Uuuhhh.. I just got kicked out of school apparently.

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I'm still stunned right now.

"
Hello <my name>

As you know, you still have a 3 in the first block for MAT1.
This is a problem: you are allowed to have at most one 5 per semester (and no lower marks), and you will not be able to resit MAT1 before the summer.
Unfortunately, that means that you will get a Binding Negative Advice in July, and will be forced to leave us after the summer.

In your own interest, you better start looking for a new study right away.

If you want to talk about this, you can find me in my office Wednesday afternoon, after 15:15. Or we can make an appointment for Friday.


Best regards,

<Mentor name>
"


All my other grades are good, I got 29 points out of the 30 minimum required to pass the year, with a full exam week still to go at the end of the year in July, but I had real trouble getting into maths again because it was the only thing I really had to study for and just couldn't due to social stress, so I failed my first terms maths exam ("MAT1"). I had the opportunity to retake it last exam week, 3 weeks ago, but choose to focus on MAT3 instead (got a 9 for that). I was under the impression I would be able to resit MAT1 in period 1 AND 3 of the second year as well, but apparently that only counts if I had gotten a 5 instead of a 3. (1 to 5 is fail, 6 to 10 is pass).

Not only that, but before I even started the study I had a meeting with him about my autism and that I'd probably have a hard time adjusting and may end up failing the first year not because of academic shortcomings, and he said I shouldn't worry because I could always just restart.

I'm starting to feel sick, I worked towards this study for 4 years and I had no idea I was under this predicament and -had- to resit MAT1, not to even pass, but to just fail it less. My mentor never emailed me about this until today!

You should reach out to your mentor and discuss this - there may be a way around it.

Do they know you have ASD? Usually if people at the school know you struggle with a disability they can compensate for you and help you out like give you extra time, make up work, or be more lenient about other things.

Okay, wow, a difficult situation. One thing is to be open to adding free positives to your life, yes, now more than ever. This may be surprising, but please try to be open to the rest of life. So, perhaps one potentially social open field and one personal / artistic / fun endeavor, or anything else of your own choosing, and this is an option rather than just one more blasted obligation.

And then if possible, you want to get an advocate squarely on your side. Your current mentor sounds like he has two roles, both your mentor and also institutional representative, and that is a tricky situation. And maybe also try out a tutor or two unconnected to the school.

And what I'm going to say about institutions applies primarily to my United States. I don't know if it also applies to the Netherlands. Okay, for as many good qualities as my country has, the institution generally wins. It's like it's an animal incapable of acknowledging it made a mistake. Your mentor saying you shouldn't worry because you can just restart, he probably doesn't remember that. Or, memory is a reconstructive process and he doesn't want to admit even to himself that he made this big a mistake and misled you this much, and is instead likely to think, well, certainly I said or certainly I meant . If you choose to bring this up, one middle method is to say, I remember being told I shouldn't worry because . . . All the same, I remember being told . .

Now, it still might be worth pursuing whatever appeals process they have, even if they tell you it's not going to help. One, there's maybe a one out of three chance you might win. And two, you might feel better that you followed through and went the distance. I mean, you're 29 towards the 30 minimum overall. And you did really well in MAT9. I don't know why they're penalizing you so heavily for MAT1. But, that's kind of what institutions do.

Again, please have an advocate with you if possible. That's what presidents and prime ministers do for crying out loud. They don't fight all their battles totally alone. So maybe a family member, or maybe someone with an autism spectrum advocacy group unconnected with the university.

The above answer is a very good one but to add to it...

Try to contact someone other than the mentor if he is not being very understanding. Maybe there is a learning disabilities department or Course organiser (head tutor) or something. A good idea would be to discuss this with them.

Appealing of course is an option too but you would need to find out more about the process.

An additional person to contact, could be to talk to a careers advice person as well to outline all your options, about re-sitting the year or doing another course. Some courses (in the UK anyway) will allow you to start mid-way if you have certain prior studies already.

And finally a charity for Autistic people could help, looking up a phone number could be a good way to go, they may be able to offer advice, support, or even talk to your institution for you.

The above is great advice.

Would you be able to transfer the credits you already have to another school?