Ok so as stated before I completed my Anatomy class last week. I was soooo excited because this was the begining of my road to medical school. I had everything planned out from this fall all the way to applying to med school. This is a perfect example why you cannot plan everything.Here’s a little background. I always wanted to be a doctor but after having my son I let people talk my dream down into becoming a nurse so I began classes at Baker. Knowing that I really wasn’t motivated to be a nurse I had a rough start. Fresh out of high school and not really knowing what to expect I took an anatomy and physiology class (SCI 101C) I ended up not going to class and never dropping resulting in an F. So i dusted myself off and tried it again at Macomb (BIO 2710) family problems resulted in me leaving again resulting in an F at that school.That was years ago before deciding that me not chasing my dreams was what kept me so unmotivated. So recently while on the right track I decided to cross all my t’s and dot my eyes BEFORE diving in. I knew where I ultimately wanted to complete my BS at U of M dearborn. So BEFORE begining my first classes I went to U of M talked to the counselor and said I know that these grades are bad what do I have to do to be able to come here. The counselor resonded with “no problem ALL you have to do is retake the Human A & P at macomb again and get a good grade.” She evaluated my transcript and typed the grades in and that was the response she gave me. SOOO I take the course over spend over 800 bucks. Complete the class with a B. I’m feeling really good and as if I’m on my way. So today I go to onsite admissions with everything that was required of me. And then come the problems. I called the counselor earlier in the day and left her a voice mail to let her know I was coming in. NO RESPONSE. I figure she was busy and its walk in so I go to the college. I request the counselor that I spoke with before. ITS 430! They go to get her come back and say she will not take anymore students today she’s going home @ 500. No problem I’ll see someone else. I wait awhile about an hour to be exact. But that’s not the problem bc I’m patient. She comes out! Now remember she was supposed to leave at 500. She sits around at the front desk then leaves around 545. I was kind of upset about that. Point is I saw someone else and basically she tells me the complete opposite of what I was told by the first counselor. I was told that the class from Baker SCI 101C and the class from Macomb BIO 2710 transfer as two SEPARATE courses. Therefore the course I took @ macomb covers the F I had previously received at macomb. But the course from baker is not covered by that and basically I still have that F. Which drastically affects gpa! AAAAHHHHHHHH! She did say that she was unsure and she would check with the transcript department, and she will call me tomorrow. The lady told me 8 weeks before that it was the same course and it was covered by the course I just completed! But the best part is. If this is indeed the case the class that I have to take to get rid of the F is the exact same course I just took and passed however its named differently with a different course number bc its at another campus!!! Even better is the fact if the lady had told me about this 8 weeks before I could have registered for the CORRECT class and killed two birds with one stone. And not have to repeat the class I just took. Please pray that this lady is wrong, its just another stumbling block that I don’t want to dust myself off from. It will put me a semester off and possible a year behing in applying!
- Kellarina Said:
I'm sorry to hear about your experience Kell...this is precisely why I have no respect for counselors/advisers...they're wrong so many times and seem to be quite indifferent to the fact that their inaccurate information damages other people's lives.
Hopefully you will be able to get a resolution to this.
Well, as far as med school application goes, for MD schools all the grades count anyway and don’t get replaced, even if they are replaced and not counted in the GPA at a given school. So at this point, I would just concentrate on taking new courses, all the science you can, and getting the best possible grades. Lots of nice, shiny “A” grades. If you have excellent performance now, poor grades from years ago won’t matter as much. Don’t let this get you down. There are a LOT of bumps on the road to med school. Just keep plowing over them.
Thank you guys! I appreciate you taking the time to read my ver LONG message and send encouragement! I just received a call from the admissions lady although the the first lady was incorrect and that class only covered the course taken at Macomb. With the F from baker my GPA was still strong enough to admit me. So she did! So I guess I’m back on my path. I’ll shoot for nothing but A’s from here out so I don’t have to worry about this again! Thanks alot to those who replied! 
That’s the attitude, Kell. I’m not sure about U of M, but here at OU, once you get admitted your advising is asigned to a faculty member in your department eliminating a lot of the stupid stuff. Also, I experienced some of the overlapping coursework issues when I was at George Washington. I was able to get around re-taking some unnecessary courses by appealing to the dean who obtained course descriptions from the school where I took them. Then she just granted me transfer credit. Sorry to learn of your difficulties, but hang in there. BTW, I’m learning that most of us have setbacks at some point in the process. Even though time is finite and you may be older than some classmates, rest assured you usually benefit - academically or in some other way.
Just some advise from someone else that has been there…
Take it slow and don’t overwhelm yourself…especially if it has been awhile since you have taken a few classes at once.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help…from fellow students or TAs
Do not get behind…if you do, it is VERY hard to catch back up.
Good luck!
Rachel Yealy, DO