My name is Jordan and I’m 27 years old, a Firefighter/Paramedic, and starting nursing school in the spring of 2021. In beginning my college career at a 4 year university in fall 2011, I was a full time student with an undecided major but attempting to take mechanical engineering courses. Due to relationships, finances, family, and just not being prepared to take on college, I failed almost all of my classes the first semester. I was placed on academic probation and given another chance in the spring. That also did not go well, and again, I failed the majority of the classes as a full time student. I was then suspended from the college and prohibited from returning for several years. I was kicked out of a four year university because I could not get the grades. Afterwards, I worked several simple jobs, and in 2015, became a firefighter and then an EMT. At that point I discovered my love for medicine. I then became an Advanced EMT, Paramedic, and soon will have a bachelors degree in nursing. I’ve been taking BMCP prerequisites at a community college and have had a 4.0 GPA since starting back in school. My Cumm GPA without the failed courses at this time is a 3.3. I’m worried if the amount of failing grades at the beginning of my college career is too large of a red flag for medical schools regardless of everything else I can accomplish before applying. Im working on getting my transcript from the university to have a better idea of my actual GPA’s. The question is not should I give up my dream, but more so, How much opposition should I expect to encounter when applying with a history such as mine? Thanks for reading and I appreciate any feedback.
Hey Jordan, even with a rough start to college you have great experiences and seem to have done well to move forward and be successful in school. You’re a lot older, kids make mistakes going into college, there are a lot of episodes in the premed years of people with a very similar (at times almost exact) story. One specifically I remember was a paramedic that bombed out of college his first year or two, and got into med school. You can do it, be persistent and reach out to schools. You’re definitely not the first person that’s done that, and won’t be the last. You’ll make it just keep moving forward.