I'm worried...

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I'm worried. I'm worried that while I was a high achiever in high school, college may be too hard for me to maintain a high GPA needed to get into medical school. I'm worried that if I don't get a high enough GPA, I won't be able to get into medical school. I'm worried that I might not score high enough on the MCATs to have a good chance of getting into medical school.

How many senior pre-meds or medical students here who were high achievers but not genius students had the same worries but ended up getting into medical school? Am I worrying too much and does anyone have any tips for me to calm down?

Calm the fudgesicle down...Have you even started college?

You are worrying way too much. If you want to do all those things (grades, MCAT, EC's) then you have to commit yourself to school and such. Of course you can go out and have fun from time to time, but when its crunch-time, you have to be studying to get those grades. It's all about your motivation and work ethic. If you were a high achiever in high school, then you should still be one. If you want to be a doctor, then you are going to have to work hard; period.

I was the lazy smart kid in high school who never did his homework so I ended up with mostly B's and C's for my first two years. The latter two, I actually "tried" and had like a 3.8. The difference in college is not necessarily difficulty, rather, the amount of material thrown upon you. Not to mention you have 3-4 other classes with the same amount of material you have to cover in a short 14-week span. Time management, and proper use of time are essential.

This past semester (which ended today) was my busiest so far. I took microbio, orgo-1, anatomy and phys-1, orgo lab, and a online music class. I had barely any free time for myself with all of these classes; but I worked hard and persisted thru it. According to my calculations I'll have a 3.75 GPA for this semester (4 A's and one B), its not official though. I know I'm applying pod and I don't need such a huge GPA to get in, but I take pride in doing well in my classes.

Don't forget that you are PAYING for your college education. You are going to have to pay every penny back eventually; don't screw up and this won't be a problem. Good luck!

Originally Posted by Shinobiz11

Calm the fudgesicle down...Have you even started college?

You are worrying way too much. If you want to do all those things (grades, MCAT, EC's) then you have to commit yourself to school and such. Of course you can go out and have fun from time to time, but when its crunch-time, you have to be studying to get those grades. It's all about your motivation and work ethic. If you were a high achiever in high school, then you should still be one. If you want to be a doctor, then you are going to have to work hard; period.

I was the lazy smart kid in high school who never did his homework so I ended up with mostly B's and C's for my first two years. The latter two, I actually "tried" and had like a 3.8. The difference in college is not necessarily difficulty, rather, the amount of material thrown upon you. Not to mention you have 3-4 other classes with the same amount of material you have to cover in a short 14-week span. Time management, and proper use of time are essential.

This past semester (which ended today) was my busiest so far. I took microbio, orgo-1, anatomy and phys-1, orgo lab, and a online music class. I had barely any free time for myself with all of these classes; but I worked hard and persisted thru it. According to my calculations I'll have a 3.75 GPA for this semester (4 A's and one B), its not official though. I know I'm applying pod and I don't need such a huge GPA to get in, but I take pride in doing well in my classes.

Don't forget that you are PAYING for your college education. You are going to have to pay every penny back eventually; don't screw up and this won't be a problem. Good luck!

I'm a high school student and I couldn't have said it any better myself.

Just persevere through your classes. It's not about "getting in to _____ school"

Take pride in your work. Work hard, and persevere. No one is going to hand anything to you. Shinobiz is going to podiatry, and he's proving everyone wrong that people who go into podiatry are medical school rejects. He takes pride in his work, and wants to be the best he can be.

I want a doctor who cares about his work more than anything, because that will produce a great outcome.

Shinobiz is gonna be a kick-ass nail clipping, skin disorder diagnosing, scalpel holding Podiatrist.

Originally Posted by Arijos0222

I'm a high school student and I couldn't have said it any better myself.

Just persevere through your classes. It's not about "getting in to _____ school"

Take pride in your work. Work hard, and persevere. No one is going to hand anything to you. Shinobiz is going to podiatry, and he's proving everyone wrong that people who go into podiatry are medical school rejects. He takes pride in his work, and wants to be the best he can be.

I want a doctor who cares about his work more than anything, because that will produce a great outcome.

Shinobiz is gonna be a kick-ass nail clipping, skin disorder diagnosing, scalpel holding Podiatrist.

There ya go...

Thanks for the compliments, that is precisely what I am GOING to do.
You could have said surgery-performing, I think tech's hold the scalpels.

Originally Posted by Arijos0222

I'm a high school student and I couldn't have said it any better myself.

Just persevere through your classes. It's not about "getting in to _____ school"

Take pride in your work. Work hard, and persevere. No one is going to hand anything to you. Shinobiz is going to podiatry, and he's proving everyone wrong that people who go into podiatry are medical school rejects. He takes pride in his work, and wants to be the best he can be.

I want a doctor who cares about his work more than anything, because that will produce a great outcome.

Shinobiz is gonna be a kick-ass nail clipping, skin disorder diagnosing, scalpel holding Podiatrist.

Maybe I'm just cynical, but it sounds like you heard stories about podiatrists not earning the respect that they deserve and you're hoping that Shinobiz will be the exception that proves what you heard wrong. Maybe I'm just thinking too deeply into this, who knows?

Originally Posted by Eon

Maybe I'm just cynical, but it sounds like you heard stories about podiatrists not earning the respect that they deserve and you're hoping that Shinobiz will be the exception that proves what you heard wrong. Maybe I'm just thinking too deeply into this, who knows?

I think he was just going off of my statement of doing well this past semester even though I'm applying to pod school. I mean, I have MD/DO numbers, but I personally choosing to apply pod.

Originally Posted by Eon

Maybe I'm just cynical, but it sounds like you heard stories about podiatrists not earning the respect that they deserve and you're hoping that Shinobiz will be the exception that proves what you heard wrong. Maybe I'm just thinking too deeply into this, who knows?

I know people go into podiatry because they like it. My close family friend is a Podiatrist and he went to Princeton with a 3.6 GPA in chemical engineering, also got a 36 on the MCAT.

I'm looking into podiatry myself.... Podiatry sounds pretty awesome to me

Originally Posted by Shinobiz11

There ya go...

Thanks for the compliments, that is precisely what I am GOING to do.
You could have said surgery-performing, I think tech's hold the scalpels.

I HOPE Podiatrists aren't just holding the scalpels...

Dont worry man. You just need to relax and remember that input=output.

Originally Posted by AHossain

Dont worry man. You just need to relax and remember that input=output.

You obviously haven't taken Orgo lab yet.

Originally Posted by I'm No Superman

You obviously haven't taken Orgo lab yet.

Originally Posted by j814wong

I'm worried. I'm worried that while I was a high achiever in high school, college may be too hard for me to maintain a high GPA needed to get into medical school. I'm worried that if I don't get a high enough GPA, I won't be able to get into medical school. I'm worried that I might not score high enough on the MCATs to have a good chance of getting into medical school.

How many senior pre-meds or medical students here who were high achievers but not genius students had the same worries but ended up getting into medical school? Am I worrying too much and does anyone have any tips for me to calm down?

You'll do fine. I worked hard during high school, so I haven't had to worry about adjusting to college since I could rely on my work ethic to get me through. That being said, college is a different kind of busy since you have a lot more flexibile time: You can volunteer, research, hang out, join a sorority/fraternity, etc. which results in the added challenge of having to balance both schoolwork and other stuff. However, I feel as though I had a lot more schoolwork in high school, whereas in college it's a lot more relaxed since tests are spread out, and there isn't busy work to do. If you're wondering, I've got a 4.0 after three semesters. All of my grades have been >96-97

Originally Posted by I'm No Superman

You obviously haven't taken Orgo lab yet.

It wasn't that hard

If you paid attention in class and did the quizzes and the lab writeup, it was pretty much a guaranteed A.

Originally Posted by ElCapone

It wasn't that hard

If you paid attention in class and did the quizzes and the lab writeup, it was pretty much a guaranteed A.

I was making a joke about low percentage yields.

Originally Posted by j814wong

I'm worried. I'm worried that while I was a high achiever in high school, college may be too hard for me to maintain a high GPA needed to get into medical school. I'm worried that if I don't get a high enough GPA, I won't be able to get into medical school. I'm worried that I might not score high enough on the MCATs to have a good chance of getting into medical school.

How many senior pre-meds or medical students here who were high achievers but not genius students had the same worries but ended up getting into medical school? Am I worrying too much and does anyone have any tips for me to calm down?

You have to be smart about things. The thing that gets you into medical school are your numbers. A 3.5 or above along with a 30 MCAT or above are the minimums to get into a US medical school. So make sure to take classes that get you the 3.5 or above. The medical schools will not look at you if your numbers are less than what I've stated. Don't go to a really tough college and take the toughest engineering courses if your goal is medical school because you will have a low GPA and not enough time to study for the MCAT. Less than a 30 MCAT will pretty much guarantee you no admission to a US medical school. Only about 20% of the people who actually take the MCAT achieve that number, so it is tough to do.

Best of luck.

Good advice above.

And while it is off-topic, you will have to learn to accept the increasing competition as you move closer to your goal. Most of us physicians were the brightest kids in our high schools. We were still considered bright and good students in college but so were many others. Then we got to medical school and realized we weren't actually the smartest and there were others who were far and away smarter and/or harder working. You become the proverbial small fish in a big pond of accomplished individuals.

Originally Posted by I'm No Superman

I was making a joke about low percentage yields.

Oh haha. Didn't catch onto that.

Thanks for the advice everyone. What exactly makes Orgo so horrifying?

Originally Posted by j814wong

Thanks for the advice everyone. What exactly makes Orgo so horrifying?

It's really not a bad class ... at least it wasn't for me. It's a decent amount of memorization coupled with a good amount of analytical thinking (which most pre-meds suck at). I actually thought Orgo was really easy and interesting. I didn't major in math, but I was always good at it and I think Orgo is the most similar to this subject (and everyone knows most pre-meds despise math )

Originally Posted by cincincyreds

You have to be smart about things. The thing that gets you into medical school are your numbers. A 3.5 or above along with a 30 MCAT or above are the minimums to get into a US medical school. So make sure to take classes that get you the 3.5 or above. The medical schools will not look at you if your numbers are less than what I've stated. Don't go to a really tough college and take the toughest engineering courses if your goal is medical school because you will have a low GPA and not enough time to study for the MCAT. Less than a 30 MCAT will pretty much guarantee you no admission to a US medical school. Only about 20% of the people who actually take the MCAT achieve that number, so it is tough to do.

Best of luck.

You do not need a 30 on the MCAT to be accepted to US medical schools. It is obviously easier to be accepted with a 30+ MCAT, but it is definitely not a minimum requirement. I only got a 27 on the MCAT and I was still accepted at several US medical schools.

Like you, I was extremely anxious in high school and certainly not a "genius student." Don't worry so much. As long as you work hard in your college courses and study effectively for the MCAT, you will be fine.

Originally Posted by metalgirl14

You do not need a 30 on the MCAT to be accepted to US medical schools. It is obviously easier to be accepted with a 30+ MCAT, but it is definitely not a minimum requirement. I only got a 27 on the MCAT and I was still accepted at several US medical schools.

Like you, I was extremely anxious in high school and certainly not a "genius student." Don't worry so much. As long as you work hard in your college courses and study effectively for the MCAT, you will be fine.

Thanks. I've been getting really worked up about this.

Most people say 30+ MCAT is a safe score. But since you got lower, is it safe to assume your GPA made up for it, you had great extracurriculars, great LORs, or a mix?

Originally Posted by j814wong

Thanks. I've been getting really worked up about this.

Most people say 30+ MCAT is a safe score. But since you got lower, is it safe to assume your GPA made up for it, you had great extracurriculars, great LORs, or a mix?

My GPA wasn't amazing (3.7 overall and 3.56 sGPA), so it had to be extracurriculars, LORs, and personal statement. All my application info is listed in my MDapps profile, but feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.

Originally Posted by metalgirl14

My GPA wasn't amazing (3.7 overall and 3.56 sGPA), so it had to be extracurriculars, LORs, and personal statement. All my application info is listed in my MDapps profile, but feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.

That seems to be a pretty high GPA to me.....?

Originally Posted by Arijos0222

That seems to be a pretty high GPA to me.....?

Yes, a 3.7 is decent, but an sGPA of like 3.5 is pretty average for an applicant. As such, I don't think that completely balanced out the low MCAT.