grad school gpa and amcas question

[rama kandra]

I am hoping to get some advice on a situation I am involved with at the moment.

After my undergrad in biochemistry I went to grad school for design (it was an interest that I needed to give a shot at). Although he program was fine and I enjoyed the setting, it was not my future - with that, I decided to apply to medical school. However, I needed to take the MCAT and so after six weeks of classes at this grad program, I decided to leave and study for the exam. Through my own fault, I
missed the withdrawal deadline and ended up having to appeal to the provost for WD status instead of getting F's or incompletes.

Unfortunately I was also a student employee at the time and did not know that my paychecks would have to be returned for any time worked after this deadline. I was not willing to part with several hundred
dollars worth of paid work, and the institute could not legally ask for it back either.

This morning I received noticed that my application for withdrawal is being rejected. I am going to receive low grades on my transcript. Now, my question is - will those grades be used against me in any way?
I could easily explain to anyone my situation during an interview - but, will the AMCAS application compile a GPA using these grades as well? Am I able to omit these grades entirely, while including the
fact that I did attend design school for a semester in my application essays and interviews?

My biggest fear is that my GPA is already low, but this could bring it down significantly on the AMCAS and I don't want to lose chances of acceptance over a technicality at a school (in a completely different profession/area of study) that I attended for six weeks.
Any advice would be great. Thank you.

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[fahimaz7]

I think this depends on your application. Generally, ADCOM members see GPA and MCAT and if it's acceptable, they review the rest of your application.

If you had a 3.7 undergraduate and a 0.5 GPA in Graduate school (or even worse, a 2.0 if it wasn't your first semester there) you might get frowned upon.

Either way, I don't think that they are going to like that you matriculated into a program and you didn't finish it.

 

[Mobius1985]

The AMCAS application will list your undergrad cumulative GPA separately from your graduate school GPA. They will not be averaged. You will be judged by your undergrad GPA and MCAT score primarily. However, Fahimaz7 is correct that it will not reflect well on you that you did not carry through on the commitment you made to your graduate program. Adcomms will be concerned that you might do the same thing if med school didn't suit you either. You will need to have a very good explanation for the decision you made.