Will I be accepted into med school with two leave of absences?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
L

lightthecandle

Full Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2006
Messages
96
Reaction score
0
Members do not see this ad.
I left a semester of college last fall due to medical problems(with all Ws). I fear that I may have to leave this semester (with all W's again) I just want to ask how this will affect my chances of getting into med school or more importantly getting entry into a SMP or Postbacc
please do let me know!
 
lightthecandle said:
I left a semester of college last fall due to medical problems(with all Ws). I fear that I may have to leave this semester (with all W's again) due to an urgent surgery that I must undergo. I just want to ask how this will affect my chances of getting into med school or more importantly getting entry into a SMP or Postbacc
please do let me know!
Click to expand...

So, you will have essentially lose a year of school due to injury/illness. The major concern will be whether you have sufficiently recovered to be able to perform in med school. You should address that in your essays and, if possible, have a faculty member who has worked with you closely discuss how you managed your classroom responsibilities up to the point where you had to leave (it helps if the faculty can attest that you had an excellent performance in the classroom up to the point that you had to leave).
 
LizzyM said:
So, you will have essentially lose a year of school due to injury/illness. The major concern will be whether you have sufficiently recovered to be able to perform in med school. You should address that in your essays and, if possible, have a faculty member who has worked with you closely discuss how you managed your classroom responsibilities up to the point where you had to leave (it helps if the faculty can attest that you had an excellent performance in the classroom up to the point that you had to leave).
Click to expand...

QFT.

I took a leave of absence (didn't want to be in college and wanted to figure out my life) AND graduated 3 months late (I was hit by a car and had to take a light course load my senior year), i.e. after finishing up classes over the summer. I definitely stressed that my recovery was coming along very well.

I still got a few interviews despite applying a little late. Everyone seemed to be very understanding of my situation.
 
lightthecandle said:
what does everyone else think?
Click to expand...

Like LizzyM said, just stress that you're recovered and you'll be fine. Your leaves are well-justified so those shouldn't be a problem. You just need to show and reinforce to the interviewers/AdCom members that you're well enough to actually attend medical school.
 
I know a guy who just got into medical school who had to take several leaves of absence due to an ongoing fight with Lyme disease.
 
Just don't call them leave of absences. They're called leaves of absence.
 
I don't know what to do...

If I stay this semester then these will most likely be my grades: D, B, B+, F
or should I just take a leave of absence?
 
Take a leave of absence. Concentrate on getting better right now. Everything else can be worked out in the end. Med schools want to make sure you are fully recovered. Good luck on that surgery.
 
lightthecandle said:
I don't know what to do...

If I stay this semester then these will most likely be my grades: D, B, B+, F
or should I just take a leave of absence?
Click to expand...

If you don't feel that you can focus on your schooling, I'd say take some time off. You're just wasting time and money if you're not getting anything out of it (whether it's because you're sick or because you're not interested). Take a break until you feel well enough to continue. Though at this point there's not really that much left of the semester so you might want to just stick it out and reevaluate if you need to take next semester off.

As we don't know what your situation is...it may or may not be a problem. If it's something that you can overcome and move on from or work on a regular basis with, then I wouldn't imagine that it'd be a problem once you've recovered. If it's something that's going to have you needing to take long absences every 6 months or so, then the situation is a bit trickier as you'll have a hard time getting through most med schools if you're going to miss a whole lot. There are some schools that don't require attendance and some that allow you to stretch out the 4 years into like 5 or 6 that might work better for someone that needed to take time off everyone so often.
 
lightthecandle said:
I left a semester of college last fall due to medical problems(with all Ws). I fear that I may have to leave this semester (with all W's again) I just want to ask how this will affect my chances of getting into med school or more importantly getting entry into a SMP or Postbacc
please do let me know!
Click to expand...

lightthecandle...seriously, you need to put aside your medical school ambitions until you are healthy in body and mind. This is the fourth or fifth thread of yours that I've read...and you seem to have A LOT of things going on in your life. Whether it's your depression, anxiety, or other health issues you've mentioned, SDN is not the place to come seeking advice. Take a leave of absence, and when you're healthy again you can start to think about medicine.
 
I had a very similar situation where I had to take a leave of absence for one semester due to health issues. I didn't withdraw from anything since I decided not to register for the fall semester in early June. Speaking from my experience, it didn't have any negative effect on me and I got into some awesome schools.

If I were you, as hard as it sounds, I would try not worry about medical school too much at the moment. It probably will not affect your chances if addressed properly in your personal statement/during the interview and will give you something good to discuss in your personal statement. As difficult as it is, being a patient yourself will give you invaluable experience that you can use to the benefit of your own patients once you are a doctor. This is something you can express in your PS that I think will make for a compelling application.

Focus for now on getting well. Our health is our most important possession. I hope you get well very soon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Will I be ready?
Replies
5
Views
764
candbgirl
C
T
Will these classes be factored into my GPA?
Replies
5
Views
681
LizzyM
LizzyM
nielsbohr123
Will leaving my PhD program to pursue med school look bad?
Replies
3
Views
807
Goro
Goro
Anthodite
Am I supposed to network with med schools?
Replies
4
Views
995
Anthodite
Anthodite
M
For schools that "strongly recommend LORs from two science faculty who taught you" will my app be stronger with just one science LOR? (context inside)
Replies
23
Views
1K
misosoop
M
Top