Professor refusing to let me take make-up exam.

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void

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I missed a final, presented him with a doctor's note, he refuses to let me takea make-up exam. This was for a final. He is generally known to be incredibly inflexible, and he mentioned nothing about make-up exams on his syllabus.

So it would seem that I am out of luck. He gave me a 0 for the final, which gives me a C for the course. I am applying next year, so this grade will count. This is bad.

I don't think there is much I can do here. Should I include this as an addendum to Medical Schools? Tell them that I have a documented medical excuse to miss this Final, but the professor gave me a 0 anyway. My score based on the first two exams were in the B+/A- range.

Edit: I just want to emphasize that I am not going to fight this. I just want advice on whether or not I should add an addendum regarding this grade. Saying something like, "Missed Final Exam due to documented medical excuse, but professor did not offer make-up exam." I can even say I learned from this because the professor did not mention anything about make-up exams on his syllabus, and that it was my fault because of that.
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Talk to the dept. chair if it really is a legitimate medical excuse...I would be very surprised if once you went to the dept. head you were still denied the opportunity to take the final

Also it would be quite dumb to miss a final unless there was something serious going on like you were in the hospital or you had a 103 fever...so if it isn't serious then you might have a problem
 
That's total BS. If this is your last year there, and especially if you don't have to take any more classes from the guy, I would completely go to the head of the department. If that doesn't work, take it up with the dean of undergraduate affairs / someone higher up.

If you have a legitimate medical excuse, the professor should be flexible. EVEN if he refuses to give a makeup, giving you a 0 is stupid. He should just use your midterm grades to calculate your grade if he won't let you take another test.

I would not worry about trying to explain this to medical schools until you have fought this as much as you can. If it's a legitimate medical excuse, then you should -not- be getting screwed like this.
 
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There are some other factors here as well which damage my credibility.

For the second exam, I told him that I was coughing a lot and that I may be a nuisance to my classmates during the exam. I asked that I take the exam in another room but at the scheduled date. He told me to take it on another date though, so I did.

For the Final, I made the stupid mistake of not emailing him until very late that night. I seriously did not see this as an issue, but he is using that against me.

As for the reason for this absence, it's not due to a fever or hospitalization, but just this allergic reaction that I get usually when I am under stress. I've been to a couple of doctors about this, but we can never correctly diagnose this. I've missed a couple of exams in college due to this exact reason, and I am just afraid that once other departments are notified that they will think that I am trying to make this up. Which is exactly what my professor is implying. He even told me that my medical problems always coincide with exam dates.

In hindsight, I should have told professors about this prior to the start of each semester or contacted the Students with Disabilities office. But I haven't, and I'm not sure how to proceed. I just feel like I should not deserve special treatment because I am not disabled or have a serious medical affliction, but the fact remains that I did have an allergic reaction on that day that prevented me from functioning. (I looked like Elephant Man)
 
The professor is likely accustomed to getting a doctor's visit note as an excuse not to take a final because the student really wasn't ready to take the final and just went to the doc for a nonspecific note that merely says they were ill. Perhaps it would help to have a note on the doctor's letterhead saying how extremely ill you were, and that the recommendation by the physician was to NOT take the final. Alternatively, you could get a copy of the medical record to support your claims, as this would typically also have a stated plan of bed rest if you were incapable of taking the test in their opinion. This would help a lot if you end up appealing to a dean.
 
void said:
I missed a final, presented him with a doctor's note, he refuses to let me takea make-up exam. This was for a final. He is generally known to be incredibly inflexible, and he mentioned nothing about make-up exams on his syllabus.

So it would seem that I am out of luck. He gave me a 0 for the final, which gives me a C for the course. I am applying next year, so this grade will count. This is bad.

I don't think there is much I can do here. Should I include this as an addendum to Medical Schools? Tell them that I have a documented medical excuse to miss this Final, but the professor gave me a 0 anyway. My score based on the first two exams were in the B+/A- range.
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Did you contact them within 24 hours? I know I don't have a single professor who would consider letting anyone take a make up exam without them contacting him within 24 hours of missing the exam -- unless they were in a coma.
 
I went to the doctor after I had the allergic reaction. I had the reaction in the morning (started at around 6AM) and I had the exam at 8AM, so I did not take the exam. I saw the doctor later that morning, so I can't have the note say that he advised me not to take the exam.

I did mention that this is documented for different doctors, but I am unsure as to how much I should elaborate. I feel that I shouldn't have to elaborate, but I have to in order for him to believe me.

Yes, I contacted within 24 hours albeit very late that night.
 
You should probably start making some phone calls or office visits to the proper people above him in the department. IMO sitting on here discussing it further won't help you and it's in your best interest to get it taken care of and acknowledged by the proper powers immediately.
 
void said:
I went to the doctor after I had the allergic reaction. I had the reaction in the morning (started at around 6AM) and I had the exam at 8AM, so I did not take the exam. I saw the doctor later that morning, so I can't have the note say that he advised me not to take the exam.
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So if the reaction started at 6AM and you didn't go to the doctor until much later, what were you doing at 8AM?
Did you even try calling him/emailing him prior to the exam time that you wouldn't be able to make it in?

If I was the prof, I would be suspicious too.
 
It usually starts while I'm sleeping, which I was at 6AM. When it starts, I immediately take antihistamines to stop it and maybe I'll just get away with a swollen lip or something. But when I got up about an hour later, it was just too bad. I had to see my doctor immediately, so I tried to make an appointment for that time period during the exam. Contacting the professor immediately was not the first thing on my mind, and now I'm kicking myself for it. Once I saw my doctor, and got the note, I just stopped worrying about it and thought everything would be okay. I seriously did not think he would be focused on this one point.
 
Honestly, it sounds like you bungled this up, OP. If your allergic reactions happen due to stress, it could be argued that you slept late on accident, and then got stressed due to thinking you were missing your test, messing up your grade, etc... I'm not saying this is what happened, but the professor might. You should have contacted him the minute you decided not to go to the exam. This, of course, should be as long as possible before the exam!
 
Don't settle for this crap, raise HELL!! At a minimum, he should let you do other thing (paper/project), in lieu of makeup...something, anything... RAISE MORE HELL!!!
 
void said:
It usually starts while I'm sleeping, which I was at 6AM. When it starts, I immediately take antihistamines to stop it and maybe I'll just get away with a swollen lip or something. But when I got up about an hour later, it was just too bad. I had to see my doctor immediately, so I tried to make an appointment for that time period during the exam. Contacting the professor immediately was not the first thing on my mind, and now I'm kicking myself for it. Once I saw my doctor, and got the note, I just stopped worrying about it and thought everything would be okay. I seriously did not think he would be focused on this one point.
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I think the timeline is a little suspicious (if I were a prof).

Here's what I'd do: make sure you have the appropriate documentation from the doctor you saw. Maybe you could go back to him and have him sign something that said you were not fit to be out of bed that day based on the severity of the reaction. Then, go to department head / dean.

My thoughts are that since you had a B+/A- for the rest of the course, the professor would AT LEAST give you, say, a 50 on the final and a B in the course. Because, depending on what the final covered, you'd probably have gotten a 50 by not studying anything past the midterms given your performance on the midterms, so even if he suspected you of trying to miss the exam to give you more time to study, this would not give you an advantage.

If this doesn't work, there are a number of other things you could try:

Was this a prerequisite class? If not, see if you can have the class switched to pass-fail or if they will allow you to withdraw from the course for medical reasons (your note). A W is 10 times better than a C. Even an "I" (incomplete) would be fine. As long as you don't need the credits or the class. If you do, see if you can retake and have the previous grade erased upon retake...etc.

Definitely get your stuff together though and contact the appropriate people...try to get something worked out.
 
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I'm sympathetic, but at the same time I also think you messed up. If it were me and I realized I had a bad allergic reaction happening and might miss a FINAL, the very first thing on my mind would be to email/call the professor. I mean as long as it wasn't something life threatening (which I'm assuming it wasn't since you were able to wait until later in the day to see a doctor). And Honestly, if it was just swelling with no SOB or difficulty breathing, I would still consider going to class and taking the exam. Aside from weird looks from others for a couple hours, it wouldn't be a big deal. I've gone to work sporting a full body rash/hives before.
 
I'm going to be blunt.

 1) Not even nice professors will let someone take the final AFTER it has been administered. Contacting the professor ahead of time is vital. The idea isn't that the professor doesn't want to come in after finals. It's that you could very easily get an idea of what to expect on the final from other students and therefore have an advantage on the test, even if you take it only a day afterward. This is why most professors don't care if you're sick, or a relative died, or if the country itself is being invaded. If you could have contacted the teacher earlier, ESPECIALLY if you know that you have this tendency to be ill during finals times, you should have done that. I highly doubt even a Presidential pardon will help you now.

 2) Sorry, but this illness of yours DOES sound like it's being made up, or at least a lot more psychological than physiological (somatic). I don't know you, nor do I care to get involved with your personal medical life. But a disease that pops up during times of stress that's bad enough to make you stay home during exam times? Sorry, that just sounds way too convenient. Especially since the doctors can't come up with a diagnosis for it. I can't think of a better disease to have than one that keeps you from needing to deal with all of the most stressful parts of your school life without leaving any significant damage. It's like people faking military service, who say that they were so deep undercover that the government erased all records of them being in the military. Right. I'm not saying you don't have allergies that are triggered by stress, but if it does exist, you definitely should have figured out a way to either deal with it or plan for it by now. No professor in the world is going to accept that without question.

Not only that, but this "disease" doesn't seem like something that is a whole lot different than what happens to most students. Stress significantly hurts the immune system, not only making people more susceptible to common colds and other diseases, but also makes them have a harder time dealing with the damage the stress itself causes. So they end up with things like headaches, exhaustion, allergies, depression, aches, etc. It is likely that over 50% of college students are feeling under the weather during finals week. If I were a professor, I would not be impressed by the apparent etiology of your medical issue.

Look, I'm not doubting that you're stressed. Nor am I doubting that you get sick when you get stressed. Or even that your reaction is as bad as you say it is. But if you've been dealing with this for a while, you need to come up with some better study techniques or something. Learn to calm down and deal with your stress levels. Because I don't think anyone in academia is going to give you a break on something like this. Goose-fra-ba.

 3) I would highly, highly recommend against pressing this issue any further. You're welcome to explain to the medical school admission boards that you have a mysterious, undiagnosed disease that prevents you from attending school during stressful times, but given that pretty much all of medical school is going to be more stressful than any finals week you're going to experience as an undergrad, it would probably be a really bad idea.

 4) With that in mind, are you seriously considering entering a profession like medicine if you get sick whenever you're stressed? I am not sure there's ever going to be a point where you don't feel stressed. Seriously.
Like I said, you're welcome to rage and scream like many people here are encouraging you to do. But I think it's a bad idea to put yourself into a position to ever have to explain this to a medical school adcom. Normally, I would suggest you take a more difficult class with the same type of material and ace it to prove you know your stuff, but if this stress-related allergy is going to keep affecting your schoolwork, then I wouldn't waste the money even trying.
 
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Tin Man said:
3) I would highly, highly recommend against pressing this issue any further. You’re welcome to explain to the medical school admission boards that you have a mysterious, undiagnosed disease that prevents you from attending school during stressful times, but given that pretty much all of medical school is going to be more stressful than any finals week you’re going to experience as an undergrad, it would probably be a really bad idea.
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i was kinda thinking the same thing.

i hate to say it this way, but the way that all unfolded kinda makes me feel like you aren't taking this seriously enough. i know that nobody should condone going to school when sick, but . . . i don't know. we're all adults and sometimes when important things are happening we just have to tough it out. one time i had to get an emergency root canal during finals week, it totally sucked, i was in pain, etc. but going to the professors and begging for a makeup seemed like more trouble than it was worth- especially since makeups tend to be harder. so i took some pain killers and sucked it up for the hour it took to get through the exam. i would probably never miss an exam for illness unless i physically could not get out of bed.

its going to be the same way in med school and beyond. you'll be exhausted, stressed, and have to get stuff done anyway. learning to suck it up now is a good skill that you'll definitely need in the future. personally if i were you i would have gone to the exam just to avoid this exact scenario. you had to know this was the risk you were taking by skipping it.
 
pretty sure you'll figure out a way, maybe take an incomplete or a retroactive withdraw or something. just get it done and move on
 
Sometimes I dont understand how missing a final in the States and you can still get a C....
I would have to be perfect for the entire semester, and even that sometimes may not be enough...
 
Allergic reaction to stress? :laugh: My friend, if you get into medical school you will be under stress 365 days a year.

Sorry, but this is your wrongdoing. Unless your airway is sealing up and you can't breathe, you should've been at that final. A swollen lip, runny nose, and puffy eyes are not an excuse to miss any test.

Do not pursue this any further. Take the C and explain to adcoms (if they ask) that you were sick the day of the final and your professor wouldn't budge. Whatever you do, don't tell them you're allergic to stress lol.
 
I disagree with the negative posts here. With no knowledge of the OPs precise medical condition, it's kind of rash and uninformed to make a blanket statement about the illness being "mostly psychological." Maybe it has a psychological component, but I'm not a doctor, so I can't say that for sure. I'd encourage the OP to try and find another doctor and maybe see a psychiatrist if it is a stress issue / work on some study habits / maybe get some medication for situation-induced stress to help stave off the attacks.

Furthermore, going to the dean with your medical note isn't going to HURT you as long as you aren't an ass about it. Why would taking a C in the class be good advice?

Also, clearly the OP can perform under pressure, as he/she got B+'s / A-'s in the class throughout the semester, and presumably didn't miss any other finals due to this.
 
With that in mind, are you seriously considering entering a profession like medicine if you get sick whenever you're stressed? I am not sure there's ever going to be a point where you don't feel stressed. Seriously.
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That was my thought.

Take the C and explain to adcoms (if they ask) that you were sick the day of the final and your professor wouldn't budge. Whatever you do, don't tell them you're allergic to stress lol.
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Word.
 
With that in mind, are you seriously considering entering a profession like medicine if you get sick whenever you’re stressed? I am not sure there's ever going to be a point where you don't feel stressed. Seriously.
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That was my thought.

Take the C and explain to adcoms (if they ask) that you were sick the day of the final and your professor wouldn't budge. Whatever you do, don't tell them you're allergic to stress lol.
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Word.
 
Unless your airway is constricted, you should have taken the test. A swollen lip is not a legitimate excuse. Everybody reacts differently to stress. If you are physically able, NOT necessarily physically ideal, you should have taken the exam.

What's worse is that you contacted him AFTER the test was administered. It looks like you overslept and panicked so you punched yourself in the lip and made your eyes puffy to get a doctor's note.

I'm sorry...but I think you ought to just swallow the zero and move on. One C won't kill a transcript and you can explain it to the AdComs. However. if I were you I wouldn't even mention the word "stress" when explaining it.
 
There's allergy to stress? That's so weird.
 
whoknows2012 said:
Talk to the dept. chair if it really is a legitimate medical excuse...I would be very surprised if once you went to the dept. head you were still denied the opportunity to take the final

Also it would be quite dumb to miss a final unless there was something serious going on like you were in the hospital or you had a 103 fever...so if it isn't serious then you might have a problem
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IMO a doctor's note is an excused absence, whether it was for a cold or a craniotomy. Check your school's handbook, I'm pretty sure mine says if it's a legitimate and documented excuse you are entitled to a make-up. Your professor sounds like a total ass btw.
 
OP face it. You weren't ready for the test for one reason or another. You panic and allegedly email the professor about the problem. He doesn't respond because you probably sent it at like 3 AM. You say "ahh screw it, I'm not goin." You hand him a doctor's note after the fact. He tells you to stfu and gtfo. You get a C. You come to SDN to try to gain sympathy. You know in your heart that you f'd up. Then you will make a thread asking "I got a C, is there still a chance at Med School."

Good Night Sweet Prince
 
I see two possibilities:

First, you made up a lame excuse and got called out on it. If this is the case, let it go.

Second possibility: you're actually telling the truth. If it's really the case that you get that stressed out over an undergrad final, what are you going to do in med school or for the rest of your life? It gets harder, not easier.
 
You come to SDN to try to gain sympathy.
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Not exactly. I am aware that these are the majority of the types of threads here, and I've made several myself in the past, but this is simply a question of whether or not I should add an addendum to my Medical School application that explains why I received that grade for this class.

There's allergy to stress? That's so weird.
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Not exactly, either. I do not know the root cause of my allergic reaction. Various doctors have said various things. They usually try to pin it on insect bites, but I've thoroughly examined every bed I've slept in and even had an insane paranoid response to what I thought were bed bugs for a couple of months. I see my current doctor because he believes they are due to a couple of reasons, most being psychosomatic, and that stress usually triggers it. With that said, I've only missed two exams in college due to this reason. The other times, it happened randomly during a night/morning when I had nothing of serious consequence/worry happen. It really was just coincidence that it happened right before a final. It has been happening more frequently the past 3 years, and I (as well as my doctor) think it's due to an increasing stressful life in general. With that said, it is still relatively rare and shouldn't prohibit me from a full career in medicine. Although, if it gets worse, then I would really be out of luck.

A swollen lip is not a legitimate excuse.
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Correct. Usually I can get away with a swollen lip if I take antihistamines immediately, but this particular time I couldn't even see or talk - both eyes were swollen and tongue. It was just ridiculous, and I just had no idea that my priority would be to notify my professor immediately. Of course, in hindsight, I was wrong. I really didn't think the professor would think that I was making this up.

Check your school's handbook, I'm pretty sure mine says if it's a legitimate and documented excuse you are entitled to a make-up.
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I haven't checked this yet, but I think it would say something like the class syllabus is the legal document for the class. His syllabus had nothing about make-ups or even missed exams. So I don't think I can take it further.

3) I would highly, highly recommend against pressing this issue any further.
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I agree. I won't press this issue any further. But I just want the opinion of the board of whether or not it's a good idea to include the addendum. I wouldn't elaborate on the specifics of the illness, and I definitely wouldn't tell them that it's due to stress. But simply stating something like "Missed Final Exam for this course, had documented medical excuse but professor would not offer make-up exam." I will try to be as vague as possible without saying anything like "he suspected that I made up the disease, etc" but I'm still trying to figure out if this is a good idea and how to word it.

It hasn't completely demolished my GPA, it did lower it by quite a bit. Being so late in the game, this does hurt my trend. It is a major course (not pre-med, but science and relating to my major). I am not too worried because I'm pretty good at the subject and will probably do well in its second semester equivalent, but I just want to see my options.

Edit: I just want to emphasize that I am not going to fight this. I just want advice on whether or not I should add an addendum regarding this grade. Saying something like, "Missed Final Exam due to documented medical excuse, but professor did not offer make-up exam." I can even say I learned from this because the professor did not mention anything about make-up exams on his syllabus, and that it was my fault because of that.
 
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unfortunately OP, you asked a bunch of pre-meds to pass judgment on you and they all rose to the occassion.

if you honestly (i mean like deep down there) believe that you couldn't take that test, pursue finding a way to remedy the situation. no one here can say how stress effects you. yes medical school is stressful, but if this is causing problems, you will probably continue to seek medical treatment to figure it out. the student handbook is good advice, or even an ombudsperson at your school could be helpful.
 
void said:
I agree. I won't press this issue any further. But I just want the opinion of the board of whether or not it's a good idea to include the addendum. I wouldn't elaborate on the specifics of the illness, and I definitely wouldn't tell them that it's due to stress. But simply stating something like "Missed Final Exam for this course, had documented medical excuse but professor would not offer make-up exam." I will try to be as vague as possible without saying anything like "he suspected that I made up the disease, etc" but I'm still trying to figure out if this is a good idea and how to word it.
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Alright, fair enough. If you get asked, just say, "I was too sick to attend the final exam." I wouldn't even say that you tried to retake it. I doubt the board will press the issue, which is good for you, because it is likely that whatever they come up with in their head is going to be better than what you try to say.

And as I said before, if you are serious about pursuing medicine, you definitely should get yourself checked out by a psychologist. Maybe it's nothing, but I'm a psychology guy, and this just screams some sort of somatic issue. If you are suffering from physical ailments due to what is probably a psychological cause in reaction to a known trigger, it can usually be fixed. And since that trigger is something you are going to encounter a LOT in your chosen profession, it's going to be a pretty big wall for you to hurdle if you keep trying to play off of the sympathy for your illness. Colleges don't have to care about it, and medical schools definitely won't. You HAVE to be able to not only function under stress, but function well enough to save people's lives. Otherwise, you're wasting your time.
 
Tin Man said:
Alright, fair enough. If you get asked, just say, "I was too sick to attend the final exam." I wouldn't even say that you tried to retake it. I doubt the board will press the issue, which is good for you, because it is likely that whatever they come up with in their head is going to be better than what you try to say.
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Should I include it in an addendum? Or just wait for the interview. Despite my confidence in this particular course, I am not even close to being a shoe-in for most Medical Schools. I want them to know about this grade before they consider me for interviews.
 
assuming there is a stress-related, environmental factor, a psychologist would be a good person to help you learn better coping and stress reduction skills. but any good psychologist, after hearing the described physical reaction, will want you to see a physician to rule out medical conditions.
 
void said:
Should I include it in an addendum? Or just wait for the interview. Despite my confidence in this particular course, I am not even close to being a shoe-in for most Medical Schools. I want them to know about this grade before they consider me for interviews.
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many people get a C. why point out your perceived weakness in your application when it may not even register on their "red flag" radar? If they ask during an interview, you describe as above. it is a med school pre-req? a good mcat score can show competence in a subject even though a class grade may not.
 
void said:
Should I include it in an addendum? Or just wait for the interview. Despite my confidence in this particular course, I am not even close to being a shoe-in for most Medical Schools. I want them to know about this grade before they consider me for interviews.
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Dude, a C is, except at some of the higher-tier schools, unlikely to prevent you from getting an interview.

What class are we talking about? If it's a pre-req, then the key is going to be to prove you know the material either on the MCAT or in another class with similar material (ie, if you did poorly in orgo, show it up by doing well in biochemistry).

If it wasn't a pre-req, then I really, truly wouldn't worry about it. One C is not going to prevent you from getting an interview, because adcoms are smart enough to know that one bad grade usually has a good excuse. Multiple bad grades usually do not. They will probably ignore it until interview time, and when that time comes, IF they ask about it, just say you were too sick to attend the final. If you pulled a C out of a class where you got a 0 on the final, that's pretty much an indication that you would have done well in the class.

But as someone else stated, don't draw attention to your poor grade, especially if is something that you have a good explanation for. It will look like you're too eager to justify something with what is, frankly, a pretty suspicious excuse. When they ask, your explanation will look much less forced, and will have a much higher chance of blowing over. Don't give them a reason to be suspicious. Just leave it alone. You'll be fine, so long as everything else is in order.
 
Let the C go, OP. They happen. As long as it's your only one, you have nothing to worry about. If asked, just say you were sick on the day of the final and were not allowed a makeup.

That being said, if have problems with stress, how much harder will medical school be? I would refrain from describing your "allergy to stress" to a med school adcom.

In the future, if you feel too sick to take an exam but it's too late to call or email the prof (i.e., not at least 24 hrs before the exam or paper or whatever is due), show up anyway. Show up early (or visit the prof's office if early enough) and explain you feel sick. It's not ideal but if the syllabus lacks a makeup policy and you lack the time to wait for an email or call back, meeting in person may be your best chance.
 
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Tin Man said:
I’m going to be blunt.

 1) Not even nice professors will let someone take the final AFTER it has been administered. Contacting the professor ahead of time is vital. The idea isn’t that the professor doesn’t want to come in after finals. It’s that you could very easily get an idea of what to expect on the final from other students and therefore have an advantage on the test, even if you take it only a day afterward. This is why most professors don’t care if you’re sick, or a relative died, or if the country itself is being invaded. If you could have contacted the teacher earlier, ESPECIALLY if you know that you have this tendency to be ill during finals times, you should have done that. I highly doubt even a Presidential pardon will help you now.

 2) Sorry, but this illness of yours DOES sound like it’s being made up, or at least a lot more psychological than physiological (somatic). I don’t know you, nor do I care to get involved with your personal medical life. But a disease that pops up during times of stress that’s bad enough to make you stay home during exam times? Sorry, that just sounds way too convenient. Especially since the doctors can’t come up with a diagnosis for it. I can’t think of a better disease to have than one that keeps you from needing to deal with all of the most stressful parts of your school life without leaving any significant damage. It’s like people faking military service, who say that they were so deep undercover that the government erased all records of them being in the military. Right. I’m not saying you don’t have allergies that are triggered by stress, but if it does exist, you definitely should have figured out a way to either deal with it or plan for it by now. No professor in the world is going to accept that without question.

Not only that, but this “disease” doesn’t seem like something that is a whole lot different than what happens to most students. Stress significantly hurts the immune system, not only making people more susceptible to common colds and other diseases, but also makes them have a harder time dealing with the damage the stress itself causes. So they end up with things like headaches, exhaustion, allergies, depression, aches, etc. It is likely that over 50% of college students are feeling under the weather during finals week. If I were a professor, I would not be impressed by the apparent etiology of your medical issue.

Look, I'm not doubting that you're stressed. Nor am I doubting that you get sick when you get stressed. Or even that your reaction is as bad as you say it is. But if you've been dealing with this for a while, you need to come up with some better study techniques or something. Learn to calm down and deal with your stress levels. Because I don't think anyone in academia is going to give you a break on something like this. Goose-fra-ba.

 3) I would highly, highly recommend against pressing this issue any further. You’re welcome to explain to the medical school admission boards that you have a mysterious, undiagnosed disease that prevents you from attending school during stressful times, but given that pretty much all of medical school is going to be more stressful than any finals week you’re going to experience as an undergrad, it would probably be a really bad idea.

 4) With that in mind, are you seriously considering entering a profession like medicine if you get sick whenever you’re stressed? I am not sure there's ever going to be a point where you don't feel stressed. Seriously.
Like I said, you’re welcome to rage and scream like many people here are encouraging you to do. But I think it’s a bad idea to put yourself into a position to ever have to explain this to a medical school adcom. Normally, I would suggest you take a more difficult class with the same type of material and ace it to prove you know your stuff, but if this stress-related allergy is going to keep affecting your schoolwork, then I wouldn’t waste the money even trying.
Click to expand...

I LOLed so hard on this one...very well written
 
you LOL at that? you're a jerk.
 
man some of this advice is just terrible. i don't understand why some premeds have such weird ideas (Tin Man for example, must just be nuts to think he's actually right). an addendum may or may not matter to med schools, depending on whether they believe your response. it probably won't hurt adding. but med schools have no reason to believe you, especially when there are plenty of other qualified applicants without shady stuff like you have.

but the C will undoubtedly hurt your app (unless you are URM), making it more difficult for you to get into med school. if this is a BCPM and since you are past your freshman year, it will hurt moreso. look at the math. you can expect your cgpa to drop ~.4 and your sgpa to drop .6 to .8 forever. That is big. I guess if you're making As everywhere else, you're fine, but if you are the average applicant, this will definitely hurt you. also, you are finishing your junior year on a C. that is enough for med schools to note a downward trend. not only that, but your classes will get harder naturally and your gpa will likely drop from where it is now.

i suggest you try to fight it... i mean you have NOTHING to lose. why wouldn't you fight it?? email/call the professor everyday. talk to higher ups. acing a higher level class does not make up for a bad grade here.

on a more global scale, i suggest seeing more docs or figuring out whats wrong with you before you get med school. and finally to set the record straight on what you have ... it is NOT

1) Conversion disorder (a condition in which a person has blindness, paralysis, or other nervous system (neurologic) symptoms that cannot be explained)
2) Psychosomatic disorder - there is no such thing anymore (it is called somatoform and you do not fit the description for any of the disorders)

However, you do exhibit psychosomatic complaints and psychosomatic medicine might be able to help you.
 
loveoforganic said:
Virtual premed diagnoses for life.
Click to expand...
Seriously, what are you guys trying to prove? Stop playing doctor and stop trying to tell the OP what he has. I'm willing to bet that none of the posters in this thread have any kind of legitimate basis for their "diagnoses." Especially since you are only going by the small paragraph that the OP wrote. If his doctors have no idea why he has the reactions, what makes you think you do? There's a reason why it's called pre-med.

/rant

The "disease" itself, being as no doc has been able to identify an actual physiological problem, may simply be a form of conversion disorder (assuming you're telling the truth as to its apparent patterns). You believe you will get sick so you get sick. Expectation (or another psychogenic event) causes the symptoms.
Click to expand...
Really...
 
baller99 said:
man some of this advice is just terrible. i don't understand why some premeds have such weird ideas (Tin Man for example, must just be nuts to think he's actually right). an addendum may or may not matter to med schools, depending on whether they believe your response. it probably won't hurt adding. but med schools have no reason to believe you, especially when there are plenty of other qualified applicants without shady stuff like you have.

but the C will undoubtedly hurt your app (unless you are URM), making it more difficult for you to get into med school. if this is a BCPM and since you are past your freshman year, it will hurt moreso. look at the math. you can expect your cgpa to drop ~.4 and your sgpa to drop .6 to .8 forever. That is big. I guess if you're making As everywhere else, you're fine, but if you are the average applicant, this will definitely hurt you. also, you are finishing your junior year on a C. that is enough for med schools to note a downward trend. not only that, but your classes will get harder naturally and your gpa will likely drop from where it is now.

i suggest you try to fight it... i mean you have NOTHING to lose. why wouldn't you fight it?? email/call the professor everyday. talk to higher ups. acing a higher level class does not make up for a bad grade here.

on a more global scale, i suggest seeing more docs or figuring out whats wrong with you before you get med school. and finally to set the record straight on what you have ... it is NOT

1) Conversion disorder (a condition in which a person has blindness, paralysis, or other nervous system (neurologic) symptoms that cannot be explained)
2) Psychosomatic disorder - there is no such thing anymore (it is called somatoform and you do not fit the description for any of the disorders)

However, you do exhibit psychosomatic complaints and psychosomatic medicine might be able to help you.
Click to expand...
I made a C in a course; your math doesn't add up.
 
baller99 said:
man some of this advice is just terrible. i don't understand why some premeds have such weird ideas (Tin Man for example, must just be nuts to think he's actually right). an addendum may or may not matter to med schools, depending on whether they believe your response. it probably won't hurt adding. but med schools have no reason to believe you, especially when there are plenty of other qualified applicants without shady stuff like you have.

but the C will undoubtedly hurt your app (unless you are URM), making it more difficult for you to get into med school. if this is a BCPM and since you are past your freshman year, it will hurt moreso. look at the math. you can expect your cgpa to drop ~.4 and your sgpa to drop .6 to .8 forever. That is big. I guess if you're making As everywhere else, you're fine, but if you are the average applicant, this will definitely hurt you. also, you are finishing your junior year on a C. that is enough for med schools to note a downward trend. not only that, but your classes will get harder naturally and your gpa will likely drop from where it is now.

i suggest you try to fight it... i mean you have NOTHING to lose. why wouldn't you fight it?? email/call the professor everyday. talk to higher ups. acing a higher level class does not make up for a bad grade here.

on a more global scale, i suggest seeing more docs or figuring out whats wrong with you before you get med school. and finally to set the record straight on what you have ... it is NOT

1) Conversion disorder (a condition in which a person has blindness, paralysis, or other nervous system (neurologic) symptoms that cannot be explained)
2) Psychosomatic disorder - there is no such thing anymore (it is called somatoform and you do not fit the description for any of the disorders)

However, you do exhibit psychosomatic complaints and psychosomatic medicine might be able to help you.
Click to expand...


Your math is terrible. Assuming he had a 4.0 before this, the average major requires something like ~120 credits. That means a C will drop his cGPA by ~0.07 grade points and his sGPA by ~0.09 points. IF he had a 4.0. The effects are less if he has a more reasonable GPA such, e.g., 3.5-3.8. You're off by a factor of 10.

People are telling him not to fight it because it sounds like he's in the wrong. Even if his symptoms were what he says, he still didn't bother to notify the professor until late that night. Seriously, it takes less than a minute to write that email, and he couldn't be bothered. If I was going to miss a final, even if I had three broken limbs and could barely breathe, that would be one of the first things I'd do.

In addition, fighting it actually could hurt him. If it turns out that his story doesn't completely check out, he could be charged with academic dishonesty. He could also end up taking the same professor for a later course. He could also need a letter of recommendation from the dean or someone else in the department, and if word gets out about how he handled this, he could completely shoot himself in the foot.
 
baller99 said:
and finally to set the record straight on what you have ... it is NOT

1) Conversion disorder (a condition in which a person has blindness, paralysis, or other nervous system (neurologic) symptoms that cannot be explained)
2) Psychosomatic disorder - there is no such thing anymore (it is called somatoform and you do not fit the description for any of the disorders)

However, you do exhibit psychosomatic complaints and psychosomatic medicine might be able to help you.
Click to expand...

Do you accept Oxford? What about United?
 
OP, I don't see why you're refusing to find out if there are specific rules in your school or department regarding this kind of situation. You have nothing to lose.

Don't say anything about the C, unless you're asked in the interview. A C isn't worth sounding whiny over.
 
.
 
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