F in bio 101 lab, not my fault. Help?

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DrMeow

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So, at my college if you missed a lab, you had to make it up the next semester. You would get an incomplete and after the lab was made up a correct grade is posted. Well, I missed a lab for basic biology and made it up the next semester. Years later, after finishing my masters degree and trying to apply for medical school, I realize that I have an F on my transcript. Turns out, nobody ever turned in a replacement grade for my incomplete!!! And after a certain amount of time, it turns into an F.

My undergrad gpa, with the f, is a 3.0 even and my graduate school gpa is a 3.4.

Will this F kill me forever??

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It is not their fault that you did not follow through. That should have been something that you monitored from start to finish (considering how important it was).

No, one F won't kill your chances (in fact, there is often a section on secondary applications asking you to explain any fluky grades on your transcript).

However, excluding the F for a moment, with a 3.0 uGPA / 3.4 gGPA you've got some work to do before you're ready to apply to any med schools.
 
obviously you should contact the registrar and the bio department and try to get this fixed

it is your fault that you didn't check your transcript which you should have done when you graduated or before you applied to grad school but what's done is done
 
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Not that anyone knows or cares, but I realize at this point I should have been checking up on it. At the time, it was post katrina and I was homeless due to hurricane damage and trying to juggle working to help my parents, make decent grades and many other things at one time.

Obviously, I am working with the registrar and the bio departments to get things fixed.

Thanks for the feedback informing me of secondaries asking about this type of things.
 
So, at my college if you missed a lab, you had to make it up the next semester. You would get an incomplete and after the lab was made up a correct grade is posted. Well, I missed a lab for basic biology and made it up the next semester. Years later, after finishing my masters degree and trying to apply for medical school, I realize that I have an F on my transcript. Turns out, nobody ever turned in a replacement grade for my incomplete!!! And after a certain amount of time, it turns into an F.

My undergrad gpa, with the f, is a 3.0 even and my graduate school gpa is a 3.4.

Will this F kill me forever?

Probably, yes, but luckily, Nola isn't too far from the Caribbean.
 
While that isn't technically your fault, people are going to tell you you should've kept track of it and made sure it got changed, and they're right. How did you graduate undergrad and start a Master's program without noticing an F?
 
I keep asking myself how I got into graduate school as well. The only thing I can think of is that it hadn't been enough time to turn into the F yet? It makes my brain hurt. I could kick myself for not noticing it earlier.

And the graduate school gpa of 3.4 only has two Bs. Just, one of the Bs is in a class that was 12 semester hours.
 
I keep asking myself how I got into graduate school as well. The only thing I can think of is that it hadn't been enough time to turn into the F yet? It makes my brain hurt. I could kick myself for not noticing it earlier.

And the graduate school gpa of 3.4 only has two Bs. Just, one of the Bs is in a class that was 12 semester hours.
I can't imagine your undergrad institution changed a grade on your transcript after having released it to a graduate program in the past.
 
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, OP, but most schools have a policy of not changing grades on transcripts after a certain period of time has passed. Since it has been a few years, I am thinking you will likely run into this wall. This only thing I can say that is helpful is that many secondary applications have a suitable place to explain problems like this.
 
even if you correct that, how high is you gpa?
 
even if you correct that, how high is you gpa?

that was my question. he said it was a bio lab, and at my school a bio lab is worth 1 credit. even if it was combined with the lecture and worth 4, I still can't imagine it affecting your GPA enough to make it look competitive.
 
See if you can get this corrected, which you're already doing. If it can't be corrected, discuss it in your essay...but it's important to take responsibility for your part in it when you do (an essay displacing blame and failing to own up to the mistake can be more damning than the F itself).

Also, unless you also have already taken an upper level bio lab, remember that if the F sticks you will have to retake a biology lab course to satisfy the prereqs for any med school requiring a bio lab (i.e. most).
 
Its your own fault. No one is responsible for looking out for you except you.
 
Yep. Gotta agree with the above posters. If something is important, you follow up on it yourself. The Katrina stuff is an excuse and nobody likes hearing excuses. I'm not sure how you finished off two degrees before noticing it. Hopefully you can get it fixed, so good luck.

If you can't get it fixed, I would say you should look at retaking some of your undergrad classes (including the lab) to take advantage of DO grade policies, and then apply to DO schools. Perhaps you wouldn't even need to with the masters gpa.. who knows.
 
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