One Bad Semester...Topic for Interviews?

[noruen]

My grades this semester will be pretty lackluster compared to what they've normally been. I'll get a W for dropping a philosophy class for my minor (that I'll no longer complete) due to an obtuse professor and material that didn't meet my expectations - I usually love the subject and previously did well in a graduate seminar. I also expect a C in Organic Lab, just did not put in the effort ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I expect the grade report to be: A, A, C, W. Otherwise I carry a 4.0. Well, currently.

My two questions are: 1) Will this come up in interviews? 2) How to address it if it does (even if you don't think it will)? I only worry because the two blemishes will appear in the same semester.

Apologies if I'm making mountains out of molehills, or it reads like I'm ego-stroking. Just wanted to include all the relevant deets!

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[zurc2014]

No. They won't care won't ask.

 

[Goro]

Things like these are like a black spot on an otherwise blank canvas. The eye is immediately is drawn to them.

If you go through the Interview Feedback section of SDN, you'll see a LOT of interviewers ask questions like "So what's up with that C in Orgo?" So, yeah, expect to discuss it. I'd ask you about it because it's so out of character for your record.

How to address it? Tell the truth, own it, but with some spin. Don't blame the professor. You're an adult and no one in med school is going spoon feed you.

I expect the grade report to be: A, A, C, W. Otherwise I carry a 4.0. Well, currently.

My two questions are: 1) Will this come up in interviews? 2) How to address it if it does (even if you don't think it will)? I only worry because the two blemishes will appear in the same semester.

Apologies if I'm making mountains out of molehills, or it reads like I'm ego-stroking. Just wanted to include all the relevant deets!

 

[zurc2014]

And if they do, you tell the truth. You felt lost in the philosophy class and Ochem lab just didnt spark your interest and you didnt put in the work. Stop worrying about the perfection of 4.0 and just tell the truth and move on

This. But I doubt they will ask unless you have a track record of bad grades. I was asked about my early grades only at UTSW and that was far worse than your C and W. Just pick yourself up and keep getting As.

 

[gamieg]

it may come up as interviewers are definitely able to ask you anything and everything about your application. who knows what a specific interviewer may ask? I've been pointedly asked about a specific grade in my academic record that wasn't even a science course.

in the long run it probably wouldn't break your application, but what might is if you give the reason for your W as "my professor was obtuse and the material didn't meet my expectations," essentially saying it was all other circumstances' fault. same with a throwaway attitude about the C in organic chem lab. it'd be a nightmarish situation to have a medical student not perform well in a patient encounter and blame it on the medical curriculum not being up to expectations.

 

[Swoleserratus]

I had a bad year and it only came up in 2 of 8 interviews thus far. This could be because that was in undergrad and I did a post-bacc. The point is you should be fine but it will probably come up from time to time so figure out how to explain it.