Since I’ve started college my grades aren’t that bad. I’ve passed almost all my classes with As and one B. However, during my freshman fall semester of college, my grandfather unfortunately passed away and with my culture/religion I actually had a role to play in the funeral (so it was mandatory I must attend). Anyways, my professor FAILED me for that course with an F. Despite all my great test and homework scores she actually failed me. When I talked to the administration about it they said they couldn’t do anything because my grade all depended on my professor. The class was college algebra and my professor wouldn’t even talk to me about it when I asked her.
The next semester I was taking health online and my professor made it insanely impossible to pass the class. She would take off an absurd amount of points if you got one question wrong. It was the same thing with the essays and the only time I could actually get a fair score on something was on quizzes. I decided to drop the class but it will show as a “withdrawal” on my transcript.
I really want to go to medical school, especially Stanford Med. I am involved with extracurriculars, volunteer work, internships etc and my current grades for this semester are As. Since college algebra isn’t a required course for medical school I don’t know if it’ll matter that I failed it the first time (I retook it and got an A).
With these two setbacks do you think I could get into Stanford?
Without more detail, the answer seems like a no. First, whatever the cause, a grade is a grade in a competitive environment. Failing a college class is not a credential for admission to top schools. Reading between lines, an online “health” class does not speak of rigor. Likewise, algebra is well below the standard freshman premed class of calculus so you are not even taking freshman level classes yet. No harm in applying, but I would spend my energy on my existing classes rather than trying to move into a more competitive environment. Ultimately, set your sights on Stanford for residency if you get to that point.
I’m passing all my pre-med science/math classes and the electives. I had to take college algebra/pre-calc because I didn’t get to take it in high school. I saw some medical schools have options to explain a bad grade so hopefully that’ll be the case with Stanford.
Apologies, but your posts have many grammatical errors and externalizations of blame. It might be helpful to widen your net. Why do you target Stanford Med?
I actually write really well, I won’t lie this post was somewhat of a rant. However, I personally feel like my ordeal with my math teacher truly was not my fault. Although I did not mention it in the original post, she made me believe everything was okay with my grade.
Generally, the best shot at getting into places like Stanford is as an incoming freshman because they admit about 2,000. Transfers in are harder, so you would need to be even better than the accepted class. You can review stats of admitted and applied here http://admission.stanford.edu/apply/selection/profile16.html
To get into med school you will need stellar reference letters from professors, you may want to treat them with the respect they deserve.
I truly feel like some people missed the point of this post. I had one major problem with one of my professors. I never argued nor disrespected her. I simply asked if I can speak with her and she refused. The second professor was rather tough so I dropped the class. Did I disrespect her? I did not.
Update for everyone: Becoming a doctor has always been my dream. For many reasons I would like to attend Stanford. This post was honestly just to find out if I still have a chance.
What is your Science GPA? When applying to Medical school they will average your F grade and your A grade in the repeat course…Have you taken the MCAT? Are you doing medically related EC’s such as Shadowing?
Are you asking about transferring to Stanford as an Undergrad and then applying for Medical school or are you asking if you have a chance at getting into Stanford Medical school after completing your degree elsewhere?
You are talking about one of the most selective universities in the country. More selective than Harvard.
Its med school attracts the top students from the top schools, all with stellar academic records, stellar LORs, stellar ECs, some even with publications and national awards. And the vast majority of those applicants don’t get in: the acceptance rate for Stanford Medical School is 2.5%. Let that sink in. Stanford turns away 97.5% of its med school applicants.
Sure, apply to SMS. Just apply to 20 other med schools, too. That’s what the realistic med school applicant does. That, and keep his/her fingers crossed for an acceptance from any one of them.