Hello, I am a 31-year old premed who has been doing a sort of unofficial, ad hoc potbacc program of my own creation. I have been getting A’s and B’s in my premed classes and enjoying the work, but I ran into some trouble two semesters ago and had to withdrawal from two classes due to some depression I was dealing with. I am going to be starting the classes again this semester. My hope is to gain admission to an osteopathic medical school. Is it possible to overcome the “big red mark” of my withdrawal semester, or have I shot myself in the foot?
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Hello, I am a 31-year old premed who has been doing a sort of unofficial, ad hoc potbacc program of my own creation. I have been getting A’s and B’s in my premed classes and enjoying the work, but I ran into some trouble two semesters ago and had to withdrawal from two classes due to some depression I was dealing with. I am going to be starting the classes again this semester. My hope is to gain admission to an osteopathic medical school. Is it possible to overcome the “big red mark” of my withdrawal semester, or have I shot myself in the foot?
Hi there,
Many people get into medical school with Ws on the transcript. You had a legitimate reason for withdrawing from your classes. The thing that you really need to be sure of is that you have corrected/taken care of your depression so that you do not end up withdrawing again. There can be a problem with too many Ws.
If you have taken care of your needs and you feel ready to start back into your academics, then do so. It might be better to take just one course and see how you handle things before taking on a full load.
You really can’t do anything about your previous withdrawals but you can affect your future. Make sure that you are ready to re-enter the academic world and take some “baby steps” before trying to take “giant steps”. You have already invested too much in terms of time and money to get into a pattern that will not yield success for you. Put the past behind you. Realize that you might have to explain your Ws in an interview (worse case scenario) and keep moving forward.
Good luck and welcome to the forums!
Natalie
Thanks for the thoughtful response. All of that makes sense, I think I just needed to hear some encouragement.
Best regards,
Thomas
I’ve got 2 of them. Plus 1 D and some C’s. I’ll let you know how it pans out for me (but it will be a few years )