When do the grades not matter?

[NCOldie]

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I went straight to a university out of high school. I obviously was not prepared because I received one 'F', a slew of Withdrawals and maybe a mediocre grade or two. I even went back two or three years later to the same university and dropped out...again.

That was 8 years ago that I began that university and five years ago the last time I attempted to attend and then dropped out.

My question is: Since this record is so old, and will be even older by the time I apply to med school (possibly 3-4 years from now), will the grades even be calculated into my cGPA? I know I have to report every school, but is there a time when the grades expire? I don't believe I took any prereqs at this school...just standard classes.

Thank you.

 

[HealthE]

They always matter unless you are from Texas. I think they have some program where you can not report all your grades. Good luck with your road to recovery.

 

[Deekle]

Ah I see my story becomes applicable once again. Back in 1999 I started
college. I sucked. Got lots and lots of D's, some F's and the W's. Got some C's too and one B. Ended with a freshman GPA of between 1.27-1.37. Quit and decided college was not for me.

Fast forward to 2008. Decided college was for me and I wanted to be a doctor. Was a bit naive and thought if I started fresh, no one would ever see my past grades. Woops. I was wrong. It all counts. I had to report every last one of those crappy grades and you will too if you're submitting via AMCAS. It all counts toward the cGPA etc..

Now the good news: I was able to convince most folks that I had learned a lot and was capable of hacking it. I brought my cGPA up to 3.4ish and got accepted to an allopathic school where I am currently getting inundated with new knowledge. It's a lot of fun!

Bottom line. Own your mistakes. Turn the negative experience into a positive lesson learned and don't ever return to the habits that caused you to fail. Work hard and do well and you can raise a crappy starting GPA to acceptable levels and show adcoms that you have matured. Rest assured that if you get an interview they will ask about it. Own it. Don't make excuses. Explain how those mistakes taught you how to succeed and have the good grades to support that. Good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app. Blame Siri if the spelling or grammar are bad.

 

[DrMidlife]

...and one more antique transcript horror story: I went to a DO interview in 2008 and they wanted to go line by line through my transcripts to get an explanation for anything lower than a B...starting with my 1984 transcript. Yep, 24 years prior.

Not every school is going to do this, just be aware that your transcripts are more permanent than tattoos.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Courtjester8]

...and one more antique transcript horror story: I went to a DO interview in 2008 and they wanted to go line by line through my transcripts to get an explanation for anything lower than a B...starting with my 1984 transcript. Yep, 24 years prior.

Not every school is going to do this, just be aware that your transcripts are more permanent than tattoos.

Best of luck to you.

You can't be serious. At a DO school too? Wow, that is shocking. I'd have been a tid bit aggravated at that. I wonder if he actually cared about the grades or he just wanted to see what you had to say about them in terms of "is this guy spinning BS to explain these grades or is he at a point where he's ready to own up to his mistakes?" I'd think anyone with half a brain would be willing to concede that people can change quite a bit over 20+ years.

 

[gyngyn]

I went straight to a university out of high school. I obviously was not prepared because I received one 'F', a slew of Withdrawals and maybe a mediocre grade or two. I even went back two or three years later to the same university and dropped out...again.

That was 8 years ago that I began that university and five years ago the last time I attempted to attend and then dropped out.

My question is: Since this record is so old, and will be even older by the time I apply to med school (possibly 3-4 years from now), will the grades even be calculated into my cGPA? I know I have to report every school, but is there a time when the grades expire? I don't believe I took any prereqs at this school...just standard classes.

Thank you.

Like herpes, your undergraduate gpa is forever.