ok so this is my dilemma … i started community college a while ago and i have some w’s and f’s and i didnt take it seriously enough and now im not sure if i should start over at a different school? i know i still have to transfer to a university (assuming they’ll let me in) Im not a bad student ive just had some really bad years lately Well im wondering if med schools look at your comm. college grades and if they do should i just start over… Im not sure what i should do… im not sure i can even transfer with my gpa and withdraws the way that they are… plus im not close to transfering anyways… so i was wondering if i could get some advice on the subjet … thanks Mzz
Well, what’s done is done. The next thing is to figure out what you want to do, where you want to go. THEN you’ll be able to figure out how to get there.
Unless your CC kicked you out, there’s no reason you can’t go back to that school for more coursework if that’s what would work best for you. As you noted, switching to another school means that someone will review your transcript prior to admission.
EVERY grade you’ve ever taken post-high school “counts” in that you have to report it on your application to med school. But that is such a long way off, don’t worry about it right now. Your goal right now is to - name your goal! and then decide to do it very well.
I recommend starting VERY small. What you want to avoid is “New Year’s Resolution Syndrome,” where you vow that THIS time will be different, and to prove it, you will choose a difficult challenge and really stick to it this time. That is setting yourself up for failure - don’t do it! You are beating yourself up right now, and that means that your first step needs to be one where you’re almost guaranteed to succeed as long as you work reasonably hard (not heroically, ridiculously, superhumanly hard!).
From what you describe, I’m guessing that your CC work is your initial college work and that you don’t have a degree, is that right? If so, your options are wide open because you’ll have to take a variety of classes on the way to getting a bachelor’s degree. So I’d start with ONE class that appeals to you, that will help to fulfill requirements for graduating. Math, English, science, social studies - it really doesn’t matter what the subject is initially. Once you re-set your life to “student mode,” you can start making longer-range plans for what courses to take when, what major you might like to consider, what helps you transfer to the four-year school, etc.
but you don’t need to do any of that right now. Right now you just need to prove to yourself that you can do it - so choose carefully, think small initially, and the rest will come.
Second everything she said.
I also agree with Mary.
Schools do recognize that sometimes in a person’s past they may have had problems that prevented them from doing well.
Your next step is to get back to class. Perhaps you can take one class and see how it goes. You more than likely can not transfer to a university now until you get your GPA up or show improvement.
Way down the road medical schools will look at your transcripts and look for a pattern of improvement. If you can show that you have improved and have now established a pattern of good grades, you shouldn’t have too hard of a time getting in. But again, that is far down the road and don’t be looking at that part of your journey quite yet.
You now need to figure out why you had problems with your courses, change those problems, and register for a class or 2 to see if you can handle it.
Good luck!!!
I’d like to add that you are way ahead of me in that I screwed up some back in the day and didn’t care then (this was 15 years ago, wow!). I am not in medical school – will apply this summer.
Mary thanks for the advice let me break this down a little more so maybe i can figure it out i started community college 2 years ago and have been going off and on for those two years yes i have some good grades but i also have a few f’s in math which i struggle with and i also have withdraws because i figured in some classes it was better than a C or whatever i thought i might have gotten… I know that i can continue in this school take the rest of my courses and get my AA so that i can transfer but i am worried that by the time i actually get my AA ( which im thinking will take me at least over a year maybe two) that i might have been able to start at a different community college and if i concentrate much more in that school and get back on track then i could possibly get my AA in 2 years through that school… Now if i stick to the school ive been going to my question to myself is that once i get my AA will i be able to transfer to a good university or will my past come back to haunt me and if i go to the other community college and start over would i have a better chance at transfering to a university Im still doing my general ed classes or the AA classes so im not sure if staying or leaving to a new community college is a better option any new advice would be appreciated … thanks Misty 
Hi there,
First of all, anything lower than a C will not transfer and second, you are required to list all of your courses, attempted, withdrawn or completed at every institution above high school on your AMCAS application and you must send transcripts to verify your what you have included.
Now, you have some damage control to do. It’s not insurmountable but you need to make sure that everything you do from here on out is quality work. The best way to achieve this is to follow Mary Renard’s suggestion and take your time. Start with one course and be patient with yourself. Take your time and do very, very well.
Also, doing well in Math is an acquired skill. You can easily talk yourself out of doing well if you keep saying that you are “no good” at math. In medicine, you do not have the luxury of being “no good” at anything.
Take some study skills courses. Community colleges are great at providing these types of courses for students who need a little work. When you transfer to a university, they provide evidence to the admissions committee that you are serious about your studies and that you are steadily working to improve your academics.
I can’t emphasize more, the rigors of studying medicine. Every medical school in this country has a rigorous course of study. It does not end with medical school. As a physician, you are required to constantly update your skills and knowledge. The better you are at academics, the better physician you will make. Medicine is a constant life-long learning experience.
Finally, what is in the past is done. You can decide from here and now that you will change your thinking and approach to academics. You can decide that you will make your studies a priority. Being a pre-med student means that you have labs and studies far beyond what the business majors will be doing. This means being very judicious with your time and keeping to a good schedule. This means being pro-active about your learning.
Good luck
Natalie 
Mary and Natalie have given you great advice so I’m not gonna jump on their bandwagon about what you need to do now. I just wanted to reply to your specific question about getting your AA at your current CC and being able to get into a good university.
I’m here to tell you that yes, most definitely, assuming you do really well from here on out. I bombed out of the university I went to when I first graduated hs, and then had similar issues at the CC I went to after that. Lots of withdrawals or simply not dropping classes I wasn’t going to (so f’s), etc. I “proved” myself by finishing some classes at a different CC (had moved) but I easily could have done it at the same CC. Since the university will see all of your transcripts regardless (unless you do a Fresh start which I thought was only available in TX but I may be off there) it really doesn’t matter whether you go to a new CC or not. Now I’m at one of the top 5 public universities for the size and type of school I go to (ie. <10,000 students, only one PhD, and less than 20 masters).
The only issue I would look into would be checking some min gpa’s for universities you might be interested in. If you wouldn’t get up to that by the time you got your AA then yes switching to a different school that doesn’t count your old gpa in with your new might be a good idea. But so long as your gpa would be able to get above the minimums, any university looking at your application will see the dramatic improvement so switching schools really doesn’t make a difference.
Good luck to ya!
–Jessica, UCCS
just wanted to thank all of you for your advice ill put it to work and see what i can do…
Quote:
I know that i can continue in this school take the rest of my courses and get my AA so that i can transfer but i am worried that by the time i actually get my AA ( which im thinking will take me at least over a year maybe two) that i might have been able to start at a different community college and if i concentrate much more in that school and get back on track then i could possibly get my AA in 2 years through that school… Now if i stick to the school ive been going to my question to myself is that once i get my AA will i be able to transfer to a good university or will my past come back to haunt me and if i go to the other community college and start over would i have a better chance at transfering to a university Im still doing my general ed classes or the AA classes so im not sure if staying or leaving to a new community college is a better option any new advice would be appreciated … thanks Misty
I am a little confused too. If I’m understanding you right, I think that you are thinking that if you just start over somewhere else, then this whole first adventure at a CC can be put completely in the past. That’s the problem - I don’t think it can. You can certainly apply to another CC and start over without them knowing about your past CC experience. But I don’t know that you’d be able to apply to a 4-year university without submitting transcripts for all your past college-level work. And as has been noted already, you definitely will have to account for it when you get to the point of applying to med school. The question of whether your first CC transcript has to be submitted to a 4-year university when you apply is something that can be answered by your CC office and/or the university you’re interested in.
So I still think that trying to clean up what you’ve started at your current CC is a reasonable approach. Now, there could be lots of reasons to go to another CC and maybe that’s what you want to do - but switching schools as a way of ‘starting over’ isn’t actually going to accomplish what you’d like. I think.
Again, I am not sure I am reading your question right so feel free to explain some more and I apologize if I’m off-base.
no you wouldnt be wrong thats what i was thinking well i was hoping but i guess since thats not going to work then i should stay at the cc im in and just bring up my grades and work hard i guess thats the only thing to do… well thanks everyone for your advice… Misty
Misty, you definitely should ASK whether all post-high school grades need to be submitted when you apply to a four-year school. I think that is likely to be the case but I do not know for sure. Someone at your CC is likely to be able to give you the straight scoop on this. Or you should be able to check the FAQs for applicants at the four-year school you’re interested in, and find the answer there. (or call them) Don’t assume anything based on what we say here - be sure to go to the horse’s mouth when it’s important to you that your information is accurate!
Hi Misty,
Like people have already been saying, I’d check with the university you’re interested in transferring to eventually to see if they’d require you to submit transcripts from every college you’ve ever attended. Last year I applied to a four-year university as a transfer student, and they did require me submit each of my old transcripts. They also stated on the application form that anyone who did NOT inform them of a school they’d attended in the past (and submit a transcript) would be in violation of their policy and subject to expulsion and other bad stuff. They’re pretty serious about those things, and it’s understandable that since they have to make choices between applicants, they want to know as much about each applicant as possible.
Anyway, you won’t really know until you check with the university you’re interested in. So give them a call! Also, remember that improvement over time always looks good. If you get started now, even at your current CC, you can make a lot of progress.
Good luck,
Andrea
If there’s really nothing that you want to transmit from your CC you can “probably” not submit that transcript, but you will need to be able to account for the time period with work or whatever. I didn’t submit or tell my current university about the first school I went to right after high school as I really didn’t have anything that would transfer from there anyway and the few things that I did get decent grades in I had either retaken later or wouldn’t transfer anyway so I just didn’t put it on my apps. For med school, on the other hand, I of course will as much as I’m loathe to lol. I also had the advantage of having gone to the CC I went to after the university for a couple “fun” classes the summer between hs and my fresh year of college, and it had already been 7 or 8 years since that disaster when I applied to my current school.
If it is the case that you would be using absolutely none of those credits toward your AA then you can “probably” just not include it at all. If you will be using those credits then yes of course you’ll have to include it. The key will be not to draw attention to that time period tho as that will make it more likely that the school will actually check.
However, if you do ask schools about it I’d ask in a very general form because they will most likely tell you that yes you do need to include all transcripts. If you ask specifically “do I have to include such and such transcript as I really don’t want to” they are much more likely to “know” you’re purposely not including it and actually pay attention to whether or not you’ve included all of your schools. I personally never did ask whether it was “ok” or not, I just pretty much blocked that whole year out of my memory lol. I didn’t even get a transcript for my personal use from them until last year when I started to try and figure out gpa stuff for med school. I just didn’t think I had anything besides choir credits and one man and environment class. Turned out I actually did have a history class and a psych class that I ended up retaking unintentionally later on at a different school 
.
What you end up doing is totally up to you. What you will most likely be “told” is that you have to include everything so it will be up to you whether you want to risk not including it and account for the time some other way or including it.