Failed course due to medical event involving significant other. Will it affect my chances?

[Benjamin10]

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[LizzyM]

Your application will not look as good as the application of someone who took the courses once and scored well.

You made a decision to cut classes on an exam day because you put the concern for your friend ahead of your responsibility to complete your exams.

If you had it to do over, could you think of any way of having your friend receive the support she needed while you met your academic obligations?? To me, that is the important question. How would you handle this if you were in medical school and had a friend arrive at the hospital a few hours before you were to take an important exam?

 

[Benjamin10]

Your application will not look as good as the application of someone who took the courses once and scored well.

You made a decision to cut classes on an exam day because you put the concern for your friend ahead of your responsibility to complete your exams.

If you had it to do over, could you think of any way of having your friend receive the support she needed while you met your academic obligations?? To me, that is the important question. How would you handle this if you were in medical school and had a friend arrive at the hospital a few hours before you were to take an important exam?

Thanks you for your insight and I understand. If I had to do it over for this particular situation, I could not think of another way due to the event having occurred at 2 am and me being the only one around to help. If it was medical school I can't say Id so the same thing due to each of those tests weighing so heavily on my future. But I am not one to make excuses for my actions. It happened, I take responsibility for it and I learned from the whole thing. I guess that will be the little blip on my application but hopefully the academics and extracurriculars will shine through.

 

[MusicDOc124]

Checked out at 10 am and you had to miss 2 exams? If s/he is so important to you, you should also be to them, and thus they should have been understanding that you had exams to take, especially if your s/o is being discharged. And that early in the day? Were your exams back-to-back at 8 and 9? If not, and somewhat regardless, not a great decision to make. Like what someone above said, you could have withdrawn if needed, or even emailed your professors the night prior what was going on and saw what they had to say about it rather than just not showing up - another mistake.

With that said, you retook them and got good grades, and your GPA is okay, I can't imagine that holding you back significantly. At least just explain what happened if/when asked.

 

[Benjamin10]

This is what withdrawals are for

Withdraw period was passed, but thank you for your advice

 

[unicornshadow888]

Hey all,

just looking for some general advice on something that occurred around my sophomore year.

So long story short, my significant other ended up having to be transported to the hospital one night in the middle of the week due to a serious stomach issue and I went and stayed with her throughout the night b/c her family lives in a completely different state. Unfortunately, I had 2 exams the very next day, early in the morning, that I ended up missing because we did not check out until 10 am and I refused to leave her by herself. She is ironically scared of hospitals. (Safe to assume I wont be getting any visits at work if med school does end up working out lol) which is why I stayed.

As a result of the 0's I received due to my absences from those exams, my grades dropped and I received a D in a 1 credit lab and a C in a 3 credit lecture which I have since re-took and received good grades in. In case you were wondering, the professors did not allow me a reschedule the exams b/c they have to be informed 24 hours before the event.. unfortunately I am not psychic and could not foresee the circumstance.

I was curious as to how admissions committees would view this and if this would hurt my chances at all. My GPA is still high (well above a 3.5), extracurriculars, shadowing, research, volunteering etc has ben done but I will not go into detail with that b/c all that should be saved for my WAMC post.

In hindsight, I would do it again twice over b/c I can't see myself turning my back on someone I really care about in their time of need whether friend, family or whomever. Not saying that I would miss classes or exams whenever something bad occurs in the future b/c I wont, but I felt that in this situation it was necessary.

Thoughts?

I know this struggle all too well (it's happened to me twice). The first time, I had a friend pass away from cancer in high school and that really messed up my high school GPA. The second time was this past year where a family member was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The first time it happened, I told no one and I suffered because of it. The second time, I went straight to the Dean and told them since they were in charge of rescheduling things in light of serious circumstances. I ended up not doing any rescheduling of exams since the situation was not as serious as we anticipated, but I still ended up having to postpone some assignments (got them all done before the exam period, though) since I had to visit the hospital often and unexpectedly. TBH, what your professors did was not ok, and I would have taken it to the Dean. This was a serious situation and you had to be there. Plus, situations like this are difficult when you haven't developed the necessary coping skills to carry on (which is what happened to me in high school). I would have seriously fought for an incomplete and a chance to reschedule those exams. Just something to consider for the future. Sometimes life happens. Otherwise, you should be fine as long as you apply broadly. Also, indicate to adcoms what happened and how you've learned from it.

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

Withdraw period was passed, but thank you for your advice

Always ask for an expection in situations like this. If the professor isn't willing to help you aren't isn't able...go to a dept head or dean.