Withdrawing from undergrad courses

[mrp0pularrr]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this community and I hope that someone can help me. I applied to Broward College in January of 2007 where I chose Accounting as my major. I applied full time, but because of transportation issues I withdrew from all three courses except one (only because I was unable to withdraw from that course at the time).

I came back a year later, but was unable to attend school full time due to the fact that I was ineligible for financial aid (scholarships, grants, and loans) so I did my best to pay for as many courses as I could. I went to school part time until just recently where I changed my major to Biology and tried to take 16 credits worth of classes which consist of: US History (3 credits), Pre-cal/Trig (5 credits), Intro to Bio I (3 credits) and Lab (1 credit), and General Chemistry (3 credits) and Lab (1 credit).

I withdrew from US History and General Chemistry with the Lab only because I was overwhelmed with school and working full time at a doctor's office. I am thinking of withdrawing from my Pre-cal/Trig class only because the odds that I actually pass with a B are 50/50 at this point and I don't want my GPA to become affected.

With a total of 6 withdrawals already present, and maybe a 7th if I drop Pre-cal/Trig as well, are my chances slim-to-none? I am still considered a Freshmen in college with only about 25 credits accumulated with a 3.04 GPA so far. I am just stressed out this semester due to the fact that I went overboard with everything. I am 22 years old, will Med school also consider my age a factor in there decision making considering I might not graduate until I'm 24 or 25?

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[fish89]

My advice is this:
Obviously, a good GPA and fewer W's are types of things, which you know - I think you're stuck with 2 not-so-great decisions and I'll leave it up to the others here to tell you what they think about getting the W or C. Personally I would take the C.

That said, in the future, I think if you're choosing between overloading yourself [and possibly repeating] this type of situation, versus taking longer to finish your degree and doing well in your clsases, you should opt to take fewer classes and take longer to finish your degree.

Sure, it's not what most people do. But I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing - you have a good reason for taking 1/2 time classes and you're working fulltime. That is a good story for med schools. ["I worked hard" => "I have unique life experiences"] combined with [I did well in my classes despite working hard => I will be a competent med student]. In the future, just put the past behind you, take fewer classes, show you can do well, and some schools may be willing to put behind your shaky past. It's the trend that counts. Med is a long road anyway - depending on your specialty you'll add 2-5 years on your training, so I wouldn't worry baout an extra few years of undergrad.

 

[fish89]

Also, age doesn't matter. If you look at the stats for some med schools, the average age is 25 or older. If anything you will hve a unique life experience that will give you something cool to talk about.

 

[JAV45]

I'm right there with ya bud. I started school as an accounting major also. I worked in insurance for a couple years while going to school full time as well so I'm in the same boat also, it is not an easy task to go to school full time and work full time, especially when you have to answer emails or phone calls constantly while trying to do some homework. You're definitely not alone on this one..

 

[mrp0pularrr]

Thank you for your advice Fish89. I feel like what I'll do next semester is try to balance out my work schedule and school schedule more appropriately. I'm still going to go full time, but I'll keep it more at a reasonable number of classes. 6 classes was just foolish - I don't know what I was thinking. I'm also going to try to work less. And as far as with my Pre-cal/Trig class, I'm going to think hard about it. I know I don't want the C, but if I study hard and ace my test(s) and final with 90's-100's I might be able to pull off my 'B'.

But I'm still keeping my options open. Thank you for responding to my post. I was really putting myself down.

 

[fish89]

don't get too down on yourself. from what i've seen the med schools want to see you can do the work. you still have 3.5 years more to show them that, plus the end of this quarter/semester. i personally always err on the side of easier vs heavier load, since med schools dont care either way.

 

[ArthurIhde]

it is a great idea!