Terrible CC GPA, extreme circumstances

[Ripkabird98]

Hello,

This is going to be a pretty long backstory, so I’m going to get straight to it. I started community college at age 14, I was homeschooled, and my mother thought it would be a good idea. It wasn't. While I still did some classes at home, and those grades were quite good, I'll be honest, the grades through the college are awful. It's currently at 2.25, and I'm not taking any more classes.

However, it's not as cut and dry as that. I have a nerve disease (I’ve seen various specialists. The exact diagnosis has never been agreed upon, but CIDP and Charcot-Marie Tooth are kicked around a lot) that I've struggled with all my life. My entire time in community college, it escalated again (I had experienced a brief dormancy of it) that only ended a few months ago. It without a doubt effected my performance. I had constant doctors’ appointments, and we had to tinker with my meds for years, causing me to go in and out of withdrawals (from my legally prescribed meds) causing extreme weakness, fever, nausea, etc. I missed some classes, and even when I didn't, for obvious reasons, my schooling took a hit. I suspect my homeschool grades were better because I could do them when I wasn't collapsed in my bed, or at the hospital, whereas at the community college, the deadlines and class times didn't care about my condition. When I did go to class, I often had to leave lectures due to sudden waves of nausea. With my homeschool classes, if I had a lot of doctors’ appointments, or was sick, I could do my class, as in the lectures and tests and labs, either at a different time on the same day, or push it to the next weekend, or do it the weekend before, pre-emptively. This allowed me to do much better grade wise, because having an appointment didn’t mean missing an entire 3 hour lecture of information.

While my grades are bad, my last two semesters saw C's and Bs, an improvement from my D's and F's. This is where my condition began to get better, though not fully, and I could apply myself more. However, the semester before last (my first improvement) my family moved, which took up huge amounts of time and mental energy, especially as the move gave me a new step mother and two twin 7 year old step sisters. On top of that, while I had improved, it wasn't fully. Last semester, which was also an improvement, I found out the first week of school that I need spinal surgery (which was performed in early Feb.) I needed several weeks to recover. Because I was gone for those weeks, I missed many points that were only available during the weeks I was gone. When I got back to that class, I did very well, got A's on the tests that had happened while I was recovering (which I was allowed to take on my return) and got an A on my final, because I studied intensively during and after my recovery. I also completed my accelerated English course. At this time I was still having issues with my condition. It finally stabilized in early summer.

Throughout these 4 years, my mother split apart from my other mother (I was raised by two women, to clarify), and the mother who I'm still talking to (We'll call her T) got a new partner, who she moved in with (bringing me along) who also has two twins. My other mother (We'll call her C) did some emotionally neglectful/abusive things to me in which the details aren't really important, but it was very hard for me. I used a therapist extensively to work through it, but from 14-18 was a very dark time for me because of that, on top of my physical issues.

To be clear, I'm not trying to make excuses. I could have tried harder, or stood up to my mom and told her college needed to wait. I could have done a lot of things, but at the time, I didn't see them.

So, now, for my question. I’m 18, and finally looking at universities. When I combine my grade with my CC grade, it definitely gets better (CC classes only supplemented my homeschooling, so I have some homeschool grades to raise it up), but the exact number isn’t one I’m sure on until my mother figures out how she’s supposed to weight homeschool grades. I’m planning on getting an undergrad in Political Science, as it’s a topic I’m very passionate about. Is Allopathic med school something that just isn’t possible for me anymore? If I do very well in my undergrad, and do well on my MCAT, would my CC transcript still be enough to haunt me and prevent me from being an MD, no matter how I play my future?. Failure isn’t an option for me, and I’ve had a lot of people tell me med school isn’t possible, and MD certainly isn’t. I want to be a doctor, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get there. But I’m going through a particularly bad period, especially due to a lot of people being less than supportive. I’m extremely driven to prove them wrong, but I’m starting to become concerned that no matter what I do, MD med schools will laugh my application into the dumpster.

Thanks in advance for any input.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[TMC07]

Medical schools won't care about your homeschool grades, just like they don't care about high school grades. The only grades that will affect you are those on a collegiate transcript (i.e. those from the community college). Since when can you take homeschool community college classes? I'm about 99% sure you can't. Unless these are online through a university, they will not be reported to AMCAS. The GPA your mom is calculting is the equilvalent of a high school GPA which doesn't matter to med schools.

I'd say university is your chance to start over. I would suggest that you retake any course you took at a the community college where you had a C, D, or F in case you decide to also apply DO. Just make sure you do well over the next four years. I wouldn't be in a rush to graduate early (I am assuming you have a lot of transfer hours). If you don't get your GPA up, you may have to do a post-bacc later. You are so young right now, and you have the opportunity to remedy the situation without a post-bacc.

When you do finally apply to medical school, they will see that those poor grades where from college classes you took in high school and they will see how you've progressed. Do well in a traditional undergraduate setting and on the MCAT and you'll be fine.

You're only 18!!!!!! An MD is definitely still possible! Those people telling you otherwise are misinformed. Don't listen to them.

The biggest issue I see when looking at your post is your illness. I am not familiar with how medical schools approach the physical competency aspect of potential medical students, but I would be more concerned about that if I were you.

 

[Ripkabird98]

I'm really thrilled to hear that.

To clear it up, it wasn't really a home school community college class. I was just primarily home schooled, and I took some normal classes at the local community college. Am I to understand that they won't be reported to AMCAS? And even if they are, assuming my undergrad and MCAT are in shape, they likely won't care too much?

I do have a question about retaking. Right now, I'm not considered a transfer student when I apply to universities, because all my CC credits took place before my graduation date. I'm applying to my state's public university this fall. Because of this, I had planned on not retaking CC classes, leaving it totally behind, and just doing well at Uni. To retake them would essentially reclass me as a transfer, which would be a bit more of a hassle. At this point, I'll basically have to redo my core classes, regardless of if I go straight to Uni, or redo, CC, but if there's something my counselors and myself don't see that should mean I retake my CC classes, I'll definitely hear it out. But as of now, my plan was to attend Uni as a freshman next Fall, and just start anew there, and go into med school after I get my undergrad, on schedule.

As for my illness, I'll admit, that was an brief initial concern. However, the team that follows me (Neurology, Rheumatology, and Endocrinology) have all said they don't think it will matter. When my condition relapsed, it wasn't random, it was 100% because we tinkered with some meds that me staying on would have done a lot of damage (I was on extremely high doses of Prednisone, and had been for a decade). For some reason, my body became addicted to the prednisone, and it took a 3 year wean off of it to make sure I would be able to get off it. Even with the wean, it threw my condition for a loop and it came back. After I got off of it, it took over a year for my body to fully come back. I'm off Prednisone now, and only do my at home globulin infusions (Sub-q) twice a month. Other than that, I'm 100% normal now, and should stay that way. I'm actually more fit now than I was before.

 

[gyngyn]

Calculate your AMCAS and AACOMAS gpa's.
Calculators can be found in the sticky that introduces this forum (begins with "IMPORTANT"" under Helpful Hints. All transcripts after high school should be included.

 

[Ripkabird98]

Question, before I do that.

All of my grades are technically HS grades, since even my CC grades were considered work towards my HS transcript. No credit hours were done after my graduation.

Does this play into how I use the calculator?

 

[gyngyn]

Question, before I do that.

All of my grades are technically HS grades, since even my CC grades were considered work towards my HS transcript. No credit hours were done after my graduation.

Does this play into how I use the calculator?

CC grades still count.
Contact AMCAS if you have any questions.

 

[Ripkabird98]

So, am I entering my homeschool grades with them, or just the grades through my CC? No work has been done after high school.

Sorry for my confusion, just want to make sure I get it correct.

Will this give a better idea of if MD programs will reject me in the future?

 

[gyngyn]

So, am I entering my homeschool grades with them, or just the grades through my CC? No work has been done after high school.

Sorry for my confusion, just want to make sure I get it correct.

Will this give a better idea of if MD programs will reject me in the future?

It will tell us the burden of the grades already attributable.
If you have no college transcripts, there is no burden.
If you have taken CC courses, you have accumulated a report-able gpa.

 

[Ripkabird98]

OK.

I'll go up to my advising office in the next few days and get the calculator done. There are some items on my transcript I don't know where to put, and some slots in the calculator I don't know the purpose for.

Thank you for point the calculator out.

Just out of curiosity, in your opinion, even if my AMCAS is abysmal, would a good MCAT and good undergrad GPA, with ECs, accompanied with a brief explanation about my CC grades, be enough to get me into an MD program? Or has this totally sunk my chances?

 

[gyngyn]

OK.

I'll go up to my advising office in the next few days and get the calculator done. There are some items on my transcript I don't know where to put, and some slots in the calculator I don't know the purpose for.

Thank you for point the calculator out.

Just out of curiosity, in your opinion, even if my AMCAS is abysmal, would a good MCAT and good undergrad GPA, with ECs, accompanied with a brief explanation about my CC grades, be enough to get me into an MD program? Or has this totally sunk my chances?

It takes years of bad grades to sink an application.

 

[Ripkabird98]

So then, since my CC transcript technically extends over 4 years, that may be the case for me, correct? I'll likely still at least apply to Med school no matter what, was just trying to get an idea I'd that outcome is basically a burned bridge regardless of how well I do through my undergrad.

 

[gyngyn]

So then, since my CC transcript technically extends over 4 years, that may be the case for me, correct? I'll likely still at least apply to Med school no matter what, was just trying to get an idea I'd that outcome is basically a burned bridge regardless of how well I do through my undergrad.

Get the facts first.
DO's forgive re-taken classes, if your CC classes are numerous and low.

 

[Ripkabird98]

I only have a few that I retook. I don't have a ton or classes on the transcript anyway, since the majority of the schooling was at home. No more than 2 or 3 classes a semester.

Thank you for help so far. I'll update when I calculate it out, but this thread has given me a lot of hope that if I work hard in undergrad, that MD programs are still in my reach.