So, Your Student Failed a Class. Now What?

Ole Miss fortunately has an answer. There’s a little thing called “freshman forgiveness” (applicable to all students, not just freshmen) that allows you to repeat a course without penalty. Students are granted 12 hours’ worth of forgiveness to be used at the student’s discretion. So, here’s how it works.

Let’s say Jane Doe received a “D” in Bio 101, but she needed at least a “C” to receive credit towards her major. The next step for Jane would be to register Bio 101 (and maybe research which professors to take and which to stray away from) again, whether it be the next semester or 3 semesters later. It doesn’t matter when you repeat the class, as long as you do so at the University. Next, before the completion of Bio 101 round two, Jane will need to file a Petition to Invoke Grad Forgiveness form, which she can pick up at student services in Martindale. Assuming Jane does well in the class, her initial D will then be replaced with her new passing grade. She will now have 9 more hours to use in case she fails any other courses. We all know that some semesters can be filled with more distractions or have a tougher work load than others. My worst semester was the first semester of my sophomore year, when I moved into my first apartment. Was I as responsible with my schoolwork as I should have been? No. Did I have a lot of fun? Yes. Ole Miss, thank you for freshman forgiveness.

PAY ATTENTION TO THIS: It is not widely known, but freshman forgiveness is NOT always applicable when applying to grad schools. It is up to the individual grad school to decide whether a replaced grade is accepted. Many grad schools request that the University recalculate your GPA to include the initial failed class AND the redo class. From a friend's experience, I know that the Law School Admissions Council does require the failed course to be calculated into an applicant's transcript and GPA. Personally, I think this should be in big, bold and red letters all over the place but alas, Ole Miss does not make this widely known for reasons unbeknownst to me.