Please help me as I am very scared

[aspiringdoctor5]

I am a Biochemistry and cell biology junior going to UCSD and my cumulative gpa is 3.45 and I am not sure what my bcpm gpa is. For general chem i got: B, A-, B and general chem lab :A. (we have the quarter system.) For organic chem i got : A, A, and I am currently taking the last quarter of it. For bio: B+, A-, B-. For physics: A, B, A and I only had to take one quarter of calculus and I got an A in that. I took structural biochemistry and I received a C in that class.

Should I retake the class and get an A and so the average would be a B?

Also, I have yet to take the rest of my required major classes: genetics, metabolic biochemistry, nutrition, cell biology, biochemical techniques (upper div bio lab), molecular biology and recombinant DNA techniques ( another bio lab).

I am planning to take my MCAT this summer and so I will take a year off.

I am aiming for a 34-35 on the MCAT and I am planning and hoping for almost all A's in the rest of my classes.

Please help me as to whether I should continue pursuing medical school. I want to go to an MD school.

Thank you.

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[talkalot24]

Absolutely! You may not be able to go to Harvard or Hopkins, but assuming the rest of your application is good (strong LOR, essays, experiences etc) and you get a solid MCAT score, I think you'll be fine.

If I were you, I don't think I'd retake the class. Spend that time instead studying for the MCAT or volunteering.

 

[Confection]

As others have said in the forums, a single C will not kill you, so rest assured

In my opinion (as I have retaken 2 C classes), it's not worth it to repeat it because in my school the repeat was not averaged in with the original. The original grade was taken as is and the repeat was counted as 0 credits although it shows the grade I received on my transcript.

I would rather take another course (preferably upper lvl science) and try my best to excel in that. But this is just my advice

 

[Dr Lyss]

retake it if it will bug you to no end. Other wise leave it. No one is going to throw your app into a garbage can because of a random C... breathe

 

[jehrdoc]

I am a Biochemistry and cell biology junior going to UCSD and my cumulative gpa is 3.45 and I am not sure what my bcpm gpa is. For general chem i got: B, A-, B and general chem lab :A. (we have the quarter system.) For organic chem i got : A, A, and I am currently taking the last quarter of it. For bio: B+, A-, B-. For physics: A, B, A and I only had to take one quarter of calculus and I got an A in that. I took structural biochemistry and I received a C in that class.

Should I retake the class and get an A and so the average would be a B?

Also, I have yet to take the rest of my required major classes: genetics, metabolic biochemistry, nutrition, cell biology, biochemical techniques (upper div bio lab), molecular biology and recombinant DNA techniques ( another bio lab).

I am planning to take my MCAT this summer and so I will take a year off.

I am aiming for a 34-35 on the MCAT and I am planning and hoping for almost all A's in the rest of my classes.

Please help me as to whether I should continue pursuing medical school. I want to go to an MD school.

Thank you.

I don't usually post on this site, but I figured I'd give my two cents as a fellow Triton.

-Don't retake anything it wont make a difference in your AMCAS GPA and may just draw unwanted attention to that class. Just work on doing better in the other, upcoming classes. In my opinion, the upper-div bio classes at UCSD are much more manageable (and interesting) so my guess is that your GPA will only go up.

-Choose medical school because it is right for you, not because you think you'll be able to make it. Even if you keep your grades as is but develop and explore your interest in medicine into something substantial, I'd say you have a good chance at an MD program with a strong MCAT. It worries me that you are asking whether or not to do med school just based on a few bad grades -- if you are the right candidate at a school they will surely look beyond a few blemishes on your transcript. Then again, if you are shaky about med school to begin with, the mediocre GPA might be a death sentence.

-My advice is to focus on school and things you enjoy. Detach yourself from the prospect of medicine and try to explore what motivates you and gets you excited. If it ends up being medicine - you can pat yourself on the back for your good instincts. If it ends up being research, another health profession, or another career altogether that seems to fit with you and your goals better then take that route.

UCSD is a great place as an undergrad if you take the time to take advantage of the resources offered to you. But its also a place where high expectations can crush students -- many of them at the very last moment and when its too late (ie. not getting into med school and finding yourself at a loss for what to do next). I suspect this is why UCSD has a lower-than average med school admissions rate (less than 40%), people just don't explore careers that might fit them better until its too late.

I am just another applicant, though, so take my advice with a grain of salt. You sound motivated so I have no doubt you will be great in medicine or whatever else you choose. Best of luck.

 

[redlight]

i don't think you need to retake because you still have enough upper levels to 'make up' for the C. you really only want to retake courses med schools will not accept as successfully completed (generally C- and lower).

if your overall gpa is 3.5+ and you get 32+ on the mcat, you should have a shot for MD, but probably not in cali.

 

[Leejwwc]

Also gonna chime in and reiterate no need to retake. Even a couple Cs on your transcript won't hurt you that much if the rest of your application is solid (great LORs, ECs, MCAT, etc.). This is especially true since UCSD is known to be a really tough science school and your C is in a difficult class.

On a side note, this is purely opinion but I would think that faculty reviewing your file would value that you took another equally difficult class and got a better grade than retaking this class and got a better grade. It's probably expected you would do better anyways second time around and it's probably more favorable to invest your energies in learning something new and interesting.