Since I am a student with a foreign bank account and the amount is below the threshold to give information to the IRS can I bypass the turbotax upgrade?

It depends -

Even though your foreign bank account may be below the threshold for filing an FBAR , the IRS does require you to select "yes" to the question regarding if you have any type of foreign financial account. This information is actually reported to the IRS (on the bottom section of Schedule B) and can carry severe penalties if not reported.

So if you have a foreign financial account and you need to include a Schedule B with your filing (even if it only has the foreign  financial questions on the bottom of the schedule marked) and if this requires an upgrade, it is better to play it safe and do the upgrade.