Medical withdrawal on UG transcript--bad for med school?

<p>I posted this on the pre-med board but this one moves faster and I need some answers today--the GC at her high school is looking into this too but is not sure about the med school part.</p>

<p>DD is taking a college level class as a senior in high school. The class is through our state flagship and would show up as a class with a transcript from that flagship as well as on her high school transcript. She may have to have surgery and would be out of of school for 2-3 weeks. This is a Spanish class that is mostly conversational so missing that much of the class is going to be difficult to make up. It's too late to withdraw from the class so if she just drops she will have an F--not good. The prof said he could help her with a medical withdrawal but I'm not sure how that will be reported on the transcript or even if she would have it on the transcript at all. If it shows up as some kind of W on the transcript, will that play a factor down the road for medical school admissions?</p>

<p>In general, for her UG transcript, how would this affect her GPA or whatever for UG too?</p>

<p>She was planning on getting at least a minor in Spanish in college for future use in the medical world. I think she will be able to still do that if she wants even if she doesn't finish this class. It is technically a 300 level class at the University or 5th year of high school Spanish.</p>

<p>In the circumstances you describe I don’t think there will be any problem. She may need to write a little explanation in the “Is there anything else you want to share with us” part of the application, or she may want to ask her GC to explain the issue. You’ll have to ask the flagship what the effect is on the GPA, but whatever it is, I don’t think it will be a problem as long as you have a note explaining the reason for the late withdrawal from the class.</p>

<p>Just to clarify, this would only be an issue down the road with medical school. She has been accepted and committed to an UG school already and since it isn’t a required class, won’t affect her admissions to her UG at all. I just know that med school admissions has some issues with W’s on college transcripts.</p>

<p>The W can be removed from the transcript entirely if it is for a medical reason. You need to make sure that an administrator is involved, not just the professor. My daughter withdrew from a class that she took under similar circumstances. We provided documentation and a doctor’s letter and the transcript was wiped clean of the “W”.</p>

<p>You sure are thinking ahead.</p>

<p>It depends on what the transcript reports, Steve. </p>

<p>One W is no big deal for professional school apps, particularly when taken during HS, and it will not be used in gpa calcs. But a W-F (as in Withdraw-failing) gets counted as an F for GPA calcs by professional schools. </p>

<p>Professional school adcoms are extremely understanding about such things, but the cum gpa hit is tough in the latter case. (It will require a lot of A’s to average a 3.7+ with just one F.) Thus, if a W is your only option, see if it can be just a regular W or W-Medical, as opposed to W-F. (check the college’s grading policies on their website.) </p>

<p>Colleges don’t mix and match gpa’s, so unless she matriculates to that college, the transcript will be stand-alone. Of course, all college transcripts must be provided to professional/grad schools.</p>

<p>btw: he odds of a a senior is HS actually taking the mcat in 3+ years are low, and even getting to the med application stage is even more remote. But protect the gpa at all costs.</p>

<p>I am curious about this. Why does the medical school have access to the high school transcript?</p>

<p>^if it’s a dual enrollment course then it shows up on the HS transcript as well as her college transcript. That’s why it matters.</p>

<p>Imo, a “W” on her college transcript (emphasizing that it was from when she was in HS and a DE course) is really not going to be a problem by the time she is applying to med schools. Easy to explain with documentation of surgery date, doctor’s note, etc. (gather documentation now for both med school apps. later and for possibly being able to remove the “W” with it). </p>

<p>Every school is different. Some do include a “W” on transcript even with a medical withdrawal, and some will remove it. It just depends on the school. You need to find out how to go about dropping with a medical-W for now (and worry about trying to remove that W later…look into grading policies at her college and follow up with the appropriate administrator). Usually there is a form that you have signed by the a Dean of students and sometimes it needs to also be signed by the professor, but rarely. I think you are doing the right thing (GPA has to be protected) given the situation, you are doing the right thing (senior year, apps. sent…not a necessary course to graduate…undue stress…). Don’t wait for the HS counselor to look into this for you. This needs to be addressed at the college. I am guessing (optimistically), that the HS may not even report a W on transcript given the medical reasons. It’s the college transcript that is the bigger issue and the HS counselor can’t help you with that much. Good luck!</p>

<p>texaspg-they won’t have access to her high school transcript but she will need to send the college transcript and like bluebayou pointed out, it’s all about protecting her GPA. </p>

<p>The professor said that he has done this before with other students so I am assuming that means he knows the process but I will look it up as well. The guidance counselor is helping with things on the high school end as well as collecting documentation if needed.</p>

<p>SteveMA, is there no way she can take an Incomplete? I realize the conversational aspect could be a problem, but it’s late in the semester - one would think the professor might be willing to work with her if she is doing well in the course thus far. Usually, an Incomplete must be completed in a year either by retaking the course or by completing some amount of work satisfactory to the professor.</p>

<p>sylvan8798–that is one option. He did say he would be flexible with the make-up work if she wanted to continue the class. She is doing fine in the class right now but who knows if she misses that much school. It might be a case where we see how things go if she has the surgery and misses class. If she can’t get caught back up easily, we want to have the option for her to drop without it affecting her college GPA. Her appointment with the dr is this afternoon and we will know more then. She might have the surgery over Christmas break but for many reasons we would like to do this in January instead of the end of December, mainly because of insurance. The dr may decide she needs it done sooner and she might have the surgery next week and then we won’t have a choice in the matter.</p>

<p>She missed a lot of school last year for the same thing and it was heck trying to get all of the work done. Her teachers were amazing and really accommodated her, but this college class is a different story for the long term potential consequences.</p>

<p>I don’t know how the college to college transcript works when the kid is going from high school.</p>

<p>Theoretically, it all depends on how the college the kid is joining adds the classes on the transcript to their transcript. I would think they are cherrypicking classes they are giving credit for and ignore the rest of the transcript. I have seen my kid’s AP report being added to the college transcript and it listed all classes submitted, which class can get a credit and the rest given a credit of zero. Then they have the next level where they are displaying the college transcript which shows only the classes accepted and credit given. </p>

<p>It would be good to talk to the college registrar’s office directly to understand how your D’s college treats and transfers the transcript she will be providing them.</p>

<p>For medical school she would have to supply transcripts for all colleges attended so this transcript would have to be submitted no matter what the school she attends does.</p>

<p>How many credits does she have from this program? It is a joint program through high school correct? So it still counts as attending an extra college? </p>

<p>The college she will be attending is different from the one providing this transcript?</p>

<p>Agree w/blue & jkiw, it’s not going to be a problem as long as it remains her only W and if she provides the reason. It would be much worse to get a poor grade which is calculated into her gpa for med school.</p>

<p>AMCAS is very picky with having all classes recorded on the med school application lining up with what they see on the transcripts submitted. D1 had her verification delayed because she submitted a CC transcript as she took CC courses during HS. However, what she didn’t list on her application were the HS classes that she took but got dual credit for. It just never occurred to her that they would care about these too, but if it shows up, they count it.</p>

<p>texaspg–if she took the full year it would give her 10 college credits and no, she is not attending the same school as she is taking this dual course from.</p>

<p>entomom–I’m waiting to hear back how the W will show up of she does drop, W, W-Medical, etc. I’ll have to file it away to make sure she adds this course from her high school transcript as well if she does end up applying to medical school.</p>

<p>Thanks all!</p>

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<p>All college courses taken are used for medical school admissions. This includes college courses taken while in high school, and dual-enrollment courses.</p>

<p>Steve, even if it just shows up as a W, she can write a note explaining on her med school application and give evidence if necessary. Also, it will have even less impact coming from HS after she has gone through 3-4 yrs of college work without problems.</p>

<p>Hopefully the W won’t go on her transcript since she’s withdrawing for medical reasons. If it will show up, she might want to consider taking it again next semester just to show it wasn’t a matter of academics. She might also want to ask if it’s possible to get an incomplete and then finish it up next semester without having to start from the beginning of the course, or work with a college tutor to finish it up with independent study. No idea if that would work or not.</p>