Students with extenuating circumstances (family)

[GirlAnachronism]

So I posted this on another website and basically didn't get many good answers (a total of 2 and one of them was ok).
So here goes ...
I have a low GPA, probably graduating with a 3.4, and am a bio major at [school]. At the end of spring semester my freshman year, my mom had a seizure and collapsed. She was brought to a hospital where they diagnosed her with GBM (stage 4 brain cancer). I didn't leave school because leaving would have meant leaving indefinitely because I had no idea what the future would entail. It was my choice and the preference of my parents that I stay in school. In the end, I had to make a lot of choices about school and seeing my mom in whatever time there was left so ultimately my grades were terrible. I don't regret it at all now. Being with my mom was more important than sitting in a library all day. Not to mention i was extremely depressed and every month was like a rollercoaster with scans and waiting for the inevitable results of each one. I had a B average, Cs in some required courses. But all the while my friends kept telling me that they had no idea how i did it, how i stayed in school and had a B average at all.
Point is, I got my act together summer before junior year and my grades have greatly improved since then. My mom passed away this summer but even then I was still in a genetics course that i received an A in.

I guess my main question is then how understanding are med school admissions officials to this? I'm so scared that no one will accept me. I have all my volunteering and research and clubs and i even created a program for kids and improv in hospitals (albiet it hasn't been particularly successful). I just need to know if these officials will empathize with me during that horrible time and realize that it wasn't a situation where i could take a semester off and regroup as well as see that i've improved.

please let me know.

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[Handy388]

hey, UCB student here too! I am sorry to hear about what happened to you. Something comparable happened to me as well, and I have a 3.4 GPA as well. I think with a 3.4 GPA and decent MCAT you are bound to get in SOMEWHERE if you try hard enough, but don't dream too much.

 

[GirlAnachronism]

I don't plan on applying to anywhere high up on the rankings. i think in my situation that would be illogical on my part. i'm applying to carib schools, both ca (easier ones...) and fl schools (have both state residencies), and all the lower ranked med schools. i don't consider that 'dreaming too much' lol.
ucb = rape. and thanks for replying so fast 🙂

 

[Handy388]

how did you get dual residency?

 

[GirlAnachronism]

I was originally accepted as an out-of-state student from FL (my home state). We had a house in SF and paid taxes. paying taxes = state residency. mwahahahahahahaha.

 

[Blade28]

OP, I'm very sorry to hear about your loss. It sounds like you went through hell yet I applaud you for sticking it out and still succeeding in school.

While your 3.4 GPA is below average, your upward trend and extenuating circumstances will certainly help come admissions time.

Best of luck!

 

[mfrizzo3]

I was originally accepted as an out-of-state student from FL (my home state). We had a house in SF and paid taxes. paying taxes = state residency. mwahahahahahahaha.

It takes more than that. Sorry

To establish residence you must be physically present in California with the intent to make California your permanent home, and you must demonstrate by your actions that you have given up your former residence to establish a residence in California. Once you have established your residence in California, you must reside in California for more than one year (366 days) before you will be eligible to be classified a resident for tuition purposes. If you are in California solely for educational purposes, you will not be considered to have established a residence for tuition purposes, regardless of the length of your stay. Your residence cannot be derived from your spouse, or from your parents unless you are a minor.

 

[Vihsadas]

We have almost identical experiences so I can definitely relate to how hard that is...Unfortunately, I don't think that my extenuating circumstances had that much of an effect on my application. What this experience IS though, is an experience for you to redefine yourself and re-evaluate yourself. How it WILL help you is that it gives you a real, and concrete fundamental knowledge of the responsibility that being a physician can entail...and that's something that the Adcoms will be able to pick up on if they meet you. 🙂

It was the wishes of my mother too that I would stay in school and finish out my year. She was super upset when I told her I wanted to drop out of school and take care of her...so I respected her wishes. At least I got to visit her before it was all over. Somehow I managed a B+ in that year.
You are so right, btw. That time you get to spend with your mom is so important, and you should never ever regret that. 🙂
Life is awesome, and it'll keep treating you that way if you let it. I'm sure that at the very least, these are experiences that will characterize us for the rest of our lives and will help give other experiences that we have more meaning. I know for a fact that it was this experience of mine that really made me 'grow up'. I can say without a doubt that the day I became a man was that day. That depth of insight into the level of responsibility that you will carry as a physician is something that you'll take with you your entire life. It's definitely something I'll take with me to my grave. Good luck, and let this experience drive you even harder to your goals...and more importantly, let it give you real perspective about life so that you can ENJOY the path to getting there!

 

[Blade28]

Yeah, it's not easy to establish CA residency.

I was born and grew up there, but moved away for high school. I went back there for college, worked there, filed CA taxes - still not enough.

 

[HumidBeing]

A 3.4 doesn't put you out of the running. It's a little below average, but it's not a "bad" GPA. The better your MCAT, the better your chances of getting into a school in the states. You'll need to put maximum effort into doing as well as possible on that. Keep applying yourself to the EC's while you're finishing up.

That 3.4 is soooo close to a 3.5 that you could probably get a helpful boost by doing an informal postbacc if you feel the need. It takes quite a few credits to move such a high GPA even a little bit, though.

Extenuating circumstances are taken into consideration, but only once you break past automatic cutoff hurdles so that they actually get past the numbers and read your application.

 

[Chuckwalla]

Yeah, it's not easy to establish CA residency.

I was born and grew up there, but moved away for high school. I went back there for college, worked there, filed CA taxes - still not enough.

Why would you want to establish California residency anyway? If you are going to establish residency at least do it in a good state.

 

[GirlAnachronism]

I'm a senior and was planning on taking the june mcat. however, because of my gpa, i know i need to score phenomenally on it and if i'm taking diags before that date that show i am not, then i will postpone med school another year and take the mcat probably in october (finishing up my degree this summer). that's a whole other problem though. the hell do i do for two years (that is not research. i've done it for two years and found out it's not for me). i'll probably write up a thread about that.

 

[BurnEmUpBears]

I believe that medical schools will be completely understanding towards your situation and the effect on your grades. I wouldn't underestimate yourself based on the overall 3.4; perhaps think about your GPA without that semester(s?) included.

Best of luck!

 

[Vihsadas]

I'm a senior and was planning on taking the june mcat. however, because of my gpa, i know i need to score phenomenally on it and if i'm taking diags before that date that show i am not, then i will postpone med school another year and take the mcat probably in october (finishing up my degree this summer). that's a whole other problem though. the hell do i do for two years (that is not research. i've done it for two years and found out it's not for me). i'll probably write up a thread about that.

It sounds like you're me two years ago, (for the exact same reasons too, minus the gender)
Just do whatever it takes! Your GPA is really not that bad, and if you score well on the MCAT, be prepared to do an SMP or a post-bacc if you have to, and to keep that clinically related stuff as a priority.

 

[mfrizzo3]

Why would you want to establish California residency anyway? If you are going to establish residency at least do it in a good state.

Like?

 

[Blade28]

Extenuating circumstances are taken into consideration, but only once you break past automatic cutoff hurdles so that they actually get past the numbers and read your application.

That's a great point.

 

[GirlAnachronism]

but then that defeats the purpose of the extenuating circumstances section ... they won't even see the reasons why my gpa was low even though that's what the essay is for. its basically a "too bad" situation that i don't think is necessarily fair to people like me who have something else to say for their gpa.

 

[135892]

You can't change the past (I assume), so why dwell on it....

Just do your best, explain your situation, and hope adcoms take it into consideration. Don't worry about things you really can't control.

 

[HurricaneKatt]

I am sorry to hear about your mother, but have to admit it's nice to know that other people go through rough times too. Sometimes it feels like you're the only one...
I am in my second semester Freshman year and totally fried. I am putting myself through school because my parents can't really afford to help me much with three other kids to care for so I work almost full time. Then in one week I was involved in a fiasco at my workplace, my closest cousin (he's pretty much my brother) almost died in a freak soccer accident and had to have major reconstructive surgery, my other cousin's infant was taken to the hospital having seizures, my grandmother found out that she had breast cancer...and meanwhile, my car decided that it wanted to break down, my computer broke, my boyfriend broke up with me, and my long-lost biological father decided to contact me and tell me how horrible my mother is. As well, the whole first half of the semester, my best friend and I were fighting so I couldn't turn to him for support. And that's only about half of it...

I ended up having to audit Calc II so that I could focus on getting my Chem grade up (I was doing bad in both classes and figured that Chem is far more important). My GPA will definitely be affected and I have been stressing a LOT about how it will affect my chances of getting into med school.

(Anyways, all you can do is everything you can do. Just keep trying and don't give up until you get there. I wish you all the luck in the world getting in and just remember, other people go through hard stuff in their life too, so I'm sure SOMEONE will understand.)

 

[Bacchus]

Sorry to hear about your mom. Gave me chills reading, actually. That being said, I love that you are being humble. More applicants do need to be like you and realize this is not a time to bolster. I don't think your 3.4 is going to hurt you as far as cutoffs are concerned at the lower tier MD schools. I would address your grades in your personal statement. There is a close family member in my family with a medical condition and I will most certainly be bringing it up. This isn't something to be insecure over. Life happens. Address what happened and move on. I honestly think with your humbleness and otherwise great application (from what I gather) you'll have a shot.

 

[ryandote]

.

 

[Blade28]

but then that defeats the purpose of the extenuating circumstances section ... they won't even see the reasons why my gpa was low even though that's what the essay is for. its basically a "too bad" situation that i don't think is necessarily fair to people like me who have something else to say for their gpa.

Average GPA + extenuating circumstances = very good (applicant maintained grades while going through adversity)
Below-average GPA + extenuating circumstances = decent, but worrisome (what will happen when difficulties arise during med school/residency?)

To the OP, you've been through a lot, so certainly your app may be granted a small degree of leeway - but just know that there are so many applicants out there with great numbers that it's sometimes hard for adcoms to take your situation into consideration.

 

[sunny1]

To the OP, you've been through a lot, so certainly your app may be granted a small degree of leeway - but just know that there are so many applicants out there with great numbers that it's sometimes hard for adcoms to take your situation into consideration.

Do you think perhaps it would be something she could mention briefly in her personal statement?

 

[GirlAnachronism]

Do you think perhaps it would be something she could mention briefly in her personal statement?

It will be in my personal statement. The problem isn't that but the automatic cutoffs I keep hearing about where if you don't have the gpa, regardless of circumstances, your app won't go through anyway and so adcoms won't even read your letter. that's the bigger issue for me then, the fact that there wasn't a point stating extenuating circumstances for schools like that when the automatic cutoffs will shut me out anyway.

and i think FL is a great state to have residency in for med schools especially for me since UM, UF, FSU, USF are ones I can apply to and probably not get shutout. There's also FAU (through UM), and FIU and UCF that are opening. UM is still my number one fav. Otherwise, it would be NYU or BU but those are 'reach' schools for me. If I can only choose one state to have residency in on the amcas app (between FL and CA) then it's FL because I'm much more likely with my grades to have a higher chance getting in than CA schools. Also, i like FL schools.

 

[Blade28]

Do you think perhaps it would be something she could mention briefly in her personal statement?

Absolutely! Significant experiences (school-related, extra-curricular related, and personal) that affected/strengthened the applicant's desire to go into medicine all belong in the personal statement.

In the OP's case, her tremendous adversity absolutely belongs somewhere on her app - how could it not affect her life, motivations, and decision-making?

Edit: GirlAnachronism, you're right, your GPA may not make the cutoffs for some schools so the adcoms won't have a chance to read your PS and understand your situation. All the more reason to apply VERY WIDELY when you do. Definitely don't just apply to Florida schools!

 

[Daydreamer2008]

So I posted this on another website and basically didn't get many good answers (a total of 2 and one of them was ok).
So here goes ...
I have a low GPA, probably graduating with a 3.4, and am a bio major at [school]. At the end of spring semester my freshman year, my mom had a seizure and collapsed. She was brought to a hospital where they diagnosed her with GBM (stage 4 brain cancer). I didn't leave school because leaving would have meant leaving indefinitely because I had no idea what the future would entail. It was my choice and the preference of my parents that I stay in school. In the end, I had to make a lot of choices about school and seeing my mom in whatever time there was left so ultimately my grades were terrible. I don't regret it at all now. Being with my mom was more important than sitting in a library all day. Not to mention i was extremely depressed and every month was like a rollercoaster with scans and waiting for the inevitable results of each one. I had a B average, Cs in some required courses. But all the while my friends kept telling me that they had no idea how i did it, how i stayed in school and had a B average at all.
Point is, I got my act together summer before junior year and my grades have greatly improved since then. My mom passed away this summer but even then I was still in a genetics course that i received an A in.

I guess my main question is then how understanding are med school admissions officials to this? I'm so scared that no one will accept me. I have all my volunteering and research and clubs and i even created a program for kids and improv in hospitals (albiet it hasn't been particularly successful). I just need to know if these officials will empathize with me during that horrible time and realize that it wasn't a situation where i could take a semester off and regroup as well as see that i've improved.

please let me know.

wow that is scary 🙁 and sad. so sorry for what happened to your mom. Were there any symptoms prior to this seizure? I'm just curious to know.....

 

[mdacceptee2008]

as above posts have said...i think schools will be very understanding providing that they actually read your application (after seeing the numbers). If you do well on the MCATs, a 3.4 should get you looked at at many schools. Also- not sure if you want to include it in your personal statement (unless it affected your desire to go into medicine then definitely talk about it), but DEFINITELY make sure it is explained in your committee letter. Best of luck and I certainly admire your perseverance and maturity though I cannot imagine what it must have been like for you.

 

[GirlAnachronism]

First, thank you everyone for the kind words. I really appreciate them and they have calmed my medschool nerves quite a bit.
So to whoever asked (i believe the poster above) it definitely affected my desire to go to medical school. Cancer in general has interested me since I was 10 when I remember my mom calling me from the hospital in new york crying and telling me her sister (who i knew was sick) had died from melanoma. I was upset of course but a little after that I started thinking 'what's melanoma' and from there its history.
but what really affected me was when my mother fell ill and i saw what medicine is really like and where its fallacies are. Unlike a lot of people who haven't experienced a parent falling deathly ill and being in a hospital not as a patient or a volunteer but rather as a daughter, i noticed what was missing. Now, i have many problems with a lot of oncologists who perceive their patients as 'hopeless cases'. if i decide not to go into psychiatry, i will 70% chance go into oncology and try to be a doctor who doesn't do that. it's just terrible. my mom would always say to me, "they talk to me like i'm already dead."
my other issue is with the hospice system. well not hospice per se ... hospice is great if you choose it. but that's the main problem. for someone who has no options left because clinical trials are shutting them out, the only choice is basically hospice and to die. to the patient who doesn't want that, who would prefer to continue medication and let the meds take them away, what is said to them? nothing. most doctors won't continue prescribing medication to these patients. shouldn't it be the patient's choice to decide in which way they decide to leave this earth? shouldn't a doctor do everything in his/her power to give their patient what they want? (of course this delves into other issues such as assisted suicide ... which i also believe in). I'm a huge advocate of Abigail Alliance ... and i wouldn't have had any of these opinions if i didn't witness my mother die. i wouldn't know or think any this and in spite of what happened, i'm happy my eyes are opened. hospice is grusome. the process of death (which very few have seen) is horrifying. if someone chooses to die in another fashion, whether it is trying anything left until it kills them, than that wish should be fulfilled.

... sooo after that long and drawn out response....
does anyone know of medical schools that could suit my gpa, mcat (let's say ... 33.... verbal is great, so is bio, i have on average between Q and S on writing, but phys sucks and i have to work on it), and would pay attention to circumstances? i only know of my FL schools, caribbean (SGU is beautiful btw), and i think USC/UCSD might be appropriate to apply to.
any suggestions?

 

[Blade28]

Can't you apply to schools outside of Florida and California? You'd greatly increase your options that way.

Out of curiosity, why apply to UCSD and not the other UCs? 😕

I always advise people with borderline stats to apply very broadly - 20+ schools, if possible.

 

[CoolSpot7Up]

I also was in a similar situation, but for other medical reasons. As for admissions committees understanding your extenuating circumstances, it seems they had given it little to no thought whatsoever. It's upsetting to hear when we know we have the potential to be great, but our life experiences that caused the lower GPA are not being taken into account. The best thing you can do is to rock your upcoming MCAT, as that will show where you truly stand compared to everyone. Also, mention it in your personal statement, because if you don't explain your situation, admissions committees will form their own theories on why your GPA was low (and most likely it will not help you). By mentioning it in your PS, then med schools will give your app a closer look, and actually analyze the trend in your GPA and go more in depth in your essays. If you don't mention it in your PS, your app will be tossed to the side as they'll have no reason to give it more consideration with a low GPA and no explanation.

 

[GirlAnachronism]

Can't you apply to schools outside of Florida and California? You'd greatly increase your options that way.

Out of curiosity, why apply to UCSD and not the other UCs? 😕

I always advise people with borderline stats to apply very broadly - 20+ schools, if possible.

Yes, i am applying to schools outside those states! lol. i dont know how you got the impression i wasn't. i'm probably applying to around 30 schools. my question was is if anyone knows of schools that could work for my gpa 3.4 and an mcat of 33 and would consider my circumstances. meaning, if you know of easier US schools, please let me know of their names so i can research more about them. well not easier but ones i can prospectively have a chance to get into. other than carib.

and to the poster above, it's probably going to be the main framework of my essay. why my mom being sick made me love medicine more. plus achievements ... i can't really describe how i will write this essay. i'm a creative writer so it will probably be no where near the structured format of most essays.

 

[Blade28]

Yes, i am applying to schools outside those states! lol. i dont know how you got the impression i wasn't. i'm probably applying to around 30 schools. my question was is if anyone knows of schools that could work for my gpa 3.4 and an mcat of 33 and would consider my circumstances. meaning, if you know of easier US schools, please let me know of their names so i can research more about them. well not easier but ones i can prospectively have a chance to get into. other than carib.

Sorry, it sounded like you were only considering Florida schools, USC and UCSD!

The MSAR helpfully lists averages for each school, so you might want to browse through that.