Missed a month of school

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So, there is very little info to go off of. Can you withdraw? Is the reason medical? If it's medical I would just withdraw from all classes.

Can you catch up? Are your profs open to accommodating you?
 
LoveBeingHuman:) said:
Please give more details regarding your situation
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I was severely depressed and did not go to school for a month after transferring to the new school. Previous school GPA is around 3.9.
Withdrawl would result in 8 W's on my transcript. I got an A for 2 one credit classes which would also appear as a W.

SpectreDoc said:
So, there is very little info to go off of. Can you withdraw? Is the reason medical? If it's medical I would just withdraw from all classes.

Can you catch up? Are your profs open to accommodating you?
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My professors do not know I exist, it is a state school. Two do not answer my emails, and one said I can catch up the work. One said I can not retake the exams but we might work something out.
 
Big_Failure said:
I was severely depressed and did not go to school for a month after transferring to the new school. Previous school GPA is around 3.9.
Withdrawl would result in 8 W's on my transcript. I got an A for 2 one credit classes which would also appear as a W.



My professors do not know I exist, it is a state school. Two do not answer my emails, and one said I can catch up the work. One said I can not retake the exams but we might work something out.
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Just take the W's. Trust me.
 
If you're looking at a 2.0, just withdraw. Try to get medical withdrawal marked on your transcript since this is the case. Even still I would withdraw.

You may want @Goro @LizzyM @gonnif to chime in here since they'll know what's best.
 
If you wanted to say goodbye to medical school, you can just stay in and get the 2.0.

Withdrawing will give you a good second chance. If you get great GPA from here on out and possibly take a gap year in between (so schools can see that you picked back up) you'll be okay.
 
Big_Failure said:
And say goodbye to medical school?
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A semester of Ws is exactly what the W was created for. trying to bulldoze your way through and get a 2.0 telegraphs that not only are you academically weak, but that you make bad choices.

Withdraw and get your depression under control.

Medical school is a furnace, and I've seen it break even healthy students. The #1 reason my school loses students to withdrawal, dismissal or LOA is to unresolved mental health issues.
 
Goro said:
A semester of Ws is exactly what the W was created for. trying to bulldoze your way through and get a 2.0 telegraphs that not only are you academically weak, but that you make bad choices.

Withdraw and get your depression under control.

Medical school is a furnace, and I've seen it break even healthy students. The #1 reason my school loses students to withdrawal, dismissal or LOA is to unresolved mental health issues.
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My parents dropped me from their health insurance after I said that I am considering therapy/medications.
 
Big_Failure said:
what about 3.0, is 3.0 bad?
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Try and sign up for health insurance ASAP. The application is currently open if you are a U.S. citizen.

Also, a 3.0 won't hit you hard. But looking at your history it would be a red flag seeing that you went from a 3.8+ in a private school to a 3.0 in a state school. Even then, not knowing if you can get a 3.0 is still risky in and of itself.
 
SpectreDoc said:
Try and sign up for health insurance ASAP. The application is currently open if you are a U.S. citizen.

Also, a 3.0 won't hit you hard. But looking at your history it would be a red flag seeing that you went from a 3.8+ in a private school to a 3.0 in a state school. Even then, not knowing if you can get a 3.0 is still risky in and of itself.
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I know my chances are over. I only need a confirmation.
 
Big_Failure said:
I know my chances are over. I only need a confirmation.
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I understand this can be a stressful situation and I can see you are very frustrated. Your situation is very a tough position to be in and I can see how that can impact someone psychologically. What you should do is take your time, get some help, learn from your mistakes, and apply when the time is right, an extra year or two here and there will not matter in the long run.
 
SpectreDoc said:
I understand this can be a stressful situation and I can see you are very frustrated. Your situation is very a tough position to be in and I can see how that can impact someone psychologically. What you should do is take your time, get some help, learn from your mistakes, and apply when the time is right, an extra year or two here and there will not matter in the long run.
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So you do think this mistake is huge and not easy quick and fix (withdraw, transfer back, and continue on track), it will always stay as a permanent record, a scar on my application (if I will ever get to the point of applying).
 
Goro said:
Very sorry to hear this. But having lost students to mental health issues, no treatment = no medical career. Period.
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The only way to get treatment is to have a career. No one will give me free treatment, I am under 21 and considered dependent on my parents.
 
If my chances are over, just tell me so I can stop worrying and obsessing every day and find myself another career, like working in a Walmart warehouse, which makes me truly happy, I get to avoid everyone and everything and then go home, cry and feel sorry for myself.
Do not give me false hopes, please.
 
If my chances to medical school are over, I should get the 2.0 or whatever it might end up being and at least get a college degree, no? C's get degrees.
 
sb247 said:
Withdraw on anything you can’t definitely pull an A in if you can still get the W.

Then get your s—t together. Get some counseling. Get healthy. You can’t keep behaving like this (health prblem or not) and become a doctor
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THIS. THIS. and THIS.

Understand that you can take care of no one if you cannot take care of yourself. Get yourself healthy and in shape and then go back to school. You need a solid body and mind to be a doctor.
 
Psych_hopeful said:
THIS. THIS. and THIS.

Understand that you can take care of no one if you cannot take care of yourself. Get yourself healthy and in shape and then go back to school. You need a solid body and mind to be a doctor.
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And you think I have a chance? How will I explain a medical withdrawal? Please be honest.
 
Big_Failure said:
And you think I have a chance? How will I explain a medical withdrawal? Please be honest.
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You had a medical issue and it was affecting your ability to function in school.

You got treatment for it and subsequently got a 3.7-4.0 in your college and proceeded to get 517 on your MCAT. You also did volunteer work every week to show your interest in service. And from this you learned that in order to take care of others, you need to first be able to take care of yourself.

I'm not an adcom, but I warrant this is the type of story they would want to hear. And it will look favorably on someone that recognizes they have a problem and knows that they have to take care of it before it affects their work with the medical staff and patients.
 
Psych_hopeful said:
You had a medical issue and it was affecting your ability to function in school.

You got treatment for it and subsequently got a 3.7-4.0 in your college and proceeded to get 517 on your MCAT. You also did volunteer work every week to show your interest in service. And from this you learned that in order to take care of others, you need to first be able to take care of yourself.

I'm not an adcom, but I warrant this is the type of story they would want to hear. And it will look favorably on someone that recognizes they have a problem and knows that they have to take care of it before it affects their work with the medical staff and patients.
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Thank you, when you say it this way it doesn't sound that bad. But, how will I explain transferring back and forth between colleges?
 
Big_Failure said:
Thank you, when you say it this way it doesn't sound that bad. But, how will I explain transferring back and forth between colleges?
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Again, you were dealing with a medical issue. The thing is you cannot be preoccupied with details like this when you have something that is causing yourself to be impaired. I'll say this. The successful people I know are the ones that choose to deal with their issues in a proactive fashion and then they either (A) Keep their issues out of their work or (B) Resolve the issue entirely and then throw themselves fully into their work.

Deal with your issues first. If you want an edge, you can always do something along the lines of downloading anki and reviewing an MCAT biology book so that the knowledge there becomes second nature. But this should come AFTER your issues with your health.
 
Big_Failure said:
If my chances are over, just tell me so I can stop worrying and obsessing every day and find myself another career, like working in a Walmart warehouse, which makes me truly happy, I get to avoid everyone and everything and then go home, cry and feel sorry for myself.
Do not give me false hopes, please.
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Your chances are over the minute you decide they are. And it sounds like you've already decided, despite what everyone is telling you.
 
what should I be doing in the meantime to improve my application? I have two months free from school (besides work)
 
This is a repeat thread....We already discussed this situation with OP i think.
 
Big_Failure said:
what should I be doing in the meantime to improve my application? I have two months free from school (besides work)
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Volunteer somewhere. It will show your dedication to service. In addition, get an MCAT biology book and skim it. Make flashcards of the knowledge so that some of it becomes second nature.

And also, one other thing. Family CAN be a problem. And sometimes, family hurts more than it helps. You still have to perform regardless of whatever is going on in your life. I know a pathologist who still comes to work despite how devastated he is over losing his wife. He still makes life changing diagnoses which patients rely upon for their course of care.

You have to perform. As a doctor, you cannot say "I'm sorry I gave you a medication you are allergic to and you went into shock, but my dad told me I was a loser." You gotta have the pride man if this is what you want to do.
 
Just thought I'd throw in my two cents. A similar thing happened to my boyfriend, though he is not premed. His first semester he was severely depressed and basically never attended class and got straight F's. He sought treatment, got his depression under control, and was later able to petition the university for a backdated withdraw and got all F's removed from his transcript. Withdraw and focus on taking care of yourself, OP. I wish you the best.
 
Relax. People take medical withdrawal all the time. It is not going to affect your application anywhere near as badly as it would to have a whole semester of 2.0 in your GPA. I am living proof that you can get into medical school Ws on your transcript. It is not the end of the world, even though it may feel like it. You’re at a hard part of this journey because you have come a long way but there is still so long to go.

Your chances are not ruined, but you keep asking for us to tell you they are. The fact is, if you want this then you have to not let anything stand in your way. That includes your GPA, your MCAT score, and especially not your own health, mental or physical.

You CAN be successful in medical school, and you CAN find treatment through your school, but these things rest completely in your hands.

Right now you have a bad semester of grades. That is a fact, as it stands now. You can do one of two things: withdraw, or not withdraw. The better choice for your medical school future is pretty unanimously that you should take a medical withdrawal.

When you take control of your depression and beat this, you will be better equipped to handle the academic load and the stresses that are inherent in medical education. As Goro is right to point out, you must have this under control before you push yourself in medical school. You are fortunate to have the chance to take this on head-on now, rather than uncover it later.

I know it’s hard, but you can take these issues on one at a time and make it through it is in your hands. If you want more specific advice, feel free to send me a PM, you are not the only one who has gone through something like this.
 
A fair amount of people get into medical school with a semester of medical withdraws. It's not over, but you need to
1) Get the Ws
2) Start getting As next semester
3) Figure out getting help. Your school has no free services? No school insurance? Medicaid? I'm sorry your parents apparently suck on this.
 
If I withdraw from this school I will have to go live with my parents again, who are constantly emotionally abusing me.
 
Big_Failure said:
What if I get all B's this semester?
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You literally keep asking the same question over and over again in slightly different variations. You started out saying you're looking at a 2.0. If a 2.0 is a legitimate possibility, I don't know how you can possibly think that you're able to aim for a 3.3-3.5.

You're ignoring everyone's advice to seek help for your mental health. If you are on a college campus, there are free resources available to you. Your school should have a counseling center. Google it. It'll probably come up.
 
tiramisucheese said:
You literally keep asking the same question over and over again in slightly different variations. You started out saying you're looking at a 2.0. If a 2.0 is a legitimate possibility, I don't know how you can possibly think that you're able to aim for a 3.3-3.5.

You're ignoring everyone's advice to seek help for your mental health. If you are on a college campus, there are free resources available to you. Your school should have a counseling center. Google it. It'll probably come up.
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I am asking over again and again because I am looking to throw away a 10 grand paid from my own pocket. It hurts.And if in the end I dont make it I could at least have a college degree.
 
Big_Failure said:
I am asking over again and again because I am looking to throw away a 10 grand paid from my own pocket. It hurts.And if in the end I dont make it I could at least have a college degree.
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All I'm going to say is that the risks and benefits of the different options you can take have been discussed. It is up to you to decide what to do. Even the harshest posters here are only interested in helping you. But you must first whether to decide to help yourself or not.
 
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