- Joined
- Aug 10, 2004
- Messages
- 355
- Reaction score
- 0
i originally started on this thread to ask about my gpa, so if youre in a rush, just skip down to the bottom, but please read everything if you can, id really love some advice/reassurance.
~~you may skip this next part if you really really wish~~
how did i come to have my current gpa? well, I have ~3.38 (not absolutely sure, and i have no way of checking just yet)...
Upon arriving at university, i had this silly notion that i would learn everything and anything under the sun, if i'd had my way id have 10 majors, a professional student if you will. i just love to learn. a good outlook i suppose, but not for a premed. Ive carried a max+ courseload ever since (so i suppose i still have the remnants of that silly outlook, but ive slowly come to realize i cant have everything, and that i needed to decide what i wanted to do with my life and do what it takes to acheive that... I chose to become a doctor, as i bet many of you have guessed).
right, so freshman year i took 3 bios + labs, 2 chems + labs, 2 calcs, anthropology, english, history, and philosophy... and of course in order to learn the most you must surely seek out the best teachers (aka the hard ones who dont like giving As)... sophomore year was similar, 2 bios, 2 orgos, 2 physics all with labs, art history, english, 2 histories, and 2 spanish + research... in the end, coming in with no AP credits, i could graduate a year early, but ive decided not to, instead i'm pick up history as a second major (in addition to cell/molecular bio) which will allow me to take the languages i want (i am working on spanish, french, and german) and have more time to complete some ongoing research projects, it will allow to graduate with departmental honors plus i can take all the philosophy and english courses i want.
taking so many courses, and so many with big numbers so early on wasnt what did my gpa in, it was my family situation. my parents were divorced at the end of high school, it wasnt pretty... just as i was moving in freshman year my dad kicked us out of our house, i luckily had a dorm room (though i wasnt able to spend much time in it, either year), but my family was homeless for a couple of weeks. finally my grandparents decided this was a worthy enough cause to inconvenience themselves, so they sold their house and bought one that we could all cram into (cram=me my brother and sister all sharing a room). during this time and still as we speak my mother has been battling severe depression (with suicide scares happening often freshman year, things quieted down with her second year), the same with my sister, who is 11.. my brother held up ok, hes on medication also, but not nearly as bad as the others... so that leaves me to be sane and keep everyone else sane and mediate between my mother and father (who couldnt have been more cruel during this entire time, but i wont get into that, lets just leave it that he was). my mother went back to college to get a degree, a sacrafice we all chose to make, live a poor poor life for a few years in exchange for a better one down the line, but its not easy.. my grandfather also started with severe severe demensia and depression during sophomore year. there were quite a few times during the year that i had to drive home to help my brother wrestle him into the van to take him to the hospital, or else help the EMTs. there is quite a bit more to tell, but i dont want to waste your time nor get tooo personal, anyway, on top of that, my dog died, not such a big deal you might say, but it was amazinly important to me, and came at a really bad time..... yea, so im still sane, how i dont know.
but like i said my gpa isnt the greatest. never gotten lower than a B though, thank god.... ive thought about ways of putting my family situation into essays or my ps etc, but havent thought of a tasteful way that will get in why i want to be a doctor etc. my grandfathers depression is partially a consequence of his anesthesia not metabolizing correctly during an operation, and some foul decisions by some of his doctors prior and after that. its made me take a good look at the quality of care given to the elderly, and its not a pretty picture, especially the lack of communication.
ive thought about marking down disadvantaged status, which isnt lying, we are well below the poverty line right now, have been since my dad left, and were when i was little too, in HS i paid my own tuition for private school along with my sisters grammar school tuition (publics are terrible around here), i have been almost totally self sufficient since 15, though i didnt start paying for all of my own food till 18. that would hopefully get it brought up in interviews, and allow my ps etc to cover other things as well.
also, events during freshman year really prevented me from getting involved, fall semester i was moving my family in and out of houses and apartments constantly, plus other issues. so it wasnt until second year that i did anything substantial (research, and some leadership etc)
junior year was supposed to be my year of gpa comeback, straight As for sure, pulling my gpa up to a 3.5+... then hurricane katrina hit, tearing my life, house and family to pieces. my immediate family is all ok, my house is slightly livable, being rebuilt as we speak, but my family had recovered some from depression, but now theyre back down to a low point. Im now across the country taking a couple of classes and working in a lab, trying to stay sane (which is a bit easier as im not at home) and making some money for the family.
thoughts??? its just that all this has affected me greatly, and i kinda think its something i should let them know, i dont want to sound like i'm making excuses, but i suppose at some level i am, but am i wrong to? is my life a worthy excuse?
~~ok, start reading again~~
ok ok, i'll stop whining about my life, and get back to the gpa question. My gpa HAS been affected by my life events, all years by my family, and this one by katrina. Im making good grades here, but none of these courses will go on my university transcript with grades, tulane is counting them as P/F only. i dont know if i'll need to send in a transcript from the college im attending now or not, maybe that will help with the situation and help bring my gpa up, but if they are only counted as P/F, will they take that into account at all when deciding on who to interview? as i wont have had a full junior year to bring it up, especially if i get all As second semester?
~~you may skip this next part if you really really wish~~
how did i come to have my current gpa? well, I have ~3.38 (not absolutely sure, and i have no way of checking just yet)...
Upon arriving at university, i had this silly notion that i would learn everything and anything under the sun, if i'd had my way id have 10 majors, a professional student if you will. i just love to learn. a good outlook i suppose, but not for a premed. Ive carried a max+ courseload ever since (so i suppose i still have the remnants of that silly outlook, but ive slowly come to realize i cant have everything, and that i needed to decide what i wanted to do with my life and do what it takes to acheive that... I chose to become a doctor, as i bet many of you have guessed).
right, so freshman year i took 3 bios + labs, 2 chems + labs, 2 calcs, anthropology, english, history, and philosophy... and of course in order to learn the most you must surely seek out the best teachers (aka the hard ones who dont like giving As)... sophomore year was similar, 2 bios, 2 orgos, 2 physics all with labs, art history, english, 2 histories, and 2 spanish + research... in the end, coming in with no AP credits, i could graduate a year early, but ive decided not to, instead i'm pick up history as a second major (in addition to cell/molecular bio) which will allow me to take the languages i want (i am working on spanish, french, and german) and have more time to complete some ongoing research projects, it will allow to graduate with departmental honors plus i can take all the philosophy and english courses i want.
taking so many courses, and so many with big numbers so early on wasnt what did my gpa in, it was my family situation. my parents were divorced at the end of high school, it wasnt pretty... just as i was moving in freshman year my dad kicked us out of our house, i luckily had a dorm room (though i wasnt able to spend much time in it, either year), but my family was homeless for a couple of weeks. finally my grandparents decided this was a worthy enough cause to inconvenience themselves, so they sold their house and bought one that we could all cram into (cram=me my brother and sister all sharing a room). during this time and still as we speak my mother has been battling severe depression (with suicide scares happening often freshman year, things quieted down with her second year), the same with my sister, who is 11.. my brother held up ok, hes on medication also, but not nearly as bad as the others... so that leaves me to be sane and keep everyone else sane and mediate between my mother and father (who couldnt have been more cruel during this entire time, but i wont get into that, lets just leave it that he was). my mother went back to college to get a degree, a sacrafice we all chose to make, live a poor poor life for a few years in exchange for a better one down the line, but its not easy.. my grandfather also started with severe severe demensia and depression during sophomore year. there were quite a few times during the year that i had to drive home to help my brother wrestle him into the van to take him to the hospital, or else help the EMTs. there is quite a bit more to tell, but i dont want to waste your time nor get tooo personal, anyway, on top of that, my dog died, not such a big deal you might say, but it was amazinly important to me, and came at a really bad time..... yea, so im still sane, how i dont know.
but like i said my gpa isnt the greatest. never gotten lower than a B though, thank god.... ive thought about ways of putting my family situation into essays or my ps etc, but havent thought of a tasteful way that will get in why i want to be a doctor etc. my grandfathers depression is partially a consequence of his anesthesia not metabolizing correctly during an operation, and some foul decisions by some of his doctors prior and after that. its made me take a good look at the quality of care given to the elderly, and its not a pretty picture, especially the lack of communication.
ive thought about marking down disadvantaged status, which isnt lying, we are well below the poverty line right now, have been since my dad left, and were when i was little too, in HS i paid my own tuition for private school along with my sisters grammar school tuition (publics are terrible around here), i have been almost totally self sufficient since 15, though i didnt start paying for all of my own food till 18. that would hopefully get it brought up in interviews, and allow my ps etc to cover other things as well.
also, events during freshman year really prevented me from getting involved, fall semester i was moving my family in and out of houses and apartments constantly, plus other issues. so it wasnt until second year that i did anything substantial (research, and some leadership etc)
junior year was supposed to be my year of gpa comeback, straight As for sure, pulling my gpa up to a 3.5+... then hurricane katrina hit, tearing my life, house and family to pieces. my immediate family is all ok, my house is slightly livable, being rebuilt as we speak, but my family had recovered some from depression, but now theyre back down to a low point. Im now across the country taking a couple of classes and working in a lab, trying to stay sane (which is a bit easier as im not at home) and making some money for the family.
thoughts??? its just that all this has affected me greatly, and i kinda think its something i should let them know, i dont want to sound like i'm making excuses, but i suppose at some level i am, but am i wrong to? is my life a worthy excuse?
~~ok, start reading again~~
ok ok, i'll stop whining about my life, and get back to the gpa question. My gpa HAS been affected by my life events, all years by my family, and this one by katrina. Im making good grades here, but none of these courses will go on my university transcript with grades, tulane is counting them as P/F only. i dont know if i'll need to send in a transcript from the college im attending now or not, maybe that will help with the situation and help bring my gpa up, but if they are only counted as P/F, will they take that into account at all when deciding on who to interview? as i wont have had a full junior year to bring it up, especially if i get all As second semester?
