Just withdrew from all my classes

[Doctor Asnan]

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I recently got rejected from my final school and I decided I didn't want to take classes this semester so I withdrew from 18 credits. It was before the first exam even but not early enough for a refund.

I will apply again this cycle with a downward trend in GPA (3.85 to 3.52, around a 2.8 over the last 33 credits) and 18 credits worth of withdraws. DAT is 21/21/18, applying to Ohio State as my top choice and many others too.

Any adivce? Thanks!

 

[jokersmiles]

why would you withdraw? you could have finished strong, showed you were capable of hard coursework and gotten all As that last semester, will your transcript show that
you withdrew?

 

[pgex2t]

You know, I've seen you post numerous times this cycle and thought to myself if you didn't get in this cycle, you could next cycle as long as you brushed up on your interview skills and perhaps beefed up the ECs a tiny bit to show you're still interested in the field. What you did, just now, is pretty much akin to suicide for your chances next cycle if you have the withdraw notation on your transcript. Why would you finish off a downward trend with full W's. I almost hope you've been trolling the whole cycle on sdn. When seen at the end of a downward trend, they're pretty much F's (even though they're not inputted into your GPAs) and tell adcoms you just couldn't handle it. So I hope you withdrew before the notation would be placed-judging that it's March though, it seems unlikely.

From my understanding on your previous posts, your application for next cycle, so far, is substantially inferior. You'll really need to work some magic in order to make adcoms see past your gpa trend and withdrawing issue. I'd almost say getting a higher DAT, having a mind blowing personal statement, and substantially more ECs are now a requirement for you to get interviews next cycle.

When you say rejected, do you mean put on waitlists? If so, those waitlists are now your best shot at getting in for the near future. I would keep in contact with each school that waitlisted you and express sincere interest. No more of that [is it worth going to LECOM/turning down a hypothetical acceptance to wait an extra cycle] stuff. However, with how you regard some dental schools and your most recent academic decisions, I question if you actually want to get into the field.

 

[fogorvostan]

I can't even understand why you would choose to do this?

 

[schmoob]

Dude, you really need to think before making rash decisions like this. How would this help you in any way? Also, why would you only apply to 4 schools? You've worked very hard to get this far and I hope things work out.

 

[1passbbsSHAVE]

If he's not trolling about this, therr has to have been something major that happened to him/ his family. Otherwise, this does not make sense.

Hope you are trolling.

 

[Typical Average Student]

I too, have been following your posts and agree with above; you just committed academic suicide right there.

Don't even apply this upcoming cycle, you might as well save that money to go travel or start a masters program (which you're clearly going to need). Based on what you wrote, it looks like you withdrew just because you got rejected and feel you should give up and not because of some personal issue, but I could be wrong. My advice would be to obtain a master's in something useful that offers you an alternative career instead of dentistry if it doesn't work out several cycles down the road.

 

[ggy]

Relax, take a breather, go somewhere quiet, and use the extra time to clear your head.

1. Why is your gpa going down? Is dentistry truly what you want to do?

2. Why did you withdraw from all your classes? Is your body and mind trying to tell you something?

This is not the end of the world. If you think dentistry is still your passion, then just regroup and come back strong!

 

[JLT223]

Are you serious? You do know this will not look good at all if you are considering reapplying. I really don't know what else to say except you shot yourself in the foot, HARD.

 

[darknightzzz]

I seriously suggest you go back to the admission office to ask them for you to forfeit your withdrawal decision and be enrolled back in those withdrawn classes.

or are you doing poorly in those classes and the last rejection from your final school is just a little push for you to tip over the edge?

anyways, good luck. 3.8 GPA with 21DAT is good stats. I got into dental school with that stats (albeit higher PAT and a tiny tiny bit higher TS). but I don't know how you manage to get 2.8 GPA for last 38 units and now 4 W (basically unless you are bedridden in the hospital, its hard to justify)

 

[ncide]

I highly suggest you attempt to get rid of those withdrawals. If 18 credits is too much of a load, let go of one course and see if you can re-enroll in those other classes.

 

[A Pre-dent]

.

 

[MahiMahi]

Why did you withdraw?

I assume there will be W's for each of these classes?

 

[pgex2t]

A lot of prejudice here. @Doctor Asnan hasn't stated his (her?) reason for withdrawing, yet we're the ones being rash by ignoring the painfully obvious possibility that he is experiencing severe acute depression, which absolutely would affect his academic performance. It may or may not have to do with the dental school rejections...we don't know that. Better to withdraw than to risk getting low grades. How could future health professionals lack the empathy to realize that some people just have more personal difficulties than others?

I withdrew from all of my classes due to a personal incident a few years ago, yet I got into almost every dental school to which I applied. I was never asked about it in the interviews. And my GPA is comparable to his. Just because SDNers tend to be in agreement on certain issues doesn't mean that their advice isn't the same old bullsh*t the admissions officers shake their heads at.

The thing is he's posted several times in the past, each post giving a more complete picture of who he is and his current situation.

In response to a thread seeking help from others with academic difficulty:

Threads like this make me kind of sick. I have had a near perfect GPA throughout undergrad and I received 3 REJECTIONS this cycle. How is this system fair?

Willingness to turn down a school acceptance:

I have an interview at LECOM coming up. I have heard about this school (expensive, ELR, small patient pool, poor location etc.)

I was rejected from my state school which is about 100k cheaper (Ohio State) and waitlisted at super expesive NOVA (probably won't get accepted from that list.)

If I do happen to get accepted at LECOM, should I take it or should I just take a year off? I do kind of want a year off honestly. I have been thinking about it at least.

I would be reapplying with ~ 3.5-3.6 Overall and Science GPA (completed bachelors) and 21/21/18 DAT along with average EC's.

Thanks!

Despite all that, he asked for advice, and for the most part, people on this thread gave what I would consider the most vital steps he should take at this current time to eventually gain admittance to a dental school. Being a future health professional means you're expected to strive for certain standards regardless of the circumstances. Now you, @A Pre-dent have obviously demonstrated that you've overcome your difficulties-I have no doubt about that. Everyone is fighting a battle nobody else has knowledge of, but throwing in the towel at the last moment just doesn't look good.

 

[JLT223]

A lot of prejudice here. @Doctor Asnan hasn't stated his (her?) reason for withdrawing, yet we're the ones being rash by ignoring the painfully obvious possibility that he is experiencing severe acute depression, which absolutely would affect his academic performance. It may or may not have to do with the dental school rejections...we don't know that. Better to withdraw than to risk getting low grades. How could future health professionals lack the empathy to realize that some people just have more personal difficulties than others?

I withdrew from all of my classes due to a personal incident a few years ago, yet I got into almost every dental school to which I applied. I was never asked about it in the interviews. And my GPA is comparable to his. Just because SDNers tend to be in agreement on certain issues doesn't mean that their advice isn't the same old bullsh*t the admissions officers shake their heads at.

Withdrawing for personal reasons is totally understandable, things happen. It seems like OP just withdrew without even thinking about it due to, like you said, severe acute depression. I've had some really crappy times (as everyone has), but never would I jeopardize my education if I had at least some control of the situation.

 

[strep mutans]

Withdrawing for personal reasons is totally understandable, things happen. It seems like OP just withdrew without even thinking about it due to, like you said, severe acute depression. I've had some really crappy times (as everyone has), but never would I jeopardize my education if I had at least some control of the situation.

Then you've probably never had severe acute depression. It is an unfortunate nature of the illness that those who have never experienced it have trouble empathizing. Often, the symptoms are mistaken for choices.

Not sure if this is even something OP is dealing with, but if it is, then my advice for OP is to talk to a mental health professional and focus on getting to a good place mentally/emotionally before trying for dental school again. You can't build a strong house on a weak foundation.

 

[mystery84]

OP I'm sorry to hear that this cycle sucked for you but you're not the only idiot on these forums despite how it may seem with all the 27+ AA's and 4.1 GPA's. I too made a rather big mistake in the past and get to carry an absolutely horrid GPA through the application cycle for a third time-- well we will see, my first interview in two cycles coming up. There is a section on the application to explain any instances of academic probation/suspension, and a separate section for any non-academic performance based reasons for school interruption. I advise you wisely use these section, and carefully word your statements. A popular interview question that I have come across is how do you deal with stress/a stressful situation? Unfortunately acute depression, or withdrawing from courses randomly could indicate to schools that you may not be able to handle the stress of going to dental school, that at the first sign of pressure you will crumble, or a number of situations that will not help your application. So please be very careful with your choice of words for these sections.

 

[A Pre-dent]

.

 

[pgex2t]

Maybe you're right about OP. But I don't think anyone can get enough of sense of who we (SDNers) all are as people through internet forums to make these assumptions. For example, I thought I met the most awesome girl on Tinder--we texted back and forth for a long time, and I thought I knew everything about her. When we met in person, she didn't look like her pictures and her personality was so different than what I expected. In this case, we must be conservative with our advice since we can't with certainty rule out the role of mental health. The logic mirrors that behind the legal concept of 'reasonable doubt.'

And yes, you are right that throwing in the towel at this point does not look good. I suppose you guys are justified in simply approaching the situation in terms of dental school acceptance, since this is SDN, so I apologize if I came off as judgmental towards you! From my perspective, I just saw someone who might need more general advice about personal well-being.

No apologies necessary, you were certainly right that I did not factor in depression as a factor and that I interpreted his post in a way that dismissed 'reasonable doubt'. And yes, I admit I may be somewhat prejudiced against OP given his posts. Regardless of my personal feelings, I always intend to give the best objective advice I can with my understanding of how the admissions system works.

 

[schmoob]

Maybe you're right about OP. But I don't think anyone can get enough of sense of who we (SDNers) all are as people through internet forums to make these assumptions. For example, I thought I met the most awesome girl on Tinder--we texted back and forth for a long time, and I thought I knew everything about her. When we met in person, she didn't look like her pictures and her personality was so different than what I expected.

What was his name?

I kid I kid....

 

[hellofuturedentists]

Just wanted to say thanks to @pgex2t and @A Pre-dent for being so civil. My bar is set pretty low for the internet, so I'm thoroughly impressed with your discussion 🙂

OP, if you are struggling with mental health issues, definitely see a counselor. Maybe your university even offers a free counseling service. And that would surely be something to put on AADSAS.
If you dropped classes simply because you're giving up, then that won't look good. I think the gap year(s) in store for you is well needed. You can take a couple classes, get a job, and relax before you decide to apply again.

 

[Teeth4Life1234]

I recently got rejected from my final school and I decided I didn't want to take classes this semester so I withdrew from 18 credits. It was before the first exam even but not early enough for a refund.

I will apply again this cycle with a downward trend in GPA (3.85 to 3.52, around a 2.8 over the last 33 credits) and 18 credits worth of withdraws. DAT is 21/21/18, applying to Ohio State as my top choice and many others too.

Any adivce? Thanks!

That's a great way to show ADCOM how you behave under pressure/take bad news.

 

[Incis0r]

OP I'm sorry to hear that this cycle sucked for you but you're not the only idiot on these forums

Maybe you're right about OP. But I don't think anyone can get enough of sense of who we (SDNers) all are as people through internet forums to make these assumptions. For example, I thought I met the most awesome girl on Tinder--we texted back and forth for a long time, and I thought I knew everything about her. When we met in person, she didn't look like her pictures and her personality was so different than what I expected.

 

[Doctor Asnan]

I withdrew from my classes because I knew there was no reason to graduate and yes I was feeling depressed. This is only my junior year so I have a full year ahead to finish my degree.

 

[Incis0r]

I withdrew from my classes because I knew there was no reason to graduate and yes I was feeling depressed. This is only my junior year so I have a full year ahead to finish my degree.

Contrary to what others have said, I really don't think this will hurt you if you come back senior year and get straight As. You've got a 3.5 GPA and a 21 DAT.

 

[Doctor Asnan]

I don't see why I am getting so much hate here. My GPA is still decent and I can reapply? I will finish the courses I withdrew from next year and graduate on time (4 years) with a 3.5-3.6 GPA.

 

[Doctor Asnan]

Contrary to what others have said, I really don't think this will hurt you if you come back senior year and get straight As. You've got a 3.5 GPA and a 21 DAT.

Yea, exactly. I have 18 credits to graduate and a full summer+1 year to complete them. I can also bolster my EC's and do other things. It really is not the end of the world here.

I will reapply this cycle to 10-15 schools and if that doesn't work out I'll just try again.

 

[Incis0r]

Yea, exactly. I have 18 credits to graduate and a full summer+1 year to complete them. I can also bolster my EC's and do other things. It really is not the end of the world here.

Yep - you know it. If any eyebrows are raised at this semester, just tell them the truth- that you were in depression and wanted to take some time off, regroup, fortify, and come back when you could give your studies your 100%.

I'd think being honest like this would show that you're mature and are not afraid to ask for help. You also care enough about your studies to not "wing" it or destroy the GPA you worked hard to build early in your college career. I really don't expect there to be any problem.

Good luck with OSU!

 

[Doctor Asnan]

why would you withdraw? you could have finished strong, showed you were capable of hard coursework and gotten all As that last semester, will your transcript show that
you withdrew?

I wasn't up to it honestly. I lost my motivation. I didnt want to get bad grades. I have another full year to complete it anyways.

You know, I've seen you post numerous times this cycle and thought to myself if you didn't get in this cycle, you could next cycle as long as you brushed up on your interview skills and perhaps beefed up the ECs a tiny bit to show you're still interested in the field. What you did, just now, is pretty much akin to suicide for your chances next cycle if you have the withdraw notation on your transcript. Why would you finish off a downward trend with full W's. I almost hope you've been trolling the whole cycle on sdn. When seen at the end of a downward trend, they're pretty much F's (even though they're not inputted into your GPAs) and tell adcoms you just couldn't handle it. So I hope you withdrew before the notation would be placed-judging that it's March though, it seems unlikely.

From my understanding on your previous posts, your application for next cycle, so far, is substantially inferior. You'll really need to work some magic in order to make adcoms see past your gpa trend and withdrawing issue. I'd almost say getting a higher DAT, having a mind blowing personal statement, and substantially more ECs are now a requirement for you to get interviews next cycle.

When you say rejected, do you mean put on waitlists? If so, those waitlists are now your best shot at getting in for the near future. I would keep in contact with each school that waitlisted you and express sincere interest. No more of that [is it worth going to LECOM/turning down a hypothetical acceptance to wait an extra cycle] stuff. However, with how you regard some dental schools and your most recent academic decisions, I question if you actually want to get into the field.

Yes I admit I have posted some foolish things on here. Now I am regretting it. Yes I want to be a dentist, and I've shown it over the past few years until recently I hit a bump, a big bump.

If he's not trolling about this, therr has to have been something major that happened to him/ his family. Otherwise, this does not make sense.

Hope you are trolling.

I am not trolling but I just really didn't have reason to graduate and take on such a heavy course load. I am mildy depressed at this point yes.

I too, have been following your posts and agree with above; you just committed academic suicide right there.

Don't even apply this upcoming cycle, you might as well save that money to go travel or start a masters program (which you're clearly going to need). Based on what you wrote, it looks like you withdrew just because you got rejected and feel you should give up and not because of some personal issue, but I could be wrong. My advice would be to obtain a master's in something useful that offers you an alternative career instead of dentistry if it doesn't work out several cycles down the road.

Why wouldn't I apply? I still have competitive stats and an overall competitive resume. I can write in my P.S about the events over the past year.

 

[darknightzzz]

you applied to dental school at the end of your sophomore year to plan to matriculate without a BS degree?

 

[Doctor Asnan]

you applied to dental school at the end of your sophomore year to plan to matriculate without a BS degree?

No, I was planning to finish my bachelors this semester (3rd year) and matriculate. But like i said, I really didnt have a reason to do so after my rejections so I wanted time off to regroup and rethink things. There's nothing wrong with this except the fact I lost my money for the semester.

 

[JLT223]

What do you mean there was "no reason to graduate" though? I'm a little confused.

 

[gabs89]

Everyone goes through rough patches, what's important is not to make rash decisions. I'd really try to think things through and in future, perhaps ask on SDN before making these decisions for some advice from others who are going through similar stuff to you.

 

[sosoreal]

A lot of prejudice here. @Doctor Asnan hasn't stated his (her?) reason for withdrawing, yet we're the ones being rash by ignoring the painfully obvious possibility that he is experiencing severe acute depression, which absolutely would affect his academic performance. It may or may not have to do with the dental school rejections...we don't know that. Better to withdraw than to risk getting low grades. How could future health professionals lack the empathy to realize that some people just have more personal difficulties than others?

I withdrew from all of my classes due to a personal incident a few years ago, yet I got into almost every dental school to which I applied. I was never asked about it in the interviews. And my GPA is comparable to his. Just because SDNers tend to be in agreement on certain issues doesn't mean that their advice isn't the same old bullsh*t the admissions officers shake their heads at.

I agree with you. Depression is real people. I withdrew from all my classes 3 years ago because of that and now I am half way done with my Pham D/ Ph.D. Program. It's not the end of the world. Take some time off . It helps a lot. Clear your head and try some new hobbies.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[schmoob]

No, I was planning to finish my bachelors this semester (3rd year) and matriculate. But like i said, I really didnt have a reason to do so after my rejections so I wanted time off to regroup and rethink things. There's nothing wrong with this except the fact I lost my money for the semester.

Do you think it was a combination of burning yourself out as well as the rejections?
Don't worry man, you'll bounce back. Kick butt in the remainder of your classes and use your time to volunteer, research, etc and I'm sure you'll get in this upcoming cycle.

 

[pgex2t]

I don't see why I am getting so much hate here. My GPA is still decent and I can reapply? I will finish the courses I withdrew from next year and graduate on time (4 years) with a 3.5-3.6 GPA.

Your original post was:

I recently got rejected from my final school and I decided I didn't want to take classes this semester so I withdrew from 18 credits. It was before the first exam even but not early enough for a refund.

I will apply again this cycle with a downward trend in GPA (3.85 to 3.52, around a 2.8 over the last 33 credits) and 18 credits worth of withdraws. DAT is 21/21/18, applying to Ohio State as my top choice and many others too.

Any adivce? Thanks!

The original premise was for next cycle. Besides an assumed new personal statement, the other big new addition to your application for this coming cycle are your grades for 2015-2016-like you said, a 2.8 for one semester and 18 units worth of withdraws for the next. Even if you wrote about overcoming hardships, the most recent academic evidence would provide no backup to that end. The only possibility of demonstrating this is through your fall 2016 grades with the academic update and even then, it will be only for one semester (unless you take summer courses). Now if we're talking about will you get in within the next few years (2017-2018 cycle), then yes, chances are good. But, for this coming cycle, you are presenting an application which will worry many dental schools especially since it is numerically inferior to an application you've submitted the previous cycle. Now I agree with those who say this could strengthen your app as a whole (from the overcoming hardship point of view) as long as you regroup and come back into the app game stronger; however, regrouping and convincing dental schools of this isn't something that happens so quickly.

TL;DR: Reapplication bears with it the assumption that your app has been improved. There might not be enough time and opportunities to convince adcoms of this before next cycle begins.

 

[northeastbandit]

I recently got rejected from my final school and I decided I didn't want to take classes this semester so I withdrew from 18 credits. It was before the first exam even but not early enough for a refund.

I will apply again this cycle with a downward trend in GPA (3.85 to 3.52, around a 2.8 over the last 33 credits) and 18 credits worth of withdraws. DAT is 21/21/18, applying to Ohio State as my top choice and many others too.

Any adivce? Thanks!

If it was before first exam did all of the classes get marked with W's? Or did you just not get refund? If you got all W's I would consider consulting a psychiatrist (you mentioned some depression) because you could get medical exemption for the semester. So then when you apply to Dschool and they ask for the reason for missed classes you just cite "medical" and that will be the end of that conversation. Versus saying you withdrew cause you were mad/ no valid documented excuse. Get documentation with a psych come back senior year, do well to show you rebounded from missed semester and I think you're fine. Really the difference in having some medical documented reason for the withdrawal and having no valid reason is huge! Some people might frown upon going to psych for a medical exemption, but this is your life were talking here! Do anything to better your situation and dont worry about naysayers.

 

[A Pre-dent]

.

 

[Doctor Asnan]

I just wanted to update this thread:

I have come to terms with the fact that I am indeed facing depression. I believe I have been depressed for my entire life and I am finally starting to realize it. I am currently seeking help from professionals and am hoping for the best.

I would like to thank everyone for their support of these forums, it has helped me and I appreciate it. Hopefully I will return someday and be able to contribute.

 

[schmoob]

I just wanted to update this thread:

I have come to terms with the fact that I am indeed facing depression. I believe I have been depressed for my entire life and I am finally starting to realize it. I am currently seeking help from professionals and am hoping for the best.

I would like to thank everyone for their support of these forums, it has helped me and I appreciate it. Hopefully I will return someday and be able to contribute.

Very brave of you. Depression can be quite debilitating, as you've experienced.
I hope that the treatment you receive will get you back on your feet and you will be able to perform at your full potential and achieve your dreams.

 

[Incis0r]

I just wanted to update this thread:

I have come to terms with the fact that I am indeed facing depression. I believe I have been depressed for my entire life and I am finally starting to realize it. I am currently seeking help from professionals and am hoping for the best.

I would like to thank everyone for their support of these forums, it has helped me and I appreciate it. Hopefully I will return someday and be able to contribute.

Godspeed, @Doctor Asnan ! You're going to fight this depression off, get better, get back on the horse, kick your classes' butt, and will earn an acceptance in the future 🙂

Best of luck!

 

[fogorvostan]

I just wanted to update this thread:

I have come to terms with the fact that I am indeed facing depression. I believe I have been depressed for my entire life and I am finally starting to realize it. I am currently seeking help from professionals and am hoping for the best.

I would like to thank everyone for their support of these forums, it has helped me and I appreciate it. Hopefully I will return someday and be able to contribute.

Good luck with everything. I was diagnosed with severe depression back in fall of 2012. Took me failing almost every single of my classes to finally seek help. 3 years down the line and I'm off all of the medications, no longer going to therapy, and starting dental school in August. Hang in there.

 

[sosoreal]

I just wanted to update this thread:

I have come to terms with the fact that I am indeed facing depression. I believe I have been depressed for my entire life and I am finally starting to realize it. I am currently seeking help from professionals and am hoping for the best.

I would like to thank everyone for their support of these forums, it has helped me and I appreciate it. Hopefully I will return someday and be able to contribute.

Good take as much time as needed to get back on your feet. Don't rush it . It takes time. U will be good. Remember your health comes first.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[nowaysurvey]

I think it's safe to say that most here would go through a period of "depression" if they were rejected from dental school. I know I did. 😉

On a serious note, I'm glad you are seeking professional help and I hope you overcome your depression.
As many have said, those W's won't look good on your transcripts and I hope you can rid them with any one of the suggestions stated above.

Good luck and keep your head high.

 

[Doctor Asnan]

Thank you all for your support.

I believe this has been an ongoing problem with me throughout my life and I am finally starting to realize that I need help.