Hey all - I'm sure this has been asked before, but I'm still curious. I've have a relatively strong Premed GPA up to this point.. this past semester (long story) my classes were all good except for a D+ (!) in 2nd semester chem. I know, this is horrible. Have I just screwed myself?

Hey all - I'm sure this has been asked before, but I'm still curious. I've have a relatively strong Premed GPA up to this point.. this past semester (long story) my classes were all good except for a D+ (!) in 2nd semester chem. I know, this is horrible. Have I just screwed myself?


Take it again and pass it. If the rest of your grades are fine, by the time you apply, one D wont affect your GPA very much. Even if they aren't, doing better in the future shows an upward trend.

You're fine... just dont fail it again.

You do need to retake that class because a "D+" doesn't usually meet the criteria for fulfilling a pre-req. The single grade didn't kill your chances, though. Do well the next time around.

similar situation....
what if you got the D in the spring, and are applying in the summer, but plan to retake that class in the fall....will med schools see that new and improved grade or not? cuz the gpa that you fill in on your amcas and the transcripts that you send in the summer will obviously not have the fall courses.....
thanks

similar situation....
what if you got the D in the spring, and are applying in the summer, but plan to retake that class in the fall....will med schools see that new and improved grade or not? cuz the gpa that you fill in on your amcas and the transcripts that you send in the summer will obviously not have the fall courses.....
thanks

You can update schools directly through emails. However, I wouldn't really want to have to explain why I got a D the spring semester before I applied to medical school...a D early on in your college experience would be easier to write off...but right before you go to interviews?

BTW, most (if not all ) schools won't update/recalculate your GPA from what AMCAS provides them, they will just post your updated grades to your file but keep working with your AMCAS GPA.

You can update schools directly through emails. However, I wouldn't really want to have to explain why I got a D the spring semester before I applied to medical school...a D early on in your college experience would be easier to write off...but right before you go to interviews?

BTW, most (if not all ) schools won't update/recalculate your GPA from what AMCAS provides them, they will just post your updated grades to your file but keep working with your AMCAS GPA.

True. If this class is in science, or worse, is a prereq, that is even more troublesome.

However, I wouldn't really want to have to explain why I got a D the spring semester before I applied to medical school...a D early on in your college experience would be easier to write off...but right before you go to interviews?

thanks for the reply
so does it have to be explained in the personal statement?
i feel like it might detract from the meaningfulness of my PS unless i find a clever way to weave it in there =( =( i dont' really want to talk about it in there either, but there's like no where else for me on the amcas to mention anything about that...sucks.
i was hoping they might just ask me about it in the interview and that will be it, since the rest of my transcript is all A's and 3 B+'s, so will they just see it as something highly unusual?

btw, scarletgirl, it was mammalian physiology
my only chance is to make up for it by doing super well on the bio section of hte mcat