Question about Withdrawals/F's

[Lagunatic]

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Hi all here's my situation.

I graduated college about 2 years ago and have been working in R and D on medical devices since. I graduated with 3.5 cGPA and 3.8 sGPA in Biochemistry. I had two F's during college, one in Japanese and one in Calculus II. I retook both courses and received A's. I also decided to take Calculus III while working (for curiosity), and had to withdrawal because of ~70 work weeks mid semester.

Should I explain these circumstances in more detail? If so, where is the best place to talk about them? I assume the PharmCAS personal statement.

 

[BabyBelle]

The PharmCAS personal statement is usually where applicants talk about why pharmacy. I would wait for the secondaries to mention any discrepancies in your grades because there's usually a question (depending on the school) that asks if there's anything you want further explain regarding any circumstances/discrepancies.

 

[meganradigan]

I have one F (Gen ChemII) and one W (Calculus I) on my transcript due to some medical issues that I had been experiencing during that semester. I retook Gen Chem II the following summer and received an A-. I wrote a letter explaining my circumstances and enclosed it with each of my supplemental applications. I did not mention these setbacks in my PharmCAS personal statement. In one of my interviews, (the only one that was open-file) the interviewer mentioned the letter, but said that it was self-explanatory and did not dwell on the topic more than that. My F and W never seemed to be an issue considering that I was accepted at each school I interviewed with. I'd recommend you do the same in order to provide an explanation 🙂

 

[Rockinacoustic]

During one of my interviews I was asked (the albeit generic question) about a time I failed to accomplish something and how I responded towards it. I took this opportunity to explain my failure of Biochem and how this event didn't deter me from finishing my degree in the subject.

While I'm not proud of it, I'd like to think my interviewer appreciated my honesty and ability to talk candidly about one of the more concerning parts of my application.

 

[Lagunatic]

Thanks for the diverse and thoughtful answers. I appreciate the feedback!