Hello,
I currently attend Duke University and will be applying to medical schools this summer. Numerically, I feel my scores are competitive (3.63 overall GPA / 42s MCAT) as a Bio major/Chemistry and History minor. However, the fall semester of my sophomore year, I performed horribly as I suffered through a severe bout of depression (Accutane…the worst decision of my life) and ended up receiving a C in Physics 1, C+ in Linear Algebra, and a WP (withdraw pass) in Organic Chemistry 1. At that point, I was seriously considering leaving school for a year or simply dropping out.
Luckily, with the support of family and friends, I pulled through and ended up doing fairly well in subsequent semesters. I re-took both Physics and Organic Chemistry in the summer and received an A and A+ respectively. Unfortunately, Duke will not average the two scores since I did not receive lower than a C- in either class so the C and WP still stand on my transcript.
My question is, will the admissions committee understand my lackluster performance during this time? I definitely feel that I can explain my circumstances and provide evidence of what i’ve accomplished since then. However, i’m debating whether to apply or not this summer or try and further bolster my GPA by applying after senior year.
Thank you for your time!
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