Hey there, I’m currently a second year student at utm who just got a notice I was put on academic suspension for a year! Yikes! I got decent grades in first year, however, second year I hit a rough patch and was diagnosed with depression and anxiety 🙁 this literally happened to me in the middle of midterm season. As a result, my marks dropped (obviously) which resulted in my academic suspension. I was wondering if maybe I should appeal the suspension? I always wanted to go to post grad school as well and I don’t want this stopping me, however I’m scared that this will completely hurt my chances. I do plan on returning and working my ass off, as of now I’m doing a lot better however, I’m still on the road to recovery. Advice?
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Yo.
Posts to refer to that can be found in the aska archives with similar/exactly the same situations:
1) Student is suspended — But there’s a twist! She has ~*~extenuating circumstances~*~!!!
2) But what am I supposed to do on my year off?
3) Second year UTM student on suspension and wants to go to grad school — what now?
Now if you’ve read those, you’ll see that my general stance on appealing suspensions is that ~*~extenuating circumstances~*~ you may have, but the university might not really… well, care. If you have medical documentation, fine, that can’t be fought, but people on suspension start off on probation and probation always comes with a lot of talking and counseling and whatnot.
But my advice:
If you really do have problems with depression/anxiety though, why bother fighting the suspension? It’s a GOOD thing!
This is time to take care of yourself and really consider whether or not you actually WANT to go to university. If you’ve been depressed, well take this spare time to figure out what’s depressing you, look at your life choices, and fix them.
And, to be clear, if you do have anxiety problems that are sparked by school, I don’t think grad school is the best place. I mean that stuff is intense soooo. Sure, you can certainly work your butt off when you come back, but do you really think adding to the typical four years is going to make you feel any better? School just gets harder as it goes by. :/
Grad school is basically every student’s back up dream.
Eeeeveeeeryone says they want it at one point, maybe even apply to it, but they’re tough to get into and to see through. The marks that got you on probation and then suspension will, naturally, hurt your GPA which will in turn hurt your application, but just be sure that it’s what you reaaaaally want before working towards it. I mean there are so many other options out there that are a) less expensive, b) more accessible, and c) more likely to contribute to you getting a job. For example, have you ever considered a post-graduate certificate? So much more worth it and probably less anxiety-inducing! 🙂
Anyhow, enjoy the year off! Pull an Eat, Pray, Love and go eat a crap load of pizza or something. Or maybe some Julie and Julia-ing can be done. Or maybe just get a job! Just focus on yourself for now and getting out of depression.
Cheers!
aska