Failure...

I don't think this is the first time I've used this title. It likely won't be the last of course, but who likes to admit that?

I was officially turned down today for the MA Humanities Program that I applied for. The director of the program cited two chief reasons: I did not meet the mid-B requirements, but more importantly I have no fourth year courses from which the applications committee could assess my ability to work in this program.

As for the grades, my cumulative GPA is 73.72%, a mere 1.3% under guidelines. Actually, the booklet "School of Graduate Studies" distributed by Laurentian University states the requirement to be "a minimum of B standing in a four-year humanities degree, or equivalent." So it is disappointing to see that amongst its various divisions LU has a problem in communication.

The tone of the letter implied that this 1.3% deficit in GPA was something that the apps committee may have overlooked, if only I had some good showing for the other requirement.

Ironically, the BA Communications at LU offers no fourth-year courses whatsoever and precious few third-year courses. Now the program I sought entry for is multi-disciplinary, so I checked for fourth-year courses in related areas of interest. Classics: no fourth-year courses available. Theatre: no fourth-year courses available. Even the English program has a very restricted set of fourth year courses. Most of them have a minimum of 24 credits (nearly a full year) as pre-requisite. Women's Studies, Philosophy and Religious Studies each have one fourth-year course without listed pre-requisites. So does Geography.

This, too, is rather deceptive. Last year my friend Neil and I registered for a four thousand-level course in Religious Studies with no listed pre-req, only to arrive and be told that we were absolutely Not allowed to take part because of a lack of pre-requisite courses. You can see my dilemma. Essentially, unless you have studied in a field that specifically leads to these upper year courses, you're not going any further.

Now I am not arguing that there should be said upper-level courses. I understand the importance of them for assessment of ability. I suppose I should have intuited that they would be mandatory. I don't know how many courses are required, though I hope to hear back from Program Director Laurence Steven, who has recommended I take some four thousand-level courses to build qualifications. He seems genial, I'm sure he will respond soon.

More than anything, I simply wish to vent my frustration at the fact that, wittingly or not, Laurentian appears to have set up some students for failure. Surely this is not faculty's fault. I have spoken to many members of faculty who have expressed their own frustration with different aspects of administration. Everyone understands the economy of it all; more funding units equals better quarterly reports. Standards must be maintained, however.

Until this resolves, it will be the students who get hosed. If you are a student, (and that's roughly Half the people who read this), be careful. Take nothing for granted at this institution. Plan ahead. Well ahead, and go seek as much information as you can get..........