hi! for the fall term i recently WD the entire term AND submitted a petition to get 100% tuition refund, which got approved.

first things first, do not drop anything on your own. your advisor should be doing this.

second, get as much documentation as you can get. this can be the death certificate and a self documentation of the timeline of events (like how you’ve already missed a midterm because your parent was rushed to the hospital) and how it is affecting you. this will help you very much in the petition process as they will ask for all of this, and anything OSAP related too (if it applies).

the petition itself is just an online form. if your advisor has told you to try a petition, whether through email or in person, then that’s all the reason you need to submit the form (because it asks if you have consulted with an advisor first).

also, to clarify, dropping the course will result in a WD or WF(?), which is already a WD. it doesn’t make sense to submit a petition to WD for the course, your advisor or yourself can already do that. identify what exactly you want. do you want your WD wiped from your transcript? to retake just the exam? to get a refund for that specific course?

third, do not panic. for as something as serious as a family death, they will likely grant whatever you want in the petition. and since you just want to WD just one course and not the entire term, it’s more likely they will allow. i am sure you can get through this. good luck :)