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Unusual college experience; how will this affect me?


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I've had an odd college "career," and I'm worried (read freaking out) that I may have already destroyed my chances of ever being accepted into PA school.

 

I dual-enrolled in local community college while in High School, ending with 4.0 GPA, a certificate in "Latent Evidence," and a lot of credit hours on my transcripts that are useless now. I went to one university outside of my hometown, got a 3.9GPA, transferred schools back to my hometown, a lot of my classes didn't transfer (more useless credits).  My first year and a half I did amazing, 4.0 GPA back the first year, Tau Sigma honor society, 3.9 GPA my third semester (damn B in Chem)...

 

The real problem came after that. I got pregnant with my first child, which wasnt an issue at first except there was a lab in microbiology I couldnt do. Cept I started having a lot of medical issues with the pregnancy and ended up, luckily, with a University withdrawal keeping my GPA. However, because Im a moron, I tried to go back to school too soon after. Went back to school with a brand new 2 month old, working 40+ hours a week, and having just moved out on my own (with my now husband-who was a SAHD) with bills to pay I just stopped going to school. Didnt withdrawal because, again, Im a moron. Ended up with a whole semester of F's and FN's and a 2.89 GPA.

 

I'm kicking myself. I realize now how STUPID that was, but at the time it was "do what you have to for the family."

 

I realize I'll have to address it in my personal statement, but will admission committees see those WU followed by the same almost exact classes Fs or FNS and just throw out my app? Or see how many freaking credits Ill have for JUST a BS and think...I dunno I have no direction or focus? I still have about 20 classes for my BS.

 

 

Sorry that was so long.

 

 

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There is a pattern on this forum of people describing horrible things that happened to them that interfered with their reaching the objective of having the perfect grade point and the spotless record. And to all of them I say:

 

You are where you are. Don't curse the screw-ups; own them and move forward. 

 

Clearly you have to address your path in your personal statement, but don't go overboard. Kind of like the pimple on your nose; it looks HUGE to you because you are so close to it, but others may not feel quite the same way.

 

CASPA presents your scholastic data by year; it should be obvious to the Adcoms when you did what you did. (and some of those "useless" good grades you talk about may prove to be not so useless after all.)  Build a good case for yourself and keep moving forward. Good experience, good references, and a sound personal story.

 

It's football season so...for you, it's second (or third) down with 15 yards to go. Just call your next play and get on with it.

 

Good luck!

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You are where you are. Don't curse the screw-ups; own them and move forward. 

 

Clearly you have to address your path in your personal statement, but don't go overboard. Kind of like the pimple on your nose; it looks HUGE to you because you are so close to it, but others may not feel quite the same way.

 

Thank you. Ill try to keep those very wise words in mind moving forward. Its scary when you finally figure out what you want in life, but your past makes it harder. I wish, like I'm sure many on these forums do, that I had just known sooner!

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You early academic success demonstrates that you can handle the schoolwork, now you just gotta get back on track.The way I see it, you have 20 more classes (~approx 60 credits) that you can use to your advantage. Take the rest of the courses needed to finish up your degree and get grades you need to improve your academic record and further round out your application. You basically have 2 years to show them that you can be academically stable and that you can balance your personal life with your studies.

 

You got this :)

Good luck!

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