From Cornell to Medical School

[UofRochesterMed]

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I have a buddy who is not a member of the SDN Forum, but he asked me to make this post because of all the knowledge everyone here shares. He originally started his college career at a community college and graduated after 2 years. He was accepted into Cornell after, but the acceptance letter literally came a week prior to the new semester. That semester he went to a SUNY school but didn't like it, so he withdrew from all of his classes took a 3 month break and attended Cornell the very next semester. He just graduated with a BA from Cornell and is filling out his applications for medical school. He wants to know if he has to tell the medical schools that he attended the SUNY school even though he technically received no grades from the school.

PS: He also said that he didn't mention it to Cornell when he transferred over so he doesn't know why this would be a problem.

 

[CoolWhipp]

I would have to say that your friend would be fine without mentioning SUNY.

 

[aSagacious]

Yes, he would have to submit a transcript from the SUNY. According to the AMCAS Instruction Manual (p. 23)

Transcript Requirements
One (1) official transcript is required from each U.S., U.S. Territorial, or Canadian post-secondary institution at which you have attempted course work, regardless of whether credit was earned.
This includes but is not limited to:
- College-level courses attempted while in high school, even if they did not count toward a degree at any college.
- Colleges at which you originally attempted a course, even if transfer credit was subsequently accepted by another school.
- Colleges where you registered but did not earn any credit (e.g., incompletes, withdrawals, failures, audits, etc.).
- Courses that did not count toward a degree, regardless of whether credit was earned or transferred.
- Extension programs through which you attempted courses, if a separate transcript is provided by the Extension Division.
- Correspondence and home study programs.
- Military education.
- American schools overseas.
- U.S., U.S. Territorial, and Canadian medical schools

 

[theseeker4]

I have a buddy who is not a member of the SDN Forum, but he asked me to make this post because of all the knowledge everyone here shares. He originally started his college career at a community college and graduated after 2 years. He was accepted into Cornell after, but the acceptance letter literally came a week prior to the new semester. That semester he went to a SUNY school but didn't like it, so he withdrew from all of his classes took a 3 month break and attended Cornell the very next semester. He just graduated with a BA from Cornell and is filling out his applications for medical school. He wants to know if he has to tell the medical schools that he attended the SUNY school even though he technically received no grades from the school.

PS: He also said that he didn't mention it to Cornell when he transferred over so he doesn't know why this would be a problem.

If he requests transcripts from the SUNY, do they respond that he has no record, or does he have transcripts with W's? If the former, probably doesn't need to report it, but if the latter, probably needs to.

 

[Tots]

Yes, he would have to submit a transcript from the SUNY. According to the AMCAS Instruction Manual (p. 23)

Hmmm so if I enrolled in a local community college with the intention of taking a class but ended up not taking the class(enrolled before the semester started and then dropped during the add/drop period) I would have to send this transcript to AMCAS? I have a copy of my transcript and it is completely blank - no classes.

 

[Sephiroth]

Hmmm so if I enrolled in a local community college with the intention of taking a class but ended up not taking the class(enrolled before the semester started and then dropped during the add/drop period) I would have to send this transcript to AMCAS? I have a copy of my transcript and it is completely blank - no classes.

If you dropped during the add/drop period, it's like you never enrolled in the class in the first place - you shouldn't have a W on your transcript, that class just shouldn't appear. So if this was done for all classes at that school, you wouldn't have anything there to report, so you shouldn't need to send it in.

 

[Tots]

If you dropped during the add/drop period, it's like you never enrolled in the class in the first place - you shouldn't have a W on your transcript, that class just shouldn't appear. So if this was done for all classes at that school, you wouldn't have anything there to report, so you shouldn't need to send it in.

Hmm ok this is what I thought. My transcript from this CC literally says 0 credits attempted. Thanks! Sorry for hijacking your thread op.

 

[UofRochesterMed]

What if you decide not to send it in anyway. Are the consequences that bad?

 

[Jennet]

What if you decide not to send it in anyway. Are the consequences that bad?

Apparently, yes. They are severe. Your medical degree can be revoked at any time if they discover you have lied.

Old thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/archive/index.php/t-373588.html

 

[theseeker4]

What if you decide not to send it in anyway. Are the consequences that bad?

If they are W's, and not F's, why wouldn't you send them? Does the person you are asking for owe the school money and not want to pony up for the transcripts to be released?

 

[mdhopeful65]

it's not going to look bad if you list as having gone to a CC and then to an Ivy (yes you, not your "friend"). They are paying attention to more important things in the application.

This is a non-issue, as long as you don't mislead/lie.

 

[UofRochesterMed]

ok but what if you did absolutely horrible in the 3 classes you took at SUNY. Once he know that he was going to the Ivy League school, he game up and didn't even take the final for the classes (all F's). Granted, he went to Cornell and has a 3.7 GPA now, he still messed up big time!

 

[theseeker4]

ok but what if you did absolutely horrible in the 3 classes you took at SUNY. Once he know that he was going to the Ivy League school, he game up and didn't even take the final for the classes (all F's). Granted, he went to Cornell and has a 3.7 GPA now, he still messed up big time!

Well yeah, if he didn't withdraw, he screwed himself over. He can probably still get in somewhere, but that was just a stupid, lazy mistake that is going to cost him when applying. He can be booted from med school for not reporting the failures, if they don't catch them before he is admitted, so he is basically SOL. Oh well. He is in the same position as the people who come on here saying they didn't try early in school and then started trying. He has the F's on his record, and he will have to explain them.

If he had a 3.7 at 120 credits at Cornell, and 12 credits at 0.0 gpa, he would drop to a 3.36 or so overall.

 

[Stumpyman]

I want to say that if he dropped before the add/drop period ended, then he has no record of SUNY. I thought that's how it worked....

 

[Jennet]

ok but what if you did absolutely horrible in the 3 classes you took at SUNY. Once he know that he was going to the Ivy League school, he game up and didn't even take the final for the classes (all F's). Granted, he went to Cornell and has a 3.7 GPA now, he still messed up big time!

The Seeker is right. He really messed up. You have to submit every course you have received a grade for including W, I, and F. Omitting this on your AMCAS is the equivalent of lying about past education. If AMCAS finds out that you did in fact lie, you can be kicked out of any medical school you are accepted to.

Basically, AMCAS has a zero tolerance policy for lying and/or withholding the truth. I wouldn't risk it and neither should you/your friend.

 

[medapplicant01]

-

 

[candav]

it's not going to look bad if you list as having gone to a CC and then to an Ivy (yes you, not your "friend").

Definitely have noticed that SDN members seem to have a lot of "friends" who are evidently incapable of accessing the forum themselves.

 

[odysseus88]

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. I don't mean to hijack this thread (if no one minds replying, I appreciate it) but on a related note I took a Spanish class at a school 7 summers ago. I got an A in it, so no reason not to list it but I forgot to include it for this app cycle. Not sure what this means now because I've been interviewing, etc. Should I call AMCAS? Prehealth advisor? Or update schools individually with a letter and transcript (god there's no way to do this without looking like an idiot)?Ahh...crap!

In this case, you could get by okay since it's not like you were trying to hide negative information, however, you should still notify AMCAS of the error. Call them up and ask what your next step should be. It's more of a loss to you since your A would have helped your GPA (even if only very slightly).

 

[odysseus88]

Definitely have noticed that SDN members seem to have a lot of "friends" who are evidently incapable of accessing the forum themselves.

When a user name and the internet don't provide sufficient anonymity for the paranoid among us.

 

[sector9]

That semester he went to a SUNY school but didn't like it, so he withdrew from all of his classes took a 3 month break and attended Cornell the very next semester. He just graduated with a BA from Cornell and is filling out his applications for medical school. He wants to know if he has to tell the medical schools that he attended the SUNY school even though he technically received no grades from the school.

ok but what if you did absolutely horrible in the 3 classes you took at SUNY. Once he know that he was going to the Ivy League school, he game up and didn't even take the final for the classes (all F's). Granted, he went to Cornell and has a 3.7 GPA now, he still messed up big time!

Um there are some pretty big inconsistencies in this story. Either "your friend" withdrew from all of his classes at SUNY and received no grades OR he did horribly, receiving all F's. You can't have it both ways.

Also, your friend can't be filling out med school applications now unless he's applying to the Caribbean or something. The application doesn't open for months

 

[kpcrew]

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. I don't mean to hijack this thread (if no one minds replying, I appreciate it) but on a related note I took a Spanish class at a school 7 summers ago. I got an A in it, so no reason not to list it but I forgot to include it for this app cycle. Not sure what this means now because I've been interviewing, etc. Should I call AMCAS? Prehealth advisor? Or update schools individually with a letter and transcript (god there's no way to do this without looking like an idiot)?Ahh...crap!

yeah i forgot to include grades, but they weren't as good as yours lol

i sent a copy of the transcript to amcas and i'm sure they'll pass it on to all the schools i applied to.

 

[V5RED]

I would have to say that your friend would be fine without mentioning SUNY.

If someone actually followed this advice it could have severely hurt his chances of going to medical school.

Yes, he would have to submit a transcript from the SUNY. According to the AMCAS Instruction Manual (p. 23)

Thankfully someone posted accurate information as opposed to guessing.

 

[Sephiroth]

Yes, he would have to submit a transcript from the SUNY. According to the AMCAS Instruction Manual (p. 23)

The line cited really doesn't clarify it. Incompletes, withdrawals and audits appear on your transcrips as I, W and ... I'm not sure what an audit would be marked as. But that's different from dropping during add/drop. You don't pay any tuition for those classes - it's like you never enrolled in them (at least in my school and others I'm familiar with). I guess the only way to be sure is to ask the AAMC.

 

[sector9]

The line cited really doesn't clarify it. Incompletes, withdrawals and audits appear on your transcrips as I, W and ... I'm not sure what an audit would be marked as. But that's different from dropping during add/drop. You don't pay any tuition for those classes - it's like you never enrolled in them (at least in my school and others I'm familiar with). I guess the only way to be sure is to ask the AAMC.

You're placing more emphasis on the "e.g." part of the line in parentheses rather than the rest of the line. Here, how's this:
Colleges where you registered but did not earn any credit

 

[Sephiroth]

You're placing more emphasis on the "e.g." part of the line in parentheses rather than the rest of the line. Here, how's this:
Colleges where you registered but did not earn any credit

Not really, looking at how the word 'register' is used on my school's website. It still seems that if one never took any classes, they didn't register, and dropping before the end of add/drop is essentially unregistering. It's still quite unclear, largely due to a lack of clarity in how 'register' or 'enroll' are used.

edit: on my school's website, the end of add/drop is stated to be the end of registration. this leads me to believe that if one does not have any classes at the close of registration, they did not register.

again, just call the AAMC's AMCAS support line and ask.

 

[Suncrusher]

if the enrollment at the school shows up on national student clearinghouse or other databases linked to his SSN, then i would include it no matter what the circumstances are if you want to be safe, or else call AMCAS to be sure

 

[V5RED]

Not really, looking at how the word 'register' is used on my school's website. It still seems that if one never took any classes, they didn't register, and dropping before the end of add/drop is essentially unregistering. It's still quite unclear, largely due to a lack of clarity in how 'register' or 'enroll' are used.

edit: on my school's website, the end of add/drop is stated to be the end of registration. this leads me to believe that if one does not have any classes at the close of registration, they did not register.

again, just call the AAMC's AMCAS support line and ask.

I do not suggest that one rely on a school's policies to determine if dropping out of the college before the add/drop period "unregisters" you.

The best choice would be to contact the AAMC directly and ask them what their policy is since that is the one that counts.

edit: ninja'd

 

[aurora90]

You're placing more emphasis on the "e.g." part of the line in parentheses rather than the rest of the line. Here, how's this:
Colleges where you registered but did not earn any credit

what if you were registered at a school but never registered for any courses?
I had registered at a local CC because I was thinking of taking biochem there, but I decided against it and never enrolled in any courses. however I was still a registered student..do I have to list this school?