Medical Submitting Transcripts

[Catalystik]

I am at a crossroads here. I graduated in 2017 and I am now gearing for this cycle (1st time applicant). I am submitting my transcripts from my undergrad as well as a college that I took courses in while I was a high schooler.

My main issue is that last year August I enrolled at a college with an interest in taking non-degree interest courses (2). I figured why not and it couldnt hurt my gpa. I enrolled in August and as the paperwork was finalized I was still waiting on the final information for the loan I was going to use to pay for it (i.e I am a disadvantaged student a from low income community). Eventually after 2 weeks (September) I was told that I would be be able to receive the loan AND I missed the cut off to drop the courses without getting a W (+ have financial liability).

So now I am [still] paying for courses I didn't take. I know for the MD apps we have to include all transcripts .. but do I have to include this one? It was pretty bad luck and it will delay my application tremendously because I am still paying off the fees from last year. I didn't even take the courses and ended up getting a W after filing for a financial leave of absence.

Please help.

I'm sorry you're in this unfortunate situation. Unfortunately you must submit a transcript from this school. I gather from your comments that the school might have refused to release an official transcript until your debt is cleared. From the 2020 AMCAS Application Guide:

p26 When entering coursework, you must include information and corresponding grades for every course you have ever enrolled in at any U.S., U.S. territorial, or Canadian postsecondary institution, regardless of whether you earned credit.

p33 Withdrawal (W) A Withdrawal includes any course you officially withdrew from, regardless of whether you were passing or failing at the time. Such courses usually appear on the transcript as a “W” or equivalent symbol. No credit hours or AMCAS grade will be assigned for Withdrawals, except in cases where the school includes the Withdrawal failing grade in the GPA as an “F.” A course entry should not be made if the course was dropped within the normal drop/add period and does not appear on your transcript. The courses from which you made unofficial or administrative withdrawals will be included in your AMCAS GPAs if your school included them in its GPA. If you withdrew entirely from a school before completing courses for a specific term, you must still list each course for which you were registered that term, with Withdrawal as the Special Course Type. If the school does not issue transcripts for students who withdraw entirely, you must ask the registrar’s office to forward an official letter (with an AMCAS Transcript Request Form attached) indicating that no transcript is available because of institutional policies.


Have you made any attempt to appeal this decision through one of the deans?

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[Mr.Smile12]

...I am going to attempt to acquire a transcript from this school.

Also, this school is one of the schools in my hometown that I am considering applying to. I am hesitant to apply because I am not sure how the school will view the fact that I had to withdraw from the school. I didn't leave the school in bad terms through. I am paying the courses back and I submitted an LOA prior to the withdraw.

What do you think I should do?

I'm a little confused since you refer to "school" under multiple contexts. The undergraduate registrar doesn't usually communicate with graduate school registrars. The answer is pretty clear that you have to submit all your transcripts. Mindreading how it will be received is a futile exercise, in my opinion.

 

[Catalystik]

Hi Catalystik,

I was very hesitant to ask this question because I was worried what this might reflect on my character/position -- but thank you for getting back to me!

I am going to attempt to acquire a transcript from this school.

1) Also, this school is one of the schools in my hometown that I am considering applying to. I am hesitant to apply because I am not sure how the school will view the fact that I had to withdraw from the school. I didn't leave the school in bad terms through. I am paying the courses back and I submitted an LOA prior to the withdraw.

2) What do you think I should do?

1) Your local medical school is not going to discriminate against you because you dropped out of their affiliated undergrad college. We all know that "life happens" and were anyone to inquire at any med school interview about why you dropped out (which would astonish me), I think your explanation is adequate. Do go ahead and apply to your hometown med school without worrying about it.

2) First, meet with a dean of the undergrad college with all paperwork and related communications. Ask if there is any language in the school's policy that allows an appeal for a retroactive withdrawal, considering your situation. If there isn't or it's too late and that F will remain on your record, then attempt to get a transcript from the registrar sent directly to AMCAS with your AMCAS ID attached. If they refuse to release a transcript while you have outstanding debt remaining, then you have no choice but to wait on your application plans until the debt is cleared.

If, OTOH, you are within the window of opportunity for a retroactive withdrawal appeal, you'll need to ask how long the appeals process takes. Once you know that, and decide if it's worth waiting, you can decide when to submit your medical school application.

Perhaps you have already done some of the above?