Taking time off

[sleepyincal]

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Has anyone ever withdrawn and taken a semester off during undergrad?
Right before finals, I realized I had a horrible end-of-semester schedule and to prevent making the so-so gpa a rotten one, withdrew and am planning to take the next semester off (coming back in the summer.)
I'm really burned out. I took bio and ochem2 this semester. It really sucks that all that work is pretty much going to be erased from my transcript (hopefully the knowledge sticks.) I also trained in phlebotomy. I'm planning to use the free semester to work as a phlebotomist and hopefully shadow a physician. I've been continuously in school since the third grade- by that I mean, I've taken summer classes EVERY FREAKIN' SUMMER.
I thought I made the right decision but..grr, well first of all, my parents are pretty pissed. They think that I'm being lazy or halfway to becoming a college drop-out or whatever. Also, it'll probably take me an extra year to graduate. While all my friends are taking upper divs I'll be in these introductory classes as a fourth year...eek. Also, I'm worried about what medical schools will think about a break in the middle of undergrad. She's a weakling! Can't handle the pressure! Tsk tsk - rejection!
Has anyone else been in a similar situation?

 

[RaistlinMajere]

While I'm not on an adcom, I do not think it's a huge deal, as long as your overall and science GPA is solid, you do well on the MCAT and have great ECs and recs. These things will overshadow whether you took a semester off or not. It might come up in interviews, but just be honest about what happened.

I would examine what exactly went wrong. Why did you take on too much? What could you change to avoid doing too much in the future?

Regarding your parents, it is predicable that they would not fully understand and be upset. But, it's not their life and only one semester. You can still have a successful career and life, which probably will make them forget about bailing on this semester.

 

[PineappleGirl]

I agree with the poster above. I had some health problems the fall semester one year and had to take incompletes in all my classes. Three of the incompletes turned into A-s as the profs allowed me to make up the work, but one unforgiving ******* gave me a W. I also had to take a leave of absence for the next semester as my financial aid couldn't be applied to the spring semester since I had no grades (unsatisfactory academic progress) in my classes. The whole incident didn't really effect my GPA but it does look a bit strange on my transcript. In other semesters I had taken 4 or 5 classes but then there's this semester with only 3 grades and a W followed by a leave of absence notation. I used to stress about this, but after talking to enough people about it, I've heard it's nothing to take very seriously. I did use part of my LOA to go to Europe, so if someone were to ask me about it in an interview, I'd just say I wanted a semester off to travel. Let's hope the adcoms will focus on the overall picture instead of one abberation.

Good luck to you!

 

[swimerpaco]

I took spring semester off during my sophomore year. Although my break was due to the fact that I needed half of my neck removed, i still think that it was a fantastic break, and I really felt recharged for the second half of college. Do what ya gotta do.

 

[ambaduchi]

i took a semester off to take care of family stuff -- my dad was unwell. i don't think schools have a problem with it, but you definitely need to be able to explain yourself. several secondary apps asked a specific question about whether you interrupted your undergraduate studies, if so for how long and why. they had varying lengths for the answer, from 2 lines to one page.

 

[sleepyincal]

Thanks for the replies...I feel better. The leave of absense/financial aid thing applies to me too.. I hope I can use that time to travel or do something cool like travelling.. oh and parents are being more understanding now. Thanks. 🙂