6 Fs academic suspension over, what to do?

[random3]

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Hey all, I'm a new member and I found this forum trying to find some good advice for my situation. Basically in a gist I graduated high school with a lot of comm coll credits, enough to have an associate degree, with a 3.9. I went to a prestigious state school, which has its own medical school, as a freshman. I did 3 classes the first summer out of high school (calc I, an engineering/writing course, and chemistry lab) with As. Then I went downhill (a lot of personal issues, family left, etc) and accumulated 6 Fs for the rest of the year. This was obviously not the result of effort but of someone who just stopped going to class.

Well my dad and I talked to the dean and he said I had to sit a year out and anything I did during that year would not transfer back. I wanted to stay busy so I took a myriad of classes, such as Calculus II, computer science programming, biology II, human anat and physiology II, statistics, etc, at the comm college and got As in them. My suspension year is over and the dean said I can come back, but none of these classes will transfer, and I'll have to start at square one.

So I don't know if I should stay at the prestigious state school, "prove myself" by finishing a degree, and apply a year later then I would've normally to med schools (because I'll be retaking basic bio II, chem II) or if I should transfer to another state school lesser known and start taking the upper division classes starting this summer, graduate a semester early, and be able to apply on time. What looks better to med school admissions? Will transferring to another school hurt my chances of getting accepted to medical school or any graduate school? Even if I can do a solid year of upper div chem and bio classes (ie immunology, organic chemistry, genetics, evolution, ecology) at the transfer school?

Thanks a lot for your time and help.

 

[Naijaba]

Hey all, I'm a new member and I found this forum trying to find some good advice for my situation. Basically in a gist I graduated high school with a lot of comm coll credits, enough to have an associate degree, with a 3.9. I went to a prestigious state school, which has its own medical school, as a freshman. I did 3 classes the first summer out of high school (calc I, an engineering/writing course, and chemistry lab) with As. Then I went downhill (a lot of personal issues, family left, etc) and accumulated 6 Fs for the rest of the year. This was obviously not the result of effort but of someone who just stopped going to class.

Well my dad and I talked to the dean and he said I had to sit a year out and anything I did during that year would not transfer back. I wanted to stay busy so I took a myriad of classes, such as Calculus II, computer science programming, biology II, human anat and physiology II, statistics, etc, at the comm college and got As in them. My suspension year is over and the dean said I can come back, but none of these classes will transfer, and I'll have to start at square one.

So I don't know if I should stay at the prestigious state school, "prove myself" by finishing a degree, and apply a year later then I would've normally to med schools (because I'll be retaking basic bio II, chem II) or if I should transfer to another state school lesser known and start taking the upper division classes starting this summer, graduate a semester early, and be able to apply on time. What looks better to med school admissions? Will transferring to another school hurt my chances of getting accepted to medical school or any graduate school? Even if I can do a solid year of upper div chem and bio classes (ie immunology, organic chemistry, genetics, evolution, ecology) at the transfer school?

Thanks a lot for your time and help.

I'm not sure if you're a troll with just 1 post, but I'll take a crack at responding to your questions:

It's strange to me that you received A's in Calc I, engineering writing, and chemistry lab the summer before your freshman year and then suddenly received 6 F's. It seems to me that you are capable of grasping the material at the level required by your institution, it's just that some 'personal issues' just got in the way.

If you indeed received A's in all of those classes that you took at community college during your year off, then your GPA is well on its way to being repaired. Even if those units don't transfer, you gain two things: 1. They count on AMCAS/AACOMAS, and 2. You already know the material so when you take the courses again at your state school, you'll be at an advantage.

As long as your personal issues are over, I would encourage you to stay at the school you're at, retake the classes you received F's in and apply DO. Believe it or not, since DO replaces (doesn't average) grades with their new ones, you actually could end up with a 4.0 on your DO app.

 

[flip26]

Hey all, I'm a new member and I found this forum trying to find some good advice for my situation. Basically in a gist I graduated high school with a lot of comm coll credits, enough to have an associate degree, with a 3.9. I went to a prestigious state school, which has its own medical school, as a freshman. I did 3 classes the first summer out of high school (calc I, an engineering/writing course, and chemistry lab) with As. Then I went downhill (a lot of personal issues, family left, etc) and accumulated 6 Fs for the rest of the year. This was obviously not the result of effort but of someone who just stopped going to class.

Well my dad and I talked to the dean and he said I had to sit a year out and anything I did during that year would not transfer back. I wanted to stay busy so I took a myriad of classes, such as Calculus II, computer science programming, biology II, human anat and physiology II, statistics, etc, at the comm college and got As in them. My suspension year is over and the dean said I can come back, but none of these classes will transfer, and I'll have to start at square one.

So I don't know if I should stay at the prestigious state school, "prove myself" by finishing a degree, and apply a year later then I would've normally to med schools (because I'll be retaking basic bio II, chem II) or if I should transfer to another state school lesser known and start taking the upper division classes starting this summer, graduate a semester early, and be able to apply on time. What looks better to med school admissions? Will transferring to another school hurt my chances of getting accepted to medical school or any graduate school? Even if I can do a solid year of upper div chem and bio classes (ie immunology, organic chemistry, genetics, evolution, ecology) at the transfer school?

Thanks a lot for your time and help.

Your CC grades will count for AMCAS whther or not the fancy college accepts them for transfer credit. The Fs will count, too, no matter what the college says about wiping the slate clean.

As for where to go to get a degree: You have to make As. Go to whichever school you can do this at.

Plenty of successful applicants change schools. Not really a factor.

 

[random3]

Never been accused of trolling before, so that's new.
I've always been kind of on "cruise-control" when it came to school for most of my life so hard-core family issues + the extreme shock of actually having to put in some modicum of effort is what led to such a bad year. Assuming I can pull off a squeaky clean record for the rest of my undergrad can i realistically still get into an MD school? If it helps, the schools in question are UVa vs Longwood University (longwood being the transfer school)

 

[flip26]

Never been accused of trolling before, so that's new.
I've always been kind of on "cruise-control" when it came to school for most of my life so hard-core family issues + the extreme shock of actually having to put in some modicum of effort is what led to such a bad year. Assuming I can pull off a squeaky clean record for the rest of my undergrad can i realistically still get into an MD school? If it helps, the schools in question are UVa vs Longwood University (longwood being the transfer school)

Well, it will be obvious to anyone reading your app that you couldn't handle the academics at UVA, and even if you ace the rest of your classes at Longwood, it will affect your competitiveness for med school. Longwood is a pretty big step down from UVA. VCU or JMU would smell better...

Don't make excuses. Make As.

PS I live in VA, know the pecking order well...

 

[justinbaily]

I agree that you will look like you weren't able to handle the academic rigor at UVA if you transfer to Longwood. I'm also from VA and--no offense--Longwood is not looked upon favorably. I fail to see why you're thinking of transferring at all to be honest. If you honestly believe that you can go back to UVA and pull off a 4.0 for the remainder of your time there, if I were an adcom member, it would look to me like you had handled the situation with maturity and determination. I understand that it may be inconvenient for you, but it seems like your best bet. The extra classes may also be necessary to pull your GPA up.

If you decide that you really need to transfer, I would go to Tech. I did not go there, but they seem to be more successful applicants than JMU and VCU students for some reason. It may just be that there are more of them.

No matter what, you'll need to make at or near a 4.0 for the remainder of your college career and score well on the MCAT.

 

[Parts Unknown]

+ the extreme shock of actually having to put in some modicum of effort

If a modicum of effort has caused you extreme shock, you're going to have to either nut up (fast) or find another career path.

Maybe I'm a cold bastard, but I don't have a lot of sympathy for the "family issues" bit, either. If your life gets turned upside down you should at least be able to drag yourself to school and either withdraw or take a leave of absence. Whether you couldn't do this or simply wouldn't do this doesn't speak well of your capacity to handle adversity (and there is no shortage of adversity on the road to becoming a physician).

When I was a resident one of my close family members died on a Saturday, and I was back to work on Tuesday. Had I needed more time I would have at least graced the office of my program director to fill out the necessary paperwork.

If I sound a little harsh I apologize; I have had to listen to a lot of awful excuses from college students over the years.

 

[Parts Unknown]

I don't know if I should stay at the prestigious state school, "prove myself" by finishing a degree, and apply a year later then I would've normally to med schools (because I'll be retaking basic bio II, chem II) or if I should transfer to another state school lesser known and start taking the upper division classes starting this summer, graduate a semester early, and be able to apply on time. What looks better to med school admissions?

After some consideration, before you make any decisions you should sit down with the prehealth advisors at UVa, tell them your story, and see what they say. If you cannot get them to back your med school application then you're screwed even if you go back there and kick ass.

Also, Longwood? That's where high school cheerleaders go so they can transition to careers in real estate. No doubt Longwood puts some people into medical school, but flip26 is right, you'd be better off at one of the other name brand schools in the state. VCU has both lax admissions standards and it's own medical school. What more could you ask for?

 

[Vvandenn]

For sure, you need to start really diggin' the DO thing, since with that many Fs getting into an MD is going to be hard since they don't replace the grades.

I absolutely love DO. 😍

 

[naijaboi]

I agree that you will look like you weren't able to handle the academic rigor at UVA if you transfer to Longwood. I'm also from VA and--no offense--Longwood is not looked upon favorably. I fail to see why you're thinking of transferring at all to be honest. If you honestly believe that you can go back to UVA and pull off a 4.0 for the remainder of your time there, if I were an adcom member, it would look to me like you had handled the situation with maturity and determination. I understand that it may be inconvenient for you, but it seems like your best bet. The extra classes may also be necessary to pull your GPA up.

If you decide that you really need to transfer, I would go to Tech. I did not go there, but they seem to be more successful applicants than JMU and VCU students for some reason. It may just be that there are more of them.

No matter what, you'll need to make at or near a 4.0 for the remainder of your college career and score well on the MCAT.

👍 Great advice. Your academic record going forward has to be perfect. Also, you better have a compelling reason for those ****ty semesters.

To give you a little bit of hope: I had five F's (from a community college) and did very well at my State School and it did not bar me from an MD program.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

 

[flip26]

Well my dad and I talked to the dean and he said I had to sit a year out and anything I did during that year would not transfer back. I wanted to stay busy so I took a myriad of classes, such as Calculus II, computer science programming, biology II, human anat and physiology II, statistics, etc, at the comm college and got As in them. My suspension year is over and the dean said I can come back, but none of these classes will transfer, and I'll have to start at square one.

I am pretty sure we got played by a troll.

The facts presented in this passage make zero sense. OP says he was told that nothing he took during this year would transfer to UVA. That makes ho sense whatsoever.

 

[UnlonelyRoad]

If a modicum of effort has caused you extreme shock, you're going to have to either nut up (fast) or find another career path.

Maybe I'm a cold bastard, but I don't have a lot of sympathy for the "family issues" bit, either. If your life gets turned upside down you should at least be able to drag yourself to school and either withdraw or take a leave of absence. Whether you couldn't do this or simply wouldn't do this doesn't speak well of your capacity to handle adversity (and there is no shortage of adversity on the road to becoming a physician).

When I was a resident one of my close family members died on a Saturday, and I was back to work on Tuesday. Had I needed more time I would have at least graced the office of my program director to fill out the necessary paperwork.

If I sound a little harsh I apologize; I have had to listen to a lot of awful excuses from college students over the years.

In fairness, you were a resident at that point. There is a lot of growing up that goes on between college, medical school and then first being a physician.

 

[Parts Unknown]

In fairness, you were a resident at that point. There is a lot of growing up that goes on between college, medical school and then first being a physician.

As I said, even if I was devastated to the point of being unable to work for awhile (and believe me, I was pretty devastated), I still would have filed for a leave of absence. From the OP's description of events, he had a rough time and responded by just not going to class. Sorry, but that's unacceptable even for a college student.

 

[Cyradis]

I am pretty sure we got played by a troll.

The facts presented in this passage make zero sense. OP says he was told that nothing he took during this year would transfer to UVA. That makes ho sense whatsoever.

If he's trolling he's not doing a good job - this topic isn't really an argument of any sort. I don't know UVA undergrad policies, but what he said would be pretty realistically possible at my undergrad school... so I'm willing to believe him.

Anyway I don't actually have much to add - I'd just second the previous ideas to meet with your pre-health committee at UVA and see if they'd support an application down the line etc.

 

[Ignition]

Short of your entire family getting murdered in cold blood, I really don't know how you would answer to such a disaster in an interview, if you're even given the chance.

There's a lot more than just "academic abilities" that ad coms look for in a candidate, one of those being the ability to separate personal issues from professional responsibilities.

Here's something to think about: What are you going to say when the adcom member asks you what you will do if you have "family issues" when you're a medical doctor? Ignoring your patients or providing suboptimal care won't go over well. Also be prepared to answer how you have you demonstrated your improved mental fortitude since your disaster.

You should probably reflect on if this is the right career path for you. From my understanding, it's pretty unforgiving in the personal issues department.

 

[Corpsman Up]

As someone already said, DO schools will allow you to replace those Fs if you retake the classes. However, they will still see the Fs, so be ready to explain your situation if you do end up getting an interview. Have a stellar MCAT and get straight A's in those courses to prove yourself and you may have a shot. Adcoms love to see upward trends. Keep in mind though you do have 6 F's, so I personally would have a legit backup plan.....

Talk to you advisor, a lot of schools have a freshmen forgiveness rule that may help you ouy

 

[Corpsman Up]

I am pretty sure we got played by a troll.

The facts presented in this passage make zero sense. OP says he was told that nothing he took during this year would transfer to UVA. That makes ho sense whatsoever.

Why not? A lot of schools do not have a transfer agreement with community colleges, especially if the cc is not in the same state.