Now that you all have your aps in, I can ask...

[Armymutt25A]

How would you handle really bad grades on your transcript from a year in grad school? First, here's a little background. I have 3 F's on my second semester transcript. These were the result of dropping the classes too late - like the Monday after the paperwork was supposed to go through. The reason for getting to the point of dropping them is irrelevant now, no matter how important I thought it was at the time. Obviously, I didn't find out until the end of the year. I suppose I could have petitioned to have them removed, but at the time, I was so burned out on school and depressed at not getting in, I wanted to get as far from vet med and school as possible. While these scores don't get counted into my required courses, they are on the transcript. Should I address these in the explanation section on the application?

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[dgm]

Yes, that definitely deserves a mention in the explanation statement!

 

[Pouches Rock]

I would try and get them removed from your transcript. I believe that this is usually done by the dean of the college that oversees the course but you may only have to speak with the dean of the college that was your major. They can either remove them or NG (no grade). As far as I know the process isn't that difficult as long as you have documentable, applicable reasons.

There still may be some notation on your transcript especially if they do NG's. So you would still need to explain the situation in your statement. So why is it worth it if you still have to explain it Because it takes the F's out of your GPA !

I know someone who was able to get an NG four years after the fact. Her situation was that her dog had been ill for half the semester. Then around the time that she would have been making the decision to drop or not her dog was in and out of emergency care. She got a letter from the veterinarian and from some other person who could verify the situation.

 

[Armymutt25A]

Do they take into consideration grad school courses when calculating your GPA? Seems like that would be a bit unscientific. Purdue said that there is no way to remove them from the transcript, unless they meant the entire grad year, not just some grades. Might have to look into that - difficult after 11 years and being 5000 miles away. Nothing like a good challenge.

 

[iheartpandas]

For what it's worth, I have an F and a D on my undergraduate transcript and I just got in. In my app, I gave a brief (and non-whiny!) explanation of why they were there, talked about how that was a lousy time for me, and then focused on how I am now much better prepared for academia due to X, Y, and Z.

At CSU, anyway, they don't look at your GPA, but rather individual courses and big trends. Not sure how other schools do it but surely if there's a good explanation you can talk your way past a few little F's.

That said, getting them off your transcript would be an even better solution!