DUI and a bad semester from 2004

[V5RED]

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In 2004 I entered college despite not really caring about school. Partway through the semester I dropped out with 16 credits of failed courses. The courses were Human Nutrition, Writing, World Civilizations, Psychology, and Psychological Statistics.

On top of that, I have a misdemeanor DUI from an arrest after making a huge mistake at a new year's party following my dropping out of college. The arrest is officially January 1st 2005, and my expected graduation is 2014.

I returned to school in 2009 at a community college. I would have expected to graduate sooner than 2013, but I was advised to not take any more sciences at the community college after I had already registered for the 1st semester, so that pushed me back a year.

I am currently working on a Chemistry B.S.
Since my return, I have earned A's in every class except writing in which I earned an A-.

My question is whether my past makes the possibility of going to an MD medical school severely unlikely even if I maintain my grades and get good letters of recommendation/volunteer work/MCAT scores/etc.

 

[Quik]

In 2004 I entered college despite not really caring about school. Partway through the semester I dropped out with 16 credits of failed courses. The courses were Human Nutrition, Writing, World Civilizations, Psychology, and Psychological Statistics.

On top of that, I have a misdemeanor DUI from an arrest after making a huge mistake at a new year's party following my dropping out of college. The arrest is officially January 1st 2005, and my expected graduation is 2014.

I returned to school in 2009 at a community college. I would have expected to graduate sooner than 2013, but I was advised to not take any more sciences at the community college after I had already registered for the 1st semester, so that pushed me back a year.

I am currently working on a Chemistry B.S.
Since my return, I have earned A's in every class except writing in which I earned an A-.

My question is whether my past makes the possibility of going to an MD medical school severely unlikely even if I maintain my grades and get good letters of recommendation/volunteer work/MCAT scores/etc.

No, it is not very unlikely. The crux is showing ADCOMs that you're 'rehabilitated' (in a sense) both academically and behaviorally. There are plenty of people who've gotten DUI's and still gone to med school, and also plenty of people who have gotten terrible grades at one point and returned to redeem themselves and gain acceptance to med school.

Don't let your past burden you. Move on, do well, and you should be fine.

 

[Bernoull]

In 2004 I entered college despite not really caring about school. Partway through the semester I dropped out with 16 credits of failed courses. The courses were Human Nutrition, Writing, World Civilizations, Psychology, and Psychological Statistics.

On top of that, I have a misdemeanor DUI from an arrest after making a huge mistake at a new year's party following my dropping out of college. The arrest is officially January 1st 2005, and my expected graduation is 2014.

I returned to school in 2009 at a community college. I would have expected to graduate sooner than 2013, but I was advised to not take any more sciences at the community college after I had already registered for the 1st semester, so that pushed me back a year.

I am currently working on a Chemistry B.S.
Since my return, I have earned A's in every class except writing in which I earned an A-.

My question is whether my past makes the possibility of going to an MD medical school severely unlikely even if I maintain my grades and get good letters of recommendation/volunteer work/MCAT scores/etc.

Just keep in mind that u have little/no margin for error. If u get As for everything besides the 4F & A-, u should end up with about 3.4 (according to some online gpa calculator), which can get u in somewhere assuming the rest of ur app is competitive.

Now, the misdemeanor is handled by schools on a case to case basis, but it's not necessarily a disqualifier; felonies would be tho. First off, where u convicted, were u a juvenile? Based on ur circumstances, u may or may not have to disclose it on the primary app, secondaries vary in the question they ask. Above all, be honest and transparent on this issue. Have u looked into getting the case sealed/expunged, u have plenty of time b4 graduation to do so, then u can legally deny the case altogether (in most instances).

Finally u can't have any more disastrous semesters or criminal incidents. It would be unwise to not apply to DO schools given their grade replacement policy for classes retaken (MD school would just average out ur grades).

Gdluck

 

[V5RED]

I was 19 at the time of the arrest. In New York, DUI records cannot be expunged. I checked this on the government website.

 

[TriagePreMed]

I was 19 at the time of the arrest. In New York, DUI records cannot be expunged. I checked this on the government website.

Unlike others in this board, I believe that a DUI will be a huge black mark on your application. You need near perfection from now on to be able to overcome it. Still, I would proceed with caution. Being already how hard it is to get into the medical school game, you've put yourself on the lower end of things. A backup plan would be wise to have.

 

[Lil Mick]

You don't need perfect grades from here on out (very good grades, yes). Admissions committees will look at your transcript and see that your bad grades were from your first semester of college almost a decade ago. They will also see that your DUI (some schools only ask about felonies, others ask about everything--I think it depends on licensing laws for each state) was almost a decade ago. Service work goes a long ways, as does not getting into any more trouble... I'll send you a message.