Just needing a little advice

[Anthony Hartsoc]

So I’m kind of worried about my past academic mess. I went straight into college after high school for a semester and 9/11 hit so I was in the recruiters office next morning; I dropped out without actually dropping out. Some of my professors were nice enough to withdraw me while others gave me a ‘F’ for the semester.
I am back in school now out in CA with a 4.0 (I have retaken everything from that semester), honors course work, working on research, a ton of medical experience from the military, letters from admirals/captains/physicians/professors, shadowing exp., volunteering…
Is this where the personal statement comes in with explaining my lack of following the proper withdrawal processes typical of an irresponsible youth?
Is there a way to not get ruled out my a blunt statistical approach?
Thanks for any and all advice. Best of luck to you all!

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[236116]

1. See if you can retro-actively cancel your registration for that year or at least get W's for it all.

If your reg is cancelled, you effectively were never registered/enrolled- that term does not exist. Otherwise, W's don't count either way.

2. Calculate your GPA with those classes in it if you can't.

3. Report back here.

 

[Anthony Hartsoc]

bump

 

[nick_carraway]

The only way I would include this in the personal statement is if the PS is about your military service and you want to include background into how eager you were to enlist following 9/11. I wouldn't go into the details about the withdrawal procedure, but simply leave it at the fact that you felt obligated to serve the country.

Otherwise, many schools have a secondary with a section that will allow you to explain any extenuating circumstances surrounding your grades. This is the ideal place to include your story.

If you are applying to the UCs, then you won't get the chance to explain yourself since they'll read your PS before deciding to give you a secondary. However, some UCs are favorable to non-trads and your excellent performance at school since enlisting and military service will give you brownie points that may get you past the pre-secondary screening.

 

[Appless]

If you only had one semester of bad grades I cant iamgine you have any more then 2-3 F? If thats the case and you keep your GPA high since the restart it honestly wont matter. You need to explain why you got bad grades in the PS and hopefully put a + spin on it and the usual crap people use in the PS to say why they wanna be a doctor. If you keep a 3.7+ or so until you graduate your grades will be fine and most committees will overlook the poor past since you will have ideally 4 years of good grades. I had a similar start. I had 2 Ds and 2 Cs one semester, quit school then restarted and over the past 3.5 years ive had a 3.81 GPA. Overall with the bad grade im at a 3.56. If you had a 4.0 since the restart you are in even better shape then I am. Point being you can easily pull your gpa up to the minimum 3.5 range which will not allow you to be a statistical cut off for any school.

 

[235009]

So I’m kind of worried about my past academic mess. I went straight into college after high school for a semester and 9/11 hit so I was in the recruiters office next morning; I dropped out without actually dropping out. Some of my professors were nice enough to withdraw me while others gave me a ‘F’ for the semester.
I am back in school now out in CA with a 4.0 (I have retaken everything from that semester), honors course work, working on research, a ton of medical experience from the military, letters from admirals/captains/physicians/professors, shadowing exp., volunteering…
Is this where the personal statement comes in with explaining my lack of following the proper withdrawal processes typical of an irresponsible youth?
Is there a way to not get ruled out my a blunt statistical approach?
Thanks for any and all advice. Best of luck to you all!

what does 9/11 have to do with anything?

 

[236116]

what does 9/11 have to do with anything?

I went straight into college after high school for a semester and 9/11 hit so I was in the recruiters office next morning;

.

 

[itsallthesame]

I can't imagine that you will have any problem at all, what you did is extremely admirable (or at least can be spun that way).

I'm pretty sure that georgetown likes ex-mil's. The UC's will allow you to appeal if you are not awarded a secondary. A simple e-mail explaining that you feel you are an excellent candidate but may have been overlooked because of that situation should be fine.

Remember, med school is only a numbers game because that's the only way people on SDN can evaluate you and compare. You might try indirectly making your PS about this, but not in an excuse sort of way. Something along the lines of how 9/11 touched you and you wanted to help to rebuild and defend your country so you dropped out of school and joined the ____. Now you feel the same calling to serve your community as an MD. Boom. You didn't make an excuse for your gpa directly, but people can infer why you have so many Ws/Fs.

 

[235009]

OH, recruiter=military ....didn't make that connection initially...

yea, you should be fine...just explain your story in your PS...it shows alot of character....don't use the BS about "same calling to serve your community as an MD" though...that'll cheapen what you've done and make it sound lame and gimmicky....just be honest about it and you don't have to try hard to relate it to medicine.

 

[Anthony Hartsoc]

I was reading the AMCAS manual and it suggests that I contact the school in order to see if they will retroactively withdraw me from the classes (Eng 101 and Pub Speaking 100) or retroactively cancel my registration. I did this today and they do have such procedures; needless to say, I am going through them right now and it looks promising. Just need to find the names of the professors, contact them explaining my story, and the dean of the discipline doing the same thing, and wait for approval. Since my little bros are graduating in June I will be stopping by the dean's office to see if I can sit and have a chat.

Thanks for all the encouragement everyone!

JURASSIC: Right now I am about a 1/3 of the way done with my degree and my GPA (including the 2 F's) is a 3.47...Puts alot in perspective...I see no reason why it will even be noticeable one I reach the 120 credit line.

Good luck to you all!

 

[235009]

make sure u have documented proof of your time in the military (especially when you signed up) when you go to meet the dean

best of luck!

 

[edmadison]

Another tip on how to approach this: Since there is a great deal of discretion from the professors and the dean, you want to knock their socks off. Don't E-mail. I would write a personal letter (typed ok) and tell your whole story, including your desire to go to medical school. Tell them exactly what you want and also recognize in the letter that you realize that your request is not ordinary. I would probably discuss issues like responsibility and what not as well. Have a couple friends who can really write review it before you send it. Put down on the letter that you will be calling and that you look forward to discussing the matter with them. Then call them.

Good luck.

Ed

 

[Anthony Hartsoc]

Jurassic: Should have given proper credit to your initial response as well in saying to see if they could retroactively cancel my registration for that year.

skinMD: paperwork will not be a problem

edmadison: Good recommendation on the letter over email. In my hyper-vigilant mode I overlooked the obvious in this one. I will be posting my letter on here for review as well as getting some oversight from my current professors.

 

[235009]

it's better not to post the letter. if you want people to review sent it to them via PM...i'm sure plenty would be happy to take a look. my writing skills aren't spectacular otherwise i would offer.