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Go speak to an academic counselor at your school. I'd be shocked if there isn't a protocol for a medical withdrawal you could follow. It usually require documentation of an illness but it sounds like that wouldn't be hard for you to procure. Basically if your school allows you to medically withdraw, it states that you withdrew for medical reasons on your transcripts. This is not a normal W on a transcript. So no OP, if you feel like you need to withdraw medically do not worry about it affecting your application once you get this all addressed. Again, go speak to a counselor about this ASAP.
 
AspiringDoc422 said:
Hi Everyone, I’m posting this with the hope of recieving some valuable advice from other members of this site. So basically my premed journey was on track and I was excited for this semester until an annual physical checkup at my doctor’s office revealed that I might have a rather serious and rare health disorder, which has not yet been confirmed pending further tests, since then I started this semester in a very nervous, anxious and depressed state and despite my best efforts, I am unable to effectively concentrate on my studies due to a fear of having various serious diseases. To add to my unfortunate situation, some of my other family members also have serious health concerns of their own and I developed an adverse reaction to an antidepressant that was prescribed to me for my anxiety that resulted in an ambulance being called. (On a side note the only good thing that has resulted from this situation is that one of my specialists has offered me a research position in a top 15 medical school in his lab during my first medical appointment with him 🙂 Anyway, my question is would a complete withdrawal from this semester effectively end my medical school chances? I already have 2 Ws in non premed classes from previous semesters, with a complete withdrawal from this semester I would have 8 Ws. Thank you for reading my fairly long post and for any advice
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Yup time to withdraw. No good will come from trying to bulldoze your way through...you'll just wreck your GPA.

SDNers seem to fear Ws more than Fs. Don't make this mistake...this is what Ws are for.

Please get your get your health taken care of first.
 
AspiringDoc422 said:
my question is would a complete withdrawal from this semester effectively end my medical school chances? I already have 2 Ws in non premed classes from previous semesters, with a complete withdrawal from this semester I would have 8 Ws.
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No. Come back strong and excel academically when you return to school.
 
Goro said:
Yup time to withdraw. No good will come from trying to bulldoze your way through...you'll just wreck your GPA.

SDNers seem to fear Ws more than Fs. Don't make this mistake...this is what Ws are for.

Please get your get your health taken care of first.
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Agree with all of this. And your explanation of a medical issue will be bolstered by a complete withdrawal from all classes this one semester. This will be viewed differently than a W here or there.
 
"I see you withdrew for one class, why?"
"uhh...I got a B on the first test"
vs
"I see you withdrew from a semester, why?"
"I took a leave of health"

I personally think a semester of Ws is pretty easy to explain. If you're certain you can get grades to your standard, stay in. I wouldn't, though. Just withdraw and focus on your health.
 
AspiringDoc422 said:
If I do a medical withdrawal for this semester, will medical schools in the future want to know the exact reasons for my withdrawal?
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You might be asked at interviews or you might choose to explain if there is an appropriate Secondary essay prompt. You are under no obligation to paint a full picture. You could say, for example, "My doctor thought I might have an unusual health condition that required lots of studies and eventually a trial of medication. Fortunately, it turned out to be a false alarm, but the time involved and some medication side effects made it difficult to keep up with my studies. Happily, I'm fine now. As you can see from my transcript I returned to school and had no trouble excelling academically." You could also segue into the story of one of your specialists offering you a position in his lab, which reflects well.
 
Catalystik said:
You might be asked at interviews or you might choose to explain if there is an appropriate Secondary essay prompt. You are under no obligation to paint a full picture. You could say, for example, "My doctor thought I might have an unusual health condition that required lots of studies and eventually a trial of medication. Fortunately, it turned out to be a false alarm, but the time involved and some medication side effects made it difficult to keep up with my studies. Happily, I'm fine now. As you can see from my transcript I returned to school and had no trouble excelling academically." You could also segue into the story of one of your specialists offering you a position in his lab, which reflects well.
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Listen to the smart Cat's wise advice (and the other cats above like Goro too).
 
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