Hey CC- question for any parents that had to deal with a similar situation for their kid.
My niece had started college at a top university about three years ago, however she had a terrible first year as a result of clinical depression (due to an abusive household- won't get into that). Anyway, as a result of her bad grades she left that school and took a year off and began living with me. Since then she had enrolled in a nearby private college and received perfect grades. The problem is that the first school will not withdraw her from her bad semesters.
We contacted them a year ago about a retroactive withdrawal for medical reasons, submitting their online petition form (she has a history of depression before college and her psychiatrist attested to its severity in a letter). We were then told to have her complete successful coursework and resubmit the petition. Well this year at her new college she had done exceptionally well, however when recently resubmitting her petition for a retroactive withdrawal from those semesters we were told that they need more evidence that mental illness was the case for her poor performance and that she would have to return back to their school and complete coursework there for them to consider a withdrawal.
To clarify what exactly they wanted, my niece sent the head of the committee an email asking for her advice on what she should do next in order to prove her case about a week ago. She also called their office directly and left a message on their voicemail. There is no answer and I'm getting worried- it feels like they have no intention of granting her appeal and I even have an inkling its due to the nature of her medical reason as a mental illness.
I could get a longer and more detailed letter from her psychiatrist if necessary, and any other medical documentation to prove her case, but returning to that college is impossible since it would be too close to her abusive home. And though this may mean nothing- I think how they are handling this is unfair. I don't want my niece to have her good grades marred by the bad GPA she received under extenuating circumstances, and short of legal action I hope someone can tell me what I can do to help her.
Thanks for reading this long spiel!
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