Will my undergrad haunt me forever???

[gophergrl88]

Hi SDNers

I had a conversation with a friend who is applying this cycle several days ago, and I am nervous that perhaps she is right!

Its the old "I started out rough" in undergrad. I was a varsity athlete at a school that does a block program (one class in three and a half weeks). Orgo 1 was not pretty- ended with a C+, and a B- in molecular bio. However I got my act together since then and ended with a 3.4 sGPA and a 3.5 cGPA with a 4.0 my senior year with 5 upper level bio classes, with a double major in bio and religion.

I have since spent two years working as a scribe and in research, and I am currently in a science master's program with a 3.95.

She said due to my poor performance in undergrad, I will have a rough time gaining acceptance to many schools. Am I really out of luck? Or will schools take pity with an upward trend? Any schools in particular?

Thanks for your help.

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[Aubrey Graham]

Off topic: how do you major in bio and religion? Seems contradictory course material. Just stop paying attention when evolution hits lol.

I think you have a very solid chance at both do and md schools bc of your good ec's. Your gpa is a little low but can be offset by a good mcat score which is...


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[gophergrl88]

Off topic: how do you major in bio and religion? Seems contradictory course material. Just stop paying attention when evolution hits lol.

I think you have a very solid chance at both do and md schools bc of your good ec's. Your gpa is a little low but can be offset by a good mcat score which is...


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Thanks for the help- and I majored in comparative religion, not so much theology. I did a thesis on how religion affects perceptions of health and medicine (it does seem like a weird combo, I'll give you that!)

 

[Aubrey Graham]

You don't have to be religious to major in religion, or to have interest in religion. Evolution doesn't necessarily contradict religion, either. And honestly, OP, it seems like you have a good upward trend going grades-wise. I think schools will see that and realize you improved; early mistakes in college don't necessarily have to hold one back forever, as your friend seems to have suggested.

I think there is a big difference between believing God created earth and we have only been around for a few thousand years and natural selection/evolution. But yes, you are correct in claiming that interest in religion does not stem from being religious.


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[Aubrey Graham]

Google 'theistic evolution.'

So you are claiming that a few hundred years ago, the church rejected evolution...now they want to claim that it's real because of the great amounts of evidence and God put it into motion? Lol..evolution is still a theory but everyone should believe it now right? Science and religion can't coexist brah.


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[Goro]

Many schools value upward trends, and some look at the last 2 or 3 years of performance. You're not dead by any means. Reinvention does get rewarded and we all like come from behind stories.

Hi SDNers

I had a conversation with a friend who is applying this cycle several days ago, and I am nervous that perhaps she is right!

Its the old "I started out rough" in undergrad. I was a varsity athlete at a school that does a block program (one class in three and a half weeks). Orgo 1 was not pretty- ended with a C+, and a B- in molecular bio. However I got my act together since then and ended with a 3.4 sGPA and a 3.5 cGPA with a 4.0 my senior year with 5 upper level bio classes, with a double major in bio and religion.

I have since spent two years working as a scribe and in research, and I am currently in a science master's program with a 3.95.

She said due to my poor performance in undergrad, I will have a rough time gaining acceptance to many schools. Am I really out of luck? Or will schools take pity with an upward trend? Any schools in particular?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Catalystik]

Could we please not sidetrack the thread any further from addressing the OP's concerns about the impact of her GPAs on her med school chances?