beyond repair?

Started by villacog
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villacog

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9 years ago I went to college straight out of highschool. i was clueless and lacked direction. I achieved 5 C's 1 D and 3 F's along with 2 withdraws over the course of 30 semester hours. I retook the D and F classes while I was still in my clueless period and wound up with a 2.8 GPA or 2.1 if you average the poor grades with the new grades.

I dropped out and joined the Air force for 6 years and figured out I wanted to pursue Physical Therapy. During this past year I've taken 40 credit hours, all straight. A's. I figured id make sure I got nothing less than an A for the duration of my college career and Id recover enough to have a shot at physical therapy.

Then, I took Chem 1 this semester. I got a D on the first test. The professor bases your entire grade off of 3 tests given over the semester. Basically, I have to do perfect on the next 2 tests to come out ok. I think its unreasonable for him to give just 3 tests and feel I could do better with a different professor.

Should I add another "w" to my transcript or just stick the class out amd risk a poor grade? Is it even reasonable for me to continue pursuing physical therapy considering I made such a mess of my schooling in younger years?
 
villacog said:
9 years ago I went to college straight out of highschool. i was clueless and lacked direction. I achieved 5 C's 1 D and 3 F's along with 2 withdraws over the course of 30 semester hours. I retook the D and F classes while I was still in my clueless period and wound up with a 2.8 GPA or 2.1 if you average the poor grades with the new grades.

I dropped out and joined the Air force for 6 years and figured out I wanted to pursue Physical Therapy. During this past year I've taken 40 credit hours, all straight. A's. I figured id make sure I got nothing less than an A for the duration of my college career and Id recover enough to have a shot at physical therapy.

Then, I took Chem 1 this semester. I got a D on the first test. The professor bases your entire grade off of 3 tests given over the semester. Basically, I have to do perfect on the next 2 tests to come out ok. I think its unreasonable for him to give just 3 tests and feel I could do better with a different professor.

Should I add another "w" to my transcript or just stick the class out amd risk a poor grade? Is it even reasonable for me to continue pursuing physical therapy considering I made such a mess of my schooling in younger years?
Click to expand...

Hi, I can very well connect with you. During my undergrad i received 15 withdrawals, 2 D's, several F's, and many C's - coming out with my undergrad with a 2.4. Soon after I found out i wanted to do physical therapy, i buckled down and obtained a 3.8 prereq GPA and brought my overall to a 3.1. I received one acceptance letter, been wait-listed at my number 1 school and looking forward to 3 more interviews.

In my experience:

- PT school wants to see how passionate and determined you are.
- My chemistry professor based our grades with 3 test as well. I think it is normal to see that.
- I am a firm believer of sticking things out and fighting through it. My friend got a 50/100 on his first chemistry test but did well on the next two to receive a B in the class.
- If you decide to take the W or you do stick it through and get a bad grade... Make sure you able to explain it in your interviews.
- There is a section in PTCAS "Do you believe your academic record is a reflection of your capabilities". Take advantage.

"Is it even reasonable for me to continue pursuing physical therapy considering I made such a mess of my schooling in younger years?"

- It depends how bad you want it. Are you willing to work hard to get there? I dont like to use the word "non-traditional student". But we are a bit different, we didnt get good grades in our undergrad. So we have to show them something else. Use your undergrad experience as a strength, a transformative story.

Best of Luck. I believe you can do it. I did it 🙂
 
thank you. it really made me feel A LOT better after reading your post. I was beggining to become depressed over my decision to leave the military to pursue physical therapy because I enjoyed my job and the job security. The uphill battle I created for myself is unnerving since Im in my late twenties and have put my finacial growth on hold to pursue this. Its good to know it wasn't a totally outlandish and foolish decision.
 
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