Another stupid GPA question...

[kickdog23]

How much do you guys think your grades as a freshman (undergrad) matter? Due to some really crappy circumstances my first semester was a 3.0 and i really have no idea about this one (think it should be better though). I'm pretty confident my future grades will be solid, and im a good test taker, so im just worried about these 2 semesters, especially the effect of my first semester at college

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[NRAI2001]

Just show an upward trend.

 

[harvardpremed]

I agree. Although all of your grades are important and essentially they effect your cumulative average, show a strong upward trend.

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

I think the upward trend in grades is really important. Your most recent coursework will probably be upper division work which will be more in-depth and more conceptually challenging than your lower division work. As a result, doing well in your junior and senior years is critical because that's when you'll be taking the bulk of your upper division work. If you're a biology major, your upper division coursework will serve as good primers for the pre-clinical years of med school. The uper div bio courses I'm referring to are biochemistry, human anatomy, human physiology, molecular genetics, and cell biology.

 

[(nicedream)]

There's nothing wrong with a 3.0 anyway.

 

[mikedc813]

You're fine if you show an upward trend. I had 2 Bs, a C+ in calc, an A- in Gen Chem, and an A+ in spanish my freshman year, but most of my grades for the next 3 years were As and B+s and my interviewers said my freshman grades are not important and abnormalities. So don't sweat it, just improve.

 

[Amy B]

When I started reading your post I figured you had a 1.7 or a 2.0 but then I got to your 3.0 number and had to smile. Hey, don't think that is a bad start. Just try to add some A's to that and watch how fast that goes up. But 3.0 is nothing to be so upset about. really.

Shoot for an upward trend.

 

[jlee9531]

i had a sub 3.0 gpa the first year
but i showed a nice upward trend from the first year the rest of time at cal...
interviewers have remarked on the rise and were confident that i would be able to perform well at med school (i would hope so haha...)

plus if you can combine this with a solid mcat score then you should still be competitive to get into med school.

 

[exmike]

Getting into medical school is like life. Constant improvement is always good.

 

[kickdog23]

Haha wow! thank you all so much for the encouraging responses. I see a lot of you guys are applying to med school soon and best of luck to you all ive still got a few years to go

 

[bella_dottoressa]

seriously, from reading these boards for a long time and asking the same question two years ago (except my first qtr was more 2.9-ish than 3.0 but more 2.0-ish if you're talking science), I think people who start slow, straighten up and go up from there are the rule not the exception. well maybe not, but we make up a huge portion of applicants, and matriculants. you'll be fine, you aren't even in bad shape at all. you could easily get to a 3.8 if you wanted to, and get into harvard. seriously your fine i promise

 

[Ramoray]

your screwed.. ever thought about teaching or maybe the caribean?

 

[(nicedream)]

your screwed.. ever thought about teaching or maybe the caribean?

 

[premedi-kid]

Anyone ever felt that as classes got harder, their gpa started leveling off?

 

[OmahaMX80]

hehe... I don't think your GPA levels off as classes get harder. College classes are all challenging on different levels in my opinion. My freshman classes were a pain because of how unfocused and survey-oriented they were. My upper level courses were challenging in that they were more intense, but focused on more well-defined topics. Honestly I don't think college got any more difficult after freshman year, it was just challenging in different ways. But a good GPA, combined with a good MCAT, will only get you an interview (most of the time). After that it's ALL subjective. I wrapped up my undergraduate career with a 3.78 in science and mathematics and a 3.89 overall. My MCATs aren't stellar but not weak either. Out of six schools for which I completed secondary applications I interviewed at five. I am on the alternate list at four (Finch/CMS doesn't have an actual wait-list, you just wait and wait until they accept you... if you don't hear anything by August you know you weren't accepted -- kind of stupid). So, work hard, do well, but don't bank on a good GPA.

 

[TheRussian]

The sad thing is that at my school a lot of the people that struggle the first year in the sciences are strongly discouraged from continuing on the pre-med track by our "wonderfull" pre-med advisors and some of them actually listen.

 

[NRAI2001]

The sad thing is that at my school a lot of the people that struggle the first year in the sciences are strongly discouraged from continuing on the pre-med track by our "wonderfull" pre-med advisors and some of them actually listen.

My school also. A lot get weeded out by the time they finish all of their chem classes. Chem 1a started with 1600 people chem 3b finished with about 500-600.

I found that upper div classes are actually less competitive and grade easier than lower div classes do. Is this the case at other schools?

 

[TheRussian]

I found that upper div classes are actually less competitive and grade easier than lower div classes do. Is this the case at other schools?

Definetely true. There is virtually no competition in the upper level courses at my school