Help please..

[MDC3P]

Hello, I need help and advice.

I will spare you all the long back story - essentially, this is my situation:

I have completed only 3 university credits, with an average of 2.4. All other courses were dropped for whatever reason. I took some time off last year to stabilize myself, my situation and my goals. I am now starting a B.A in biology and psychology from square one this coming September. I have also secured a research position at my local hospital and am volunteering at an indigenous health clinic. I have all of my ducks in a row and now it is just up to me to deliver...

My questions are as follows:

- Have I screwed myself over due to all of the withdrawals and few terrible grades on my transcript?

- I know that many schools take your best two years or whatever, will that free me from my academic baggage entirely?

- If I do well in the next two years, can I apply and have a shot in my "third" year, even though I did so poorly and had such a shaky start?

- Have I disqualified myself from applying to American schools because of my shaky start?

- Does doing a B.A work against me?

 

Thanks in advance.

[adhominem]

22 hours ago, MDC3P said:

 

- Have I screwed myself over due to all of the withdrawals and few terrible grades on my transcript?

- I know that many schools take your best two years or whatever, will that free me from my academic baggage entirely?

You will probably need to apply at schools where they will exclude your first year though to be more competitive. Even then though, there are some schools which may exclude your worst year but still score your overall academic performance holistically (i.e U of C) which may work against you. That all being said, some schools may not consider your grades from that year at all, or you may be able to justify them in an academic explanations essay.

- If I do well in the next two years, can I apply and have a shot in my "third" year, even though I did so poorly and had such a shaky start?

Look up the specific criteria for each school. This may be possible, but many schools only let you drop your worst years after you have completed more of your program than you would have at this point. My gut response to this question is no though.

Even after your third year is complete in your new program (i.e. 4th year total at that point) you probably won't have a great shot at some schools. You may need a completed degree at the time of application to properly take advantage of some of the grade dropping schemes that are applied. It really is heterogeneous, you need to research the policies at every school for your particular case to get a definitive answer.

- Have I disqualified myself from applying to American schools because of my shaky start?

Look up the schools you're interested in, but I'm sure it will hurt you at many schools. Alternatively, many might have similar policies to Canadian schools that will allow you to drop your worst year.

- Does doing a B.A work against me?

No. Schools don't care what program you take. The only caveat being that some schools have pre-requisites. Again, look up the requirements for each school you're interested in.

 

[MDC3P]

34 minutes ago, adhominem said:

 

Thanks so much.