Help!! I Failed!!

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
S

sourgrapes

Full Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2008
Messages
76
Reaction score
0
Ok, so i just failed a 2 credit course in astronomy taking it p/f. How is this gonna look to adcoms and how should i explain the situation? the rest of my classes are going fine and i expect 3.7+ this semester.
Members don't see this ad.
 
sourgrapes said:
how should i explain the situation?
Click to expand...

Well, why did you fail? Was this grade a surprise to you or did you skimp on your work? If you want to figure out how to explain it, explain it here first.
 
well i kind of never went to class and there was only a final exam for a grade and i waited till 4 hours before the exam to start studying because i had other graded class to study for. and when i got to the exam, it was a lot harder than i expected from just the lecture slides.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
sourgrapes said:
well i kind of never went to class and there was only a final exam for a grade and i waited till 4 hours before the exam to start studying because i had other graded class to study for. and when i got to the exam, it was a lot harder than i expected from just the lecture slides.
Click to expand...


then that's how you explain it to adcoms..you were lazy
 
Well, if you took it p/f the f will not count in your GPA, correct? It seems to me then that you shouldn't have TOO much to explain. If it is even noticed, just own up to it and point attention back to your other good grades.
 
sourgrapes said:
Ok, so i just failed a 2 credit course in astronomy taking it p/f. How is this gonna look to adcoms and how should i explain the situation? the rest of my classes are going fine and i expect 3.7+ this semester.
Click to expand...
lol
 
If you were taking 14-15 credit hours (not including the astronomy class). you could try explaining that you ended up neglecting the class due to investing more time in Classes X, Y, Z. Perhaps you could also add, that when it came to final exam (the sole important grade) you were terribly under-prepared. Basically, the truth with a bit of pointing-out that you simply were focusing on other classes.
 
yodudedudeyo said:
then that's how you explain it to adcoms..you were lazy
Click to expand...

that is the worst idea i've ever heard.
AT LEAST point out you were busy with all these other classes and neglected that one. hopefully you'll have good grades in the other classes to back it up.
just flatout saying you're lazy is a terrible idea if it's the truth. you need to go with halftruth haha
 
treehopper69 said:
just flatout saying you're lazy is a terrible idea if it's the truth. you need to go with halftruth haha
Click to expand...

Let's all pause a moment to reflect on this lesson in integrity.

Only tell the truth if it will benefit you directly.

I think that's something important that we should all learn before attending medical school, don't you think?

Say you were focused on other classes. That seems to be the truth, although it's still not really an excuse. Apparently, you have to work hard in medical school, so it would have looked better had you not shown yourself incapable of handling the large amount of work. Take the blow, and then do better as you move along to show you learned your lesson to the adcoms.
 
The explanations above are nice, but they're largely smoke.

Unless you're prepared to lie and make up a Dead Relative or Crippling Illness (bad idea, btw), then don't explain anything at all.

So you failed a course. Only explain if the explanation explains something. Saying, "I was too busy focusing on other classes" is either of no interest to the adcom or tells them that you aren't able to prioritize/time manage, both of which are critical in medical school.

If you don't have a good explanation, let it go. Only bother to explain it in your application if it's a trend. And then you'll need a good one.
 
NEVER tell an adcom that you failed a class because you were too focused on other classes. NEVER. In med school, you'll be taking more classes than you could dream about in undergrad and you'll be expected to juggle ALL of them. This "I had to focus on other classes" crap will get you weeded out immediately.

Just say your grade depended solely on the final exam and you studied for it, but it was more in-depth than you thought it would be based on powerpoint slides and lecture notes.
 
First, don't go out of your way to bring attention to the grade. In other words, don't even mention it unless you're asked directly.

Then do exactly what you should - HUMBLY explain that it was a p/f course and you misjudged the amount of effort you should have put into it. Don't try to shirk the blame or go into a self-deprecating speech. Just own the blame and let the conversation move on.

If you are pressed for more info, admit that you were stupid and thought that you could get an easy two credits without putting in any effort. Then go into whatever lessons you learned from trying that idea. What you want to convey is humility + growth experience + responsibility in claiming appropriate blame. You want to leave the person thinking those positive traits about you instead of thinking of you as the lazy bum who is going to be trying to slide by with the minimum amount of effort and blame others for his failures.

Edit: What you did was REALLY STUPID. When person puts in a total of 4 hours for the entire semester, he totally deserves to fail, no matter how "smart" he thinks he is.
 
Tell them you couldnt handle an introductory astronomy class. That should impress them.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
MedStudentWanna said:
NEVER tell an adcom that you failed a class because you were too focused on other classes. NEVER. In med school, you'll be taking more classes than you could dream about in undergrad and you'll be expected to juggle ALL of them. This "I had to focus on other classes" crap will get you weeded out immediately.

Just say your grade depended solely on the final exam and you studied for it, but it was more in-depth than you thought it would be based on powerpoint slides and lecture notes.
Click to expand...

Wait... you totally lost me...

You said that it would be a bad idea to tell the adcoms that he focused too much on other classes, because medical school has a lot of classes that require studying.

But now, you're saying that instead, the OP should say that he didn't study hard enough, and was suprised by the complexity of matieral instead? This doesn't happen in medical school?

"Osteology quiz: Question 1:
The shin bone's connected to the __________ bone."

Yeah, right.
 
I'm not going to comment on the ethics, but isn't a course that is taken P/F not calculated into the AMCAS GPA?
You might have to mention it to adcoms, but it won't affect your GPA I don't think...
Similarly, a 'P' isn't factored either.
 
thanks everyone for all of the advice. What i'm really scared about is P/F schools because they're probably not gonna like that i failed a class that is just like their curriculum and that i put in such a minimal effort into it just to try and get by.

yes, i know it was stupid but there's nothing i can do about it now. The professor won't give me a break or let me make up the exam.

BTW i had 3 finals that day so there was definitely other things to worry about
 
sourgrapes said:
thanks everyone for all of the advice. What i'm really scared about is P/F schools because they're probably not gonna like that i failed a class that is just like their curriculum and that i put in such a minimal effort into it just to try and get by.

yes, i know it was stupid but there's nothing i can do about it now. The professor won't give me a break or let me make up the exam.

BTW i had 3 finals that day so there was definitely other things to worry about
Click to expand...

Sigh. You just plain out said that you didn't learn your lesson. So what if there were three finals that day. You ignored that class whole **** semester. Instead of shouldering the responsibility, you made an excuse that you had two other exams & that your professor wouldn't allow you a do over. Duh! You didn't fail because of the professor. You didn't fail because you had other exams. You failed because YOU failed to do the work. Stop pussyfooting around and trying to make it sound like it was anything except your own screwup. Either you own your own mistakes, or they'll wind up eventually owning you.
 
HumidBeing said:
Sigh. You just plain out said that you didn't learn your lesson. So what if there were three finals that day. You ignored that class whole **** semester. Instead of shouldering the responsibility, you made an excuse that you had two other exams & that your professor wouldn't allow you a do over. Duh! You didn't fail because of the professor. You didn't fail because you had other exams. You failed because YOU failed to do the work. Stop pussyfooting around and trying to make it sound like it was anything except your own screwup. Either you own your own mistakes, or they'll wind up eventually owning you.
Click to expand...
:thumbup: Some people just don't get it...
 
Tell them you felt like the professor was coming on to you so you never went to class because it made you uncomfortable, but you didn't want to drop it, because you felt like the "W" on your transcript would look bad. And also, you didn't want to make a big issue out of it, because you thought that it would distract you from your other classes. You knew that the whole grade rested on your performance on this one test, you thought you'd be able to ace it, and you were wrong. And for good measure, tell them that you think astronomy is totally gay anyway.
 
HumidBeing said:
Sigh. You just plain out said that you didn't learn your lesson. So what if there were three finals that day. You ignored that class whole **** semester. Instead of shouldering the responsibility, you made an excuse that you had two other exams & that your professor wouldn't allow you a do over. Duh! You didn't fail because of the professor. You didn't fail because you had other exams. You failed because YOU failed to do the work. Stop pussyfooting around and trying to make it sound like it was anything except your own screwup. Either you own your own mistakes, or they'll wind up eventually owning you.
Click to expand...

i'm not blaming the prof. i was merely stating how i tried all i could after the exam to avoid failing the class.

i never asked for anyone's approval here. i don't care if you think that i need to own up to what i've failed at. i don't care if you think i need to learn a lesson. All i'm asking for is a good way to explain this to adcoms should it come up at interviews esp those with p/f curriculums.
 
sourgrapes said:
i'm not blaming the prof. i was merely stating how i tried all i could after the exam to avoid failing the class.

i never asked for anyone's approval here. i don't care if you think that i need to own up to what i've failed at. i don't care if you think i need to learn a lesson. All i'm asking for is a good way to explain this to adcoms should it come up at interviews esp those with p/f curriculums.
Click to expand...

It does not matter whether I approve of blowing off a class and expecting to pass it, or not. What DOES matter to you is that the way to leave an adcomm with a decent impression of you is do just what I said - own up to your failure and show you learned a valuable lesson from it. THAT shows maturity and good reasoning. It might not be the advice you want to hear, but it's the advice that will work best for you. Saying you tried to salvage your grade after the exam, but the professor wouldn't let you, will NEGATIVELY impress them. Seriously, if we don't claim our failures as our own, we can't claim our successes as our own, either. I really hope you learn these things before you get an interview.
 
HumidBeing said:
It does not matter whether I approve of blowing off a class and expecting to pass it, or not. What DOES matter to you is that the way to leave an adcomm with a decent impression of you is do just what I said - own up to your failure and show you learned a valuable lesson from it. THAT shows maturity and good reasoning. It might not be the advice you want to hear, but it's the advice that will work best for you. Saying you tried to salvage your grade after the exam, but the professor wouldn't let you, will NEGATIVELY impress them. Seriously, if we don't claim our failures as our own, we can't claim our successes as our own, either. I really hope you learn these things before you get an interview.
Click to expand...

omg, are you serious? you basically said the same thing as before. i know it was my fault and i'm not gonna tell the adcoms that i tried to pass by asking the prof for extra work, that would be ******ed. why do you insist on judging me when i'm only asking for advice?
 
sourgrapes said:
omg, are you serious? you basically said the same thing as before. i know it was my fault and i'm not gonna tell the adcoms that i tried to pass by asking the prof for extra work, that would be ******ed. why do you insist on judging me when i'm only asking for advice?
Click to expand...

Alright, listen up here, Ace. I don't post much, but generally what HumidBeing says is pretty on-spot. And what you're being told is exactly the answer to your question, except it's not the answer that you want to hear.

You want to hear an answer which is going to make you look like you didn't screw up, or like somehow failing a semester of class by not studying the entire semester is NOT you fault. That's not going to happen, at least not in any way we would expect a future doctor to ethically act. You're asking how you can get out of this. Our answer: You screwed up big time, and there's no way you can come out of this not smelling of laziness or thoughtlessness, or at least with the fine scent of the "I'mnotfitformedschools".

In judging you, we're telling you your answer. You screwed up. There's no way around that. The best thing is to admit it, and then go on in other classes to show that you learned your lesson. Then tell the adcoms that you screwed up, but you learned your lesson, and you can prove it through your transcript.

So it's time to put on your big boy pants and shut your trap, because what you're being told now is the best advice you're likely going to get. In fact, I would be willing to bet that the Stare of Death you're going to get from the admission committees is going to be a little harder to swallow than our halfway-forgiving advice here. If we don't approve, we tell you how to deal with it and make it turn out for the best. If they don't approve, they laugh you out of the room and you don't make it into medical school.

Never miss an opportunity to keep your mouth shut.
 
Tin Man said:
In fact, I would be willing to bet that the Stare of Death you're going to get from the admission committees is going to be a little harder to swallow than our halfway-forgiving advice here.
Click to expand...
Have you been through the interview process yet? Or for that matter, have any of the folks talking about how adcoms jaws are going to drop?

Many medical students have an F or two on their transcript. Some have great explanations, some don't. A single F on a transcipt is not that big a deal.

It's a mistake to use your personal statement to make mention of it. The personal statement is the portion to sell yourself. I wouldn't use it for anything negative, unless you have a glaring problem with your transcript (four sporadic semesters of withdrawls due to malaria or something). The same is true for your secondary, unless the secondary happens to have a prompt specifically asking you to address any weak points in your application or any mistakes you've made, etc.

There is no Stare of Death for an F. Adcoms have seen them before and accepted students who have them. Relax, folks....
 
No. This qualifies as stupid.

Your usage of that term in the real internet however, is.
 
MedStudentWanna said:
Dude, you've got 84 posts since February of this year.
Click to expand...

Not really spread out through the topics, but that's neither here nor there. Maybe it's the fact that I'm working on restraining myself from saying what I really want to say most of the time...

notdeadyet said:
Have you been through the interview process yet? Or for that matter, have any of the folks talking about how adcoms jaws are going to drop?

Many medical students have an F or two on their transcript. Some have great explanations, some don't. A single F on a transcipt is not that big a deal.
Click to expand...

So... I'm guessing you neither read my post nor the OP very carefully.

The question was, "How will this look and how should I explain it?" Not, "Will I get accepted despite this?". Which means that telling the OP that the F doesn't matter doesn't really answer the question of how he should explain it.

Second, my post actually answers the question asked, and does not attempt to answer any questions that WEREN'T asked. I never said that the adcom's jaws were going to drop, or that the F was going to be a big deal. I simply said that in order to explain it, saying that, "It wasn't my fault, there were other important classes!" isn't going to cut it.

Jeez, it always ruins the punchline when you have to explain the joke to those who don't listen...
 
Come on, Tin Man. The people here are mostly *****s. You should expect to have to do that.
 
tiedyeddog said:
Can you lead me to the fake internet? :p It was a joke. Sourgrapes, don't explain it unless asked.
Click to expand...

You know damn well where that type of commentary came from and belongs!
 
Cegar said:
You know damn well where that type of commentary came from and belongs!
Click to expand...
It came from the fake internet and belongs in the fake internet? Sorry, I didn't think it was that offensive. Everytime I look at the title of this thread that is what keeps running through my head.. "Help! I Epic Failed!"
 
God help us all. It has metastasized.
 
Tin Man said:
So... I'm guessing you neither read my post nor the OP very carefully.
Click to expand...
Actually, read and replied to the OP's post (see post #10). Read and replied to yours about how you figure the OP will get the "Stare of Death" from adcom when interviewing due to a F on a 2 credit P/F astronomy course (see post #28. Shouldn't require a roadmap.
Tin Man said:
Which means that telling the OP that the F doesn't matter doesn't really answer the question of how he should explain it.
Click to expand...
Again, already answered him about how to explain it (see post #10). I'm sensing a pattern here.
Tin Man said:
I never said that the adcom's jaws were going to drop,
Click to expand...
No, I believe Stare of Death was the term used.
Tin Man said:
Jeez, it always ruins the punchline when you have to explain the joke to those who don't listen...
Click to expand...
Wake me up when we get to the joke part. Happy trolling...
 
notdeadyet said:
Actually, read and replied to the OP's post (see post #10). Read and replied to yours about how you figure the OP will get the "Stare of Death" from adcom when interviewing due to a F on a 2 credit P/F astronomy course (see post #28. Shouldn't require a roadmap.
Click to expand...

*sigh*

The "Stare of Death" would not be from the "F", as you have incorrectly interpreted it to mean (and I gave no indication it would be). The Stare would only arise from the horribly-planned answer on WHY the F is there if given.

So... if he gave HIS answer he wants to give, which is, "It ain't my fault, sir! It's the stupid classes! I had to focus on THEM!", that would constitute the "Stare of Death." If he gave a decent answer, then there would likely be no mortal stare involved.

In addition, your advice to "not say anything" isn't answering the question of, "How should I explain the situation?". Unless you're honestly telling the OP to plead the fifth, that isn't viable advice. All I really see you did in that post is say, "Well, you WILL need an excuse...". Way to go, superstar. I think he already knew that, which is why he was asking what he should say.

Once again, it's adorable that I have to explain all of my arguments to the big, bad medical school student who SHOULD be able to correctly analyze a simple forum post for the main idea and correctly refute it (if refutation is needed). I think, however, at this point, the only REAL refutation I can expect from you is you making some attempt to embarrass me and make me look like a "troll", as if argumentum ad hominem attacks aren't considered fallacious arguments by the vast majority of the academic world.

Good try, though.
 
Just say you messed up. You're human. It's okay. Really.
 
Tin Man said:
*sigh*

The "Stare of Death" would not be from the "F", as you have incorrectly interpreted it to mean (and I gave no indication it would be). The Stare would only arise from the horribly-planned answer on WHY the F is there if given.

So... if he gave HIS answer he wants to give, which is, "It ain't my fault, sir! It's the stupid classes! I had to focus on THEM!", that would constitute the "Stare of Death." If he gave a decent answer, then there would likely be no mortal stare involved.
Click to expand...

when did i say that i was actually going to say something like that? i was trying to explain the situation. i am asking this forum advice on how to explain it. i already admitted a post ago that i know it was my fault and my fault alone.

for the future, please be more clear. i thought the "stare of death" would be from the F as well, not from what you thought i would say.
 
sourgrapes said:
for the future, please be more clear. i thought the "stare of death" would be from the F as well, not from what you thought i would say.
Click to expand...

It has nothing to do with how clear it was. You told us what you wanted, and I told you what both groups' reactions would be. It has more to do with your inability to comprehend.

Whatever. It's not my head on the chopping block.
 
Your only job now is to flip a coin...heads = DO school, tails = podiatry school...pretty simple acutally:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

M
Failed EMT course
Replies
17
Views
1K
Serendipitykitcat
S
F
Failed Research Project Impact on Future
Replies
6
Views
120
fishingphyscian
F
N
  • Locked
Finished SMP, failed to get in and looking for options
Replies
7
Views
945
GoSpursGo
GoSpursGo
A
Failed Ph.D. Student to M.D. program
Replies
10
Views
1K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
myribosomesbad
Pass/Fail
Replies
7
Views
729
Sandman23
S
Top