Worried about future- Advisor not helpful

[rotsnakee]

Hello. Hopefully someone here will be able to help me because my academic advisor is not capable of doing so.

I'm a college sophomore and I know what I want to pursue: medical school. I have one obstacle that keeps intervening though; my seizures flare up during times of stress (like studying for midterms).
About a month ago I suffered a seizure which resulted in me sustaining a head injury and missing two weeks of class. When I came back, midterms were already over and I needed to catch up on a ton of material quickly. I finished my Gen Chem midterm on Wednesday and got it back Friday; I failed miserably. Essentially, I am allowed to correct the test, and I'm going to, but I will still have a failing grade. This exam was 45% of my overall grade, so now my best case scenario is that I will pass the class with a C/C-.

This has happened before, and because of it my freshman gpa was about a 2.8, with one prereq (intro to cell bio) finished with a C.

The support services at my school suck, and have not been helpful at all. I've been granted slight extensions on a few assignments, but that's it. I've gone to office hours, worked with professors, but it's really difficult to make up for missing huge chunks of course instruction. I was thinking of taking some bio courses not offered at my school over the summer at the local state college (I am a resident of a state with good public schools) to boost my gpa. Is that a good idea?

I scored a 2340 on the SAT, so hopefully that will correlate to a decent MCAT score. I spent last summer collecting volunteer hours and I'm still accumulating hours when I have the time. I attend a small private lib arts school, so hopefully I will be able to attach myself to a research project at some point.

Right now I'm terrified. I'm scared that I'm wasting my time, that the two prereqs I've already taken have ruined my chances at any acceptance and that any future effort is futile. This is causing me a huge amount of anxiety and making my performance otherwise even worse. Has anyone been in this position before? What did you do? Next semester I'm taking two prereqs, and fall semester 2013 I'll take four so I need to figure something out fast.

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[gyngyn]

A medical problem that can be accommodated is a challenge. One that inferes with your ability to perform will preclude success.

You should be evaluated to delineate exactly what accommodations should be afforded you. This way you know exactly how well you can perform with the standard "reasonable accommodation."

 

[Catalystik]

Hello. Hopefully someone here will be able to help me because my academic advisor is not capable of doing so.

I'm a college sophomore and I know what I want to pursue: medical school. I have one obstacle that keeps intervening though; my seizures flare up during times of stress (like studying for midterms).
About a month ago I suffered a seizure which resulted in me sustaining a head injury and missing two weeks of class. When I came back, midterms were already over and I needed to catch up on a ton of material quickly. I finished my Gen Chem midterm on Wednesday and got it back Friday; I failed miserably. Essentially, I am allowed to correct the test, and I'm going to, but I will still have a failing grade. This exam was 45% of my overall grade, so now my best case scenario is that I will pass the class with a C/C-.

This has happened before, and because of it my freshman gpa was about a 2.8, with one prereq (intro to cell bio) finished with a C.

The support services at my school suck, and have not been helpful at all. I've been granted slight extensions on a few assignments, but that's it. I've gone to office hours, worked with professors, but it's really difficult to make up for missing huge chunks of course instruction. I was thinking of taking some bio courses not offered at my school over the summer at the local state college (I am a resident of a state with good public schools) to boost my gpa. Is that a good idea?

I scored a 2340 on the SAT, so hopefully that will correlate to a decent MCAT score. I spent last summer collecting volunteer hours and I'm still accumulating hours when I have the time. I attend a small private lib arts school, so hopefully I will be able to attach myself to a research project at some point.

Right now I'm terrified. I'm scared that I'm wasting my time, that the two prereqs I've already taken have ruined my chances at any acceptance and that any future effort is futile. This is causing me a huge amount of anxiety and making my performance otherwise even worse. Has anyone been in this position before? What did you do? Next semester I'm taking two prereqs, and fall semester 2013 I'll take four so I need to figure something out fast.

If your neurologist is unable to get your seizure disorder under better control, it might be a good plan to see your regular healthcare provider for ideas that will help with the test-taking anxiety. Consider a leave of absence until you get these issues sorted out. In the mean time, some sort of protective head gear would be appropriate. You can't afford to miss another two weeks of school for a similar reason.

Armed with medical documentation, you might look into petitioning a dean for a medical withdrawal from the Gen Chem class if you feel it will be impossible for you to catch up in understanding the material.

 

[Moosepig]

A medical problem that can be accommodated is a challenge. One that inferes with your ability to perform will preclude success.

You should be evaluated to delineate exactly what accommodations should be afforded you. This way you know exactly how well you can perform with the standard "reasonable accommodation."

 

[Goro]

Suggest transferring to antoher school. It's still way early int he game, so quit fussing. But it will help if you ace your classes from now on. Keep in mind that AACOMAS forgives repeated coursework with a higher grade if you're interested in DO schools.

Also keep in mind that medical school is way more stressful that an undergraduate degree, so seek out a good neurologist to discuss your career path, if you havn't doen so already.

Hello. Hopefully someone here will be able to help me because my academic advisor is not capable of doing so.

I'm a college sophomore and I know what I want to pursue: medical school. I have one obstacle that keeps intervening though; my seizures flare up during times of stress (like studying for midterms).
About a month ago I suffered a seizure which resulted in me sustaining a head injury and missing two weeks of class. When I came back, midterms were already over and I needed to catch up on a ton of material quickly. I finished my Gen Chem midterm on Wednesday and got it back Friday; I failed miserably. Essentially, I am allowed to correct the test, and I'm going to, but I will still have a failing grade. This exam was 45% of my overall grade, so now my best case scenario is that I will pass the class with a C/C-.

This has happened before, and because of it my freshman gpa was about a 2.8, with one prereq (intro to cell bio) finished with a C.

The support services at my school suck, and have not been helpful at all. I've been granted slight extensions on a few assignments, but that's it. I've gone to office hours, worked with professors, but it's really difficult to make up for missing huge chunks of course instruction. I was thinking of taking some bio courses not offered at my school over the summer at the local state college (I am a resident of a state with good public schools) to boost my gpa. Is that a good idea?

I scored a 2340 on the SAT, so hopefully that will correlate to a decent MCAT score. I spent last summer collecting volunteer hours and I'm still accumulating hours when I have the time. I attend a small private lib arts school, so hopefully I will be able to attach myself to a research project at some point.

Right now I'm terrified. I'm scared that I'm wasting my time, that the two prereqs I've already taken have ruined my chances at any acceptance and that any future effort is futile. This is causing me a huge amount of anxiety and making my performance otherwise even worse. Has anyone been in this position before? What did you do? Next semester I'm taking two prereqs, and fall semester 2013 I'll take four so I need to figure something out fast.

 

[mcloaf]

Also keep in mind that medical school is way more stressful that an undergraduate degree, so seek out a good neurologist to discuss your career path, if you havn't doen so already.

This. While I agree with others that this grade issue won't necessarily keep you out of medical school, the underlying issue that caused it might. I wonder what considerations you've given to the reality of the stress level in the medical field. How will you deal with this? I'm not saying you can't or shouldn't do it, but this should really be something you're addressing; maybe you have already and just chose not to mention it as it wasn't the focus of your post.

 

[Gauss44]

About a month ago I suffered a seizure which resulted in me sustaining a head injury and missing two weeks of class. .

Do everything you can to protect your head. I knew someone who lost 12 years of education to a head injury. A brain injury could end everything immediately.

Other than that, I might aim for the medical leave of absence if you are having lots of seizures. It's just too much risk in my opinion. (While on leave, study ahead on your own.) Once seizures are under control, finish school with the goal of medical school. Have a back up plan in case medical school doesn't work out but it probably will.

You sound like a really smart person. Protect your brain and it will likely work out.

Please be careful and good luck!