Location: Massachusetts
I’m in graduate school in Massachusetts but I’m based out of state. I signed a lease for an apartment for a year in MA so I could finish my degree but due to a clerical error i (and a large chunk of people in my program) were blocked from registering for classes (the classes are reserved for a classification of students but I was left off that list). The classes then filled up and I was told that I could only get in if enough people dropped, and if they didn’t I need to look for other courses that could fulfill my degree requirements but have nothing to do with my career. Additionally most of these classes are offered only once a year and some need to be taken in a fall-spring sequence so if I can’t get in this semester I’d have to wait a full year. Since id have nothing to do for a year I found an internship and a place to take classes elsewhere but it would take me out of state. I should also mention that this is the second time the school’s clerical errors delayed my graduation so I made sure to go around confirming that I would be good to go this time only to run into the same issue. Would I have any standing to sue the school for the fees for breaking my lease?
Final detail, I’m doing a late in life career change and really don’t want to waste my time splitting 2 full time semesters into 4 part time semesters. I came to this program to study a very specific thing to get a very specific job at a specific company so taking alternate courses would be a waste too.
Comments
>Would I have any standing to sue the school for the fees for breaking my lease?
No, your decision to break your lease and seek an opportunity elsewhere is yours alone.
This is not legal advice, but interpersonal advice; I have been in a similar situation and I emailed the prof directly, told them the situation, told them I’m an awesome student that participates and does the work and comes prepared. I attended the first class(some schools want wait-listed students to do that)and got the invite. It worked twice.