Dismissal from medical school- affecting chances at a master's program?

Started by mwsapphire
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
mwsapphire

mwsapphire

Office of the medical examiner.
7+ Year Member
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Hi everyone,

So, you may have heard my story of repeating the year on Academic probation. I ended up failing and getting dismissed, my question is, would this affect my chances at getting into a master's program?

( I'll edit later with more details but right now this is what I am freaking out over).

Thanks,
mwsapphire
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Would the medical school be willing to make it into a voluntary withdrawal rather than an academic dismissal?

You’ll probably have to mention it in your master’s application, since you’d have a two-year gap in your resume otherwise. As long as you frame it as “it was a great experience, and I grew a lot from it, but it wasn’t for me. My real passion lies in bioinformatics,” you’ll probably be fine. Most bioinformatics master’s programs aren’t extremely competitive, from my understanding.
 
Osminog said:
Would the medical school be willing to make it into a voluntary withdrawal rather than an academic dismissal?

You’ll probably have to mention it in your master’s application, since you’d have a two-year gap in your resume otherwise. As long as you frame it as “it was a great experience, and I grew a lot from it, but it wasn’t for me. My real passion lies in bioinformatics,” you’ll probably be fine. Most bioinformatics master’s programs aren’t extremely competitive, from my understanding.
Click to expand...
I'll ask about that on Monday. It was implied that I would have " options" from my school, and was surprised when the letter only said I can be dismissed. I was hoping I would get the chance to request a W.
 
Addendum: I think I can request a W.

I'm realizing that the purpose of a dismissal is to say you aren't allowed in that medschool/ other medschools- but it isn't to ruin your chance at changing careers.

They may change it to a W on my transcript for that reason.
 
mwsapphire said:
Hi everyone,

So, you may have heard my story of repeating the year on Academic probation. I ended up failing and getting dismissed, my question is, would this affect my chances at getting into a master's program?

( I'll edit later with more details but right now this is what I am freaking out over).

Thanks,
mwsapphire
Click to expand...
It saddens me to hear this. We both applied together in 2019. I rooted for you and @Notthrowingawaymychance. I wish you the best with your next journey and in your future endeavors. Take care of yourself.
 
Hi everyone. I'm asking my school to change the dismissal on my transcript to a W so I can have an easier time applying to master's programs. Does this email seem good?

Good afternoon,

My name is (redacted) . I was recently dismissed from (program).

My current plans include going back for my Master's degree.

I know the dismissal from the college is final, but I was wondering if I could get it changed to a W on my transcript. I know I can't go back to medical school, but I just worry the dismissal on my transcript would make it hard to get into the Master's program I want to get into.

Thank you,
( My Name)
 
Worth a shot. Even if they don’t change it I doubt it makes much difference. Just spin it as your heart wasn’t in it and your real passion lies elsewhere. Maybe even toss in that you did it because your family expected it or pressured you or something. Then talk about how you’ve grown and found your true calling, etc. You should have no trouble especially if your UG was solid.
 
operaman said:
Worth a shot. Even if they don’t change it I doubt it makes much difference. Just spin it as your heart wasn’t in it and your real passion lies elsewhere. Maybe even toss in that you did it because your family expected it or pressured you or something. Then talk about how you’ve grown and found your true calling, etc. You should have no trouble especially if your UG was solid.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I sent it.
 
I don’t think you’ll know until you apply, but I do think how you frame the situation will help.



Am I remembering correctly that your undergrad was in the same field you’re shooting for your masters? that will help.
 
mwsapphire said:
Hi everyone. I'm asking my school to change the dismissal on my transcript to a W so I can have an easier time applying to master's programs. Does this email seem good?

Good afternoon,

My name is (redacted) . I was recently dismissed from (program).

My current plans include going back for my Master's degree.

I know the dismissal from the college is final, but I was wondering if I could get it changed to a W on my transcript. I know I can't go back to medical school, but I just worry the dismissal on my transcript would make it hard to get into the Master's program I want to get into.

Thank you,
( My Name)
Click to expand...
mwsapphire said:
Update: They said they can't do that. I hope the dismissal doesn't hurt my chances
Click to expand...
Don’t take that personally it’s just someone making a stupid rule
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
wholeheartedly said:
I don’t think you’ll know until you apply, but I do think how you frame the situation will help.



Am I remembering correctly that your undergrad was in the same field you’re shooting for your masters? that will help.
Click to expand...
Yes!
Im trying to put a positive spin on it. Saying I realized medicine wasn't right for me and I'd rather use Bioinfo to figure out how to treat diseases.

Also, idk. Dismissal from medschool shouldn't matter as much as good college grades. The reality of my dismissal is realizing a high stress career like medicine isn't good for me. Would it be so bad to share that? Everyone knows medicine is more stressful than most other white collar jobs ( excluding Acadamia).
 
mwsapphire said:
Yes!
Im trying to put a positive spin on it. Saying I realized medicine wasn't right for me and I'd rather use Bioinfo to figure out how to treat diseases.

Also, idk. Dismissal from medschool shouldn't matter as much as good college grades. The reality of my dismissal is realizing a high stress career like medicine isn't good for me. Would it be so bad to share that? Everyone knows medicine is more stressful than most other white collar jobs ( excluding Acadamia).
Click to expand...

I would avoid saying high stress wasn’t a good fit. bioinformatics is going to be stressful in it’s own ways. most people only see the world from their own vantage point.
 
I think you need to be somewhat honest to come across as sincere without specifically mentioning stress. I wouldn’t try to fake kiss up to the field.

If you realized medicine wasn’t a good fit and your heart wasn’t in it, then you can say that but you’ll also need to clearly address why bionformatics appeals to you.

i have no experience as an adcom but if i was I would consider it a positive that it’s a continuation of your undergrad, it’s a positive if you did well in undergrad, i’d consider it a positive if you can articulate why it’s a good fit, it’s a negative that you were dismissed, it would be a positive if you could reassure me you’ve learned from that and won’t make the same mistakes if i admit you.
 
This is all kinda general and might not seem helpful, but that’s because it really needs to come from you and be your reasons.

maybe contrast the two. “when i was in undergrad i enjoyed this, this, and this about bioinfo, but medicine is different in that …. After being in medicine, I realize bioinfo was a better fit because x,y, z (or for the way I want to approach understanding diseases processes, etc, whatever fits).”
 
mwsapphire said:
Yes!
Im trying to put a positive spin on it. Saying I realized medicine wasn't right for me and I'd rather use Bioinfo to figure out how to treat diseases.

Also, idk. Dismissal from medschool shouldn't matter as much as good college grades. The reality of my dismissal is realizing a high stress career like medicine isn't good for me. Would it be so bad to share that? Everyone knows medicine is more stressful than most other white collar jobs ( excluding Acadamia).
Click to expand...

Hello friend! I wasn't aware that your undergraduate major was in bioinformatics. I think it's fantastic that you are interested in still pursuing academia despite this recent set back. As someone who used to dabble in the field, I am sort of curious about your thought process regarding this decision. Bioinformatics tends to be an accumulation of domains within fields like data science, computer science, and mathematical/statistical analysis. A lot of people in this field develop familiarity with languages like Python, Perl, and R due to the utility that comes when using these programs for sequence analysis. However, if you are familiar with programming to a certain extent, I am curious why you would pursue a masters in bioinformatics when the core skills that are involved in this area ultimately overlap with skills that are highly desirable in software engineering positions that do not necessarily require or reward someone for completing a masters in bioinformatics.
 
Select All That Apply said:
However, if you are familiar with programming to a certain extent, I am curious why you would pursue a masters in bioinformatics when the core skills that are involved in this area ultimately overlap with skills that are highly desirable in software engineering positions that do not necessarily require or reward someone for completing a masters in bioinformatics.
Click to expand...
When we're in crisis we tend to fall back on what we know.
 
Med Ed said:
When we're in crisis we tend to fall back on what we know.
Click to expand...
Terribly true. However, someone is going to believe that a Hail Mary Pass is the only viable play if no one points out there are more than four quarters in life and that attempting to min max outcomes immediately after going through significant loss does not usually result in the optimal long term play. To concede, it's always easy to backseat Andy these situations when you're not the one living in a life crisis.
 
I see so many medical people try to use computers as a fall back.
This is wrong on so many levels.

Coders are a dime a dozen and there are plenty of people that dedicated their life to it. They speak code. Their brains developed to handle code. If you think your only skill of copy and pasting from stack overflow is going to land you a high paying job, it's not likely going to happen.

Also, the people I know in software companies try to move away from. You'd rather be an analyst than a coder because coders get shat on so much more.

Furthermore, if you think you're going to learn to code after you fail med school, and what, now you're over >28 years old? Tough luck! THere's severe ageism in the tech industry. If you haven't been promoted out of coding by the time you're >40, you're not going to be hired.
 
Bioinfo jobs are not just all dry lab coding heavy. There are hybrid jobs , and the program I'm looking at has a good mix of wet and dry lab skills. ( Typical wet lab Biotech courses , and Programming for Bioinfo).
I do have a coding background, I did two semester of C programming in college.
 
mwsapphire said:
Bioinfo jobs are not just all dry lab coding heavy. There are hybrid jobs , and the program I'm looking at has a good mix of wet and dry lab skills. ( Typical wet lab Biotech courses , and Programming for Bioinfo).
I do have a coding background, I did two semester of C programming in college.
Click to expand...
Looks like you did your research. I'm sorry for framing your decision as a "Hail Mary Pass" and think you're going to crush it moving forward.

@Dr.Meowz Most bioinformatics programs require that you take a solid foundation of CS courses that require the person to become familiar with object oriented programming. You are not going to be able to pass these classes without gaining some fundamental insight into back end programming. Anecdotally most of the friends I have who have been in software development roles for four years or longer do not believe in this notion that you need to be pre-programmed to do the job. I think that having an affinity for things like math help a lot with programming, but if you're not directly handling fields that require working on machine learning algorithms or data mining then you could get away with a lot less. Honestly, the more I talk to my friends the more they tell me that they feel that most jobs are honestly just maintaining the existing code base and making sure everything new that gets added is compliant with existing conventions. Perhaps over time everything seems routine once you've looped through so many iterations of dunning kruger like scenarios with acute onset of imposter syndrome that it all just normalizes out.
 
Last edited:
PerioDont said:
I am so sorry you are in this situation.

Personally I think before jumping back into another academic program, I’d consider taking some time off to recoup.

Maybe work a year or do something else before going into another degree.

Just my .02 cents.
Click to expand...
Depending on how much student loan debt mwsapphire has, he/she has to have a feasible plan to start paying it off in 6 months when the grace period runs out. Going into another degree program defers those loans until graduation, whereas he/she may not be able to find a job that can cover the payments plus rent and other living costs.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Dame_Maggie said:
Depending on how much student loan debt mwsapphire has, he/she has to have a feasible plan to start paying it off in 6 months when the grace period runs out. Going into another degree program defers those loans until graduation, whereas he/she may not be able to find a job that can cover the payments plus rent and other living costs.
Click to expand...
Thanks. This is totally it. Especially since Bio info really benefits from an MS.
Im just , again, really hoping the medical school dismissal doesn't hurt me. I'm doomscrolling reddit right for dismissed med students who did in fact have trouble going back to school/working again.
 
mwsapphire said:
Thanks. This is totally it. Especially since Bio info really benefits from an MS.
Im just , again, really hoping the medical school dismissal doesn't hurt me. I'm doomscrolling reddit right for dismissed med students who did in fact have trouble going back to school/working again.
Click to expand...
You and I started the same and I’ve followed your story. I wish you all the best and hope you’re able to finish this degree path you’ve chosen!
 
mwsapphire said:
Thanks. This is totally it. Especially since Bio info really benefits from an MS.
Im just , again, really hoping the medical school dismissal doesn't hurt me. I'm doomscrolling reddit right for dismissed med students who did in fact have trouble going back to school/working again.
Click to expand...
Why are you spending all this time on Reddit and SDN looking for predictions? Go build an application, start working any job remotely related to bioinformatics and get back on track. I’m sure being dismissed from med school is will make things harder but not impossible. In a year or two many academic programs won’t care about your med school experience if you’ve done something productive.

All you can do at this point is try your best.
 
Honestly, graduate admissions is totally different from medical school admissions. They tend to be more focused on the "why" their program, and what your own career outcomes are (how the program will achieve them). They also are always grateful to anyone who applies to their program who demonstrates serious interest. If you say that medical school ultimately wasn't for you (with specific reasons how it wasn't a fit) but that bioinformatics feeds into other areas where you have been successful, you have a good argument for an admissions committee there. There aren't many applicants for these master's programs (which are not SMP's), so they will be happy to appeal to you.
 
mwsapphire said:
hanks. This is totally it. Especially since Bio info really benefits from an MS.
Im just , again, really hoping the medical school dismissal doesn't hurt me. I'm doomscrolling reddit right for dismissed med students who did in fact have trouble going back to school/working again.
Click to expand...
For Allah's sake, Sapphire, stay off of reddit!!!!! It's the cesspool of the internet.
 
Before I say anything else My family actually had a tripped plan to the homeland for this summer so for the next month I'll be visiting family overseas and relaxing. I already got letter writers for the MS application and have drafter essays and will get it in well before the deadline. I need to relax. We haven't been in 4 years!!
 
Goro said:
For Allah's sake, Sapphire, stay off of reddit!!!!! It's the cesspool of the internet.
Click to expand...
OMG 😀 I love the use of " Allah" .Didn't realize non Muslims knew the term means " God."
To be fair this was a post where the victim himself said he was having a hard time finding a job.
 
Last edited:
Dr Meow said:
I see so many medical people try to use computers as a fall back.
This is wrong on so many levels.

Coders are a dime a dozen and there are plenty of people that dedicated their life to it. They speak code. Their brains developed to handle code. If you think your only skill of copy and pasting from stack overflow is going to land you a high paying job, it's not likely going to happen.

Also, the people I know in software companies try to move away from. You'd rather be an analyst than a coder because coders get shat on so much more.

Furthermore, if you think you're going to learn to code after you fail med school, and what, now you're over >28 years old? Tough luck! THere's severe ageism in the tech industry. If you haven't been promoted out of coding by the time you're >40, you're not going to be hired.
Click to expand...
As a software engineer turned med student, this is severely misinformed.

> Coders are a dime a dozen and there are plenty of people that dedicated their life to it. They speak code. Their brains developed to handle code.

Just not true. Software engineering is a skill that can be learned in a short amount of time. I have friends who took leetcode seriously for 3 months and landed full time offers at FAANGs.


> You'd rather be an analyst than a coder because coders get shat on so much more.

There is no better paying job than software engineering, when considering the low upfront investment.

> If you haven't been promoted out of coding by the time you're >40, you're not going to be hired.

The individual in question is 28 years old, what does their performance at the age of 40 have to do with anything? 12 years is a long time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
  • Locked
MD Dismissal from medical school, what are my options?
Replies
15
Views
4K
wysdoc
wysdoc
B
Chances at EM
Replies
0
Views
302
brownie3242
B
C
Potential dismissal, need insight
Replies
6
Views
2K
eyeeye_captain
eyeeye_captain
N
Dismissal Advice
Replies
5
Views
3K
GoSpursGo
GoSpursGo
M
seeking advice: Appealing a Dismissal
Replies
8
Views
4K
Drjc1977
D