I had 8 withdrawals as a freshman...

[guestacc]

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Yes that means freshman year had to be retaken. As long as there are no more Ws and my MCAT and GPA is competitive. Should I have any trouble?

 

[Doctor Strange]

You're going to need to elaborate about those withdrawals.

 

[theseeker4]

Yes that means freshman year had to be retaken. As long as there are no more Ws and my MCAT and GPA is competitive. Should I have any trouble?

Are you trying to get into med school, or dental school? Your status is pre dental, so if you are trying to get into dental school, that forum would be better for your question than here.

 

[Cinclus]

It depends on the circumstances that caused you to withdraw.

 

[WorldChanger36]

Withdraws are kind of the no no around here. Don't worry about it. If you have a strong GPA and a good MCAT the only time they may come up is if a school is curious and want to see how you justify it. Try to avoid any more though because a strong history of withdraws shows immaturity.

 

[Irish Football]

You are definitely going to have to explain '8 withdrawals in one year' in your interview.

 

[487806]

Yes that means freshman year had to be retaken. As long as there are no more Ws and my MCAT and GPA is competitive. Should I have any trouble?

8 withdrawals in freshman year... sorry to be crude, but you basically wasted your first year. well, as others have mentioned, explain to the adcoms the reason for your withdrawal. Are most of the withdraws premed reqs?

 

[Bangersandmash]

Good luck explaining what you did the second half of each semester, unless you had a serious medical condition.

The state of Florida doesn't even allow that many withdrawals in FOUR YEARS, let alone one.

 

[guestacc]

8 withdrawals in freshman year... sorry to be crude, but you basically wasted your first year. well, as others have mentioned, explain to the adcoms the reason for your withdrawal. Are most of the withdraws premed reqs?

None of them were pre reqs except for English 1.

 

[guestacc]

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duplicate post.

 

[earf]

Withdraws are best to have during freshman year. People can understand transitioning to college, having a hard time during freshman year, and learning from your mistakes. As long as you can rebound and increase your GPA, MCAT, have good shadowing and volunteering experiences, I think you will do fine.

 

[earf]

And I think people are definitely being too hard on you on this forum. I've known people who've taken years off, gotten Fs, or had a really tough time working and having their grades suffer and still get in. Show resilience and during your application cycle, be on the offense about those withdrawals, not the defense, and it might even make you a unique applicant and stand out.

 

[487806]

None of them were pre reqs except for English 1.

Good. So the damage isn't as severe. But, be prepared to discuss the reasons for withdrawal to adcoms. For now, retake the necessary courses, do well on them, take harder courses and do well on them. You'll be good to go then.

 

[PikminOC]

And I think people are definitely being too hard on you on this forum. I've known people who've taken years off, gotten Fs, or had a really tough time working and having their grades suffer and still get in. Show resilience and during your application cycle, be on the offense about those withdrawals, not the defense, and it might even make you a unique applicant and stand out.

🙂

 

[Hemorrage]

And I think people are definitely being too hard on you on this forum. I've known people who've taken years off, gotten Fs, or had a really tough time working and having their grades suffer and still get in. Show resilience and during your application cycle, be on the offense about those withdrawals, not the defense, and it might even make you a unique applicant and stand out.

how on earth do they make it in with F's?

 

[lolgirooo]

how on earth do they make it in with F's?

I suppose they could rectified the F by retaking the class, put plural....?

 

[Hemorrage]

I suppose they could rectified the F by retaking the class, put plural....?

but GPA wise thats really hard to recover from.. i commend anyone who can over come an F.. let alone multiple ones.

 

[alamo4]

AMCAS does not even record W grades, it leaves them off the approved/annotated transcript they send to schools, from what I can tell, although you can probably verify. All that will likely matter is the GPA they compute based your letter grades. Pass grades give you no credit either, has to be an A-F letter (or I guess an equivalent if your school does something weird, but AMCAS probably has a special mapping in that case).

The AMCAS GPA is a filter at many schools, and having overcome doing poorly your first year to kick butt later is something that you could have in your main essay or your secondaries (which may ask about overcoming adversities, etc), that is if you can spin it into a good story of growth and learning.

 

[alamo4]

but GPA wise thats really hard to recover from.. i commend anyone who can over come an F.. let alone multiple ones.

If you have a compelling story (overcoming being homeless, etc.) or did something amazing (major research discovery, major sports achievement etc) you can overcome bad grades, including multiple F's.

I have seen the transcript of someone admitted to a top 5 med school with multiple F's on it.

I'm not saying it is easy, but it is possible.

 

[theseeker4]

how on earth do they make it in with F's?

Many schools focus more on science work, and more on recent work. If an applicant has some early Fs but a very high GPA for several semesters before applying, some schools overlook the earlier grades. Chances are decreased, but it isn't impossible to get into med school with a low GPA, assuming the med school has other good reasons to want you.