really bad GPA... wat should i do next

[tikiman]

Hi everyone, i have been yall's posts for a while now and you all seem to have a lot of knowledge abt this stuff so i have a few serious question of my own that i hope someone can solve.
I am a freshman at Truman State Univ with pre-med bio major. First semester, in my calculus, i was getting a C so i decided to drop it and got a W on my transcript cuz there was a good chance that i would end up with a D or F. I am taking it again this semester... and i have an F (so does like everyone else in the class cuz the teacher is impossible to work with. Now i have NO chance of an A but if i try REALLY hard, i can probably get a B or C. i asked another teacher if i could switch into his class and i got nothing and i also talked to the dean abt the teacher but still nothing... So now, I AM ROYALLY SCREWED cuz i currently am taking 14 credit hrs so if i drop Calc I class, i would have 9 left and another 'W' on my transcript. .. is that all gonna look bad when i apply to Med Schools... i have no idea wat to do now... does any1 have any useful advice abt wat should i do next? should i drop it again and maybe take it in a community college or just suffer through? or maybe u guys know of a better option?????

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[rc4ch]

I feel your pain. Were you partying too much or something? Or slacking off? Whats you GPA for last semester?

I am also a freshman in college, in a small state school. I got lucky with my Calc professor. He was prob the coolest math teacher like ever. Every test, he would give us a choice if we wanted to take a supplementary quiz, which adds how many points to your test grade. Most people that payed some attention got a 100 in the tests and probably an A in the class.

 

[tikiman]

I feel your pain. Were you partying too much or something? Or slacking off? Whats you GPA for last semester?

I am also a freshman in college, in a small state school. I got lucky with my Calc professor. He was prob the coolest math teacher like ever. Every test, he would give us a choice if we wanted to take a supplementary quiz, which adds how many points to your test grade. Most people that payed some attention got a 100 in the tests and probably an A in the class.

it was 3.39... do u have any advice for me?

 

[murphomatic]

dude relax, I got into med school with like 7 F's so it is not the end of the world, just focus and look to the future

 

[Oculus Sinistra]

I am also a freshman in college, in a small state school. I got lucky with my Calc professor. He was prob the coolest math teacher like ever. Every test, he would give us a choice if we wanted to take a supplementary quiz, which adds how many points to your test grade. Most people that payed some attention got a 100 in the tests and probably an A in the class.

I had a similar situation. Before I was premed, I took Calculus and didn't go to lecture very often. This subsequently earned me a D in the class. Fast forward, I retook it as an official premed and lucked out by getting a grad student who was very accessible. That time I scored an A.

 

[Oculus Sinistra]

dude relax, I got into med school with like 7 F's so it is not the end of the world, just focus and look to the future

Gotta love the 40 MCAT...

 

[murphomatic]

Gotta love the 40 MCAT...

Ohh I Do
and a 3.9+ gpa post-bacc

 

[Oculus Sinistra]

Ohh I Do
and a 3.9+ gpa post-bacc

I agree. it's beautiful. I have a little tear.

good job.

 

[UMP]

Ohh I Do
and a 3.9+ gpa post-bacc

you are my hero... I want to be like you... Hope you get in to Colorado.

 

[tikiman]

HOW did u get into med school with 7 F's... jeez dude, wat did u sleep with the dean's wife or something.... rofl...jking, but seriously, even if u get like a 40 on MCAT, i still don't see anyone getting in with those many F's?????????????

 

[tikiman]

I had a similar situation. Before I was premed, I took Calculus and didn't go to lecture very often. This subsequently earned me a D in the class. Fast forward, I retook it as an official premed and lucked out by getting a grad student who was very accessible. That time I scored an A.

that's cool dude, but wat should i do... i am already a declared pre-med?!

 

[murphomatic]

you are my hero... I want to be like you... Hope you get in to Colorado.

Thanks man (or lady) it was a long time in going for it, but eventually I got there and I'm sure you will too.

 

[murphomatic]

HOW did u get into med school with 7 F's... jeez dude, wat did u sleep with the dean's wife or something.... rofl...jking, but seriously, even if u get like a 40 on MCAT, i still don't see anyone getting in with those many F's?????????????

Graduated with a degree in math in 2002 with a super low gpa (like 2.2 ish) then returned to school in 2003 and did a two year post-bacc with only one A- (the rest were A's). Slammed the mcat and got letters of rec from the proffs in Ochem, Pchem 1, pchem 2, and Biochem. where I got all A's. I wanted it bad and went for it with all my heart. The hardest thing was still having a GPA under 3.0 as I know that many schools rejected me with out even looking at my file in depth.

 

[murphomatic]

BTW to the OP I would take a W over a C any day( and thats assuming you will get a C never mind a D or F). Just retake it later. If you do well you can have backup for your assertion that it truly was a bad professor, but it wont bring down your gpa

 

[murphomatic]

I agree. it's beautiful. I have a little tear.

good job.

probably from that evil eye of yours

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

My calc teacher speaks the worst english I have ever heard. I also think he might be using drugs. He's always scratching himself and breaking chalk cuz he writes so violently. He spits when he talks. He gives us "15-minute quizzes" 15 minutes before class gets out every week but they take 30 minutes and he lets us stay, so I'm 20 minutes late for my next class every week. If I get a bad grade he will be very, very sorry (half joking)

 

[rc4ch]

hey tiki, I wouldnt worry about it so much man. a 3.39 in the first semester in college is pretty damn good, compared to what others usually get their freshman semesters. I cant really give you any advice since Im also a freshman like yourself. I can honestly say taking all those hard classes in high school really payed off, for Calc anyways. I slacked off like crazy in calc in highschool, but those derivatives, etc. do stick to your head. I think that helped me get an A. Calc 1 was basically a review for me. Good luck

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

Yeah dude I agree a 3.4 is not so bad, especially freshman year. I had a 1.6 my freshman year

 

[rc4ch]

Zoom, are you in med school now? Man, I dont know how painful it is to play catch up with a 1.6, but I bet its hard.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

Zoom, are you in med school now? Man, I dont know how painful it is to play catch up with a 1.6, but I bet its hard.

Not in yet (havn't applied)...why you gotta remind me!

Yeah you have no idea. My cumm GPA is 3.3 right now...it will be up in the 3.5 range by the end of my 5th year. If only AMCAS only counted the retakes..I would be ~3.7 range. Oh well.

I would kill for a 3.39 freshman gpa.

 

[Dov]

A 3.4 is not bad at all... neither are the W's (I got one in Spanish) Just explain then to the admissions committees. I would research medical school so you have a better idea of the standards vs where you want to go.

I had a 3.2 one semester in college. Just rock the rest of your courses and the MCATs, do community service, research, and clinical stuff and your golden baby.

I read your other threads... it is a ton of work in college and even worse in med school. But it does not matter if your heart is set on it.

 

[mustangsally65]

Your GPA is extremely variable when you only have a few credit hours. I know you probably have to have 30 to become a sophomore, but in reality your current GPA is only a quarter of what the final GPA will be. It's like if you are in a class and you bomb the first test, you really study for the next three and you end up with a high B or an A in the class overall. It's easier to bring up a GPA when you have fewer classes. My university required 144 hours to graduate, so you've still got a long way to go.

I think a 3.39 is great for freshman year. And freshman year is usually the hardest to get used to, becuase it's a totally different lifestyle. The next three years will probably be a breeze after the first one. As long as you get A's and B's for the rest of your classes (especially your pre-med pre-reqs like Gen Chem, Organic Chem, Biology, Physics etc.) then your BCPM GPA will probably be higher than your overall GPA.

I think it's great you're thinking ahead and trying to improve your stats while you still can. A lot of people don't decide on pre-med until junior or senior year (or after college) and by then it's too late to do anything about it except go back for more schooling. Keep up the good work!

 

[socerbal94]

dude your a freshman

how in the heck do you know you want to be a doctor? Your in for a rude awakening >>> It's NOT like Grey's Anatomy

 

[rc4ch]

people plan things you know.

 

[Oculus Sinistra]

it will be up in the 3.5 range by the end of my 5th year. If only AMCAS only counted the retakes..I would be ~3.7 range. Oh well.

AACOMAS (D.O.) only takes the retakes...

 

[Oculus Sinistra]

that's cool dude, but wat should i do... i am already a declared pre-med?!

1) Unless you're willing to work hard enough to get the B, take the W.
2) Sit down with the book/tutors and teach yourself Calculus/figure out what you're doing wrong.
3) Take it again with an easier professor (check ratemyprofessor.com) and get an A.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

AACOMAS (D.O.) only takes the retakes...

That's true. If only MD programs took AACOMAS.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

1) Unless you're willing to work hard enough to get the B, take the W.
2) Sit down with the book/tutors and teach yourself Calculus/figure out what you're doing wrong.
3) Take it again with an easier professor (check ratemyprofessor.com) and get an A.

4) Pay a really smart dude to take your tests for you. Do your schools check ID? Mine doesn't. I never thought of this before...

 

[Oculus Sinistra]

That's true. If only MD programs took AACOMAS.

I personally think the old scores being included in the AMCAS GPA is complete BS. I understand that you did earn the grade, but the class grade is to indicate two things to the ad com:

1) You can handle the material.
2) You can handle the workload.

Both of which would be just as effectively shown by the retake.

It's just a pretentious process that people like me with bad marks on their record complain about. Go team.

 

[ThisIsYourLife]

im in the same boat at the moment. 2.94. ouch. im scared sick about getting in. i still have 2 years of undergrad yet though. its the chemistry that has killed my gpa. im hopeing once that is over. i'll be able to get A's again.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

I personally think the old scores being included in the AMCAS GPA is complete BS. I understand that you did earn the grade, but the class grade is to indicate two things to the ad com:

1) You can handle the material.
2) You can handle the workload.

Both of which would be just as effectively shown by the retake.

It's just a pretentious process that people like me with bad marks on their record complain about. Go team.

Yup yup. It's easy for us to say it's a crappy process but I kind of understand why it works this way. I mean, If I had had my stuff together freshman year I would probably be one of the guys who says, "Yeah right I got an A the first time so suck it up, loser." On the other hand, I don't like the idea that my freshman grades just might prevent me from going to medical school, therefore preventing me from persuing my dream career. Granted, there is always the perspective that I can get in if I really want it, which is true, but it sucks knowing that it might take 3 or so years (5th year, SMP, who knows) to make up for one bad one. Oh well. Hopefully it won't come to that. Maybe a more "fair" compromise would be to allow repeats to replace original grades as long as the original occured 4 years ago, or your freshman year, or something like that. If I don't get in the first time I'll be a little more aggrevated by the AMCAS system though, that's for sure.

 

[tikiman]

dude your a freshman

how in the heck do you know you want to be a doctor? Your in for a rude awakening >>> It's NOT like Grey's Anatomy

i know dude, but my dad, mom, uncle, his two sons, my other uncle's five children, my grandfather are all doctors so u know its like my family background. And actually, i have thought quite a few times abt maybe becoming something else but i always end up in this profession cuz it combines my two interests of curing people and money (doctor earn the most money out of any other profession) so... but yea, i did see grey's anatomy a couple of times. Its pretty cool and yea, i know its not like that. its more like that show "ER", lol.

 

[tikiman]

1) Unless you're willing to work hard enough to get the B, take the W.
2) Sit down with the book/tutors and teach yourself Calculus/figure out what you're doing wrong.
3) Take it again with an easier professor (check ratemyprofessor.com) and get an A.

Is it ok if i suffer through the class and get a C in my calculus class? i mean is a C better than two W's on a transcript for med school?

 

[tikiman]

And one more thing, if i do drop out and take another W on my transcript, that'll make two W's on my transcript in one yr for the SAME course... i mean i don't know abt u but from a third person's perspective those W's in the same class in a yr will make me look really stupid. And i KNOW that the medical interviewers will ask me questions abt it. So is it still a good idea to drop calculus?

 

[rc4ch]

tiki im curious how your doing so bad in calc. second time around should be review for you. do you go to class?

 

[Sondra]

BTW to the OP I would take a W over a C any day( and thats assuming you will get a C never mind a D or F). Just retake it later. If you do well you can have backup for your assertion that it truly was a bad professor, but it wont bring down your gpa

I agree. I would rather have a W on my transcript than a poor grade.I would drop and try again later.

I dropped Cal I and retook "cal for arts and sciences" (cal for non-math majors) a few semesters later when my course load wasn't so heavy. I had many withdraws on my transcript when I applied. I didn't look at them as weaknesses, although I felt horrible about dropping the classes at the time.

If cal is giving you such a hard time, consider taking it over the summer or at a time when your course load isn't heavy with other science classes. You need to devote some extra time to the class if it is giving you such problems. Also, look for a math tutoring center on your campus. Not all med schools require cal. Some just require 6 credit hours of math. If cal is such a weakness for you (or if it is not specifically required by your degree plan), and you are better at algebra, trig, or statistics then look at the admissions requirements for the school and don't try cal again. I know this is the easy way out, but I just wanted to offer a few suggestions.

 

[murphomatic]

I personally think the old scores being included in the AMCAS GPA is complete BS. I understand that you did earn the grade, but the class grade is to indicate two things to the ad com:

1) You can handle the material.
2) You can handle the workload.

Both of which would be just as effectively shown by the retake.

It's just a pretentious process that people like me with bad marks on their record complain about. Go team.

I know, my AMCAS GPA was like 2.8 or near to that
whereas my AACOMAS was like 3.4

 

[murphomatic]

And one more thing, if i do drop out and take another W on my transcript, that'll make two W's on my transcript in one yr for the SAME course... i mean i don't know abt u but from a third person's perspective those W's in the same class in a yr will make me look really stupid. And i KNOW that the medical interviewers will ask me questions abt it. So is it still a good idea to drop calculus?

Here's some hope.
Previous semesters: Calc 2 grade F, Calc 3 grade F
Semester 1: Diff-Eq grade F,
Semester 2: Diff-Eq grade F, Methods of theoretical Physics grade F
Semester 3: Diff-Eq grade B, Methods of theoretical Physics grade F
Semester 4: Methods of theoretical Physics grade C-
Semester 5: O Chem 2 grade F
6 years later: aceptance to an M.D. program

DUDE, Take the W over a bad grade no matter what, W's do not affect your GPA

 

[relentless11]

Maybe a more "fair" compromise would be to allow repeats to replace original grades as long as the original occured 4 years ago, or your freshman year, or something like that.

In a sense, med schools do work that way. Grades from ages ago don't amount for much compared to more recent academic activity. Applies mainly to non-trads who have been out of school a while though. Although it would make life a lot simpler if we can replace the bad with the good. Usually half of the class are able to get a C or better (unless its an engineering class ). Now if everyone is getting C's or less or half the class drops after the first exam you know its prolly due to a crappy professor.

I personally think the old scores being included in the AMCAS GPA is complete BS. I understand that you did earn the grade, but the class grade is to indicate two things to the ad com:

In reality, as a grad or professional student you really only have one try at a class since classes are offered once a year. Most of the classes are interconnected too, such as general pathology leads into systemic pathology and eventuallly clinical pathology. So if you fail general pathology you're screwed for the next 2 path classes. It may depend on the school, but students who fail such a class essentially have to repeat their year over again the next year.

Therefore med schools want to see you able to pass and do well in class the first time. Although repeating a class once isn't a bad thing, doing it more than once may be a red flag that you're one of those people who need to take a class twice to do well. As stated you are expected to do well the second time because you essentially took the class already...and everything should be review. Thus your new, and better grade is not a good indicator of how you are as a student. Of course if you got a bad grade due to personal challenges, that is explainable in the PS, but again, one should have a good understanding of their own abilities to gauge if they should drop a class or not before failing it. Besides, MD schools are more competative due to the amount of applicants they receive vs. DO (DO is a perfectly fine degree). Therefore to add another variable to weed out people, this method works.

tiki im curious how your doing so bad in calc. second time around should be review for you. do you go to class?

I'd have to second that. Calculus, although quite tedious is not that bad. Are you taking calculus for engineers or something? Although a W is prolly better than an F because as murphomatic said its not counted in the GPA, but as i stated before, it shows that you're bailing out because you can't handle it. First time is fine, second time in the same class is bad, and third time is worse...

The problem with your concept that you can explain it during interview is the fact that you are assuming you get to interviews. People with often times "good" applications may not make it to interviews. Therefore you want to minimize any "problems" that can be better explained during later stages of the application cycle since you may not get there at all for some reason or another.

If cal is such a weakness for you (or if it is not specifically required by your degree plan), and you are better at algebra, trig, or statistics then look at the admissions requirements for the school and don't try cal again. I know this is the easy way out, but I just wanted to offer a few suggestions.

Although this is a potential option, I find two problems to this. Most science degrees require some amount of calculus, since the vast majority of applicants will be some science major, he will be competing against those that did well on calc. Calc is obviously more advanced than algebra, and trig, so this looks better in the end. Secondly, 4-years that I know of, at least in CA, don't even offer math below calculus. Statistics only fullfills a portion of the math requirement at the UC med schools. So it comes back to calculus again.

Med school's have always stated taking the "more rigorous" option for classes. Usually this is associated with OChem, where there's a "brief" lower division course, vs. an upper division course. But from talks with the deans of admissions at the UC school's they have always looked highly upon those that wanted to challenge themselves, rather than take the easy way out.

 

[tikiman]

k, so these r the details, i go to a Liberal Arts School and in it, Calc I is required for my major so... Also, i was thinking abt transferring to some other college where they won't require calculus for bio major but that's won't be easy cuz of the liberal arts courses i took won't mean anything in other Missouri schools... And to answer an earlier question, Yes, i went to the frigging class EVERY day including last semester and current one and still.... k, so my final question is that Is a C better than a two W's? yes or no?

 

[Depakote]

k, so these r the details, i go to a Liberal Arts School and in it, Calc I is required for my major so... Also, i was thinking abt transferring to some other college where they won't require calculus for bio major but that's won't be easy cuz of the liberal arts courses i took won't mean anything in other Missouri schools... And to answer an earlier question, Yes, i went to the frigging class EVERY day including last semester and current one and still.... k, so my final question is that Is a C better than a two W's? yes or no?

A C is probably better than 2 W's in the same class. But you should probably re-take it at somepoint, and you'll need to get an A when you do. Also, you should know a lot of schools consider Calc as a requisite for entry so switching majors/schools to avoid the class won't help.

 

[DrBowtie]

i know dude, but my dad, mom, uncle, his two sons, my other uncle's five children, my grandfather are all doctors so u know its like my family background. And actually, i have thought quite a few times abt maybe becoming something else but i always end up in this profession cuz it combines my two interests of curing people and money (doctor earn the most money out of any other profession) so... but yea, i did see grey's anatomy a couple of times. Its pretty cool and yea, i know its not like that. its more like that show "ER", lol.

Do some volunteering at your local ER and look how many "exciting" cases come in.
Most of the time the ER is clogged by people with colds.

 

[LeighMD]

Hi everyone, i have been yall's posts for a while now and you all seem to have a lot of knowledge abt this stuff so i have a few serious question of my own that i hope someone can solve.
I am a freshman at Truman State Univ with pre-med bio major. First semester, in my calculus, i was getting a C so i decided to drop it and got a W on my transcript cuz there was a good chance that i would end up with a D or F. I am taking it again this semester... and i have an F (so does like everyone else in the class cuz the teacher is impossible to work with. Now i have NO chance of an A but if i try REALLY hard, i can probably get a B or C. i asked another teacher if i could switch into his class and i got nothing and i also talked to the dean abt the teacher but still nothing... So now, I AM ROYALLY SCREWED cuz i currently am taking 14 credit hrs so if i drop Calc I class, i would have 9 left and another 'W' on my transcript. .. is that all gonna look bad when i apply to Med Schools... i have no idea wat to do now... does any1 have any useful advice abt wat should i do next? should i drop it again and maybe take it in a community college or just suffer through? or maybe u guys know of a better option?????

I had really really really bad grades in college (like a 3.0 overall GPA) but I went to grad school and got a masters (3.8 GPA) and retook the MCATs and got a 33. I won't mention my original mcat score. In the meantime I made some connections with some committee members and am going to reapply this fall. If you really want to do it, you will find a way sweetheart don't worry!! Keep your head up!!!!

 

[tikiman]

I had really really really bad grades in college (like a 3.0 overall GPA) but I went to grad school and got a masters (3.8 GPA) and retook the MCATs and got a 33. I won't mention my original mcat score. In the meantime I made some connections with some committee members and am going to reapply this fall. If you really want to do it, you will find a way sweetheart don't worry!! Keep your head up!!!!

lol, yea!

 

[LeighMD]

lol, yea!

glad i could help