Did poorly freshman year + schedule rigor concerns

[Civvi]

I'm an incoming sophomore, and my grades for the last year were horrible.
1st semester, I received a C in Gen Chem I, and a B+ in my Biology I class. My GPA was a 3.38.
2nd semester, I received a B- in both Orgo Chem I and Bio II, with a semester GPA of 3.33.

Right now my cumulative GPA is a dismal 3.36, which isn't even considered competitive.
I wanted to know how true the idea of med schools being kind of forgiving about bad freshman year grades is?? Or should I retake some classes?

I'm also worried that I'm not taking a rigorous enough schedule for my next semester, and I've been told that schools will consider this. Does it matter that I'm also doing stuff outside of classes (hospital and homeless shelter volunteer, and doing research) so it wouldn't look as bad that I'm not taking a lot of challenging classes?

Any advice is welcomed and really appreciated.

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[Holmwood]

I'm an incoming sophomore, and my grades for the last year were horrible.
1st semester, I received a C in Gen Chem I, and a B+ in my Biology I class. My GPA was a 3.38.
2nd semester, I received a B- in both Orgo Chem I and Bio II, with a semester GPA of 3.33.

Right now my cumulative GPA is a dismal 3.36, which isn't even considered competitive.
I wanted to know how true the idea of med schools being kind of forgiving about bad freshman year grades is?? Or should I retake some classes?

I'm also worried that I'm not taking a rigorous enough schedule for my next semester, and I've been told that schools will consider this. Does it matter that I'm also doing stuff outside of classes (hospital and homeless shelter volunteer, and doing research) so it wouldn't look as bad that I'm not taking a lot of challenging classes?

Any advice is welcomed and really appreciated.

You were able to take ochem right after gen chem 1? @_@
Bad freshman grades are expected. People have trouble adjusting from high-school level courses which typically are way easier than college-level courses. Just do well from now on, and show and upward grade trend and you'll be spiffy.

If you get straight As from now, you can make ~ 3.84 maximum. If you have a healthy balance of As and Bs (more A's and B's), you can easily reach a 3.6 (which should be your target).

Just do well in the second portion of gen chem and ochem. Re-evaluate your study habits and study hard. Take advantage of on-campus tutoring services as well as they typically are free or have a small fee.

Typically you do not want to take more than 3 science classes a semester per recommendation of many academic advisors.

Continue doing extracurriculars and research, but determine if they are taking time off of necessary study time (although I doubt it is).

 

[Civvi]

You were able to take ochem right after gen chem 1? @_@
Bad freshman grades are expected. People have trouble adjusting from high-school level courses which typically are way easier than college-level courses. Just do well from now on, and show and upward grade trend and you'll be spiffy.

If you get straight As from now, you can make ~ 3.84 maximum. If you have a healthy balance of As and Bs (more A's and B's), you can easily reach a 3.6 (which should be your target).

Just do well in the second portion of gen chem and ochem. Re-evaluate your study habits and study hard. Take advantage of on-campus tutoring services as well as they typically are free or have a small fee.

Typically you do not want to take more than 3 science classes a semester per recommendation of many academic advisors.

Continue doing extracurriculars and research, but determine if they are taking time off of necessary study time (although I doubt it is).

Yeah, that's just the progression of chem courses at my school. We can't do it any other way, haha.

Aaah my dreams of getting into a top school are kind of gone, but lately I've started to realize I'll be happy getting in anywhere in the USA at all. u__u
Thanks for taking the time to answer! I'm definitely going to study my butt off this year

 

[Holmwood]

Yeah, that's just the progression of chem courses at my school. We can't do it any other way, haha.

Aaah my dreams of getting into a top school are kind of gone, but lately I've started to realize I'll be happy getting in anywhere in the USA at all. u__u
Thanks for taking the time to answer! I'm definitely going to study my butt off this year

Just go here: http://mdapplicants.com/

Look up your dream school and see what kind of people get in. You will notice that their ECs and research are typically outstanding while their GPA and MCAT may or may not be. Don't get too bogged down on the stats because it's not all about stats. Alot of it has to do with breadth and quality of experience, and how it all contributed to your desire to become a physician.

 

[Civvi]

Just go here: http://mdapplicants.com/

Look up your dream school and see what kind of people get in. You will notice that their ECs and research are typically outstanding while their GPA and MCAT may or may not be. Don't get too bogged down on the stats because it's not all about stats. Alot of it has to do with breadth and quality of experience, and how it all contributed to your desire to become a physician.

Oh nice, I'll be playing around with that for a while now.