How to move forward after two quarters of bad grades?

[rechemist]

I just transferred this year from my CC to UCLA. While I had an okay GPA at my CC (3.7), I have been doing very poorly in my classes at UCLA. My first quarter I got two C-s, 1 C+ (in biochem), and an A-. This C+ is the only C I have gotten in a premed requirement course, and that quarter was my first time receiving anything lower than an A or B.

Winter quarter, I was extremely depressed and had no motivation to keep up with my courses. I had some family issues but ultimately, my poor grades were a direct result of my lack of effort and declining mental health. About halfway through the quarter I stopped turning assignments in and ended with 2 F’s, a NP, and a P. I should have withdrawn from my courses but missed the deadline to do so.

I am now retaking the courses from winter quarter along with some others and have been placed on academic probation. I am doing better in my courses this quarter, but I am not sure that I will get straight A’s. My UCLA GPA is under a 2.0 (I believe it is a 1.68). Paired with my CC GPA, I have a 3.2.

I am wondering if medical school is completely out of the question for me. I have always been a good student and normally I am interested in my course material and make an effort to keep up with it. Virtual learning has made it difficult for me to focus and I do not always have the best home environment for studying, or the motivation to do so. I still have 4 more quarters at UCLA including this one to bring up my GPA, but I doubt that it will be enough to override my bad fall and winter grades.

What should my next steps be? I know there are post-bacc programs; should I look into taking these? I wanted to avoid them because they are an extra expense and my pre-req grades were fine (with the exception of biochem), but should I do one anyways if it will restore my GPA? Should I pursue a master’s program?

As an alternative to med school, I was considering getting my PhD in ochem, but now I am unsure that I would get into a program as my failing grades were in my chem major reqs. I was originally planning to do lab work and hospital volunteering this year to help me decide between the two, but because of COVID I was unable to do either. I did some remote lab work last summer that did not impact my decision making at all.

I’m making this post because I’m ultimately just unsure of what to do. I feel like I ruined my chances of pursuing either of my dream paths because of 5 bad months, and I’m not sure how to fix it. If anyone has any advice or insight, please let me know.

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[Deltasidearm]

Next steps? Get your act together and get great grades from now on and do well on the MCAT. You have to demonstrate an ability to succeed despite any obstacle placed in front of you. Motivation is not a requirement to do things and do them well--only discipline is. Focus on your classes, get help if you need it, and learn how to study (read: what works for you).

Your UCLA GPA will carry more weight than your CC. Your saving grace may be that your transfer year could be explained as an adjustment period, but that would require an amazing recovery for the remainder of your degree and a great MCAT score to convince me of that, given the limited time left. Without a great MCAT, you will likely be best off pursing a graduate degree prior to medical school.



If you are interested more in chemistry than medicine then that's a great thing, and you should definitely explore it more to help make a decision. Don't stress much about your grades right now for pursuing chemistry--get into a lab and start being productive ASAP. Avoid labs which only have you do super basic grunt work (like doing dishes). If you want some insight and options available with chemistry then send me a PM.

 

[Rooks]

I just want to say that I sympathize with your situation. ❤️

How would you feel about taking a breather and slowing down your pace? Maybe take fewer courses per quarter, or make it a rule to take only one or two difficult courses max per semester. The rest of them can be gen-eds and lighter courses. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

I remember reading a thread about how a lot of solid students would have been accepted to med. school, if they has gone to an easier undergraduate institution... state university versus UC. UCLA seems like a tough school, especially for someone who has just transferred!

You can do this!

 

[Goro]

1) Get your mental health issues taken of before you do anything else
2) See if UCLA will allow you to do a retroactive W for the poor classes. This is a thing at some schools; the worst they'll tell you is "no"
3a) If the online learning process is too onerous, stop school and get a job, any job. Then wait for COVID to be over, and then go back to school.
OR: 3b) Seek out the learning or education center for help in online learning.

 

[LondonVibes]

1) Get your mental health issues taken of before you do anything else
2) See if UCLA will allow you to do a retroactive W for the poor classes. This is a thing at some schools; the worst they'll tell you is "no"
3a) If the online learning process is too onerous, stop school and get a job, any job. Then wait for COVID to be over, and then go back to school.
OR: 3b) Seek out the learning or education center for help in online learning

What are some jobs that can be obtained without a degree that the OP could support themselves on?

 

[Goro]

What are some jobs that can be obtained without a degree that the OP could support themselves on?

Service industry jobs.

 

[Moko]

What are some jobs that can be obtained without a degree that the OP could support themselves on?

Some ideas: Amazon warehouse team member; any entry-level positions in the fast food, retail, healthcare, or restaurant industries (wait staff, line cook, etc); cleaning staff; active duty/military; trade skills, construction and other manual labor jobs, etc. Plenty of available entry-level positions nowadays especially with cities opening back up.

The OP may need to hold multiple jobs and/or work resident-level hours to make things work. It won't be comfortable, but it will give the OP valuable real world experience, a chance to make some money, time to think about their future, and perhaps most importantly (if the OP still wants to pursue medicine), prevent them from further sabotaging their GPA. Graduating with a low GPA will necessitate expensive and time-consuming GPA repair down the road.

Unless the OP can quickly turn around their grades, they may benefit from this break from academia until their mental health has adequately improved and they've regained the motivation and discipline to do well academically. Just my thoughts.

 

[Temporal_weapon]

Hi OP, if you have an associate's degree, you can possibly look for some tech jobs in the field you want to major in.

STEM Jobs That Don't Require Four-Year Degrees

I'm not sure what your CC degree is in, but if it's in stem or psych, there's options for you. "Outside the box" options. Some fields are hurting for workers, like neurodiagnostics and sleep study specialists. Some will put you through school on a condition that you work to pay back for their training program. I'm sure there's other things that don't really require years of school, that you can tack your AA degree onto and make a comfortable living for a while until the COVID smoke clears. PCT/CNA is one such example.

No matter what work you decide on, you can also use this to bolster your CV towards med school.