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As someone already said, you're life isn't over because of a few bad grades, though you have my sympathy for that 89%.
First, get help. Being a psychology major doesn't make you immune to the effects of depression (lower performance, suicide ideation etc.), in this case it may trick you into thinking it's not that big of a deal. If you're willing to type about being depressed and feeling suicidal then it's not a minor thing, no matter how much you try to brush it off. Get help brother, your depression might be keeping you away from the grades you need.
If you're just starting your career, the shift in difficult isn't unexpected, get a tutor next semester before the proverbial **** hits the fan. Yes, B's aren't stellar, but it's not like you didn't prove that you can perform if given the right circumstances. Going to a tutor will help you learn how to turn B's in to A's. I used to tutor organic chemistry and general chemistry, even people getting a B use to come to us because they wanted that A -- there's nothing wrong with getting help, you're already paying for tutoring with your student association fees anyways so use it.
I think your grades will pick up if you put as much effort as you did in the summer, especially if you made a turn around from a D to, for all intent and purposes, an A. Yeah, you probably shouldn't apply to Harvard, but you do have a decent shot if you make an upward spiral for newer MD programs (perhaps mid tier programs if you have a strong application upon applying). Also, don't forget about DO programs. Depending on how you play the next couple of years you could be a good DO candidate. There's also plenty of ways to "help" people and be in the hospital, for example PA/NP, and other programs.
Also, coming to SDN isn't a good place to get your life sorted out, go to a counselor and consider getting a mentor.
Good luck and stay positive, things will work out one way or another; but medicine shouldn't be your end goal, being happy should be.
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deleted585480
Thanks for people with constructive and supportive posts. I want the truth --not just stuff to make me feel good.
With that in mind, let's see I go through with grad school for psych and then apply to med school.
Would my pre reqs still count? Or do they expire after a certain amount of years?
Also how dumb would it be to do that? Go to grad school and then med school?
With that in mind, let's see I go through with grad school for psych and then apply to med school.
Would my pre reqs still count? Or do they expire after a certain amount of years?
Also how dumb would it be to do that? Go to grad school and then med school?
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deleted585480
I'm just trying to think of back up plans. Obviously this next semester I have my first physics and gen chem 2 + other psych classes and I'm aiming for an A in them all
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deleted585480
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A master's program is grad school..
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deleted585480
That's what I thought tbh. Aren't they usually two years?
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It varies depending on the school and degree. There are plenty of 1-yr master degree programs out there. However, if you're looking for "grade padding" stick to post-bac because graduate work will not factor into your GPA for med school app.
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deleted585480
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Essentially.
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deleted585480
I'd hate to do that tbh, I really just need to make as many A's as physically possible from here on out and kill the MCAT
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Be Confident!
If you really want to be an MD, DO, or whatever, you can definitely get there eventually! Just work hard and stay motivated. Seriously so key!
Stop freaking out about the past and do whatever you can to make today/the future better for you.
Do you think being a doctor is going to be so easy? Do you think you will be able to solve every patient's issue so quickly and without any stress of failure? NO OF COURSE NOT! So don't let something as petty as grades that aren't meeting your expectations keep you down. I guarantee you will be met with much greater troubles in life. In perspective, we are all so LUCKY to be premedical students and to have this opportunity to potentially help others. But if you can't help yourself out of your own rut, how can you help a patient who is depending on you for his or her health. :/
Take a lazy day to reflect on your faults. Fix them. Take it day by day. But get back up.
Cheers.
If you really want to be an MD, DO, or whatever, you can definitely get there eventually! Just work hard and stay motivated. Seriously so key!
Stop freaking out about the past and do whatever you can to make today/the future better for you.
Do you think being a doctor is going to be so easy? Do you think you will be able to solve every patient's issue so quickly and without any stress of failure? NO OF COURSE NOT! So don't let something as petty as grades that aren't meeting your expectations keep you down. I guarantee you will be met with much greater troubles in life. In perspective, we are all so LUCKY to be premedical students and to have this opportunity to potentially help others. But if you can't help yourself out of your own rut, how can you help a patient who is depending on you for his or her health. :/
Take a lazy day to reflect on your faults. Fix them. Take it day by day. But get back up.
Cheers.
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Not to flex my stats on here, but I want to let you know that sometimes you come up short in classes. By the end of my sophomore year first semester, I had a 3.15 GPA. I cleaned up my act, made a lot of sacrifices, and have pulled off straight A's with a really intense workload/research/employment for the past year and a half, bringing my GPA up to a 3.7 going into my senior year. You have plenty of time to fix your GPA problem. Getting into medical school is NOT a race. One thing that helps me realize that fact is that taking 1-2 years off after graduating is nothing compared to the 40+ years you will be a doctor for. Plus, some of the experiences I have seen my colleagues be a part of will surely help them when the time comes for residency applications.
Essentially what you have to do is buy a calendar (literally one that you can put on your desk or wherever you study) and mark the hell out of it so you can manage your time better. This simple purchase has been almost half the reason why I have become so successful academically while handling an increasingly intense schedule (not just academically speaking). The better you manage your time, the less stressed you'll be, and the more focused you'll be in the end. Don't rush, just set your priorities and do not perform work than is any less of what you think you're capable of. The rule of thumb to follow is to do your best in everything you're a part of, because your patients will want you to perform your duties to the best of your abilities day in and day out. School is the same thing, but a lot less is on the line. This lifestyle takes some time to get used to, but believe me you will feel awesome when you get the hang of things!
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I've always known graduate school to be Masters and PhD and never heard someone make this statement... ever.
OP: I think you honestly need to assess whether you have the ability to do better. Ignore the kind encouragement and quit beating yourself up then consider whether you could have done better, whether you put everything in it and explored every option. I'm all for optimism and perseverance but if you truly put everything in it, put the time in and utilized every resource only to come up short... it might be time to move on.
If you didn't bust your ass and explore every option to kill that class and master the material (as I suspect is the case), and you really do want to be a doctor, you need to get up and exhaust every option. Finish your UG strong, retake as needed. DO is still an option (grade replacement) and post-bacc is always an option.
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I think you should spend a few days shadowing doctors and see if it's something you REALLY want to do. Imagine how depressed you'd be if you went through all of this to become a physician, only to find that you despise all of the politics involved, the fact that insurance revenue keeps you from spending the time you'd like to with your patients, and that the constant threat of malpractice keeps you from doing what you really think would work the best with your patients.
Also, there are many who would HATE the lifestyles that some physicians lead. Not being around for the important occasions of loved ones is CUSTOMARY for some of them.
Don't walk blindly down this pre-med road.
If you love what you see, it'll make you that much more motivated to continue down this path.
Also, there are many who would HATE the lifestyles that some physicians lead. Not being around for the important occasions of loved ones is CUSTOMARY for some of them.
Don't walk blindly down this pre-med road.
If you love what you see, it'll make you that much more motivated to continue down this path.
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^Nice post.
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I assumed this was pre-allo
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Yes, that was your first mistake. MD vs. DO battles are rampant here. You need to be better prepared the next time you trek these parts.
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Scroll up - it's posted in pre allo... So I refer to MD.
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There's always a way!
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SMPs are pretty much programs offered by both medical schools and universities to help students prove to adcoms that you have what it takes to take on the rigors of medical school. There is a sub-forum on SDN (scroll down a bit) that is JUST about post-baccs.
A little advice here is to do a lot of research on them. The ones that are a big bang for your buck are the ones with direct ties to the medical school(s) that the program offers. Better yet, one that has ties to multiple schools.
A little advice here is to do a lot of research on them. The ones that are a big bang for your buck are the ones with direct ties to the medical school(s) that the program offers. Better yet, one that has ties to multiple schools.
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deleted585480
I would just like to update this thread saying.. after my junior year my GPA is up to a little above a 3.3. I plan on doing optometry now, but I somehow went from making a D in gen chem 1 to a B in organic 1. Anything is possible with a little hard work, and i'm far from depressed now. Good luck to all you pre med students.
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Your GPA is low, but if you're passionate about medicine, there are ways you can get in. If you can't manage to pull your grades up in undergrad, there are graduate programs where you can find subjects you enjoy and can learn to excel. You could try going to a different school for such programs. This is a tough road to take, but you are capable of finding a way if you are determined!
Depression happens as a premed. With so much competition and being surrounded by so many achievers, it's easy for your sense of personal worth to take a hit. Get a good night rest - if you still feel even slightly suicidal, get some help. These struggles can knock you down but with some support you can get up and succeed.
Edit: just saw your post. Do what you feel is right and glad to hear you're feeling better!
Depression happens as a premed. With so much competition and being surrounded by so many achievers, it's easy for your sense of personal worth to take a hit. Get a good night rest - if you still feel even slightly suicidal, get some help. These struggles can knock you down but with some support you can get up and succeed.
Edit: just saw your post. Do what you feel is right and glad to hear you're feeling better!
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You still might want to think about evaluating study habits. Just because you changed them doesn't mean it was exactly the right thing.
At my university we have something called Academic Coaching. It's part of our tutoring center (where I work) and the coaches are there to help students with the troubles that aren't subject-specific, things like time-management, study skills, etc. And it's mostly the ambitious kids, pre-meds, etc who go to the coaches.
I had a student come in for bio and I could tell it was his study skills that needed some work - he was putting in lots of effort and came in with intelligent questions and I could tell he was grasping the material but having trouble synthesizing it - so I referred him to an academic coach. I don't know exactly what the coach told him but his grades improved dramatically afterward. Whatever new study tools she gave him really helped. Not everyone learns in the same way, so some "tried-and-true" study habits might not be high-yield for you, while others might.
You might want to look and see if your school has something like that. There could still be ways of studying that work better for you and give you a better yield on your time put in. It's worth trying other strategies. You could also could start getting tutoring if you aren't already. Most schools have some form of tutoring that is free to students, or if you can afford it you could hire someone.
The main thing I would say is get to know and make use of your resources, whether that's going to a school counselor to address feelings of discouragement, going to the career center to get some advice or maybe assess career goals, get study help, find a tutor. You are most likely paying for all of those services with your tuition money, so you might as well use it, and I also think it's a good life skill to know and utilize your resources as much as you can.
I agree that having a backup plan is a good idea for everyone. It's just a realistic life thing. Mine is pharmacy and so I'm taking pharm pre-reqs that aren't required for med school just to be able to have a solid backup plan. It's not my ideal, and I'm not super worried based on numbers but you never, ever know. Crazy things happen. I know someone who interviewed at 15 dental schools and didn't get into any. Anything can happen and life can throw curveballs. Plus, I think it's good mental health to have a flexible mindset about a lot of things in life. If you want to work your ass off, try new study skills, pull your grades up, do some extra work (postbac, etc) and go for med school, that's okay. If you decide you don't want that, that's okay too. Just keep an open mind and you'll find what works for you, and life will go on.
At my university we have something called Academic Coaching. It's part of our tutoring center (where I work) and the coaches are there to help students with the troubles that aren't subject-specific, things like time-management, study skills, etc. And it's mostly the ambitious kids, pre-meds, etc who go to the coaches.
I had a student come in for bio and I could tell it was his study skills that needed some work - he was putting in lots of effort and came in with intelligent questions and I could tell he was grasping the material but having trouble synthesizing it - so I referred him to an academic coach. I don't know exactly what the coach told him but his grades improved dramatically afterward. Whatever new study tools she gave him really helped. Not everyone learns in the same way, so some "tried-and-true" study habits might not be high-yield for you, while others might.
You might want to look and see if your school has something like that. There could still be ways of studying that work better for you and give you a better yield on your time put in. It's worth trying other strategies. You could also could start getting tutoring if you aren't already. Most schools have some form of tutoring that is free to students, or if you can afford it you could hire someone.
The main thing I would say is get to know and make use of your resources, whether that's going to a school counselor to address feelings of discouragement, going to the career center to get some advice or maybe assess career goals, get study help, find a tutor. You are most likely paying for all of those services with your tuition money, so you might as well use it, and I also think it's a good life skill to know and utilize your resources as much as you can.
I agree that having a backup plan is a good idea for everyone. It's just a realistic life thing. Mine is pharmacy and so I'm taking pharm pre-reqs that aren't required for med school just to be able to have a solid backup plan. It's not my ideal, and I'm not super worried based on numbers but you never, ever know. Crazy things happen. I know someone who interviewed at 15 dental schools and didn't get into any. Anything can happen and life can throw curveballs. Plus, I think it's good mental health to have a flexible mindset about a lot of things in life. If you want to work your ass off, try new study skills, pull your grades up, do some extra work (postbac, etc) and go for med school, that's okay. If you decide you don't want that, that's okay too. Just keep an open mind and you'll find what works for you, and life will go on.
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In high school, I was extremely entitled and depended on grade bumping so much. Most of the time, it didn't work, and one time, a teacher told me, "If you wanted an A, you had all semester to work for it, yet you were only interested in digging yourself out of a hole at the end, so keep digging."
After that, I realized I could never depend on a grade bump, and knew that to break this dependency, I needed to get myself above the A cutoff, stay there, and be as far away from it as I possibly could be. This has worked pretty well for me in college (primarily because my school has no +/-). As for your borderline grade OP, I suggest you take a similar approach to mine in later classes.
After that, I realized I could never depend on a grade bump, and knew that to break this dependency, I needed to get myself above the A cutoff, stay there, and be as far away from it as I possibly could be. This has worked pretty well for me in college (primarily because my school has no +/-). As for your borderline grade OP, I suggest you take a similar approach to mine in later classes.
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DO's definitely still possible, especially with post-bacc. You're not guaranteed to fail in your quest of becoming a physician, by any means.
Distance traveled, having easy state schools (Georgia North Dakota Texas etc.), crazy experience in undergrad (like supporting family with your second job and taking classes at night), amazing research, extremely strong upward trends, military service etc.
If you don't have those things a 30 and 3.1 won't go very far, and every year it gets harder (last 2 years it seems 50%+ schools increased their LizzyM by 1-2.)
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