the professor first. Good luck.

I do know of at least one school with an override policy, and another where it's negotiable, so it is worth checking out at least.

[mamaofprincesses]

Hey LizzieQ, I'm in SLC too. If you need someone to watch the kiddo a couple hours a week, maybe we could work out a trade. PM me if you need to.

[LynnS6]

IMO, it's better to drop than to get an F. I always worry when I see an F on a transcript.

As a professor, I'd probably listen, be sympathetic and then tell you to drop the course. 7 chapters behind is a LOT and I don't see it reasonably being made up soon. For a student who falls behind a little bit, I'm willing to be more flexible. But unless you can tell me that something has changed that will make your life different so you can catch up, I'm not thinking that the incomplete will get finished either. At my institution, incompletes become an F after a year.

[Ianthe]

OK, I emailed the prof. she seams to think I can make up the last 7 quizzes by March 10th. So, I'm going to try my hardest to do it. 2 today, 2 tomorrow, 2 Sunday, and 1 on Monday.- that's the plan.

I've arranged for DH to take DS out of the house today, tomorrow and Sunday, and hopefully he won't get called into work too much.

[Sativarain1]

goodluck! I know how hard it is devoting time to caring for our children and online classes. I'm taking all online classes this semester and completely overwelmed!
Hope you get this worked out