dissertation mitigating cirumstances

Hi everyone- my dissertation is due in on friday 28th March and wondered if anyone thinks these would be sound enough grounds for MC.

Basically I have been on a course of roaccutane since September. One of the less common side effects is drowsiness and fatigue. Since around November I have definitely been feeling myself getting roe and more tired- even on 8-10 hours sleep I will suddenly be hit with a burst of exhaustion whether it's in class, in the library or just wondering about.

I know 3rd year is very tiresome and stressful for everyone but this to me feels more than just being a bit sleepy because of a heavy work load.. I mean it's like REAL tiredness like I will sit down for a bit and before I know it I wake up and 6 hours have past!! I know everyone has a tendency to feel a bit sleepy in a boring lecture but whatever I'm doing- even if it's something fun I get tired really quickly.

I phoned up my dermatologist who is back home (I'm about 250 miles from home) and she said it does sound like it could well be because of the roaccutane. She said it's a rare side effect but the way I am suddenly hit my the sleepiness rather than feeling like it all day is a bit concerning and she has suggested I lower my dose for a while.

If I get a note from her- does anyone think this would be enough to get MC? I really do feel like it has affected how much work I have been able to do. I'm usually completely on the ball with work and just get things done. If I have a deadline I usually can happily spend hours a day just typing and researching and it's fine but something is definitely not right here. I'm not the type to just be lazy and not bother with my work but every time I sit down and attempt to write my eyes just start shutting and it's like my brain is switching down!

Any insight here would be really appreciated :smile:

Reply 1

sliceofcake

I think it depends entirely on your university. We were told that unless we're dead there are no mitigating circumstances. Even if you're ill or injured or whatever before the deadline, you should have been working on it all year and so it shouldn't really effect it that much. Rather specifically, we've been told if we've broken a leg and come deadline day we're stuck in hospital, get a friend to submit it for us. Of course, that all sounds a little extreme, but basically for my department at my university, it would require a serious case to be given mitigating circumstances with the argument of "you shouldn't have left it so late".
Perhaps talk to your supervisor, let them know of your concerns and the cause of them to see if they think it would be worth submitting a note. They'd be much more experienced with the administration side of things for your department and university than us.

EDIT: I just want to make it clear, I'm not being judgmental by saying you should have done it by now and this shouldn't have much of an impact. This is the attitude my department has taken towards 'excuses'. I've done like half of mine so far with no excuse for not having done more, myself.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 2

Sephits

I've been told by my thesis supervisor that if I do end up put on tramadol as I've been threatened with then we need to have a discussion about my submission date. It's well worth getting in touch with your head of year or supervisor and discussing it with them given the impact that the meds are having on you, and doing it as soon as possible.

Reply 3

LSD

I'm more in agreement with sliceofcake. Not being harsh or judgemental but I'd call that far from mitigating circumstances. My uni isn't quite as harsh as above but similarly unless someone's died, you've died/ended up in hospital or are very ill then you wouldn't get MC - also those are mainly for exams "on the day" circumstances. For a dissertation you definitely wouldn't get away with it because as said previously you should be working on it all year round. If you got hit by a car on your way to hand in then they might say yes okay hand it in ASAP because it should be finished already, you'd be unlikely to get any sort of extension to work on it.

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Reply 4

KiwiMonkey96

As said by previous posters it really depends on your uni. I managed to get a deadline extended due to my anxiety at the time effecting my work, but this was a relatively minor assignment (and a first year one at that). If you feel strongly that it is this that has prevented the work from getting done on time then I would make a claim for mitigating circumstances and provide evidence to show that this has effected it for a long period of time. If they think it's only recently become a problem then, as previous posters have said, they will probably argue that you've had already a long time to do it, although they may still try and argue that anyways.