Help me with the Really Inportant letter

top_drawer_2

hi,

This is totally irrelevant really as its for uni (which may be involved in jobseeking in the future I guess :j ) but I've had some good advice here and no-one seems to go on the student board often ...

I have to submit Extenuating Circumstances to my dept and this is the letter I have written for the board.

Dear Sir/Madam.

I am writing to you to apply for Extenuating Circumstances. I suffer with Clinical Depression and this has seriously affected my ability to function over the past 18 months. In the period of 2007/08 my depression was exacerbated by non-attendance at lectures and seminars. I was wrongly informed at enrolment that I was only eligible to attend for assessments.

I continue to receive the support of my G.P and with a recent alteration of my medication my illness is now coming under control. Furthermore, I am in the process of taking steps to alter my life for the better. I am continuing with counselling and through this I have taken positive steps – in order to minimize the impact my families’ issues have on me. I have moved out of the family home and into a place of my own. I am also seeking professional help with my eating problems and to create a supportive network to help me to be positive. I intend to continue this process and hope that this will impact positively upon my illness.

I believe I can benefit from being allowed to repeat my final year with attendance on the Bsc Psychology course. I greatly enjoy the course and find the work both interesting and challenging.

I am so worried they will just say No - its not a good enough reason or that I havent justified it enough as I have had a whole year (just gone) to do the work and its just been one problem after another, my whole life has been in bits but I dont know how to explain that without going really detailed which may involve writing a book ...

floss2

top_drawer wrote: »

This is totally irrelevant really as its for uni (which may be involved in jobseeking in the future I guess :j ) but I've had some good advice here and no-one seems to go on the student board often ...
I have to submit Extenuating Circumstances to my dept and this is the letter I have written for the board.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to you to apply for Extenuating Circumstances. I suffer with Clinical Depression and this has seriously affected my ability to function over the past 18 months. In the period of 2007/08 my depression was exacerbated by non-attendance at lectures and seminars. I was wrongly informed at enrolment that I was only eligible to attend for assessments.
I continue to receive the support of my G.P and with a recent alteration of my medication my illness is now coming under control. Furthermore, I am in the process of taking steps to alter my life for the better. I am continuing with counselling and through this I have taken positive steps – in order to minimize the impact my families’ issues have on me. I have moved out of the family home and into a place of my own. I am also seeking professional help with my eating problems and to create a supportive network to help me to be positive. I intend to continue this process and hope that this will impact positively upon my illness.
I believe I can benefit from being allowed to repeat my final year with attendance on the Bsc Psychology course. I greatly enjoy the course and find the work both interesting and challenging.
I am so worried they will just say No - its not a good enough reason or that I havent justified it enough as I have had a whole year (just gone) to do the work and its just been one problem after another, my whole life has been in bits but I dont know how to explain that without going really detailed which may involve writing a book ...

Sorry, but there are a few things that I was curious about:

Can I ask why you understood you only had to attend any assessments and how this has exacerbated your illness? Did you ever have this in writing or direct from your personal tutor? Did you ever have any assessments with a disabled student mentor? Have you spoken to your tutor about this request?

Oldernotwiser

I agree, that first paragraph really doesn't make sense; how was your depression made worst by not attending lectures and seminars?

Zazen999

Hi

You've not actually asked them for anything; you need to start with what you are asking for; then tell them the reasons, then finish with you hoping that they consider your request under 'extenuating circumstances' and hope to hear from them soon.

Use bullet points; then post it back here if you want another eye over it.

LittleVoice

Hi, td

You could begin

Dear Sirs

[name the course and reference, give your student number)

I am applying for agreement to repeat a year's study based on the following Extenuating Circumstances.

top_drawer_2

floss2 wrote: »

Sorry, but there are a few things that I was curious about:

Can I ask why you understood you only had to attend any assessments and how this has exacerbated your illness? Did you ever have this in writing or direct from your personal tutor? Did you ever have any assessments with a disabled student mentor? Have you spoken to your tutor about this request?

hi,

When they enroled me the admin assistant who did it said I was now classed as Exams without attendance and so was now entitled to assessments. I asked whether I was still allowed to contact tutors and so on and she said yes that was fine. I dont really have a personal tutor as she left to go to another university at the end of last year. I have dyslexia but have never had any assessments for my mental health problems, I have also sought help from the MH advisor but they have never offered me anything.

Jen

I guess it has exerbated my illness but it has made completing the work a lot harder than it ever was previously.

top_drawer_2

hi all,

Will go and do as you suggest and get back to you in a bit.

Jen

floss2

Do you have any dyslexia support? Any equipment or extra time? Did the admin assistant explain anything else? I think it's unlikely that you have no personal tutor, more likely that you haven't been informed in the normal way as you have not been attending lectures.

ryandj

Particularly with the support of your GP - in the form of a medical letter - this should be fine I would imagine.

Are you applying to resit the year a second time? I get the impression that is what you are saying but not implicitly. As someone said before, make it very clear. Also you hint at your family problems but do not go into details about this.

At the moment the letter is not really asking for anything - extenuating circumstances are the reason for asking for special treatment, not what you are actually asking for.

This is how I would set out the letter:

Introduce yourself.Say who you are, what course you are on, what year.
Explain your extenuating circumstances - your depression, GP, sick note.
State that you were given incorrect information on enrolling regarding the lectures you could attend, this made the work very difficult for you, you felt unsupported, etc etc...and this made your depression worse.
State what you are doing to resolve the problems yourself - moving away from family, change of medication, counselling, etc
Say what you want from them in terms of support - to resit the year next year I take it?
Conclusion - finish by reiterating what you want, and end saying you look forward to hearing from them etc.

One more thing, family's not families'. The second one is plural, the first one is 'belonging to your family' - as in the problems.

top_drawer_2

hi,

Yes I have dyslexia support. I have been shuttled between so many different people this past year - no-one understands my status and is unclear what I am entitled too.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but had I been informed of half the information that I could have been then I would never have made the dicisions that I did. I have had a truly dreadful year and my course was so far down my list of prioirities as I was struggling just to breathe much less study, work on a project (with a truly awful tutor who is Never available) now I finally have the resources to deadicate to it .... it just all seems so damm unfair that I wasnt told that I could have incalcalated and come back for this year. I wouldnt have had the additional stress and I wouldnt be having to apply for EC's now.

Jen

floss2

Maybe making an appointment to see your Head of Year would be better, then you can explain face to face, rather than trying to put everything in writing (which is a challenge when dyslexic).

But if you do this, then make yourself a list of points to remember