Do you address withdrawals from class on the primary statement or secondary?

[mrh125]

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One quarter I took on too many responsibilities and had to withdraw, the next quarter I took a reduced unit load, and I utilized the time to see where my passions really were and reassess my goals. Should I put that on my primary statement or secondary? it's a learning experience that I could use on my primary but if stuff like this is generally put on secondaries i'll skip it for now.

 

[Redeemed316]

Secondaries would probably be best. Usually there is a space on secondaries where you can add anything that you haven't mentioned.

I had a withdrawal that I retook the following summer semester, and if i remember correctly, I only explained it in maybe 1 or 2 secondary apps because they asked specifically to explain any grades lower than B.I referenced a drop in my gpa briefly and very generally (just said that that my app wouldn't have been competitive enough after undergrad) in my personal statement just to then show how and why I took the next steps to improve my application (Master's program) and demonstrate determination, etc.

 

[darkjedi]

 

[LizzyM]

Why not tell the story that is going to make people want to interview you and make them want to have you in next year's class. That might not include pointing out a zit that is quite obvious on your face (or the Ws on your transcript). If there is a story about what happened in Spring 2013 or Fall 2012 or whatever, then tell the story but only if it pertains to "why medicine" or how you considered and rejected other career paths or whatever. If it might plant seeds of doubt about your suitability for a career in medicine or your readiness for 4 years of med school, then don't tell the story.

 

[ProfessorKhan]

Why not tell the story that is going to make people want to interview you and make them want to have you in next year's class. That might not include pointing out a zit that is quite obvious on your face (or the Ws on your transcript). If there is a story about what happened in Spring 2013 or Fall 2012 or whatever, then tell the story but only if it pertains to "why medicine" or how you considered and rejected other career paths or whatever. If it might plant seeds of doubt about your suitability for a career in medicine or your readiness for 4 years of med school, then don't tell the story.

Yeah okay 🙂

 

[mrh125]

Why not tell the story that is going to make people want to interview you and make them want to have you in next year's class. That might not include pointing out a zit that is quite obvious on your face (or the Ws on your transcript). If there is a story about what happened in Spring 2013 or Fall 2012 or whatever, then tell the story but only if it pertains to "why medicine" or how you considered and rejected other career paths or whatever. If it might plant seeds of doubt about your suitability for a career in medicine or your readiness for 4 years of med school, then don't tell the story.

Great post 🙂, thanks for the feedback. Would this qualify?: I withdraw from a quarter in winter 2012 because I took on too many responsibilities (organic chemistry and 15 other units of science courses really had me for lunch) and had health issues (not the best way of wording it). The next quarter I took on a reduced unit load and I used that time to reassess my goals, try part-time jobs I had never exposed myself before, and come up with a plan so that I could succeed in school the next quarters. It's pretty general and vague because it was pretty early before my goals really crystallized, but having a difficulty like that just made me more resilient in the long run. I also ended up coming back to organic chemistry and got an A+ every quarter.

 

[LizzyM]

You withdrew from all 19 units in Winter 2012?? That really cries out for an explanation and if saying that you had a health issue is very reasonable. If you just dropped a class or two, no big deal and no need for an explanation, IMHO.

 

[mrh125]

You withdrew from all 19 units in Winter 2012?? That really cries out for an explanation and if saying that you had a health issue is very reasonable. If you just dropped a class or two, no big deal and no need for an explanation, IMHO.

Yea, I withdrew from the entire quarter. It just shows as a withdrawal on my transcript and doesn't even show the number of classes or units I withdrew from tho. Was what I said above a good enough explanation to put on a personal statement? If not, how would you recommend addressing it? I don't want to go into too much detail. I just want to briefly touch on it and say what happened and that it was a learning experience.

new attempt:
"(previous few sentences talk about how determined I was to learn and how driven I was, as well as my fascination with science).
Even setbacks, such as in Winter 2012 when I had to withdraw due to health issues and bc I took on too many responsibilities in my eagerness to learn taught me something instead of acting as barriers to my education. In the time I had free I reassessed my goals and learned to more carefully examine courses I take together so I could succeed in the future. The next quarter I took on a reduced unit load and I used that time to examine what I really wanted to do in life, try part-time jobs I had never exposed myself before, and come up with a plan so that I could succeed in school the next quarters. Due to this experience I was more prepared when I came back to school and was able to balance 18 units of science courses successfully. I also retook organic chemistry and received an A+ in it every quarter"

 

[LizzyM]

Hmmm... if it doesn't show how many classes or what classes you took, I wonder how it will even show up on AMCAS. If it doesnt' show up on AMCAS, then you might want to address the "gap" in your academic career by saying that you enrolled but chose to withdraw when health issues required your undivided attention. I've had applicants with cancer, etc and know people who withdrew due to health problems related to serious injuries so "health problems" could mean anything... the key thing is that adcoms are going to need a bit of reassurance that this won't repeat itself in med school.

 

[mrh125]

Hmmm... if it doesn't show how many classes or what classes you took, I wonder how it will even show up on AMCAS. If it doesnt' show up on AMCAS, then you might want to address the "gap" in your academic career by saying that you enrolled but chose to withdraw when health issues required your undivided attention. I've had applicants with cancer, etc and know people who withdrew due to health problems related to serious injuries so "health problems" could mean anything... the key thing is that adcoms are going to need a bit of reassurance that this won't repeat itself in med school.

Hmm, the health problem is intentionally vague because it has to do with mental health (wrong medication caused issues), as well as physical health (illness), so I'm kind of dancing around it a bit. That part won't happen again w/ the medication. I did learn from that experience though and 2 quarters from that time I was able to take an equally intense unit load and receive good grades because I knew how to prepare for it this time around. I could just say that.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

I didn't explain anything because I didn't want to bring attention to it, but I did write the hardships I faced in college. I was prepared to answer questions about it by relating them to my PS, but they never came up on interviews.

 

[LizzyM]

You can say "health issues". If anyone presses you during an interview you can say something like, "I had a reaction to a medication a physician prescribe for a chronic condition I'm been dealing with for years. It took awhile to get back into equilibrium and I'm glad I won't have to go through that again!"
The point is to chat away long enough that the interviewer will feel like you addressed the problem without really revealing what your condition is. If the person is really a Nosy Parker then you could always just shrug and give a description of your physical illness and add "it's behind me now, knock wood."

 

[polyploidy516]

I actually have the same issue currently where I will be withdrawing from all of my classes due to health issues that I need to focus on.

LizzyM: does having many withdrawal grades affect one's chances of getting an interview? or does it primarily affect one's chances after an explanation is given after the interview?

 

[NoDakDok]

You can say "health issues". If anyone presses you during an interview you can say something like, "I had a reaction to a medication a physician prescribe for a chronic condition I'm been dealing with for years. It took awhile to get back into equilibrium and I'm glad I won't have to go through that again!"
The point is to chat away long enough that the interviewer will feel like you addressed the problem without really revealing what your condition is. If the person is really a Nosy Parker then you could always just shrug and give a description of your physical illness and add "it's behind me now, knock wood."

Good advice.

OP also stated that the withdrawal was only for a quarter. Many secondaries I encountered during my application cycles asked to describe any significant gaps in your education (> 6 months). In that case, a withdrawal for a single quarter wouldn't apply, and assuming the rest of their academic record is fine it would likely be overlooked for the most part during the review process. If it only shows up as a single withdrawal, as OP stated, I'd suggest skirting the issue to avoid pointing out the 'zit,' but not sure if you agree with that.

I actually have the same issue currently where I will be withdrawing from all of my classes due to health issues that I need to focus on.

LizzyM: does having many withdrawal grades affect one's chances of getting an interview? or does it primarily affect one's chances after an explanation is given after the interview?

I can only predict she will say it strongly depends on your past and future academic record and the total number of withdrawal grades you attain. If you have a strong academic record then I doubt it'd interfere with your chance at interview, but it may be prompted during the interview process. If you have a questionable academic record, then it could present an issue in getting you interviewed.

 

[polyploidy516]

what would be a good way to remedy such a situation in that case especially if the applicant is in the latter ( a questionable academic record with a very strong upward trend and a high gpa the previous semester). would further fulltime coursework ( about 1 year's worth) be enough to assuage an adcom if the applicant has about 4-8 W's?

 

[NoDakDok]

what would be a good way to remedy such a situation in that case especially if the applicant is in the latter ( a questionable academic record with a very strong upward trend and a high gpa the previous semester). would further fulltime coursework ( about 1 year's worth) be enough to assuage an adcom if the applicant has about 4-8 W's?

I mean, due to how unpredictable medical admissions can be it's impossible to give you definitive answer on how any particular AdCom will view an application, all we can do is inform you to the best of our ability. "Questionable" in my mind would be a borderline GPA and MCAT (e.g. ~3.5, ~29 at most schools, with more exceptions than rules). That combined with a lot of withdrawn grades (> several) might raise eyebrows. But if your academic record has good grades immediately before and for a year after (e.g. > 3.7) and your overall GPA ends up being competitive or higher than competitive for a school, I think you could certainly get an interview assuming the rest of your application is compelling.

The thing that makes this unpredictable is simply how competitive admissions are becoming. Why take x who has 8 withdraws when y doesn't? It certainly makes things more difficult. Since this is all hypothetical, if you want better advice on what to do or how you would fair in an application cycle (especially your situation in particular) I highly suggest visiting the WAMC forum and making a thread. If you do, feel free to tag me in that @NoDakDok and I'll see if I can help any more.