F's on JC transcript

[uzybear]

ok, so this is the deal: i went to a JC and i took one semester where i took chem1b, precalc, psyc101 and soc101; i got chronically ill; i petitioned the dean to remove me from chem1b and precalc because i had missed tests which i couldn't make up; they wouldn't because i passed the other two classes (managed to) with an A and a B.

so........on this JC transcript there are two F's. i retook the courses but i got W's because i was still ill and had to drop the classes (chronic lyme disease is the most likely diagnosis, but after years of searching is still not a definitive diagnosis).............anyway, this was several years ago.

now i moved to a different state and i'm going to be going back to school (JC at first, transferring in a year to Uni)..............

so, this is my question: will those F's be factored into my final GPA???????? i know i will have to explain the situation in medschool application/interview, and am confident i can do so, but if the school i'll be graduating from (PSU in portland, OR) takes my cumulative GPA from the JC, including the F's, than i'm royally ****ed when it comes to making the GPA cutoffs for medschool applications


of course this isn't a great situation to be in, but what i'm really sweating right now is IF those F's will be factored into my GPA or now. i'll be retaking the chem1b, but i might be taking a slightly different math class here


thoughts? i'm hoping that those grades simply WON'T TRANSFER, and although i will have to submit my JC transcript when i apply to medschool (including the F's and W's), i'm hoping that it won't kill my final GPA so that i atleast have a chance to get a foot in the door

.........thoughts?

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[Tensyle]

i think all those grades will count, because they require you to send all transcripts and report everything on AMCAS grades section.

So even if you have transcripts from various schools, AMCAS gpa calculator will automatically calculate your GPA I believe.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

EDIT: But, if you consistently do well in your college after JC, then you can find a way to explain the bad grades that you had previously. It will just look odd if you have one explaination for bad grades in the past, and then come up with continuous excuses as to why your grades sucked thereafter. So, I'd say its in your best interest to do extremely well from this point forward. i wish you luck

 

[uzybear]

yes, i'm pretty sure you're on the money; oh well, **** it, i'm just going to keep doing what i love, and bio/medicine is it right now


thanks

 

[searun]

Those "F"s will follow you to the gates of Hell and back. They will never leave you. You can try to explain them on your Personal Statement for AMCAS but yeah, they are going to torch your GPA on the AMCAS gpa calculation. Good luck.

 

[Cegar]

Cheer up. If you get a 4.0 in 170 credits out of 180, you can get a 3.78.

 

[Law2Doc]

so, this is my question: will those F's be factored into my final GPA?

For allo schools, you bet they will. AMCAS requires you to report every grade you ever got at every college, university, JC, etc you ever attended. What you should have done (not that it helps you, but might for someone else reading this) is explain to the school at the time and find a way to withdraw. For DO schools, if you retake a course supposedly only the retake grade counts, so you can wipe these out with a subsequent grade. But yeah, for allo schools this is going to hurt the GPA. Just get a bunch more As to balance them out as best you can.

 

[Aidan]

I had this problem a while back
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=488508

 

[hoqhuuep]

Yeah, this really sucks. I failed (was sick for) a class, and my GPA dropped from a 3.91 to a 3.70 with a single 0.0 on the transcript. Good thing the PS has space for explanations, and if the schools are sympathetic enough, will recalculate your GPA in your benefit.

 

[student12x]

OP, get a lawyer and have those F's removed.

 

[notdeadyet]

OP, get a lawyer and have those F's removed.

Oh, god, not this again. Getting a lawyer is not a cure-all for every time folks don't follow directions.

I relate to the OP, as I had a few F's on my transcript from not withdrawing from classes properly (either not on time or not at all). The rules are pretty clear about that. Though they may seem unfair, they're usually pretty explicit.

A lawyer will not help you here.

 

[Cegar]

Oh, god, not this again. Getting a lawyer is not a cure-all for every time folks don't follow directions.

I relate to the OP, as I had a few F's on my transcript from not withdrawing from classes properly (either not on time or not at all). The rules are pretty clear about that. Though they may seem unfair, they're usually pretty explicit.

A lawyer will not help you here.

Never underestimate the thorn that a lawyer could present in a college's side.

Getting a lawyer to solve your problem is actually a pretty good idea.

 

[majik1213]

yes .. natural selection at its worst, try again next lifetime

 

[west nile]

majik1213, is your response to the OP?

 

[student12x]

A lawyer will not help you here.

The threat of legal action would put pressure on the administration. It would be costly and time consuming for them to go to court. So they may just remove the F's in order to avoid problems. Trust me this happens more often than you can think. Its already happening in k-12, albeit in a more shorthanded manner. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com...ering-parents-bully-high-school-teachers.html

 

[Tin Man]

The threat of legal action would put pressure on the administration. It would be costly and time consuming for them to go to court. So they may just remove the F's in order to avoid problems. Trust me this happens more often than you can think. Its already happening in k-12, albeit in a more shorthanded manner. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com...ering-parents-bully-high-school-teachers.html

It's only costly if they lose, and the original poster would be hard-pressed to win a case like that.

I'll say this again. You can't sue people for being a meany poo-poo head and expect to win. Sometimes you get lucky, but while America is the "land of opportunity", it's not the land where you get to whine about anything and win.

And yes, the credits will be factored in, regardless of whether the poster chooses to transfer them or not. Every class taken that can be counted for credit is counted for credit. Now, the class may not be factored into the maximum number of hours that can be transferred to a regular university if you choose not to add them, but their scores will still be present in your GPA.

The best advice has already been stated. Do the absolute best you can now, and get your GPA high enough to be competitive (3.5+). With luck, you can get the interview and have the chance to explain about the F's, and if you sniffle a little, may be able to get the sympathy of the admissions boards for the school of your choosing.

 

[Law2Doc]

Never underestimate the thorn that a lawyer could present in a college's side.

Getting a lawyer to solve your problem is actually a pretty good idea.

Please. There are lots of times when it is important to seek legal help, but this is not one of them, and there is nothing a lawyer can do here that will prove effective. You simply have no legal rights here. You had a way to withdraw from classes at the time but chose not to. Lawyers are valuable in the educational setting to enforce due process rights when they get trampled -- eg if you get expelled without adequate hearing and the like. But not just because you don't like your transcript. Think of the precedent that would set.

If OP addressed this issue WHEN he was getting ill, and wanted to withdraw then the school would have said yes, or else you could have threatened legal action. But later down the road, when you didn't deal with the problem you can't go hire a lawyer to try and fix it. You'd have to find a pretty crummy lawyer desperate enough to take this kind of losing case, he'd have to charge a ton (because it won't do wonders for his reputation), and all he really could do for a big fee is write a nasty lawyer letter to the school, who likely wouldn't cave (because they are following published policy and totally within their rights -- the didn't deny the student due process, the student just stopped showing up and never withdrew).

Folks who think lawyers are a good idea in this situation have a very warped idea of what lawyers do for a living. You can use them effectively to protect your rights but you can't be very effective if you are trying to create rights that don't exist. If the OP could get a grade changed through threatened legal action, then anyone with money (or a law degree) could just threaten their way into straight A's. It doesn't work like that.

 

[uzybear]

what it was is that i tried to withdraw when i got ill, but it was too late in the semester, the "W" date had passed. i petitioned the dean to remove the F's but they wouldn't remove me from "some" of my classes that semester, since i passed the other two courses i took. perhaps looking back i should have just allowed them to give me "W"s for the whole semester

anyway, it is what it is what it is. i'm glad i know the answer though. my school record is bumpy as hell anyway. i went to study biblical languages first at a christian school, then bio at the JC, where i've got the F's and a bundle of W's. now later in life i've changed states, going back to JC, and then finishing at another college, so that's four schools.

but **** it, i'm just going to do what i like, and i have yet to really decide whether teaching/research or medicine would be better for me; just need to chill, study hard, and get some more experience to see what appeals; i'm pretty sure that i want to do teaching/research, but have been on the fence about whether i actually want to treat patients

......the one thing i know is i want a career that fascinates me

 

[uzybear]

here's a question: at that community college; i had the option to retake the course, and the original grade would still be on the transcript, but for GPA purposes the "0" would be cancelled out. i assume now that EVEN if i had done that at that school, it still wouldn't have mattered for AMCAS GPA

i wonder if i could hide this transcript and just retake those courses now.............eh, probably not such a good idea

 

[Cegar]

here's a question: at that community college; i had the option to retake the course, and the original grade would still be on the transcript, but for GPA purposes the "0" would be cancelled out. i assume now that EVEN if i had done that at that school, it still wouldn't have mattered for AMCAS GPA

i wonder if i could hide this transcript and just retake those courses now.............eh, probably not such a good idea

There are many, many people who have done that. Chances are high that it wont come back to haunt you. It's not like AMCAS/every med school will go digging through school records. It'd be pretty hard for them to do so anyway.

If I were in your situation, that is exactly what I would do.

 

[Isoprop]

not this topic again.

report the F's. if you transferred, those credits might show up in other transcripts anyway. even if it doesn't, your enrollment at 99.9% of colleges and universities is public unless you specifically opted out BEFORE you enrolled (which you probably didn't). you can opt out NOW, but that information is probably already recorded in a national student clearinghouse. it's in your best interest to be honest.

 

[MedStudentWanna]

not this topic again.

report the F's. if you transferred, those credits might show up in other transcripts anyway. even if it doesn't, your enrollment at 99.9% of colleges and universities is public unless you specifically opted out BEFORE you enrolled (which you probably didn't). you can opt out NOW, but that information is probably already recorded in a national student clearinghouse. it's in your best interest to be honest.

I just searched for myself in that link and I couldn't find me or my girlfriend. How reliable is that thing?

OP, just report them. If you get into med school and someone finds out, you can be expelled and you won't get into any other school for that kind of offense.

 

[Cegar]

I just searched for myself in that link and I couldn't find me or my girlfriend. How reliable is that thing?

OP, just report them. If you get into med school and someone finds out, you can be expelled and you won't get into any other school for that kind of offense.

Not if you make the JC disappear.

 

[uzybear]

I just searched for myself in that link and I couldn't find me or my girlfriend. How reliable is that thing?

OP, just report them. If you get into med school and someone finds out, you can be expelled and you won't get into any other school for that kind of offense.

yeah, i think i'll be taking the "high" road here (whether that's "morally justifiable" or "dude, you must be HIGH", we will have to see).........the thing is that i've got a number of other transferable courses from that school, including: chem1a, principles of bio, psych101, soc101, botany and a few others (mostly A's, couple B's). so i want those transfer credits.......oh well


btw: i'm not following what folks are saying about "opt out".........is there something specific you are suggesting? i'm not following

pps: and i'm gonna email the school and try to start a dialog concerning those F's, see if i can persuade someone, it's worth a shot, maybe if i bitch and moan enough for a few years (andy-dufrain/shawshank redemption style ) someone will give in................ya never know