Just wanted to say that studying for this beastly test is directly reflected in all of my classes. The only class I did better in was physics. everything else was a disappointment gradeswise and my gpa dropped a lot. any similar stories? and are med schools forgiving?

MCATs didn't ruin my grades because I planned my study time well in advance and found a good balance. I doubt medical schools would be forgiving if you did poorly the semester you took the MCATs because 1) Medical school workload is much greater 2) Thousands of other applicants didn't have trouble 3) If you don't have good time management skills, what makes you right for medical school (kind of reiterating #1)?

Dear above reply,
I just wanted to point out that the thread said please post similar stories. If your story or situation was not similar please (1) why did you post here(2) please stop being pompous (although i do appreciate your admissions advice) (3) i've heard stories similar to mine from many others (4) please don't use SDN to be cocky and rude (but then again this is a reiteration of #1) but rather to reply to the threads. thank you. hope you and your stellar grades and no doubt stellar mcats find a great medical school with other superior students immune to mistakes. great doing business with you.

Dear Above Reply,
You just made my night.

My grades took a little dip this semester, I just took on tooooo much (despite very careful planning!) Oh well, I'll just have to rock my finals.

MCATs didn't ruin my grades because I planned my study time well in advance and found a good balance. I doubt medical schools would be forgiving if you did poorly the semester you took the MCATs because 1) Medical school workload is much greater 2) Thousands of other applicants didn't have trouble 3) If you don't have good time management skills, what makes you right for medical school (kind of reiterating #1)?

To remarkal3le: :meanie: :meanie: :meanie: Shame on you!! :meanie: :meanie: :meanie:
As a future doctor, it might be good to learn about a very important quality called compassion.

To EBI831: Sometimes these things happen, and I found the MCAT year to be extremely annoying and stressful. What is most important is to forget about this semester and focus on enjoying your classes next semester, because that way you will end up doing well in those classes. I don't think med schools will look at one semester and say: What a weak applicant! If a person always gets bad grades, then that would be an issue--but that does not seem to the case for you, so do not be disappointed in yourself but perservere! :luck:

Funnily enough, I've never had better grades than this semester, MCAT and all. I guess I function better under pressure (are you listening to that, ADCOMS?????) :laugh:

I know some other people that took a heavy load during this spring semester when they were studying for the MCAT. I don't know what their final grades turned out to be yet, but they weren't happy when finals came around because the MCAT ended up being the weekend before our finals week.

I took my MCAT proctor's advice and took only 13 credits, and somewhat easier classes, during the semester of MCAT study. I still don't know if I put enough time into the MCAT as the April scores aren't out, but I was worried about how both would turn out. My spring grades turned out to be what I wanted as I am highly motivated with old age now! I just hope that I also put in as much study on the MCAT and did equally as well. We'll find out.

My take home would be that, yes, if you overload yourself during the semester of your MCAT and then only focus on the MCAT, you might do poorly on your GPA. My proctor also said that Adcoms are somewhat forgiving of your grades during MCAT study, as they understand that you have to take fewer classes and concentrate on studying for the big test as compared to other semesters.

I hope your finals turn out better. Good luck! :)

Dear above reply,
I just wanted to point out that the thread said please post similar stories. If your story or situation was not similar please (1) why did you post here(2) please stop being pompous (although i do appreciate your admissions advice) (3) i've heard stories similar to mine from many others (4) please don't use SDN to be cocky and rude (but then again this is a reiteration of #1) but rather to reply to the threads. thank you. hope you and your stellar grades and no doubt stellar mcats find a great medical school with other superior students immune to mistakes. great doing business with you.

I don't think he was pompous. Fact is, med schools aren't going to be very forgiving. You will have to work harder than your classes + MCAT every semester of med school. I wouldn't try to play that card.

Iif you can't handle it now... :confused:

no need for snide remarks. yes, I am afraid of a dip myself. I am taking finals now and know that I have borderline a/b in every class, and so I empathize with those who have struggled this semester, in prepping for the mcat and taking a full load. It will be ok in the end. I remember an mcat instructor telling us that your mcat score is the most important thing, and a few b's and c's will not effect your gpa all that much.

I don't think he was pompous. Fact is, med schools aren't going to be very forgiving. You will have to work harder than your classes + MCAT every semester of med school. I wouldn't try to play that card.

Iif you can't handle it now... :confused:

Experience comes with time and with....um....experience. We are now undergraduates and the fact that we complain doesn't mean "we won't be able to handle medical school." I am speaking for myself, but the way I see it, a year ago I didn't think myself capable of handling my current schedule. It's a matter of time.
I do agree though, that it shows great things is someone can handle a heavy load well over an extended period of time. And I'm sure adcoms will notice that.
:love:

Experience comes with time and with....um....experience. We are now undergraduates and the fact that we complain doesn't mean "we won't be able to handle medical school." I am speaking for myself, but the way I see it, a year ago I didn't think myself capable of handling my current schedule. It's a matter of time.
I do agree though, that it shows great things is someone can handle a heavy load well over an extended period of time. And I'm sure adcoms will notice that.
:love:
I agree with baylormed100% Everything comes with experience. Even if you are a pompous moron, you will see that the first year of medical school is a challenge regardless of how perfect you were during your mcat/semester schedule. Not to mention, those who experience failure or upset are much better, capable physicians. You are bound to fail at some point, and you better know how to handle it, and handle it well.

I took 17 hours this semester, with MCAT the weekend before finals started...my grades didn't suffer, but I guarantee that my MCAT score did, seeing as how I probably studied all of 40 hours for it...I guess its kinda inverse :confused:

I just put MCAT as a first priority and everything else came second, including College. I only took 13 credits, 2 of them are research, and my grades suffered a little bit, something like 0.5 a point off. I don't think one semester can really ruin your grades unless you get Cs, Ds, or Fs, and that never looks good on your transcript...

I don't think he was pompous. Fact is, med schools aren't going to be very forgiving. You will have to work harder than your classes + MCAT every semester of med school. I wouldn't try to play that card.

Iif you can't handle it now... :confused:


He was definitely a pompous jerk. But then again, there's a lot of that here.

Anyway, if it was a slight dip like others said, don't worry too much about it. A good mcat score overcompensates a slightly lower grade. Also, you can factor in the fact that your classes were no longer in the 101 level, so it's harder and takes more work (plus the mcat).

He was definitely a pompous jerk. But then again, there's a lot of that here.


At least he's not a "premed machine" :laugh:

Just wanted to say that studying for this beastly test is directly reflected in all of my classes. The only class I did better in was physics. everything else was a disappointment gradeswise and my gpa dropped a lot. any similar stories? and are med schools forgiving?


No.

MCATs didn't ruin my grades because I planned my study time well in advance and found a good balance. I doubt medical schools would be forgiving if you did poorly the semester you took the MCATs because 1) Medical school workload is much greater 2) Thousands of other applicants didn't have trouble 3) If you don't have good time management skills, what makes you right for medical school (kind of reiterating #1)?


Don't worry about this message. Everybody on this site thinks thinks they know everything about med school and the application process and the truth is, they don't. Take this quote above, for example. Do you really think that this kid knows what he's talking about? Here, he is talking like he is the god, know all, creator of all things in the med school world. He's even talking like he knows who you are (how do you know what kind of of time management skills he has, from a forum???) Come on. I know PLENTY of people who got lower than desired MCAT grades, did crappy in their MCAT semester, and even had to DROP classes because of it. Guess what, the interviewers loved them because they had a combination of great qualities. Guess what, they ALL got into the MD programs that they wanted.

The only mistake you made by creating this thread is not remembering how many arrogant people would chime in telling you "How wonderful they did and how inferior you are"

I took a lesser load (14 hrs) so my grades didn't suffer much but I def. see how they could have it I had taken a bigger load. Just make sure you don't get any Cs or lower and you keep the As more than the Bs and you should be fine I think!

At least he's not a "premed machine" :laugh:]
hehee. wait until you start residency...there will be triple the machines, and triple the pomposity (I made up a new word)

the semester i took the MCAT i got rocked in school...hard. i was taking cell bio, biochem, orgo, and ecology. it was rough...but i just had to come through on the finals and pick it up this semester...so it ended up being okay..but i ended up getting a C which sucked it up.

you gotta think, that if you're a junior and applying this summer, then this is the last "real" semester on your transcript for applicatoins....and with the whole upward trend thing, should be one of your strongest...so MCAT or no MCAT, you should have done well...on that note - 4.0 this semester with mcat, bitcheeeeeeeeees

(that last part is true but intentionally cocky)

I don't think he was pompous. Fact is, med schools aren't going to be very forgiving. You will have to work harder than your classes + MCAT every semester of med school. I wouldn't try to play that card.

Iif you can't handle it now... :confused:

I didn't think it was pompous either. He (?) could have stated his opinion slightly more eloquently, but it is true. The OP's response to it just makes it sound like he (?) really doesn't want people to actually state his/her opinion unless it supports his (?) own.

But, it is true, it's not something I would fall back on saying since other people you were competing with will have done the same or better this semester. You knew that the MCAT was coming up, and so you should have planned your class schedule and study time accordingly.

Yeah, I don't think I got As in my Microbio or Physio class. I just can hope I just got a B+. Two B+s :(

Here's one gal with a similar story! My physics was a painful C+!!! O chem lab was horrid and O chem was a B. :mad:
You are not alone~~

The whole electrical circuit thing ruined me... didn't get any of that doodoo. Don't dwell on it, I'm not letting it stop me and you shouldn't either! Feel better now? :thumbup:

Just wanted to say that studying for this beastly test is directly reflected in all of my classes. The only class I did better in was physics. everything else was a disappointment gradeswise and my gpa dropped a lot. any similar stories? and are med schools forgiving?

Yeah, I hated electrical circuits too (there's a reason I didn't go into engineering pals!).
But there IS time to study for class AND for the mcat, you just have to plan ahead, and start studying for the mcat a year early if necessary ;) .

Yeah, I hated electrical circuits too (there's a reason I didn't go into engineering pals!).
But there IS time to study for class AND for the mcat, you just have to plan ahead, and start studying for the mcat a year early if necessary ;) .

Yeah, I made sure to take only 13 hours (some easier classes too) and started studying for the MCAT back in November. So far I think I can come out of this semester with good grades, but it was still definitely rough at times this semester. I couldn't imagine taking orgo and/or studying for the MCAT only a couple of months in advance, but that's just me. You do yourself a service to really plan ahead and give yourself room to breathe. But given your current situation OP I'm sure if you put your best foot forward, the adcoms will see that with respect to all that you tried to take on this year. Nevertheless, you have to be realistic and realize that other applicants who may have taken the same classes as you but not while studying for the MCAT and did better (even as well as you may have done had it not been for the MCAT) will be seen on slightly better footing. That's the way of the world, good luck :) .

]
hehee. wait until you start residency...there will be triple the machines, and triple the pomposity (I made up a new word)

2 points i wanted to make:

1-i will now use pomposity in every sentence possible, seeing as it is quite possibly the best made up word that i have heard of in a while (and i usually make one up every other day or so)

2-to the OP: i died this quarter. like, nuerons stopped firing, glands stopped glanduring (see what i mean about the made up words), and i am soooo sick of studying. aside from the top 1% of the world who all seem to post on SDN, it is quite common that there would be a negative effect on other scholastic efforts.

but either way dont trip, one bad semester is never THAT big a deal.

2 points i wanted to make:

1-i will now use pomposity in every sentence possible, seeing as it is quite possibly the best made up word that i have heard of in a while (and i usually make one up every other day or so)

2-to the OP: i died this quarter. like, nuerons stopped firing, glands stopped glanduring (see what i mean about the made up words), and i am soooo sick of studying. aside from the top 1% of the world who all seem to post on SDN, it is quite common that there would be a negative effect on other scholastic efforts.

but either way dont trip, one bad semester is never THAT big a deal.

Pomposity is not a made-up word.

...Wow, how was that last sentence for the definition of irony?

Z

Z[/QUOTE]
I know pomposity is not a made up word. I just had to take precautionary measures on sdn. I have been crit. by profs for using words that do not have the meaning I intend them to have in my papers. Not true, it's just that phil. profs look for painful accuracy/precision/clarity and not words of opinion like pompous.
Cheers to all the pomposity out there!

The quarter I took MCAT the first time (in college, when I wasn't sure I wanted to do this), I got:

Genetics B
Gen Biochem B+
Physiology B

So it didn't "RUIN" my grades, per se, I just got all B's that quarter, which wasn't like me at all. Normally I would have mostly A's and A-'s, with maybe a B+ in there.

So it was a little "slip" for me, but I am not beating myself up over a B.
All three classes were upper division, and I was working hard.
I think I'll give my 20-year-old self some credit. :thumbup:

hey everyone thanks for all the responses.

Just wanted to say that studying for this beastly test is directly reflected in all of my classes. The only class I did better in was physics. everything else was a disappointment gradeswise and my gpa dropped a lot. any similar stories? and are med schools forgiving?

My GPA stayed right on target with MCATs going on this spring. Lots of planning ahead.

I know of a few people whose semester grades slipped slightly due to MCATs. I know that at least some of them have been accepted to Med school, however.

managed to pull off a 3.93 while taking biochem, pchem, and intro bio (yeah yeah... i know. But in my defense i'm a chem and math major), not to mention working 20 hours on the weekends to save up for my little girl who was supposed to be born on the test day. Thank God she came a week and a half late. Many late nights and no social life, but it'll pay off in june.