C/C+ in Anatomy? Advise :-\

[UVABranch]

LSS I'm finishing my MPH with a 3.5/3.6 GPA, Went to a good UG but had a super low GPA (worked fulltime) <3.0 and a mid 20's MCAT. Waiting on one school to give me a chance this year but along w/ my MPH coursework I've been taking additional science classes a la carte. Well I ran into a job conflict the same day as my first test in a UG anatomy course and failed the test. The prof wouldn't let me take it 2 hours later with frustration and anger...I'm not a UG anymore so I have to work...I actually have 3 jobs to eliminate all my revolving debt before going to school, but I thought they would at least make an exception for work reasons. Needless to say I got an F. Next test I got a B, and my third test (final) is in about 2 weeks. They are all weighted the same so if (when) I get an A on the final the best I can hope for is a C or C+. I highly doubt the dean of my MPH program will let me withdrawal from the class...too many politics at my current school (Another long story) and she's the only one who can make that happen. Any suggestion on what I can do?? If I don't get into the school this year I'm either going to continue to take a la carte classes, or hopefully get into a formal postbac. But since I'm pretty far removed from UG...will this just look like my UG GPA was well deserved?? I've been getting either B's B+'s, or As in my other a la carte classes...but I don't have that many under my belt. I can try to get an incomplete...but I don't know if I can make that happen either. Will this be insurmountable??

Help!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Darkshooter326]

I honestly don't know. If the rest of your grad transcript is full of high grades, then this probably will just look like an anomaly.

 

[Mobius1985]

Meet with the Dean of the MPH program and ask to withdraw, giving your reasons. The worst she can do is say no. At least try.

 

[ropeadope1983]

It is so hard to say for sure what you would need to do given your situation. At least as far as the Anatomy class goes, earn your A (A+ if possible) on the final exam and get in touch with as many people as you possibly can to try to help this situation (sometimes if you plead your case and make enough good points to the instructor and/or other people high enough on the totum pole at your school they can make special arrangements to count your final exam grade as the final grade you earn in the class...at the least some people will weigh the final exam more heavily if it helps you). It never hurts to give it a shot and ask about these options.

As for what to do to improve your chances of getting into medial school. Here are my suggesstions you may want to look into:

-Are you a resident of a state that has a lot of public medical schools that heavily favor in-state applicants? If not...I suggest you move to one that does...This is only if you don't care which school you get into. Sometimes these schools have lower standards and/or have to settle for accepting a lot of applicants with much lower stats.

-Do you absolutely need to get into medical school A.S.A.P.? If not I would look into ways to improve your MCAT score and GPA (even if it means getting another master's degree...this may help you gain more exposure to research and clinical settings simply because it buys you extra time...sometimes you can even work it so the school pays you to get a master's degree in exchange for teaching/research).

-If you can't turn things around with your anatomy class I would plan on retaking it, or at least take another anatomy class. Plan to ace it no matter what. If you have any big pre-med prerequisites that you bombed in college it is never too late to retake some of those as well if you think it might help.

Like I said...Nobody can really know for sure what would get you into medical school. Only you can evaluate whether there are certain aspects of your credentials that you need to improve upon and what you need to do to get that done.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

Do everything you can to get an A (final) or withdrawl.

Then bust your ass for the MCAT, because regardless of whether this Anatomy course thing turns out good or not, your biggest problem at the moment is that mid 20 score. Were any of your sections a 7 or below?

 

[MossPoh]

All else fails......think foreign for medschool. Not going to blow smoke up your a$$...you have an up mountain battle right now. Weirder things have happened....but just talk to the dean, take the exam, get an A and figure stuff out from there.

 

[UVABranch]

THNAK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE! I've been totally stressing over this, but I guess if I learned anything through this process is that I should exhaust all of my options. I'll also try talking to my professors and the dean...and see who else might be able to help! I represent my school on the student assoc. so maybe someone there can help too. Thanks again!

<I love SDN!!!>