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1 C won't hurt a strong GPA very much. As long as you only get 1, they basically do the damage of 2 Bs -- pretty minor really. Good luck, OP!
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Professor refusing to let me take make-up exam.
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Who needs real doctors when we have pre-meds on SDN to make the diagnosis 
Multiple doctors of multiple specialties couldn't figure out the cause, yet a bunch of know-it-all biology majors think they're gonna nail it This is amusing as hell. By all means, everyone keep throwing out their differential diagnoses.
Multiple doctors of multiple specialties couldn't figure out the cause, yet a bunch of know-it-all biology majors think they're gonna nail it
This is amusing as hell. By all means, everyone keep throwing out their differential diagnoses.
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I've had syllabus in the past that stated that exams could not be made up or missed unless there was the death of a family member or you had to be hospitalized. Naturally, professors will be more flexible if you notify them before the exam or immediately afterward.
A swollen lip or pudgy face is a really bad excuse to not take an exam.
OP, in that situation, if you really were sick to the point of being unable to take a test you should have immediately called/e-mailed the professor when you woke up ill. (and most colds and fevers really are no excuse.. in my personal experience I've actually performed better in exams and athletics while having a fever - my best 400m in high school was when I had a 102 fever)
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What OP really means to say is "I skipped my final, I have done this in the past and I always get away with it, what can I do to get away with this one too."
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"What's a differential diagnosis?" wonders the crowd.Who needs real doctors when we have pre-meds on SDN to make the diagnosis
Multiple doctors of multiple specialties couldn't figure out the cause, yet a bunch of know-it-all biology majors think they're gonna nail it
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It's never lupus.
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IT'S NOT LUPUS!!!!!!
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There is definitely a difference between making a diagnosis based on nothing and making a suggestion that the OP at least visit with a psychologist since he himself relates the symptoms with stress, a psychological factor.
At worst, he learns how to deal with stress better. At best, he fixes the issue entirely. Doesn't seem like it's pretty risky advice.
At worst, he learns how to deal with stress better. At best, he fixes the issue entirely. Doesn't seem like it's pretty risky advice.
What OP really means to say is "I skipped my final, I have done this in the past and I always get away with it, what can I do to get away with this one too."
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Since when did gumball machines start dispensing M.D. degrees?
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So... basically what I said, except with an attempt to offer a differential diagnosis without having any background information. You have no idea if the OP fits the criteria required for diagnosis of a somatoform disorder, because you have no way of eliminating non-presenting symptoms without actually knowing if they present.
So... if you wanted to agree with me by simply saying that the guy should think about talking to a psychologist for what MIGHT be a stress-triggered issue, then you could have just said, "I agree with what Tin Man said", and not made yourself look like an idiot by trying to one-up me.
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I wont go as far as to accuse the OP of faking an illness but I do believe you used poor judgement. Unless you were sick enough to realistically not be able take the exam then you should have went and that doesnt seem to be the case. I wasn't there but it seems like to me you could've taken some advil and grit your teeth through it. thats probably what your professor thinks which is why he isnt sympathetic. Good luck though, and get a handle on your mystery diagnosis because I doubt itll fly in medschool.
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I'm pretty sure he said that his eyes were swollen shut...sounds like a legitimate excuse. How can he read an exam if he can't freakin' see?!!
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If he made it to a doctor's office later that morning, I'd assume he was probably able to get them open to drive later. If he truly couldn't get them open, that's when you call the prof RIGHT THEN (struggle for a phone, wake up a roomie to help you; whatever it takes) and say "Hi Dr. W, this is John Doe. I'm in your XYZ class. I understand we have a final today at 8am and intend to take it; however, at the moment, I seem to be having some sort of an allergic reaction and my eyes are swollen shut. I would be willing to take the exam orally if that's possible. Otherwise, I am wondering if it would be possible to take the exam later this afternoon or tomorrow morning once these symptoms have subsided. Please call me back at your earliest convenience at (777) 555-1234. Thanks."
Calling your prof asking for grace anytime after an exam shows nothing but a lack of a responsibility and an abundance of entitlement. Unless you got hit by a car and thrown 20 feet the night before the exam and are now comatose, that prof has every right to expect an ill or injured student to make every effort possible to get a hold of him prior to an exam. That's usually written into syllabi as a courtesy to the many freshmen who apparently lack the common sense to notify the appropriate people immediately when something like this occurs. Would work be any more forgiving if you were a no-show and then after your shift, called in sick? (I know I wouldn't be -- I'd write an employee up for that for sure. No-shows at every place I have worked and/or managed have been required to call in prior to their shift or, at the absolute latest, when their shift would otherwise begin or they would be written up as no-shows and probably asked not to return the following day either.)
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my friend decided to just try and work his way through an exam when he was sick during finals week. He threw up in the middle of the aisle and then he was sent home and told to retake the test later. Hard to argue against that...
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I had swine flue during finals last quarter. I did surprisingly well with a 101-102 fever. I figured it was still less of a hassle than negotiating retakes.
OP, on one hand I feel for you, on the other, it sound like either A) You have some medical issues that need to be diagnosed by a professional, or B) You have gotten away with this a couple times and thought you could again. It seems that it would not have been too hard to contact the professor, since you were able to call the doctor and make your way there.
OP, on one hand I feel for you, on the other, it sound like either A) You have some medical issues that need to be diagnosed by a professional, or B) You have gotten away with this a couple times and thought you could again. It seems that it would not have been too hard to contact the professor, since you were able to call the doctor and make your way there.
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So... basically what I said, except with an attempt to offer a differential diagnosis without having any background information. You have no idea if the OP fits the criteria required for diagnosis of a somatoform disorder, because you have no way of eliminating non-presenting symptoms without actually knowing if they present.
So... if you wanted to agree with me by simply saying that the guy should think about talking to a psychologist for what MIGHT be a stress-triggered issue, then you could have just said, "I agree with what Tin Man said", and not made yourself look like an idiot by trying to one-up me.
what kinda crappy argument is this. i like your fancy language though. well actually i believe the op has aids and lung cancer. dude you just made up stuff...plain and simple. stress suppresses the immune system, but the op was getting bump-like things - not normal. i think you know what i'm saying. that's my pre-med diagnosis and opinion based on the previously unidentified accumulation of information that I have vigorously and exhaustively recovered from my detailed analysis into the individual's psyche through a extensive investigation into the psychosocial rhetoric that forms the foundation for the op's posts.
i'm not sure how you could say this is not stress-triggered, unless the op is lying. that does not require a medical degree. and if you read the dsm-iv (know your stuff fellow psych major), you'll see that the op doesn't come CLOSE to the previous criteria. i wasn't 100% sure so i looked in a book/online. seriously, hit up wikipedia/psych textbook, you will learn a lot about somatoform disorders and never again lose this point in an argument ever again. i can help you on PM if you want, don't make us psych majors look bad!
i also didn't make a diagnosis at all....how do you come up with this idea? i said he had psychosomatic complaints and psychomatic medicine might help him. pretty general advice. its like saying your ankle has inflammation and you might wanna put ice on it.
"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."
yeah you're right, my bad. i meant to put a 0.04, 0.07, etc. regardless of whether he's in the right, he should still fight it if it doesn't hurt him. of course, if he's lying, then he should not fight it. you can easily get a LOR from a different department (unless its his major dept). the point i was trying to get across is that if he is telling the truth, he should try to get back at least a few points. and if the jerk professor gave him a 0 on a Final....um that prof probably doesn't like him anymore.
"Do you accept Oxford? What about United?"
no, but if you want to argue with me about that, I feel like I could be having even more fun. Arguing with premeds is what makes my days.
I just applied. Last year, I had an easy physics course I had saved for my senior year to be an easy grade. It turned out that midterm #2 in the course was scheduled for the same time as a trip to Cabo san lucas. The a**hole prof wouldn't let me reschedule to take it early, so I just took the 0 for the midterm, drank a couple beers in mexico, and called it good. As it turns out, one exam doesn't make a huge difference in your final grade, and one grade doesn't matter in the long run. Forget about the bad grade, you'll be fine.
I admire your honesty, and it sounds like you have a legitimate medical excuse. I only read the first ten or so posts, but it sounds like others have already suggested what I was thinking: your problem is psychological in nature. That doesn't invalidate it at all. I was diagnosed with AD/HD, which means I am (by law) allowed special accommodations, including time and a half on exams, extensions on papers and projects, testing in a "distraction-free" environment, among others.
I decided not to file with DSS upon returning to school for personal reasons. I figured if I'm going to be a physician (most likely in the emergency department or anesthesia), I had to learn to deal with situations the way other students do. I won't have extra time to make crucial decisions about a patient's care in a real clinical setting, so I learned (and am still learning) to get past my own disability and deal with stress the way everyone else does.
Medical schools are not allowed to discriminate, but they also have to be realistic. I have a good friend who always wanted to be a physician. In her sophomore year, she was involved in a car accident that killed three members of her family and left her paralyzed, with limited use of her arms. She returned to school a year later and maintained her 3.9 GPA and even research and EC's. Her experience only furthered her desire to help patients. She's my personal hero. She was told by ADCOMs that as much as they'd love to have her, she wouldn't even be able to complete anatomy as an MS-1. She's currently in a PhD program.
Sorry for the long, arduous journey to my point, but I think you see where I'm going with this. It's not that med schools shouldn't be flexible in dealing with disabled students. But it's not realistic for them to accept students who are too disabled to fulfill the role of a physician, even if they are brilliant and have the purest motivations for pursuing medicine. If every stressful situation sends you into a full-blown allergic reaction, maybe you're not ready for this kind of pressure. Maybe you can work with a mental health professional to get this under control, but it sounds like in your current situation, this isn't healthy for you. Best of luck!
I decided not to file with DSS upon returning to school for personal reasons. I figured if I'm going to be a physician (most likely in the emergency department or anesthesia), I had to learn to deal with situations the way other students do. I won't have extra time to make crucial decisions about a patient's care in a real clinical setting, so I learned (and am still learning) to get past my own disability and deal with stress the way everyone else does.
Medical schools are not allowed to discriminate, but they also have to be realistic. I have a good friend who always wanted to be a physician. In her sophomore year, she was involved in a car accident that killed three members of her family and left her paralyzed, with limited use of her arms. She returned to school a year later and maintained her 3.9 GPA and even research and EC's. Her experience only furthered her desire to help patients. She's my personal hero. She was told by ADCOMs that as much as they'd love to have her, she wouldn't even be able to complete anatomy as an MS-1. She's currently in a PhD program.
Sorry for the long, arduous journey to my point, but I think you see where I'm going with this. It's not that med schools shouldn't be flexible in dealing with disabled students. But it's not realistic for them to accept students who are too disabled to fulfill the role of a physician, even if they are brilliant and have the purest motivations for pursuing medicine. If every stressful situation sends you into a full-blown allergic reaction, maybe you're not ready for this kind of pressure. Maybe you can work with a mental health professional to get this under control, but it sounds like in your current situation, this isn't healthy for you. Best of luck!
Another excellent point. If it was only that ONE class that stressed you so much, and you're okay otherwise, there's no point in worrying about one bad grade.
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Note for next time: If you really looked THAT bad you should have just shown up in class and asked to be excused. I'm sure he'd be more lenient if he saw you wandering around the lecture hall with your eyes swollen shut and your tongue twice it's normal size. Hell, maybe he'd even TELL you to go to a doctor 😛
In all seriousness though, don't tell a medical school you're allergic to stress. Just hope it comes up during an interview or something (maybe a really vague mention to make this happen).
In all seriousness though, don't tell a medical school you're allergic to stress. Just hope it comes up during an interview or something (maybe a really vague mention to make this happen).
If it's a legitimate medical excuse (you were puking your guts out with a fever and profuse diarrhea), then I would appeal it.
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My Stat prof told us on the first day and wrote in the syllabus that she will give absolutely no make-up exam even if you have a note from your doctor. 
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My Stat prof told us on the first day and wrote in the syllabus that she will give absolutely no make-up exam even if you have a note from your doctor.
Sounds like a professor just trying to make herself feel powerful and important.
I've had teachers like that too. But it's funny because the teachers I've learned the most from were the ones who were more lenient.
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They're welcome to not give a make up, but I'm pretty sure they can't give at zero. They could, say, up-weight the other exams.
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OP, what you should have done was gone to the professor with your massively swollen face and maybe he or she would have sympathy but other than that, it does seem you were dodging it. I have hives and when I had the worst symptoms I had to take prescription antihistamines and woke up an extra hour early to make sure my body had a chance to "heal" itself. Bad symptoms too. My skin was fire hot with red blotches, constant swelling of the lips and rashes that were so itchy that scratching it made it worse and spot scarring from the constant itching. So if I can handle it, so can you.
