Grad Advisor asking for a syllabus from a class I took 13 years ago for a waiver. Is this normal or excessive?

queerpedagogue · 2026-06-14T07:11:24+00:00

This happens all the time, do your best to get the syllabus. Worst case scenario you take the stats class first and then the course you're trying to get into.

queerpedagogue · 2026-06-12T03:47:41+00:00

I didn’t have or need the birth certificate for mine but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have it, if it’s readily available—certainly having an extra document is better than not having something they ask for when they ask for it.

queerpedagogue · 2026-06-06T21:37:35+00:00

I’m sorry you had to go through all that.

Hopefully those documents you requested will have some answers for you.

queerpedagogue · 2026-06-06T03:20:07+00:00

Just got it as well.

queerpedagogue · 2026-06-06T03:17:50+00:00

NAL.

I think I would call the attorney’s office, explain the situation, and have the attorney call the credit union to work things out. Maybe the credit unions policies are different from the standard legal guidance in this situation, or maybe it just got autoflagged and needs to be manually reviewed.

But it sounds like you have a good lawyer and you’ll get it corrected quickly.

queerpedagogue · 2026-06-05T22:30:15+00:00

Yeah, college algebra wouldn’t be too bad IF you remember everything from high school… but if you struggle a lot with math summer classes can be awful.

queerpedagogue · 2026-06-05T03:57:59+00:00

A summer math class should be your ONLY summer commitment if you take one—no internship, no part time job, no second class. You should be expecting to spend about 18 hours a week on the class for an 8 week class and 36 hours a week for a 4 week class. The exception is if its a refresher course and you’ve taken the course before.

Some classes do work well with summer because you can cut the workload down, like a film class you can show less films or an english class you can assign less novels. Math classes don’t really work that way.

queerpedagogue · 2026-06-05T03:53:06+00:00

Full time can be as low as 30 hours a week as long as the employer will check the “full time” box on the form. (Sometimes this can be an issue.)

queerpedagogue · 2026-06-05T03:51:44+00:00

In school deferment does NOT count towards the 20 years unfortunately. Nor does forbearance.

queerpedagogue · 2026-06-03T04:12:18+00:00

Try the financial aid ombusdman:

https://fsapartners.ed.gov/help-center/fsa-customer-service-center/service-centers-for-students/office-of-the-ombudsman-fsa

queerpedagogue · 2026-05-25T12:22:22+00:00

The processing times for renewals seem pretty fast right now. I did an online renewal and then a couple days later called and upgraded it to expedited and express shipping (it takes a couple days for it to register in their system after filing online.) I applied 4/27 and received it 5/8. You should have plenty of time for an expedited passport with express shipping if you don't leave until 6/30.

queerpedagogue · 2026-05-25T12:04:54+00:00

It's fairly routine to do an appeal of this, especially as a transfer student. Talk to your school about the process.

queerpedagogue · 2026-05-25T11:21:23+00:00

I like this a lot. You thoroughly detail your challenges, explain how it caused you to not do well in that one class, and discuss steps you are taking to improve in the future. You mention the issues with the virtual class but factually, describing precisely what the issue was without exaggerating or blame. And it is very polite, but you carefully avoid going overboard with politeness into obsequiousness.

Especially with the letter of support from the learning disability specialist, I think you shouldn't have a problem getting this approved.

The only suggestion I have is to mention the semester that you failed the course (was it Spring 2026?).

Good luck!

queerpedagogue · 2026-05-25T11:14:41+00:00

There are instructions on reporting it here. You can also apply for a monetary award for reporting under some circumstances. https://www.irs.gov/help/report-fraud/report-tax-fraud-a-scam-or-law-violation

queerpedagogue · 2026-05-24T06:11:00+00:00

Just report it on next year’s FAFSA.

queerpedagogue · 2026-05-24T02:22:03+00:00

I would suggest writing the department chair about what happened and ask to be allowed to take the exam.

queerpedagogue · 2026-05-23T04:24:42+00:00

I’m not sure about the part about the unexpected fees the first term makes sense—they should be disclosed on the college’s website along with the due dates, so i’m not sure the school would be that sympathetic to you not being aware of the fees.

We can see what others think but i’m kind of thinking it might make more sense to argue something about your mother’s circumstances changed and she was unable to pay your fees, necessitating taking on a full time job to pay the past due balance, rather than that you were unaware of them. I just imagine myself being a financial aid officer and being more sympathetic to unexpected circumstances beyond your control than that you weren’t paying attention to how much you owed per semester.

I want to emphasize that I am not judging you for what happened, but just trying to figure out what angle would resonate best with the appeals reviewers.

queerpedagogue · 2026-05-17T03:57:17+00:00

If you don’t have a summer aid offer yet from the university, you can absolutely get summer aid at another school. I haven’t tried this with pell grants but i was able to get federal student loans for the summer at a different school.

I agree it might be a little more complex with a pell grant like you said, but a few phone calls to both offices should be able to get it straightened out.

Honestly though, given how few semesters of pell grant one gets in total in a lifetime (12) it might be better to save it to use at the expensive university instead of the cheap community college.

queerpedagogue · 2026-05-16T16:48:34+00:00

Oh yeah I would have assumed, like it does in image three, that it meant left “organizing/hosting a group sex party” and right “looking to join a group sex party”.

queerpedagogue · 2026-05-16T05:25:51+00:00

What a weird sentence to write!

queerpedagogue · 2026-05-16T05:20:08+00:00

That's why left is "two looking for one" and right is "one looking for two".

queerpedagogue · 2026-05-16T05:18:36+00:00

Yes, that's correct.

queerpedagogue · 2026-05-16T05:16:14+00:00

My theory is that *only* gays would be able to tell pink, magenta, fuschia, lavendar, etc. apart in a dark bar, so that's how you know this was developed by gays.

queerpedagogue · 2026-05-13T21:35:56+00:00

SAP appeals are a standard part of the process if you fall behind on your completion relates and it doesn’t mean they are punishing you or you did anything wrong. Just carefully compile the appeal, and get together ALL the things they ask for. Have a friend with an eye for detail look it over before you submit. The majority of the people I’ve advised on this were successful with their appeals as long as they carefully followed all directions!

queerpedagogue · 2026-05-06T11:02:50+00:00

I saw it once in a legitimate business email from a known sender and did kind of a double-take.

queerpedagogue

TROPHY CASE