Hey folks. I’m a nontrad premed in my 30s who has struggled with money for most of my life. I was homeless for a time, have worked 2-3 jobs most of my life (currently working 2 full time jobs on top of 5 classes and it sucks, but what can you do). I’ve had a pattern of W’s in the past and was wondering 1) what med schools would think about it, and 2) what I can do to repair this?
I graduated from undergrad in 2012 and I started taking post-bac premed coursework in 2014. Yep, it’s been a marathon and not a sprint for me :’)
- Got an Incomplete on a course in 2011 (undergrad); had medical issues so I couldn’t complete the final exam, and dumb me decided not to make it up haha
- Withdrew from an entire semester (6 classes) in 2015 due to not being able to afford tuition
- Dropped a psych seminar class in 2015 - I was taking it as a “fun” GPA booster and I needed the tuition refund the make rent
- Dropped a thesis course in 2019 from my graduate program - turns out I didn’t need to do a thesis and I didn’t want to delay graduation
- Just dropped a course earlier today because, due to COVID, I needed the tuition refund to make rent. I’m already 2 months behind.
I didn’t have financial aid through any of this, so I would usually work 60+ hours a week to try to get tuition money, and halfway through the semester it would hit me that it still wouldn’t be enough, and I’d have to withdraw. I feel like med schools are going to look at me and just think that I’m either 1) trying to game the system academically, or 2) if I explain my situation in an essay, they’ll just think I’m a financially irresponsible person that shouldn’t be a doctor.
Help? 