Hi everybody I am sorry if this is not the correct subforum. A little bit of a background. I am currently a senior chem major at an ivy league school. I have had a long history of substance abuse problems and recently it has caught up with me. After getting a DUI I have been suspended for 2.5 years. Recently getting accepted to two medical schools (which I will have to decline of course) only makes the situation more painful. My stats are 3.94 GPA/35 ACT. I am wondering what I should do or if medical school is no likely never going to be an option. Would I have a chance to transfer to another school as a senior and if so should I? Or should I just serve the suspension and remain at my current school. I apologize if my writing is unclear. Since being suspended about a month ago I haven’t left my parent’s house (or even my bed for that matter), lost 15 pounds, no motivation.
Serve your suspension. Work, volunteer, introspect, get treatment. Come back, finish school, reapply to med school.
Another school is likely to have a 60-credits-in-residence rule, so you’d be looking at an extra year at least. And an Ivy diploma is likely to serve you better than a degree from a school that would accept you as a transfer while not in good standing to return to your current school.
Conquer the substance abuse, get counseling for the depression, and come back healed and stronger.
Thank you both for the thoughtful replies. I am back to being 1.5 months sober (was sober for 8 months before the dui). It’s just so painful to think about being a med school student in August versus what I will be doing now. I feel like I’m facing triple jeopardy (lengthy suspension, dui criminal charge, and med school acceptances being revoked). I’m just not even sure if another med school will give me a shot when I reapply.
You have been given a gift. The DUI.
In other circumstances, you could have driven while under the influence and not gotten caught until you killed an 8 year old who was crossing the street while walking his puppy. Or not gotten caught until you were MONTHS into drinking without even a memory of your past attempts at sobriety. Or have parents who wouldn’t let you back home while you straightened things out, so you ended up without a college degree, still drinking, and homeless.
What a gift. A chance to get your life on track with a bright future.
There are many fine physicians who struggle with substance abuse and many of them have decades of sobriety under their belts. They can connect with their patients on so many levels because they understand that real life is complicated and even very successful people can be wrestling with demons.
You can be one of them.
Take each day at a time. Get yourself into a program- you will need your parents help with this, because some people need the structure of group therapy or something more intense than AA. Make sure you are getting exercise every day although you may not feel like you can do more than walk around the block. Every day you are sober is a triumph- and proof that you are more than your addiction.
Take this gift and say thank you. You can stay sober- and you can get a job- and you can learn and grow from this experience. And then when you are healthy you will go back to your college, finish your degree, and reapply to med school and impress the pants off the admissions committees who read your application that not only are you a fine student and a quick study and someone who is dedicated to medicine- but you are someone who accepts that they’ve made mistakes in life and wakes up every day determined to overcome your challenges.
We are rooting for you. You can do this. Are you seeing a therapist???
If the IVY is Princeton, you might have grounds to contest the suspension http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2019/02/basketball-standout-cannady-19-to-return-to-play-tonight-reinstated-after-suspension
All the above are great suggestions. Get help, and yes, be glad this happened before someone was killed.
2.5 years suspension seems very long. Can you hire someone to help you negotiate a shorter suspension? Or can you appeal to get it reduced through some kind of arbitration process at your school? Look into those options, and stay active doing whatever it takes.
I know a lot of “former” adults who have struggled to stay sober-- for much of their adult lives- and I think negotiating a shorter suspension is a signal to your college that you don’t think what you did was dangerous (for you and for everyone else who might have crossed your path). A relative is a lawyer who is known as the “DUI” guy and he says that in his experience someone who gets caught is usually habitual (i.e. thinks nothing of getting behind the wheel) AND whatever they’ve had to drink that day is usually smaller than what they’ve driven with before.
Is this really the first time you’ve driven impaired? And even if it is- why would you want to devote your professional life to healing if you are prepared to get behind the wheel of a car prepared to kill or maim someone???
Unpacking all of this takes time. Not a quickie “one semester, I’m sober, my life is great” timeout.
Unfortunately it is not Princeton. I am seeing a therapist and psychiatrist right now for the drinking. I have considered retaining a lawyer to potentially negotiate the suspension down but I don’t want it to lead to more punishment with the school. The main thing now is just dealing with the boredom. I have been applying to labs so I could use this time as a “research year” to get a publication or two before med school but almost every position requires bachelors degree completion.
Can you work in medicine? Be a scribe or just volunteer?
This is a great time to get a job in the local hospital — you could be an orderly or get your CNA — and to volunteer at a health clinic. They need all the help they can get, given how much their funding has been cut. I agree with the other posters - you have gotten some great advice. Do not fight your university - you will be labeled.