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Hey everyone,
I posted about this a few weeks ago and got some really great answers regarding my situation. My last two years of high school I took university classes at my local state university through a program we have in Washington State called "Running Start." I was only 16 when I decided to take the premedical Biology sequence and was not ready for it. It's not that I couldn't do it, it's just that my mind was set on going to Germany for college (I learned German all throughout high school). I wasn't sure I wanted to be a doctor, but I took Biology for good measure. Little did I know that two years later, when I would start to get serious about applying for medical school, that it would add to a list of things that would become a big problem on my way to med school.
My grades in the Bio series were 2.6, 1.5 and 3.4. I didnt really care because I was still in high school with a bad case of senioritis. I was also getting over a really rough childhood that I wont get into here. I assumed that I could retake them and that it would be no problem. It was really easy for me to get great grades in classes I actually tried in though. My whole high school career was defined by good grades. I was one of the "top students" and that's why I got into the Running Start program to begin with.
After graduating from high school and Running Start simultaneously, I did a language program in Germany over the summer, where I met my current fiancé. I grew up in a very conservative family and kind of had no idea how to deal with this. I didn't want to be a doctor anymore, so I had a study place at Oregon State University as a nuclear engineering major (I loved nuclear engineering, but I also wanted to be a doctor, and realized that the two were not compatible). Well, I really was stupid enough to go to Oregon for a quarter the summer after meeting this guy--to fail calculus, get a 4.0 in German and work as the opinion editor of the school newspaper--without thinking about the consequences. I was in love for the first time and to say the least, extremely naïve as well.
I did end up going to Germany, where I studied Biochemistry and Cell Biology for two years. I went to an up and coming private university that is trying to become the "Harvard of Europe" but has several problems, is being sued by students left and right, and is very corrupt (I ended up reporting some of their illegal business practices to the local newspaper, which started a huge scandal). I was one of the very few Americans (and the only in my program) and was bullied by students who lived in my dorm building, belittled, ignored, and even called a "stupid American" by professors. I did have the advantage of getting to be with my boyfriend, who studies business informatics. But it was all too much. I was diagnosed with depression, got sick on average 5 times per semester, and was admitted to the hospital once for having these weird excruciating pains in my stomach and was in turn diagnosed with a heart condition. My average at that school is a German 2,5 (my science average is worse), which is a B- in the American system. It has been hell on earth. But, like Friedrich Nietzsche once said, what doesnt kill us makes us stronger. Unless it stays on your transcript. Thats the problem.
I recently applied to the University of Washington (my state school) and got in, on the condition that I get at least a 3.0 average for the first quarter. I am confident that I can do it. My fiancé will have to stay in Germany and chances are that he will not be able to do his masters in the US either. His grades are not good enough to get into any US graduate programs, and even if he could, he wouldn't be able to afford it. Also, he gets automatic acceptance to a graduate program at his current school in Germany, which charges 0 tuition. Going back to Germany isn't an option for me either: I already tried my luck with Germany and ended up ruining my GPA, time, money, and ruining my health. So now I probably cant even be with my fiancé, the reason I came here in the first place.
Sorry for the long background story. Now here is the dilemma: DO schools will look at ALL of my grades, including my German ones, which must be evaluated by WES or a similar agency. This means that gaining acceptance is virtually impossible with my grades. Also, I can't retake all of the classes I did poorly in because most of them don't even exist at my new university. I don't know how many of them are going to transfer, but it doesn't matter, since I have to send in all transcripts. I e-mailed AACOMAS asking if they would consider my German grades as part of my CGPA and have not heard back. Based on what I have read here though, they probably will.
MD schools will not look at my German grades, but they will look at my Oregon State grades and my Running Start grades without considering retakes. My current GPA for my US schools is a 3.1. And I have so many credits that chances are I won't be able to raise it that much.
My plan was to redo my bio sequence at the UW, and take the rest of the requirements I don't have yet (chemistry, physics, etc). I was also going to sign up for a phlebotomy program and work as a phlebotomist while I finish everything. I am already 20 years old. And now I have a weird sounding German accent even though I am American because of all of this, and it's not going away no matter how hard I try. I am staying with my fiancé now and will fly back to Washington in two weeks. Every day I wake up and the first thing that comes to my mind is how much I have ruined my future and what a failure I am, despite having had such ambitious intentions.
I know that all of this is my own fault (except for how terrible the German university was) and I shouldnt complain. But is there any chance that the DO schools will look past my time at the German university? Will all of my German courses be calculated into my cGPA? Are my only options doing an SMP/going to the Caribbean? Is there any chance that medical schools will look more at my grades from the University of Washington? Can I no longer become a physician?
I apologize the Gods for having screwed up my life so much before age 20. But I really do want to change it.
Thanks so much if you have read this far. I would appreciate any and all feedback.
I posted about this a few weeks ago and got some really great answers regarding my situation. My last two years of high school I took university classes at my local state university through a program we have in Washington State called "Running Start." I was only 16 when I decided to take the premedical Biology sequence and was not ready for it. It's not that I couldn't do it, it's just that my mind was set on going to Germany for college (I learned German all throughout high school). I wasn't sure I wanted to be a doctor, but I took Biology for good measure. Little did I know that two years later, when I would start to get serious about applying for medical school, that it would add to a list of things that would become a big problem on my way to med school.
My grades in the Bio series were 2.6, 1.5 and 3.4. I didnt really care because I was still in high school with a bad case of senioritis. I was also getting over a really rough childhood that I wont get into here. I assumed that I could retake them and that it would be no problem. It was really easy for me to get great grades in classes I actually tried in though. My whole high school career was defined by good grades. I was one of the "top students" and that's why I got into the Running Start program to begin with.
After graduating from high school and Running Start simultaneously, I did a language program in Germany over the summer, where I met my current fiancé. I grew up in a very conservative family and kind of had no idea how to deal with this. I didn't want to be a doctor anymore, so I had a study place at Oregon State University as a nuclear engineering major (I loved nuclear engineering, but I also wanted to be a doctor, and realized that the two were not compatible). Well, I really was stupid enough to go to Oregon for a quarter the summer after meeting this guy--to fail calculus, get a 4.0 in German and work as the opinion editor of the school newspaper--without thinking about the consequences. I was in love for the first time and to say the least, extremely naïve as well.
I did end up going to Germany, where I studied Biochemistry and Cell Biology for two years. I went to an up and coming private university that is trying to become the "Harvard of Europe" but has several problems, is being sued by students left and right, and is very corrupt (I ended up reporting some of their illegal business practices to the local newspaper, which started a huge scandal). I was one of the very few Americans (and the only in my program) and was bullied by students who lived in my dorm building, belittled, ignored, and even called a "stupid American" by professors. I did have the advantage of getting to be with my boyfriend, who studies business informatics. But it was all too much. I was diagnosed with depression, got sick on average 5 times per semester, and was admitted to the hospital once for having these weird excruciating pains in my stomach and was in turn diagnosed with a heart condition. My average at that school is a German 2,5 (my science average is worse), which is a B- in the American system. It has been hell on earth. But, like Friedrich Nietzsche once said, what doesnt kill us makes us stronger. Unless it stays on your transcript. Thats the problem.
I recently applied to the University of Washington (my state school) and got in, on the condition that I get at least a 3.0 average for the first quarter. I am confident that I can do it. My fiancé will have to stay in Germany and chances are that he will not be able to do his masters in the US either. His grades are not good enough to get into any US graduate programs, and even if he could, he wouldn't be able to afford it. Also, he gets automatic acceptance to a graduate program at his current school in Germany, which charges 0 tuition. Going back to Germany isn't an option for me either: I already tried my luck with Germany and ended up ruining my GPA, time, money, and ruining my health. So now I probably cant even be with my fiancé, the reason I came here in the first place.
Sorry for the long background story. Now here is the dilemma: DO schools will look at ALL of my grades, including my German ones, which must be evaluated by WES or a similar agency. This means that gaining acceptance is virtually impossible with my grades. Also, I can't retake all of the classes I did poorly in because most of them don't even exist at my new university. I don't know how many of them are going to transfer, but it doesn't matter, since I have to send in all transcripts. I e-mailed AACOMAS asking if they would consider my German grades as part of my CGPA and have not heard back. Based on what I have read here though, they probably will.
MD schools will not look at my German grades, but they will look at my Oregon State grades and my Running Start grades without considering retakes. My current GPA for my US schools is a 3.1. And I have so many credits that chances are I won't be able to raise it that much.
My plan was to redo my bio sequence at the UW, and take the rest of the requirements I don't have yet (chemistry, physics, etc). I was also going to sign up for a phlebotomy program and work as a phlebotomist while I finish everything. I am already 20 years old. And now I have a weird sounding German accent even though I am American because of all of this, and it's not going away no matter how hard I try. I am staying with my fiancé now and will fly back to Washington in two weeks. Every day I wake up and the first thing that comes to my mind is how much I have ruined my future and what a failure I am, despite having had such ambitious intentions.
I know that all of this is my own fault (except for how terrible the German university was) and I shouldnt complain. But is there any chance that the DO schools will look past my time at the German university? Will all of my German courses be calculated into my cGPA? Are my only options doing an SMP/going to the Caribbean? Is there any chance that medical schools will look more at my grades from the University of Washington? Can I no longer become a physician?
I apologize the Gods for having screwed up my life so much before age 20. But I really do want to change it.
Thanks so much if you have read this far. I would appreciate any and all feedback.
