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- Feb 2, 2017
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Hello,
Apologies ahead of time for the title or location of this post... [I'm obviously new (1st Post)]. I need outside perspective and/or advice on a VERY specific situation that I am in. This is a little detailed and long, but I assure you it's only to get the most accurate feedback.
Me: At 19 years old I joined the military and spent 5 years serving in a Special Operations unit. I got married while ETSing (out-processing from military) and we decided we wanted to move to Hawaii for a couple reasons:
1. It's Hawaii... 5 years doing push-ups... I was ready for some beaches.
2. I had an offer to play college athletics (which I accepted)
I registered for classes and packed up our apartment and had it shipped off to Hawaii... 4 days before our one-way flight my wife gave me a present... a positive pregnancy test. With our belongings already on a boat and my classes already paid for there really wasn't a decision to be made. 7 months later she gave birth to our son (we will call him Spawn-1). My wife and I talked about needing to leave the island for really only one reason:
1. OMG IS HAWAII EXPENSIVE!!! We thought we could afford to live comfortably between VA housing stipends and scholarship money... not when rent is $1900 for a dilapidated 2br/1br in a questionable neighborhood and milk is $10/gal. Now that a baby was here... no way.
2. Also, my coach happened to be fired at the end of our season.
We decided to leave and I transferred to a state school in the Rockies. I admit I chose this school primarily due to the fact that I had an offer for athletics and my wife continued to support athletics. During the first semester, Spawn-1 had a medical issue that required surgery. It was a struggle financially but we persevered... eight months after that... another emergency surgery was needed. Knowing I couldn't continue to cover the costs of Spawn-1's medical bills under my insurance, I started to look for options to finish schooling near a military base (I have Tricare, so if I am near a base it is upgraded to TC Prime which essentially cost nothing compared to the standard insurance I had).
I finished up the semester and moved my family to a state school in the Midwest. I was 5 months into my first semester here when I had a career-ending injury to my knee that required two surgeries. This ended up being a blessing in disguise... I found my true passion... medicine. My orthopedic surgeon was a true inspiration... he has let me shadow him every week in his OR. A month or so after this my wife gave me another present... a positive test. 5 months later... Spawn-2 was born (another boy).
Now comes the dilemma... my wife was recently diagnosed with severe postpartum depression and after a couple therapy sessions she has decided she wants to move back to her hometown (Pacific Northwest). I feel obligated to do what I need to in order to support her through this, but I need to know how this and my past three years will be perceived by the admissions officers at medical schools. Seeing a student with 4 transcripts... being so new to this community... I am unsure how they will react to a breach in applicant norms. It is possible to attempt to convince her to stay here for two more years until I finish (if 4 schools is simply too egregious to overcome)... however I do feel as though moving back to her hometown with family/friends will help her (as someone who never left her state before we got married... she has been selfless) and it would also benefit our children to be raised around family. So finally... questions:
1. Now that I have decided to pursue medicine... will the fact I have three transcripts hurt me when applying next year? Will a fourth transcript be a "death sentence"? Or, due to me not knowing medicine was what I wanted to pursue and the unique situations (college athletics, family health) that instigated me to transfer schools so many times it won't be an issue? Will I have an opportunity to let them know why I have so many transcripts (I obviously would like to tell them my story so they don't simply trash my application before giving me an opportunity in interviews to explain myself)? Does it not really matter due to the fact that I have a solid gpa with an obvious improvement of late (obviously assuming I do well on MCAT)?
Academic History:
School 1: 18 credits 3.8 gpa (Bio1 (A), psych 100 (A), Chem1 (A), gen eds (A's and 1 B)
School 2: 48 credits 3.4 gpa (A LOT of gen eds and sociology/psych..... mixture of A's, B's and 2 C's)
*nothing of value here... between athletics, Spawn-1's surgeries, and not even knowing what I wanted to major in... I definitely spent plenty of time mastering underwater basket-weaving. *
School 3: 34 credits 4.0 gpa (Bio2, Chem2, Calculus, Psych 300+(4), Anatomy 305, finished ALL gen eds)
*Was a Sociology major at School 1 & 2, however, I am now a Psych/Bio double major.
EC:
-160+ hrs shadowing orthopedic surgeon and otolaryngologist in the OR.
-College athletics for 3 years
-1 semester of research (epigenetics)
-5 years with Special Operations (2 years as a Team Leader)
Volunteer:
-None. Might volunteer at the American Legion or VA. Won't be significant.
Thank you for your time and advice,
<2>
Apologies ahead of time for the title or location of this post... [I'm obviously new (1st Post)]. I need outside perspective and/or advice on a VERY specific situation that I am in. This is a little detailed and long, but I assure you it's only to get the most accurate feedback.
Me: At 19 years old I joined the military and spent 5 years serving in a Special Operations unit. I got married while ETSing (out-processing from military) and we decided we wanted to move to Hawaii for a couple reasons:
1. It's Hawaii... 5 years doing push-ups... I was ready for some beaches.
2. I had an offer to play college athletics (which I accepted)
I registered for classes and packed up our apartment and had it shipped off to Hawaii... 4 days before our one-way flight my wife gave me a present... a positive pregnancy test. With our belongings already on a boat and my classes already paid for there really wasn't a decision to be made. 7 months later she gave birth to our son (we will call him Spawn-1). My wife and I talked about needing to leave the island for really only one reason:
1. OMG IS HAWAII EXPENSIVE!!! We thought we could afford to live comfortably between VA housing stipends and scholarship money... not when rent is $1900 for a dilapidated 2br/1br in a questionable neighborhood and milk is $10/gal. Now that a baby was here... no way.
2. Also, my coach happened to be fired at the end of our season.
We decided to leave and I transferred to a state school in the Rockies. I admit I chose this school primarily due to the fact that I had an offer for athletics and my wife continued to support athletics. During the first semester, Spawn-1 had a medical issue that required surgery. It was a struggle financially but we persevered... eight months after that... another emergency surgery was needed. Knowing I couldn't continue to cover the costs of Spawn-1's medical bills under my insurance, I started to look for options to finish schooling near a military base (I have Tricare, so if I am near a base it is upgraded to TC Prime which essentially cost nothing compared to the standard insurance I had).
I finished up the semester and moved my family to a state school in the Midwest. I was 5 months into my first semester here when I had a career-ending injury to my knee that required two surgeries. This ended up being a blessing in disguise... I found my true passion... medicine. My orthopedic surgeon was a true inspiration... he has let me shadow him every week in his OR. A month or so after this my wife gave me another present... a positive test. 5 months later... Spawn-2 was born (another boy).
Now comes the dilemma... my wife was recently diagnosed with severe postpartum depression and after a couple therapy sessions she has decided she wants to move back to her hometown (Pacific Northwest). I feel obligated to do what I need to in order to support her through this, but I need to know how this and my past three years will be perceived by the admissions officers at medical schools. Seeing a student with 4 transcripts... being so new to this community... I am unsure how they will react to a breach in applicant norms. It is possible to attempt to convince her to stay here for two more years until I finish (if 4 schools is simply too egregious to overcome)... however I do feel as though moving back to her hometown with family/friends will help her (as someone who never left her state before we got married... she has been selfless) and it would also benefit our children to be raised around family. So finally... questions:
1. Now that I have decided to pursue medicine... will the fact I have three transcripts hurt me when applying next year? Will a fourth transcript be a "death sentence"? Or, due to me not knowing medicine was what I wanted to pursue and the unique situations (college athletics, family health) that instigated me to transfer schools so many times it won't be an issue? Will I have an opportunity to let them know why I have so many transcripts (I obviously would like to tell them my story so they don't simply trash my application before giving me an opportunity in interviews to explain myself)? Does it not really matter due to the fact that I have a solid gpa with an obvious improvement of late (obviously assuming I do well on MCAT)?
Academic History:
School 1: 18 credits 3.8 gpa (Bio1 (A), psych 100 (A), Chem1 (A), gen eds (A's and 1 B)
School 2: 48 credits 3.4 gpa (A LOT of gen eds and sociology/psych..... mixture of A's, B's and 2 C's)
*nothing of value here... between athletics, Spawn-1's surgeries, and not even knowing what I wanted to major in... I definitely spent plenty of time mastering underwater basket-weaving. *
School 3: 34 credits 4.0 gpa (Bio2, Chem2, Calculus, Psych 300+(4), Anatomy 305, finished ALL gen eds)
*Was a Sociology major at School 1 & 2, however, I am now a Psych/Bio double major.
EC:
-160+ hrs shadowing orthopedic surgeon and otolaryngologist in the OR.
-College athletics for 3 years
-1 semester of research (epigenetics)
-5 years with Special Operations (2 years as a Team Leader)
Volunteer:
-None. Might volunteer at the American Legion or VA. Won't be significant.
Thank you for your time and advice,
<2>
