Did I ruin my chances?

[Saseneca915]

Hello everyone,

I feel like I am so far in the hole, I don't know what to do next. First off, I'm going to say that I wouldn't change what happened for anything because it made me a stronger and smarter person. What happened was that my father got really sick. A little back story for anyone interested. My father has End Stage Renal Failure. He was on Peritoneal Dialysis for a little over nine years causing PVD (Peripheral Vascular Disease) all over his body. I live about an hour and a half from New York City. He was in the Bronx fighting for his life for over 5 months, battling a left leg amputation, Pneumonia, Peritonitis, Pulmonary Embolism and Flash Flooding. I felt that my time spent with him was more important than going to school. I know it sounds bad, but when you are in that situation, emotions take over everything, After he was released from the hospital he was sent to a rehab center about a half hour from my house to learn how to walk on his amputation. Everything was going great for a few months and school picked back up for me as well, going from a 2.4 the first semester to a 3.5 the next. Then tragedy struck. My father had a heart attack in March 2015. This was caused by 3 100 percent blockages in the Aorta and in the Carotid near the heart. Back to Manhattan he went for over a month. This is where my school went way downhill. I spent 25 out of 30 days in Manhattan. I am so grateful for the physicians in Columbia Med for saving my fathers life. After the bad semester that I had my GPA plummeted to a 1.94. I feel like I don't know if my dream of becoming a physician is even possible anymore.

Thanks in advance

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[bananafish94]

Well, if there was ever a good excuse for having poor grades this would be it! I'm sorry for everything that's happened to your family. The unfortunate reality, however, is that you will likely be screened out at most schools before ever getting to an actual human being. I would recommend an SMP to get your GPA up.

 

[attitudeofgratitude]

depends what you're willing to do.

A lot of schools will let you retroactively drop classes for extreme circumstances, but you'll end up having to take them again.

Also DO schools do grade replacement, again though you're taking them again.

There are a lot of details missing so it could be easier than you think (if the 1.9 is one semester and you're in your third semester overall, drop that you have a ~3 as a first year GPA, which is a hole you can climb out of)

 

[Saseneca915]

So this is a cGPA. The 1.9 I mean. After 4 semesters... And it was at a CC

 

[Saseneca915]

I'm not opposed to going the DO route because at this point it might be my only option. I figured it out that if I get 4.0 from here on out I can get roughly 3.1-3.2 and a sGPA of around 3.4-3.5. Also I haven't taken the MCAT yet.

 

[Saseneca915]

Also I would like to point out that my first 2 semesters I had a 3.9 cGPA. Before what happened to my dad

 

[ofthesaints]

Also I would like to point out that my first 2 semesters I had a 3.9 cGPA. Before what happened to my dad

I'm not following you here. You said in your original post, "going from a 2.4 the first semester to a 3.5 the next." Could you clarify?

 

[ProspectiveKidd]

I'm not following you here. You said in your original post, "going from a 2.4 the first semester to a 3.5 the next." Could you clarify?

I concur...it makes no sense any way you spin it.

 

[holdthemayo]

I agree that your chronology isn't clear.

Your best bet is probably to go DO and retake all C,D,F courses for grade replacement.

Additionally, you might want to look into seeing if any of you qualify for a retroactive withdrawal at your university. I don't know for certain if your father's health problems will qualify for your, but it could be worth pursuing.

Whatever you do, get A's from here on out, no matter what.

 

[Saseneca915]

Ok so my first semester in college at a CC I got a 3.9. Second semester I got a 3.4. Then my father got ill and I got a 2.4 that semester. He started getting better and I got a 3.5 the following semester. My fifth semester was the really bad one when he had the heart attack. Hope this clarifies things a bit

 

[heybubbaa]

So this is a cGPA. The 1.9 I mean. After 4 semesters... And it was at a CC

This is slightly higher than my cgpa was after 4 semesters. Your dream isn't over, but it will certainly be an uphill battle. Start aceing out full semesters and study like crazy for the MCAT. You need to get that cgpa to a 3.0, and then a post-bac or SMP will likely be what you will need to get over the hump for MD. Grade replacement for DO for sure.

Also, I have heard stories about community colleges that offer retroactive withdrawals. It is probably a long shot, but if you could get them to replace those bad grades with Ws then your odds will look significantly better.

 

[Goro]

I am very sorry to hear of your woes.

You have an uphill battle because not only do you have poor grades, you have made some very poor choices. You should have withdrawn from school when it was clear that you weren't going to be at your academic best with tall the issues you were dealing with.

You can correct. but it's going to take time.


The fastest path for you to become a doctor will be to retake all F/D/B science coursework, do well on MCAT, and apply to DO schools.

IF you're boning for the MD degree, there are MD schools that reward reinvention. You'll need to ace all the classic pre-reqs, and ace either a post-bac (which can be DIY) or a SMP, ideally one given at a med school. Then also ace MCAT (513 or better, 33+ on the old scale).

Hello everyone,

I feel like I am so far in the hole, I don't know what to do next. First off, I'm going to say that I wouldn't change what happened for anything because it made me a stronger and smarter person. What happened was that my father got really sick. A little back story for anyone interested. My father has End Stage Renal Failure. He was on Peritoneal Dialysis for a little over nine years causing PVD (Peripheral Vascular Disease) all over his body. I live about an hour and a half from New York City. He was in the Bronx fighting for his life for over 5 months, battling a left leg amputation, Pneumonia, Peritonitis, Pulmonary Embolism and Flash Flooding. I felt that my time spent with him was more important than going to school. I know it sounds bad, but when you are in that situation, emotions take over everything, After he was released from the hospital he was sent to a rehab center about a half hour from my house to learn how to walk on his amputation. Everything was going great for a few months and school picked back up for me as well, going from a 2.4 the first semester to a 3.5 the next. Then tragedy struck. My father had a heart attack in March 2015. This was caused by 3 100 percent blockages in the Aorta and in the Carotid near the heart. Back to Manhattan he went for over a month. This is where my school went way downhill. I spent 25 out of 30 days in Manhattan. I am so grateful for the physicians in Columbia Med for saving my fathers life. After the bad semester that I had my GPA plummeted to a 1.94. I feel like I don't know if my dream of becoming a physician is even possible anymore.

Thanks in advance

 

[ProspectiveKidd]

To me what stood out immediately and more than the grades is the fact that you somehow allowed yourself to do that poorly when you could have withdrawn. If you were missing so much class why didn't you withdrawal or why weren't you administratively withdrawn? Even if somehow you were still attending and just doing poorly, you should have just taken the W or contacted administration yourself due to unforeseen life circumstances.

I do understand why you wanted to be with him and I'm glad he's ok. However, you have to focus on what you can control. I'm not patronizing you, but just know that it may make people question your judgement.