Hi

My wife applied for her post graduate course in a university and it was refused saying she had too many failures in under graduate course in India.

She took a 4 years Engineering degree and when she had baby she could not concentrate on the exams. But she passed all the exams before the completion of the course which is 4 years with First class degree.

Now she is looking to apply for other universities.


I am looking for any advice on how to get this covered so that the same thing doesn't happen in other places.

Thanks in advance

I expect different places have different rules so she should have more success elsewhere.

Thanks. Just wondering whether she should mention that in her personal statement in future?

You mean mention about the reason for the failures? I think she could mention it, she could say that she had a baby during the degree, therefore her grades suffered, but she was able to demonstrate she could achieve high marks when she retook the classes later on (If that is what happened).

Im sorry to hear that about your wife. I dont really understand how they can state that she had too many failures, but passed everything within time and even with first class? Could there be another reason?

How much did she fail? One course or many?

Was no option to defer while she had the baby?

Are you planning to have another baby?

If no, then mention in the application that the failures were due to having a baby and that she is not planning to have another baby.
If yes, then a PhD might not be the right thing at this moment.

Good luck to your wife!

Wanting to have another baby should not be an obstacle to doing a PhD. Just like it should not be an obstacle to taking a job. There should however be adequate provision for her to take time off.

I think in this situation all she can do is explain why she failed so many modules. Good luck!