Should I take a year off in the middle of undergrad?

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What should a declining GPA depressed student do?

  • Stick it out and don't take a gap even if it means another year of low GPA

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Stick it out ONLY if you think you'll improve, otherwise take a gap year.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Definately take the gap year if you feel you need it. Whats the rush?

    Votes: 2 100.0%

  • Total voters
    2

essiebee7

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I feel as though I am going nowhere in my undergraduate career. I am working really hard but I have not figured out how to work SMART or how I learn. I went though some personal emotional struggles freshman year with a death in the family that left me depressed but I stayed in school and pushed through it for 3 years. I don't think this did me any good. I had a 4.2 GPA in high school. I attend a "public ivy" undergrad. Just look at how my GPA suffered:

Freshman year overall GPA: 2.7
Sophomore: 2.6
Junior: 2.5
..... IM TERRIFIED because what was supposed to be my "swing back" to show that freshman year was just a fluke is actually turning into a disaster with a downhill trend. I have had to continuously work two jobs while in school to support myself which made studying stressful. I haven't even had time to get clinical experience
Senior year: TBA <--- I am considering the following plan:
- take a gap year SENIOR YEAR to student for the MCAT in January 2015 -- (still need to sign up for this)
- get a job that makes 50k a year for 30 hours a week -- acquired. If I take a gap year I will be set and will be able to support myself with housing, food, and a car and gas.
- With Mondays, Tuesday, and every other weekend off from work: Get Clinical experience (because I live in Bethesda, I am 20 min from John Hopkins hospital, Georgetown, GW and the NIH.)
- Retake organic chemistry 2 at Georgetown University or some other local school..


PREMED REQUIREMENTS (done.):
Bio1: C- (B- lab)
Bio2: B+ (B lab)
GenChem1: C (B+ lab)
ChemChem2: B (A-lab)
Orgo1: B (B- lab)
Orgo2: D (B lab) <-- Want to retake this.
Physics1: B+ (A- lab)
Physics2: C (A- lab)
Calc1: A-
Calc2: C+

RELATED CLASSES:
Statistics: D (Freshman)
Medical Sociology: C+ (Freshman)
Psych1 (social psychology): C+
Psych2 (natural psychology): B-
Molecular Cell Biology: D+ (sophomore)



PRO taking senior year off (pro gap year):
- Make 50k a year, be able to graduate debt free and be able to sleep at night without thinking about debt
- The job I'm in now allows me to get clinical hours in Bethesda, MD... 10 min away from John Hopkins hospital, Georgetown Hospital, the NIH... If I went back to school senior year I would NOT have time to do well senior year while getting clinical hours (without a car). I don't want to push off clinical experience anymore. It looks really bad to admissions committees to be rushing to get clinical experience last minute! Clinical experience is at the heart of my passion and will help me know for sure that medicine is right for me.
- Have several months to REALLY focus and study on doing well on the MCAT. (critical for me because my GPA is not competitive) -- I feel it would be difficult to study for the MCAT (and doing well) during a rigorous senior year and don't want to push it off too far because the information is still fresh from being finished with pre-med classes. I'll be able to return to senior year classes without the stress of MCAT in the back of my mind.
- Be able to afford a car to drive to get clinical experience when I do go back to school (it's hard working without a car)
- Learn how to learn. If I'm being honest, my study skills are not efficient, and it has been a major cause of my failure. I want to keep learning, use Khan academy, buy all the text books I need. Re-study past material, master my weaknesses.
- Retake organic chemistry2. I can still take a class at the local university. This would also help me prep for the MCAT.
- Prep for senior year classes in advance (like molecular genetics, and biophysics and modeling) so that I can ace them when I start back. I will not allow myself to fall behind. This gap year will not be a "break"... I will stay focused and it will just allow me to be up to speed when i return. I am using this gap year to work hard and play catchup to be where I need to be.
- Focus on my physical and mental health (which has been put on the back-burner for 3 years now). I feel hopeless, lost interest in things that used to interest me (like learning and volunteering), because of a probable bout of depression.

CON of taking senior year off (con gap year):
- I have to reapply for acceptance (I've heard horror stories of people not being readmitted)
- My financial aid package might change (more money)
- I would have to reapply for housing or find off campus housing (a stressful experience)
- I would have to rebuild my senior year schedule from the bottom up (which wouldn't be too hard to do -- but is a stressful experience if certain classes are no longer offered, or if classes are full and I need an override)
- The social stigma of graduating late, not graduating on-time with my freshman hall, missing out on senior year friends

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If you are even remotely serious about being a doctor, you'll do what's needed to salvage your academic career. Right now, Plan A isn't working.

So even if you were my own child, I'd say to you, take some time off and heal. Fix what's broken. You can always go part t-me and take 1-2 classes. There is no law that says you have to matriculate medical school at age 22.

Go seek out both your school's learning center, and counselors.

These are really piss-poor reasons for maintaining the status quo. I do not see things magically turing around for you in the immediate future.


I would have to rebuild my senior year schedule from the bottom up (which wouldn't be too hard to do -- but is a stressful experience if certain classes are no longer offered, or if classes are full and I need an override)
- The social stigma of graduating late, not graduating on-time with my freshman hall, missing out on senior year friends
 
You're going to have to go for grade replacement and aim for DO schools with all that behind you.
 
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BEFORE you get another bad grade take a minute and read this:

I absolutely SUCKED in high school. I was a C and D student at best. I failed out of every math and science class because I didn't put my concentration into my studies. I paid a VERY
heavy price---I left high school and took my GED...that was back in 1988.

I worked in blue collar jobs, was homeless for a short time, eventually finding my inspiration to re-join the academic world....but now I'm much (45) older and wiser.

You don't have to wait 30 years to figure out "how" to study. One thing you definitely need academically excel is this: make sure you don't have too much going on. If you can help it, work less (if finances allow) and limit your outside activities to things that don't demand a lot of time.

More importantly: surround yourself with people who will support and encourage you through this daunting process. Everyone on this forum is committed to your success.

Best of luck.
 
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BEFORE you get another bad grade take a minute and read this:


You don't have to wait 30 years to figure out "how" to study. One thing you definitely need academically excel is this: make sure you don't have too much going on. If you can help it, work less (if finances allow) and limit your outside activities to things that don't demand a lot of time.

Best of luck.


I always had a lot going on working two jobs while taking premed requirements. This is why I want to take a year to make money, recenter myself, re learn the past material, and prepare for the new material. Who says I need to be physically enrolled in school to keep learning?
 
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