{"id":29537,"date":"2026-06-30T14:35:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T18:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/askastudent.utoronto.ca\/?p=29537"},"modified":"2026-06-30T14:35:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T18:35:59","slug":"knocking-it-out-of-the-ballpark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/askastudent.utoronto.ca\/?p=29537","title":{"rendered":"knocking it out of the ballpark"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Aska! Hope your summer is going well, and you are not terribly overwhelmed by a bunch of students asking you stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am a student at the UTSG campus, Faculty of Arts and Science.\u00a0<\/span>To give you some context, I started university as a physics specialist, did terribly, had\u00a0basically zero\u00a0support systems, and put all my time towards school. The transition was rough, I got put on probation, thought I could stubborn my way through it, could not, realized halfway through second semester that I, in fact, hated my degree program, switched to different classes, and a completely different program.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My first semester of second year, I failed two classes, and got\u00a0D’s\u00a0in the other three, but second semester got two Bs, an A and a D in my new program (i\u00a0know that last one is a rough point). I submitted a petition explaining my circumstances, as I did improve just a bit too late, attached\u00a0I had two ta support letters, a profs, and proof that I have enrolled this summer in an academic support program and that in winter I attended counseling. I completely rebuilt my support\u00a0program, and\u00a0mentioned this in my petition. I also attached a new academic plan I made with my advisor, planning\u00a0on taking\u00a0an extra year regardless of outcomes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I think I did a decent job of explaining my circumstances, why I believe I improved and am improving, that I think taking time off would be no helpful for me at this time, and have as much proof as I think I can gather to back up my story, but my main worry is that I do not have any extenuating and\/or special circumstances, no recent deaths in the family, no sickness other\u00a0then\u00a0a cold\u00a0ect.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do I have any hope of getting my suspension lifted? Or am I\u00a0pretty much\u00a0screwed?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

heyyo,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

i just want to say right off the bat that you\u2019ve done a lot of great stuff already and i think you should be proud.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

unfortunately i am but an undergrad and i have zero secret knowledge about how suspension petition works. i do, however, have internet access, and<\/span>\u00a0i found this website which taught me the basics<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

so seems like you\u2019re either doing a petition for early return from suspension or a lift of suspension. both of those seem pretttty similar but with one caveat: if you\u2019re petitioning for an early return from suspension, the website does say that it\u2019s uncommon to do so before the one-year mark of your suspension. based on the clues you\u2019ve given me though, i’m guessing it\u2019s been about a year for you, so in that case you should be ok. but it is something to keep in mind.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

anyways, i do see where you\u2019re coming from, as that page does talk quite a bit about how you should explain any extenuating circumstances that led to your suspension, and you don\u2019t have any \u201cobvious\u201d things that could fall under that category. however, while it may not be as glaring as struggling financially or a diagnosed mental health problem, you do mention that you were completely lacking a support system when you first came to uoft. the fact that you were in that situation and have now put in the work to build some supports for yourself is notable and i do hope you wrote a bit about that in your petition.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

i also wanna point out that while, yes, extenuating circumstances do seem to be important, it also appears that it is just as (if not more) important that your application shows what you\u2019ve done to make sure that you succeed after your return. and i really do think you\u2019ve knocked it out of the ballpark on that one.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(ps: what is it with me and baseball sayings in this post? I HAVE been keeping up with the jays a lot lately…)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

so overall, while i obviously can\u2019t say anything for certain, i do not think that you\u2019re screwed. i really do find the amount of work and thought you\u2019ve put into the petition impressive and i hope the people reviewing it will think so too. if you ever have more questions about it though, i’d recommend that you<\/span>\u00a0get in touch with your college registrar\u2019s office<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

i’m crossing my fingers for you!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

cheers,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

aska<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Aska! Hope your summer is going well, and you are not terribly overwhelmed by a bunch of students asking you stuff. I am a student at the UTSG campus, Faculty of Arts and Science.\u00a0To give you some context, I started university as a physics specialist, did terribly, had\u00a0basically zero\u00a0support systems, and put all my time towards school. The transition was rough, I got put on probation, thought I could stubborn my way through it, could not, realized halfway through second semester that I, in fact, hated my degree program, switched to different classes, and a completely different program.\u00a0 My first semester of second year, I failed two classes, and got\u00a0D’s\u00a0in the other three, but second semester got two Bs, an A and a D in my new program (i\u00a0know that last one is a rough point). I submitted a petition explaining my circumstances, as I did improve just a bit too late, attached\u00a0I had two ta support letters, a profs, and proof that I have enrolled this summer in an academic support program and that in winter I attended counseling. I completely rebuilt my support\u00a0program, and\u00a0mentioned this in my petition. I also attached a new academic plan I made with my advisor, planning\u00a0on taking\u00a0an extra year regardless of outcomes.\u00a0 I think I did a decent job of explaining my circumstances, why I believe I improved and am improving, that I think taking time off would be no helpful for me at this time, and have as much proof as I think I can gather to back up my story, but my main worry is that I do not have any extenuating and\/or special circumstances, no recent deaths in the family, no sickness other\u00a0then\u00a0a cold\u00a0ect.\u00a0\u00a0 Do I have any hope of getting my suspension lifted? Or am I\u00a0pretty much\u00a0screwed?\u00a0 Thanks!\u00a0 heyyo,\u00a0 i just want to say right off the bat that you\u2019ve done a lot of great stuff already and i think you should be proud.\u00a0 unfortunately i am but an undergrad and i have zero secret knowledge about how suspension petition works. i do, however, have internet access, and\u00a0i found this website which taught me the basics.\u00a0\u00a0 so seems like you\u2019re either doing a petition for early return from suspension or a lift of suspension. both of those seem pretttty similar but with one caveat: if you\u2019re petitioning for an early return from suspension, the website does say that it\u2019s uncommon to do so before the one-year mark of your suspension. based on the clues you\u2019ve given me though, i’m guessing it\u2019s been about a year for you, so in that case you should be ok. but it is something to keep in mind.\u00a0 anyways, i do see where you\u2019re coming from, as that page does talk quite a bit about how you should explain any extenuating circumstances that led to your suspension, and you don\u2019t have any \u201cobvious\u201d things that could fall under that category. however, while it may not be as glaring as struggling financially or a diagnosed mental health problem, you do mention that you were completely lacking a support system when you first came to uoft. the fact that you were in that situation and have now put in the work to build some supports for yourself is notable and i do hope you wrote a bit about that in your petition.\u00a0 i also wanna point out that while, yes, extenuating circumstances do seem to be important, it also appears that it is just as (if not more) important that your application shows what you\u2019ve done to make sure that you succeed after your return. and i really do think you\u2019ve knocked it out of the ballpark on that one.\u00a0 (ps: what is it with me and baseball sayings in this post? I HAVE been keeping up with the jays a lot lately…)\u00a0 so overall, while i obviously can\u2019t say anything for certain, i do not think that you\u2019re screwed. i really do find the amount of work and thought you\u2019ve put into the petition impressive and i hope the people reviewing it will think so too. if you ever have more questions about it though, i’d recommend that you\u00a0get in touch with your college registrar\u2019s office.\u00a0 i’m crossing my fingers for you!\u00a0 cheers,\u00a0 aska\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[280,52,132],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academic-standing","category-petition","category-suspension"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t