Am I in trouble? Graduation problem

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ncguy2005

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Well, I didn't expect to get sick this semester, but it would happen. So basically I had a really bad sinus infection that ended up with me having surgery a week after my ENT doctor spotted it.

So due to the recovery time and the weeks I had spent feeling like I was going to pass out from the dizziness I had to drop 7 credit hours because the makeup work would have been unbearable.

Anyway, I called my advisor after the surgery and told him the circumstances... he said it was no big deal that my last three credit hours needed to graduate (my BA project for a music degree) could be done during the summer...

Well... I found out this week that the department no longer plans on offering the BA project during the summer... so that could possibly put me without a degree and assuming I get an acceptance... I don't know how this is going to play out.

My pre-med advisor (who isn't my regular academic advisor) told me that health related reasons would be understood by the schools, but I can't help but worry...

Do you guys think this is going to be a huge problem? The best the music department offered was that I would be allowed to do the work for the project over the summer and be dually enrolled at whatever med school I go to and then my undergrad over the fall... come home in december present my project and get a degree...

I think I have super bad luck..haha..
 

ncguy2005

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Bump so people will see this in the morning... goodnight everyone
 

LizzyM

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Your best bet may be to communicate this situation to each school that makes you an offer of admission. You have 2 options to propose to the school: finish your BA while in med school or take a year deferral (and do research or work during the gap while you are waiting to be awarded your degree).
 

cpants

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Is there any way you could pick up the extra 3 hours at another school? Tons of schools offer summer or night classes. You could potentially get it done now and graduate on time.

By the way, it's only December. Why can't you just add an extra 3 hours next semester to still graduate on time in May? Even if it will put you above the max credit hours, your school will probably let you considering the circumstances.
 

MediumDef

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Also a possibility is that you get into a school that technically doesn't require that you have a degree, merely a certain number of credit hours. Although if you intend on staying in academia I wouldn't want to continually explain why you're technically w/o a degree.

Do you need these 3 specific credits from the school or can you just take an equivalent class somewhere nearby and backdoor a diploma?
 

GoSpursGo

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He said the last three hours were his "BA project as a music major," which sounds like some unique senior-level thing that can only be completed at his home university.
 

ncguy2005

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He said the last three hours were his "BA project as a music major," which sounds like some unique senior-level thing that can only be completed at his home university.


Yea, this is true... also my university requires the last thirty hours of your degree to be completed there or else they won't give you the degree...

I am going to try to cram it into May, but that would put me in a position where I am writing a minimum 50 page presentation for the project... 3 huge research papers for my music history class... 2 math classes... and my final foreign language.

Thats why just doing the project in the summer would have made my life so much easier.... we'll see. My undergrad did give me permission to be dually enrolled at both schools in the fall to finish my BA project, I just don't know how the other school's rules of attendance work and if they may stop me from doing that....

Considering my surgery and stuff, would a request to defer enrollment be considered by a school?
 

GoSpursGo

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Yea, this is true... also my university requires the last thirty hours of your degree to be completed there or else they won't give you the degree...

I am going to try to cram it into May, but that would put me in a position where I am writing a minimum 50 page presentation for the project... 3 huge research papers for my music history class... 2 math classes... and my final foreign language.

Thats why just doing the project in the summer would have made my life so much easier.... we'll see. My undergrad did give me permission to be dually enrolled at both schools in the fall to finish my BA project, I just don't know how the other school's rules of attendance work and if they may stop me from doing that....

Considering my surgery and stuff, would a request to defer enrollment be considered by a school?

I don't know about the request to defer, but is there any reason why you couldn't do either your music history or one of your other classes during the summer instead to lighten your load a little?
 

whatever5656

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Yea, this is true... also my university requires the last thirty hours of your degree to be completed there or else they won't give you the degree...

I am going to try to cram it into May, but that would put me in a position where I am writing a minimum 50 page presentation for the project... 3 huge research papers for my music history class... 2 math classes... and my final foreign language.

Thats why just doing the project in the summer would have made my life so much easier.... we'll see. My undergrad did give me permission to be dually enrolled at both schools in the fall to finish my BA project, I just don't know how the other school's rules of attendance work and if they may stop me from doing that....

Considering my surgery and stuff, would a request to defer enrollment be considered by a school?

Son, some times you have to do what you have to do. Try your best to get it fit into your spring semester and just focus on your school work and you will do fine.
 

mezmerized7

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I think you should talk to the school where you get an offer of admission and hear the options available.

Maybe you can defer for a year (which I think most schools could understand in your situation) or dual enrollment. I hope everything works out.:thumbup: Let us know how it plans out.
 

copperfrog09

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Why don't you take your BA project in the spring, and bump out another class to the summer that may be offered then, such as foreign language?
 

cpants

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Of course you can ask for a deferral, but if you are not granted a deferral then you have to get it done or risk losing your acceptance. In other words, you better have a solid backup plan to get your degree done before the end of summer. It was my impression that deferrals are usually granted in order to have some really cool experience or for some truly extenuating circumstances. Eight months advance notice that you need to fit in 3 extra credits wouldn't seem to qualify.
 

Docere

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Do you have to have a BA? You don't need one to get into med school.

Unless I'm completely misunderstanding your original post...
 
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