I withdrew from an entire semester but it was a long time ago. Chances?

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

NeuroDroid

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2014
Messages
46
Reaction score
8
Hey everyone, I'm very worried about this. To make a long story short, when I was 19, I moved out of Puerto Rico and studied in the Continental US, away from my family. The second semester there, my father had a stroke and I withdrew from all my classes and came back to Puerto Rico. Since then, I have maintained a steady 3.80, no withdrawals, no fails, no repeated classes. My science prerequisites so far are 3.80 as well. I'm confident I will do well on the MCAT but we'll see. I'm 24 now and will be 26 at the time of admission (if I get accepted on my first round). Obviously this was a long time ago, will med schools give me the opportunity to explain myself or will they just brush me off as soon as they see it? I should also note that on my first semester over there I got a D in math (the only bad grade I've ever had) but since then, I have taken up to Pre-calculus and passed all with A's. I'm not sure how that D is factored into my GPA since it was at another institution.
Any help is incredibly appreciated!
 
Hey everyone, I'm very worried about this. To make a long story short, when I was 19, I moved out of Puerto Rico and studied in the Continental US, away from my family. The second semester there, my father had a stroke and I withdrew from all my classes and came back to Puerto Rico. Since then, I have maintained a steady 3.80, no withdrawals, no fails, no repeated classes. My science prerequisites so far are 3.80 as well. I'm confident I will do well on the MCAT but we'll see. I'm 24 now and will be 26 at the time of admission (if I get accepted on my first round). Obviously this was a long time ago, will med schools give me the opportunity to explain myself or will they just brush me off as soon as they see it? I should also note that on my first semester over there I got a D in math (the only bad grade I've ever had) but since then, I have taken up to Pre-calculus and passed all with A's. I'm not sure how that D is factored into my GPA since it was at another institution.
Any help is incredibly appreciated!
You will be obliged to submit an original transcript from every school where you attempted college-level coursework. The med school application service will create a GPA for you that merges all your grades, including that D.

Your semester of Ws is unlikely to hurt you. You are likely to have a chance to explain them in Secondary essays (if not in the Personal Statement). Your excellent recent coursework will be taken into account and is likely to be weighted more heavily as a determinant of your academic potential than earlier, lower grades.
 
Top