Back story: When I was 17 I decided to do a semester at my local community college. I was a teen mom then and the only parent to care for my son, on top of taking care of my grandfather who I lived with. I failed out of 6 classes because I didn't know that I had to withdraw at the time, so I didn't go. (I was young and naive) I also didn't think that becoming a doctor was obtainable for me. That was 7 years ago. I'm currently an Applied Biology major at my local university, and I'm doing very well. I've decided to pursue my dreams of becoming an MD. I've started volunteering and I've been a home health aide for 6 years so I know I've racked up tons of clinical hours. My question is, if I continue on the path I am on now (more research, more volunteering, continuing my job), will the bad grades I got 7 years ago stop me from getting accepted anywhere? They will be 10 years old by the time I'm ready to apply. Thank you in advance for any advice or similar stories.
Bad grades from 10 years ago
- Thread starter mav05
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By themselves they will not stop you, although obviously it is a huge obstacle and will greatly damage your GPA. However if you can have a very strong upward trend (3.7+ in your university program) and do well on the MCAT, I think it's possible.
However, what you should attempt to do is see if your old community college will allow you to retroactively withdraw. This is a thing at some schools and is worth at least asking the registrar.
However, what you should attempt to do is see if your old community college will allow you to retroactively withdraw. This is a thing at some schools and is worth at least asking the registrar.
Thank you for your response. I know they have a fresh start program but I'm not sure if that would be a good option for me because those grades will still count toward my cGPA. I will contact them today and see what I can do.
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This would be different from a fresh start, it would be a request to have that one semester of classes changed on your transcript from F's to "Withdraws".
Sometimes an understanding registrar or advisor at the college can help you ask the school to do this.
I just spoke to someone and unfortunately you can only petition to withdraw from courses if it’s within 2 years. She told me there’s no exceptions.
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Aw, too bad. You can write brief essays about this in your med school applications usually, when they ask about any academic road bumps or difficulties, to explain what happened. Your current performance will go to show that you have matured and are a good student now.
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Obviously a lot will depend on how you do going forward. However, assuming you do well academically and on the MCAT and can present the experiences that med schools value, I suggest you include in your application (and possibly your personal statement) the story of your turnaround. Not so much making excuses for what happened, but providing context and then exploring how you decided to become a physician and pursue this path. If you continue to get the good grades and ultimately get a good MCAT score, it will show schools that you have the academic ability AND the resilience and persistence med schools value.
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Sorry this is not quite accurate, there are lots of technicalities to using this and OP has already undertaken their new schooling project.
