Effect of Academic Probation IA on Chances (Otherwise Competitive App)?

[oolongcutea]

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Hello everyone!

At my university, incomplete grades (which are awarded in the event of an emergency or illness that caused a student to miss a significant portion of the course or an exam) lapse into Fs after one semester if the work is not made up in that period. Professors have the prerogative to change the lapsed "F" grade once the work is turned in. Due to a severe and extended illness, I was in this situation. I made up the work in a later semester and the grades were changed (I ended up receiving As and A-minuses in these courses).

Before these F grades were corrected, I was placed on academic probation for three semesters between the date of the lapsed F grades and the semester I was able to turn in the work after my illness resolved. Full enrollment is a requirement to be taken off of academic probation at my university. For these three semesters, I took the minimum required credits to maintain my housing eligibility, but was unable to do more due to my illness.

Although it is not visible on my transcript and is expunged from internal records two years after graduation, I will be reporting the academic probation as an IA when I apply. My question is rather: how do adcoms view this kind of situation, especially given that it is an institutional action and will be reported as such on my application? Is it a significant red flag, given that my profile is competitive in other respects? If any adcoms could comment, I'd appreciate it immensely.

Edit: I'll also have several withdrawals within one academic year for the same reasons (extended & severe illness). How much of a red flag is this if the context is explained somewhere in my application?

Edit for context: My cGPA is ~3.9 and my sGPA is ~3.8. I have an MCAT score of 524. Graduating with honors and thesis. By the time of my application, I will have done research for ~5 years, 2.5 of those being full-time. I have significant leadership experience both within and outside my university, some competitive university-wide and region-wide awards, and average volunteer and clinical hours. I plan on applying MD/PhD four years after graduating undergrad: two years of a postbac research program and a two-year master's program.

 

[LizzyM]

This will not be an issue as there is a valid explanation as to why you were put on probation and evidence that you were taken off of probation after you did what was required to regain enrollment in good standing.

 

[AJS59]

Honestly given the surrounding context I'd say this shouldn't hurt you at all, and your academic record clearly shows strong evidence for being prepared for med school.

 

[oolongcutea]

@LizzyM @AJS59 Thank you for your input!

Somewhat in line with my previous question, as I forgot to include this in my post: I will have several withdrawals within one academic year for the same reasons (extended and severe illness, which I have since recovered from). As long as I explain the context/cause, will this have a negative impact on how I am perceived as an applicant?

 

[Goro]

@LizzyM @AJS59 Thank you for your input!

Somewhat in line with my previous question, as I forgot to include this in my post: I will have several withdrawals within one academic year for the same reasons (extended and severe illness, which I have since recovered from). As long as I explain the context/cause, will this have a negative impact on how I am perceived as an applicant?

You did exactly what withdrawals are meant to do, take time away from school when you are not able to handle school.

There are people who refuse to do this and we'll just try and bulldoze their way through, and then ruin their gpa.

By taking the withdrawals when you were sick you are showing that you have good judgment, which is what we look for in applicants.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

With the help of your dean of undergraduate studies or academic advising, write about your situation and the policies governing Incompletes. The Registrar's office likely has language for the proper policy, which we can view on the final transcript.

 

[GoSpursGo]

This will be completely irrelevant.

 

[oolongcutea]

Hi all!

I was diagnosed with a serious medical condition at the end of my second year in undergrad, which relapsed during my penultimate year. I spent six and a half years in college before earning my degree both because of withdrawals and needing to go part time due to my medical circumstances. I have close to 15 withdrawals (~12 are from my first two years before diagnosis, and 3 are from my fifth year during my relapse). My condition is currently stable and has been for multiple years. However, I'm not sure where this places me given that I seem to be an otherwise competitive applicant.

I have ~7000 research hours and several publications, including a few as first-author (two years working in research full time after graduating), ~3.9 cGPA/~3.8 sGPA, 524 MCAT (but I may need to retake this, because it was a couple of years ago now). I have institutional research awards and one significant international award/fellowship, have significant leadership and volunteering experience & regional awards for this work, somewhat unique clinical experiences, compelling personal background, and (will soon have) a postgraduate degree at a top program. All this is to say that if someone didn't look through my transcript, I would look like a competitive applicant.

I'm hoping to apply MD/PhD next year. As I prepare for my cycle, I'm having some trouble curating a school list because I'm not sure how my application will be perceived given the extended undergraduate duration and the (many, many) withdrawals. I'm fairly sure I also have to report an academic IA that I received due to my medical circumstances during my second year.

I'd really appreciate any advice, either from past applicants or adcoms!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Can you line up these challenges with your caregiving timeline?

Thread '"Disadvantaged" Essay and Caretaker Status?'

Oct 18, 2023

Hello everyone!

I'm hoping you all have input on my situation, as I seem to check some boxes (but definitely not others) according to AAMC's updated guidance for the 2024 application cycle regarding "disadvantaged" status. The "example experiences" listed in the document include "serving as a caretaker for a family member," but I haven't met or heard of anyone else in circumstances similar to mine, so I was hoping for some feedback, given the following facts:

My mother was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson's when I was four, and beginning at age eight, I took on progressively greater...

• oolongcutea
• Replies: 12
• Forum: Pre-Medical (MD)

I sense you know your posts highlight your concerns about how these personal circumstances are overshadowing your academic accomplishments. I don't recall your past posts mentioning applying MD/PhD (research focus, yes though).

What feedback have you gotten? I think your research accomplishments would satisfy anyone on a PhD committee (including MD/PhD). I'm not as sure with the medical situation, but obviously we don't have the details (that a committee of admissions leadership and student services would review and decide). As mentioned in a different thread, you have a reasonable explanation for why you took your withdrawals. The challenge comes when life gets more challenging while you are in school or in residency.

 

[oolongcutea]

Can you line up these challenges with your caregiving timeline?

Thread '"Disadvantaged" Essay and Caretaker Status?'

Oct 18, 2023

Hello everyone!

I'm hoping you all have input on my situation, as I seem to check some boxes (but definitely not others) according to AAMC's updated guidance for the 2024 application cycle regarding "disadvantaged" status. The "example experiences" listed in the document include "serving as a caretaker for a family member," but I haven't met or heard of anyone else in circumstances similar to mine, so I was hoping for some feedback, given the following facts:

My mother was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson's when I was four, and beginning at age eight, I took on progressively greater...

• oolongcutea
• Replies: 12
• Forum: Pre-Medical (MD)

I sense you know your posts highlight your concerns about how these personal circumstances are overshadowing your academic accomplishments. I don't recall your past posts mentioning applying MD/PhD (research focus, yes though).

What feedback have you gotten? I think your research accomplishments would satisfy anyone on a PhD committee (including MD/PhD). I'm not as sure with the medical situation, but obviously we don't have the details (that a committee of admissions leadership and student services would review and decide). As mentioned in a different thread, you have a reasonable explanation for why you took your withdrawals. The challenge comes when life gets more challenging while you are in school or in residency.

I’ve been a primary caregiver for my mother since high school and throughout undergrad, although my responsibilities lessened considerably after she underwent DBS during my third year. I was diagnosed at the end of my second year/start of third year and relapsed during my fifth year. I spent six years in undergrad. My extended family stepped in to help care for my mother at times when I was medically incapacitated. I’ve been medically stable since the beginning of my last year of undergrad.

My previous post regarding an academic IA mentioned my hope to apply MD/PhD, but I had not yet decided on applying MD/PhD at the time of my first post regarding my caregiver status.

I made this new post because I felt I didn’t do a good job laying out all the potential “red flags” in my application side by side. I think it has been merged with my academic IA post.

On the PhD side, I’ve heard that this more or less isn’t an issue, especially if I’m able to get a letter from my undergrad’s student services office corroborating my timeline, and I’ve been told I will be competitive for the most selective programs in my field. However, on the MD side, I’ve heard conflicting advice — some have said my volume and spread of withdrawals are a dealbreaker for competitive programs while others have said my GPA/MCAT and an explanation of my circumstances compensate for it. I don’t have a significant sample size of feedback from those who are involved in the MD/PhD path. This all has made coming up with a school list challenging.

 

[wysdoc]

I think you are dwelling too much on the negatives here.
Your "academic IA" I presume wasn't for any cheating infraction, but for falling behind academically which you remedied by withdrawing from classes and taking care of your health.

 

[oolongcutea]

I think you are dwelling too much on the negatives here.
Your "academic IA" I presume wasn't for any cheating infraction, but for falling behind academically which you remedied by withdrawing from classes and taking care of your health.

Yes, the academic IA was for falling behind academically. After I recovered, I completed work which resulted in grade changes for some courses, but needed to withdraw from others.

 

[AJ25]

By taking the withdrawals when you were sick you are showing that you have good judgment, which is what we look for in applicants.

But keep in mind that people (students) who are dealing with chronic illnesses or erratic home environments may not have the luxury of simply withdrawing because they know what the next day will bring.

Also keep in mind that the good ol' prefrontal cortex is still developing in some of these younger students lol.

Good judgment is always good to have but in situations like these, you really have to look at the larger picture of someone's circumstances.

 

[Goro]

But keep in mind that people (students) who are dealing with chronic illnesses or erratic home environments may not have the luxury of simply withdrawing because they know what the next day will bring.

Also keep in mind that the good ol' prefrontal cortex is still developing in some of these younger students lol.

Good judgment is always good to have but in situations like these, you really have to look at the larger picture of someone's circumstances.

That was the point of my comment.

To try and bulldoze through and one is not at their best and wreck their gpa, that tells me that someone is not making good decisions.

If they have a scholarship that's dependent upon staying in school, then I agree that that's a hard choice.

 

[AJ25]

That was the point of my comment.

To try and bulldoze through and one is not at their best and wreck their gpa, that tells me that someone is not making good decisions.

If they have a scholarship that's dependent upon staying in school, then I agree that that's a hard choice.

Point taken

What I was trying to say was that withdrawing/taking incomplete's/etc. cannot be easily explained away as making good and bad decisions. There are so many factors at play AND THEN so many different circumstances with individual students. I have a buddy who was on academic probation at two different undergrad institutions. Today, he is a board certified EM physician. If you know the guy, he was dealing with a hostile home environment during his 20s where his parents eventually divorced. Do I think that he made a bad decision to not withdraw sooner? It depends on how much you know about the guy and his situation to come up with the right answer to that. Personally, I would look at the resiliency in that situation. How many people do you know that go from academic probation to being more educated than 1-2% of the population?

 

[oolongcutea]

That was the point of my comment.

To try and bulldoze through and one is not at their best and wreck their gpa, that tells me that someone is not making good decisions.

If they have a scholarship that's dependent upon staying in school, then I agree that that's a hard choice.

My situation is actually that of the kind of scholarship you mentioned, which required me to remain enrolled in some minimum number of credits to receive money from the school and maintain university housing, which I relied on. For this reason, most of my withdrawals are retroactive withdrawals. It was a loophole which, once I found, I could use to maintain my scholarship without tanking my GPA.

Is this a significant enough detail to mention in an addendum, or would it just confuse AOs, given I already have use that space to explain my medical circumstances?

 

[Goro]

My situation is actually that of the kind of scholarship you mentioned, which required me to remain enrolled in some minimum number of credits to receive money from the school and maintain university housing, which I relied on. For this reason, most of my withdrawals are retroactive withdrawals. It was a loophole which, once I found, I could use to maintain my scholarship without tanking my GPA.

Is this a significant enough detail to mention in an addendum, or would it just confuse AOs, given I already have use that space to explain my medical circumstances?

mention your medical issues in the essays about resilence or challenges.