Do med schools really understand unique circumstances?

[Made of Dreams]

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I began college as class of '09 but because of an undiagnosed disorder my gpa was a 2.3 for the first 3 yrs and I slowly chipped away at my goals. Over the summer I got a diagnosis and transferred schools to maintain treatment and I'm now class of '11. Although the semester isn't quite over, I'm pretty sure ill be getting a 4.0, including bio and chem(i only have 1 semester of chem from my previous school so my science gpa will be much much higher than overall gpa on amcas). Will top tier schools truly understand my situation, even if I'm "protected" under the disabilities act, or should i not set my sights/heart on really competitive schools (Yale is my dream). I greatly appreciate any input. Sorry for the long post.

 

[Law2Doc]

I began college as class of '09 but because of an undiagnosed disorder my gpa was a 2.3 for the first 3 yrs and I slowly chipped away at my goals. Over the summer I got a diagnosis and transferred schools to maintain treatment and I'm now class of '11. Although the semester isn't quite over, I'm pretty sure ill be getting a 4.0, including bio and chem(i only have 1 semester of chem from my previous school so my science gpa will be much much higher than overall gpa on amcas). Will top tier schools truly understand my situation, even if I'm "protected" under the disabilities act, or should i not set my sights/heart on really competitive schools (Yale is my dream). I greatly appreciate any input. Sorry for the long post.

While an improvement in GPA over time and having a good reason to explain low semesters helps, the bottom line is that your cumulative GPA is going to loom large. So yeah if you ended up with a subpar GPA that's something you are going to have a tough time overcoming. With enough time getting A's and a good explanation (assuming it's something you feel comfortable talking about) you can overcome this, but don't consider yourself protected. All you can do is get your GPA up as high as possible.

As for having your sights on a single, competitive school this is a really really bad idea. Most people don't get into their dream school. Even the top students don't get into all the schools they apply to, and cannot put their eggs in all baskets this way. With GPA issues in your application, you are going to want to apply to a LOT of schools, and are going to have to be happy if you get one of them. Focusing in on a dram school this early in the process is foolish. The best bet is to get into a few schools and only then decide which of your real choices is your dream.

 

[Made of Dreams]

Thanks a lot Law2Doc. I plan on applying to many schools and you're right, I should really be a lot more patient about the whole process lol. I plan on providing all schools that i apply to with an explanation, but I just dont want to feel foolish when applying, the same way I feel foolish now lol. Also, even though this is also a concern that i should deal with later, when i apply to 20+ schools, I dont want to waste my money on a list that it more top heavy than it should be. Thanks again