If your grades were this bad

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Iamnumber24

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If after you sophmore year you had 4 F's, 3 D's 3 C's 1 B and 2 A-'s and of those 2 repeats were taken and you got a C in both. this all being in your science classes through 42 credits what would you do? what would go through your mind? and if you knew sum1 in that situation what would you tell them?
 
Iamnumber24 said:
If after you sophmore year you had 4 F's, 3 D's 3 C's 1 B and 2 A-'s and of those 2 repeats were taken and you got a C in both. this all being in your science classes through 42 credits what would you do? what would go through your mind? and if you knew sum1 in that situation what would you tell them?
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I would make sure my next 100 credits had a 3.9+ average.
 
To get ready for a sunny 4 years in the Caribbean! (And not at one of the semi-legit ones either).
 
I would change my study habits and life style in general.
 
I'd get my **** together so I could at least walk out of college with a degree.
 
figure out what's wrong ---> fix it ---> retake D's and F's ----> Apply D.O.

easier said than done of course. 😉
 
Oh BOY!

First of all, don't panic because that hardly ever helps.

Second, do you know why this happened? What are your study skills? Do you ever study? Do you party too much? Do you think you may have a disability? Stuff like that...

Third, if you still whole heartedly want to be a doctor, work on your upward curve really well. If you get your GPA above a 3.0 somehow, a couple of medical schools may consider that upward trend and maybe forgive you. However, you would have to apply very broad.

Believe it or not, some there are people that are just like you and eventually get into medical school one day, sometimes first cycle. Don't give up just yet. Though, I think you just dug a really nasty hole, sorry. Hope you get out in one piece. :xf:
 
anbuitachi said:
be a nurse
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PA, CRNA, DO (retakes replace sucky grades 😉)

They all make really good pay and you still get the thrill of working in the medical field. Plus, I think there is less liability as well. But, if you have other reasons for WANTING to be, in particular, a doctor, then just work really really really hard next semester. Keep making no less than a few B's and get all A's in a post-bacc. You will eventually get in, if you make it happen.
 
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You will have to do much better in the upcoming semesters obviously.

My advice (having gone through a similar situation) is to be patient with your change. Realize that you can't go from being a 2.0 student to a 4.0 student over a few months. If you don't have patience, and think that you can, you might just totally give up after you realize that you can't.



I had a 2.1 after my first fresh and soph year.

So i looked at myself and realized i had to seriously change things. So i thought id shoot for a 3.5+ in my junior year. I thought i could just turn a switch on and all of a sudden have a great work ethic. This didnt happen. It was too much of a change to go from hardly studying at all to all of a sudden having a great work ethic.

I ended up getting a 2.7 or so both semesters in junior year.

My work ethic slowly improved.

Then i had a 3.2 my senior year, with a 3.4 in the semester that just ended.

Only now do i feel comfortable with my studying skills and work ethic.

So my cumulative GPA is now a 2.8. I am confident now that i have the work ethic to get A's and B's in any classes i take from this point on. So, next year i will be retaking courses (mostly pre-reqs from my fresh and soph year). I did the math, and if i get all A's and B's in these classes, i can end up with a 3.1 cGPA and a 3.2 sGPA on DO (AACOM) applications by the end of next year. Im lucky to have an above average MCAT for DO schools, so i think i can get in after next year.
 
I would graduate and become a high school science teacher.
 
I would go and live in another state, go to a different college, under a new name. start a fresh new beginning where no one knows who I am.
 
Omni said:
I would go and live in another state, go to a different college, under a new name. start a fresh new beginning where no one knows who I am.
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Jeez, he failed some courses, it's not like he killed someone in a barfight.

OP, is this medically related? This person needs to figure out if they even belong in college.
 
You need to get your priorities straight and study the right way. Don't listen to the crap 90% of people here give you. YOU HAVE to get a 3.8 or higher (if not 4.0) every quarter with tough biology classes.... You need to study a lot, go to office hours, read, with time anything can be done. You atleast have a good amount of your college still left....use it. Then do a post bac, if you can get your gpa at 3.3ish range (with a solid MCAT) you have a chance. Good luck
 
FuturaDocta said:
PA, CRNA, DO (retakes replace sucky grades 😉)

They all make really good pay and you still get the thrill of working in the medical field. Plus, I think there is less liability as well. But, if you have other reasons for WANTING to be, in particular, a doctor, then just work really really really hard next semester. Keep making no less than a few B's and get all A's in a post-bacc. You will eventually get in, if you make it happen.
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Those grades will keep you out of nursing school as well, much less the PA and CRNA programs. Not saying that they are as competitive as med schools (they're not) but they still require decent grades, especially the graduate programs such as crna and pa.

To the OP, you're not dead in the water, but if I were in your situation, I would make serious changes to yuor study habits/lifestyle as other posters have said. I would also consider taking a year off and getting a job. Sometimes getting a crappy job can give you the motivation to study harder and perform better in school.
 
Poor OP.🙁
 
Advice to the OP. Don't listen to the people telling you to do nursing (unless you want to).

If you are interested in being a doctor, it can be done. Even a mod here (I think milkman or something) had a low gpa and got it. Granted he will tell you that it was a struggle and he had very good MCATs. But if I were you I would ace everything and stay away from this website until you are ready to apply.... then it'll be a good resource
 
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AdemTD said:
Oh come on now, it's no where near as competitive as MD/DO admissions, just for the simple fact that there are many more RN granting institutions.
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yes, but, I dont think nursing will accept a 1.7. I think the college puts people on probation if they have a 2.0 and less. Also a lot of people want to be a nurse now that economy is bad. Edit: lol not everyone, but those business majors (not offending anyone). I have a article on it. (they think it's easy money in nursing)
 
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take a year or two off. work in the real world with my high school degree. experience. go back to school



hopped up off the beddddd, turn my swag onnnnnnnnnnn, took a look in the mirror said whatsup. end up at med school
 
Yeah...well, I had a bunch of C's but no D's or F's. The OP is definitely in a much worse position than I was. OP, if you're interested in primary care or anesthesia, nursing might not be such an awful option. If you can retake those D's and F's and do well (A- or better), you'd stand a shot at DO acceptance. Don't give up just yet. You haven't taken enough credits to be really sunk, but you definitely have to step it up if you want to get into med school.
 
AdemTD said:
Oh come on now, it's no where near as competitive as MD/DO admissions, just for the simple fact that there are many more RN granting institutions.
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No one said it is. why don't you go try to get into a nursing program with less than a 3.0. you may get in somewhere, but most places, you won't even be waitlisted. Moreover, someone mentioned PA or CRNA programs, which are quite competitive, meaning they still probably will require a 3.0 to get in. I know this because a nurse I knew with a gpa in the high two's wouldn't even get a sniff from CRNA schools.

http://www.medi-smart.com/nursing-schools-reject.htm

Yeah, 30,000 qualified applicants get turned away from a non-competitive field of study.
 
Yeah...well, I had a bunch of C's but no D's or F's. The OP is definitely in a much worse position than I was.
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Not necessarily. If you have around half a dozen Ds and Fs you can easily retake the courses and be good to go for DO schools in under a year. With a ton of Cs (like I had) your only real option is to hope for a high MCAT followed by an SMP (like I did).

That being said, there needs to be some fixable reason why the OP was getting the Ds and Fs. If he/she can't fix the problem then medical school is obviously going to be out of reach.
 
First, think about if you're really ready to be a college student right now. I know a few people who basically flunked freshman year and then took a year (or two) off to re-evaluate what they wanted. Then they came back and found they were much more focused and into being a student.

If you are still committed to school, then figure out why you are failing/semi-failing and fix it. If you're partying too much--stop. If you're not doing the work--start. If you study but not efficiently--look into how you can study better. If you just felt overloaded--take a lighter course load.

Start getting good grades and then start thinking if medical school is still a viable option.
 
you guys are a bit too optimistic sometimes. MD is completely out of the question at this point. DO is not however, as they'll let you retake classes and drop the lower of the 2
 
parafilm said:
First, think about if you're really ready to be a college student right now. I know a few people who basically flunked freshman year and then took a year (or two) off to re-evaluate what they wanted. Then they came back and found they were much more focused and into being a student.
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This is really solid advice, and it's exactly what I did. I flunked my freshman year of college (all C's first semester, all F's second semester) and was dismissed from the university. I got a crappy, soul-draining minimum-wage job in the real world, realized I hate the real world, and now I'm going to a new university. Don't fall into the trap of telling yourself "I'll do better next semester, I'll do better next semester" and waiting for this great epiphany to come. If you're not hacking it, take a step away for a while and evalute what you're doing wrong. I repeat: don't keep telling yourself that you'll do better if it just ain't happening. Do something else for a while and come back to school.

Also, I don't really see why MD would be out of reach. Let's say, hypothetically, that you took a year or two off and prioritized your life. You come back and earn a 4.0 every semester until you graduate. That would be phenomenal, and as far as I'm concerned, would make you a very interesting applicant (obviously, I'm assuming here that you don't bomb the MCAT and that you have decent EC's). Hell, if I was an adcom at Yale, I'd think that was amazing...but, sadly, I'm not an adcom at Yale, so maybe I'm totally off base here.
 
buccsmf1 said:
you guys are a bit too optimistic sometimes. MD is completely out of the question at this point.
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I don't know that it's completely out of the question, but I agree with you after reevaluating OPs position.

Good (make that excellent) grades for the next two years could bring OPs GPA up to a not-horrible level. This might also take some post-bacc. With a good MCAT, OP could maybe get into an SMP and maybe then get into medical school.

But that's all very hypothetical. This kind of work is a radical change from 4 Fs and 3 Ds, and it's probably unlikely. But, the above post is evidence that it can happen, even if rarely.
 
I appreciate all the responses of support, encouragement, advice, and insight that everyone has written. Thank you. my overall gpa is 2.97 because I am nearly perfect in all my other courses. science is my most challenging classes but they are the classes that i love the most and i've shadowed and volunteered in doctors offices and hospitals and there is no place else that i wud rather be. i love the field of medicine and its very fascinating and interesting to me. my grades in science are just terrible and embarassing.
 
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Iamnumber24 said:
I appreciate all the responses of support, encouragement, advice, and insight that everyone has written. Thank you. my overall gpa is 2.97 because I am nearly perfect in all my other courses. science is my most challenging classes but they are the classes that i love the most and i've shadowed and volunteered in doctors offices and hospitals and there is no place else that i wud rather be. i love the field of medicine and its very fascinating and interesting to me. my grades in science are just terrible and embarassing.
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I think all this advice still applies. If you've tried changingn your study techniques for the sciences and that doesn't work, I would say science is not your strength and you should consider other careers. I know this sounds harsh, but if you're doing really well in other subjects, why not do what you're good at?
 
2.97 isnt even that bad. there's a lot of hope there.
 
scarletgirl777 said:
I know this sounds harsh, but if you're doing really well in other subjects, why not do what you're good at?
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I strongly disagree with this notion. You have to do what you love, period. Otherwise, you'll be miserable. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. I'm really good at learning languages, but I have no desire to become a linguist. Success will follow passion, so if the OP is passionate about medicine, s/he needs to be involved in the field in some way.

Now, does that mean I think the OP is cut out to be a medical doctor? I don't know nearly enough about his/her capabilities to assess that, but if s/he is having serious trouble with the basic science requirements, either his/her study habits are inefficient or s/he isn't cut out for med school. There are hundreds of different ways to be involved in medicine...being an MD is only one of them.
 
Iamnumber24 said:
I appreciate all the responses of support, encouragement, advice, and insight that everyone has written. Thank you. my overall gpa is 2.97 because I am nearly perfect in all my other courses. science is my most challenging classes but they are the classes that i love the most and i've shadowed and volunteered in doctors offices and hospitals and there is no place else that i wud rather be. i love the field of medicine and its very fascinating and interesting to me. my grades in science are just terrible and embarassing.
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O 2.97 isn't that terrible, when you listed your grades I thought you were in a much worse position. With 4.0 for 2 years, that gets you I'm sure to a 3.3-3.4. Although your science gpa might be difficult to bring up, but take lots of bio classes.....

I had a ****ty gpa my freshman year too, but that was b/c I slacked off. I aced every hard bio class you could think off after (endo, cardio, immuno, physio, neuro....u get the idea). But if you have a hard time with sciences, I would really think about why, b/c med school is pretty much all science

Do you try and still do poorly? or was it because you are lazy? study habits?
 
is that 2.97 counting forgiveness policies? unless the 4 F's and 3 D's were in lab classes, I don't see how with ~60 credits, you could have a 2.97 .
 
DeadliestSnatch said:
This is really solid advice, and it's exactly what I did. I flunked my freshman year of college (all C's first semester, all F's second semester) and was dismissed from the university. I got a crappy, soul-draining minimum-wage job in the real world, realized I hate the real world, and now I'm going to a new university.
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I did this too. Nothing is a better motivator than unloading trucks and stacking heavy ass boxes for $7.15/hour.
 
DeadliestSnatch said:
I strongly disagree with this notion. You have to do what you love, period. Otherwise, you'll be miserable. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. I'm really good at learning languages, but I have no desire to become a linguist. Success will follow passion, so if the OP is passionate about medicine, s/he needs to be involved in the field in some way.

Now, does that mean I think the OP is cut out to be a medical doctor? I don't know nearly enough about his/her capabilities to assess that, but if s/he is having serious trouble with the basic science requirements, either his/her study habits are inefficient or s/he isn't cut out for med school. There are hundreds of different ways to be involved in medicine...being an MD is only one of them.
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I agree with DeadliestSnatch. Maybe I am being self-serving, because I am in a similar situation. I had a rough go of it my first two years in college. I took about five years off to take a break from school and decide what i really want. It has made all the difference in the world. I am doing better now.

I think *most* adcoms take a serious look at trends. Their job is to pick the best candidates, and those are not necessarily the ones that have never had a grade below B. They won't take a person with a 2.8, but they are likely to a least consider someone in the 3.2-3.4 if the other parts of the application is there.

to the poster who said that we are too optimistic, I have a question. If you look through the msar, you will find many, many schools where the range for cgpa for matriculants is 3.4-4.0. If that is the case, how are these people getting in?

Yes, you need good numbers. Yes, it is extremely competitive. But ~40% matriculate somewhere, and I would put a decent wager that most of those do NOT have a 3.9. I'm not saying the odds a person gets in with a 3.2 is very high, but it is not impossible. The best way for the OP to improve his chances is to do whatever it takes to correct his/her problems (even if it means leaving school till he/she is ready) and have a stellar career here on out.
 
DeadliestSnatch said:
I strongly disagree with this notion. You have to do what you love, period. Otherwise, you'll be miserable. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. I'm really good at learning languages, but I have no desire to become a linguist. Success will follow passion, so if the OP is passionate about medicine, s/he needs to be involved in the field in some way.

Now, does that mean I think the OP is cut out to be a medical doctor? I don't know nearly enough about his/her capabilities to assess that, but if s/he is having serious trouble with the basic science requirements, either his/her study habits are inefficient or s/he isn't cut out for med school. There are hundreds of different ways to be involved in medicine...being an MD is only one of them.
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Yes, you should do what you love, but most people love many different things? If you're good at something and hate it, that's one thing, but I feel like people should aim for jobs that involve skills they are at least average at and that they enjoy using.
 
DeadliestSnatch said:
This is really solid advice, and it's exactly what I did. I flunked my freshman year of college (all C's first semester, all F's second semester) and was dismissed from the university. I got a crappy, soul-draining minimum-wage job in the real world, realized I hate the real world, and now I'm going to a new university. Don't fall into the trap of telling yourself "I'll do better next semester, I'll do better next semester" and waiting for this great epiphany to come. If you're not hacking it, take a step away for a while and evalute what you're doing wrong. I repeat: don't keep telling yourself that you'll do better if it just ain't happening. Do something else for a while and come back to school.

Also, I don't really see why MD would be out of reach. Let's say, hypothetically, that you took a year or two off and prioritized your life. You come back and earn a 4.0 every semester until you graduate. That would be phenomenal, and as far as I'm concerned, would make you a very interesting applicant (obviously, I'm assuming here that you don't bomb the MCAT and that you have decent EC's). Hell, if I was an adcom at Yale, I'd think that was amazing...but, sadly, I'm not an adcom at Yale, so maybe I'm totally off base here.
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This is dreaming. GPA and MCAT are the two most important aspect to gaining an acceptance. DO's school are the ones that will have some sympathy towards this, not MD schools for the most part. They have way too many applicants to make acceptions. you have under a 3.5 and 30 mcat your chances are slim (real world).
 
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Iamnumber24 said:
If after you sophmore year you had 4 F's, 3 D's 3 C's 1 B and 2 A-'s and of those 2 repeats were taken and you got a C in both. this all being in your science classes through 42 credits what would you do? what would go through your mind? and if you knew sum1 in that situation what would you tell them?
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Medicine is NOT for everyone. In fact, it's not for most people.
 
scarletgirl777 said:
Yes, you should do what you love, but most people love many different things? If you're good at something and hate it, that's one thing, but I feel like people should aim for jobs that involve skills they are at least average at and that they enjoy using.
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truth. you never really know if you are gonna love practicing medicine either. its really an assumption everyone is making at this stage w/ the hopes that their experiences translate/clue them in about their future.

I think if I were in the OPs shoes, I would take a year or two off, work. get focused for school. come back and start off by retaking some classes and continuing with a couple that I am good at. If I can turn my Fs into As, great - sets you up for DO schools or shows MD schools I've matured. If not, the added maturity over time hopefully makes me realize that I have to provide for myself after graduation.
 
Col Kurtz said:
Yes, you need good numbers. Yes, it is extremely competitive. But ~40% matriculate somewhere, and I would put a decent wager that most of those do NOT have a 3.9. I'm not saying the odds a person gets in with a 3.2 is very high, but it is not impossible. The best way for the OP to improve his chances is to do whatever it takes to correct his/her problems (even if it means leaving school till he/she is ready) and have a stellar career here on out.
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Yeah, but 60 percent do not matriculate and you're forgeting that most of them are probably just as qualified.
 
slick27 said:
Yeah, but 60 percent do not matriculate and you're forgeting that most of them are probably just as qualified.
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Just as qualified? You do realize that many people with MCAT scores of 20-27 apply, right? Would they be considered "just as qualified"?
 
I had a 3.8 and 29 with no md acceptances. I have friends with 30 mcats not get in.
 
slick27 said:
This is dreaming. GPA and MCAT are the two most important aspect to gaining an acceptance. DO's school are the ones that will have some sympathy towards this, not MD schools for the most part. They have way too many applicants to make acceptions. you have under a 3.5 and 30 mcat your chances are slim (real world).
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If I was talking about someone with a 3.5 and a 30, sure, I agree with you. But that wasn't the scenario I was describing. I was talking about someone who hypothetically bounces back from a few failures with a stellar performance. I see no reason why someone with a superior MCAT, a 3.0-3.5 GPA and great EC's/everything else shouldn't have a chance at MD schools---even, dare I say it, the top ones. You can't seriously tell me that adcoms are going to dismiss someone with a 3.2 and a 40 without investigating their record for a few seconds to check out their GPA trend.
 
depends if the 3.2 makes it thru the fliter. it might not. If you're a white guy it won't be good enough. you're forgeting that there is always someone better. There will be plenty of 3.7 + people with high mcats to pick from.
 
slick27 said:
depends if the 3.2 makes it thru the fliter. it might not. If you're a white guy it won't be good enough.
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Well, I'm a white chick and I hope it'll be good enough. Granted, these aren't my actual stats, but still. I wasn't even supposed to be allowed back to college after being dismissed from my first university, and look what happened, haha. There's almost always someone out there willing to take a chance on you if you can make a case for yourself, IMO.
 
DeadliestSnatch said:
Well, I'm a white chick and I hope it'll be good enough. Granted, these aren't my actual stats, but still. I wasn't even supposed to be allowed back to college after being dismissed from my first university, and look what happened, haha. There's almost always someone out there willing to take a chance on you if you can make a case for yourself, IMO.
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Go through the application process once and you'll see how impersonal it is. It is truely a numbers game. You can write the best essays, have the best story, etc...Got to have the numbers.
 
slick27 said:
This is dreaming. GPA and MCAT are the two most important aspect to gaining an acceptance. DO's school are the ones that will have some sympathy towards this, not MD schools for the most part. They have way too many applicants to make acceptions.
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Not quite dreaming. http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=606875

that chart shows that with a gpa of 3.2-3.39 you have a slightly higher than 1 in 5 chance of getting in. This assumes that the applicant is NOT a urm. if he/she is, then the chance goes up quite a bit. I know 20% is not a high percentage, but if you get a 30+ MCAT, you actually have a 47.7% (higher than the acceptance percentage for all applicants) chance of acceptance. The latter scenario does not control for urm, but even then, it is more than enough to show that such pessimism clearly isn't the case.

I agree that people should be realistic, but extreme pessimism isn't any better or more helpful than "dreaming."
 
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