0.13 GPA drop

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ditritium monoxide

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Hey, I have a question. It looks like my gpa is going to be a 3.87 this semester after getting B's in 3 of my four classes and an A in the other. This is probably the worst semester I've had academically mainly because I committed to too many things. Is this sudden drop going to be a problem for most med schools? I'm a junior by the way.
 
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Look man, just seeing my grades in this semester only, it's not looking great. I guess I'm more concerned about how bad this semester will damage me not just in terms of numbers but from med schools simply looking at the trend in performance.
 
I think almost everyone has a bad semester. Life happens, we get really busy, etc, etc. You can't go back and change your past performance, but how you do on any upcoming tests is up to you and your upcoming semesters are clean slates. Study efficiently to do as well as you can on any remaining finals, and spend some serious time over break deciding which ECs you want to keep up with. If you want to maintain all of them, you need to rework your study schedules so that this does not happen again. My sophomore year, I had a horrible semester. But, with reflection, I was able to bounce back. It's do-able, but it needs work and dedication. If you have a small dip, it's not the end of the world. Just use it as a motivating factor and work to finish with a upward trend.
 
walloobi said:
OP got a 3.25. If s/he keeps that up, he/she will be in trouble by application time. Really not that bad of a question, downward trends are red flags.
Click to expand...

#1 Thread is about a single semester drop.
#2 Single data point is not a trend.
#3 If s/he maintains perfect grades, they will end up with a 3.9+ GPA. But, that is not relevant to this thread, just like your example.
#4 If s/he gets hit by a meteor, they will be dead and his/her GPA won't matter. But, again, not relevant to this thread, just like your example.

I mean we can all sit here spouting off what ifs that have obvious outcomes. Doesn't make the underlying fact that needing help understanding on this reflects poorly.
 
mimelim said:
#1 Thread is about a single semester drop.
#2 Single data point is not a trend.
#3 If s/he maintains perfect grades, they will end up with a 3.9+ GPA. But, that is not relevant to this thread, just like your example.
#4 If s/he gets hit by a meteor, they will be dead and his/her GPA won't matter. But, again, not relevant to this thread, just like your example.

I mean we can all sit here spouting off what ifs that have obvious outcomes. Doesn't make the underlying fact that needing help understanding on this reflects poorly.
Click to expand...
A drastic change in performance is something to be concerned about. I didn't say that a single data point is a trend, but it can become one if OP doesn't step it up. 3 B's is probably not a fluke, there's likely something going on that has changed OP's academic performance from well above average to well below average, and s/he should try to identify it and correct it as quickly as possible.

After a sudden significant decrease in performance, it's reasonable to consider continued poor performance as a very realistic possibility. I don't know how you think that's similar to getting hit by a meteor, which is not a realistic possibility.
 
Jesus SDN is a bunch of salty folk. Yea a 3.87 might be great and stupid to complain about in your books but to a 4.0 student it's a pretty hard hit, no matter what he "eventually will get after this fluke". My god. We all ask for empathy for low GPA students or consistently bad performers to make them feel good, but your crappy performance does not make OP's drop any less deserving of attention to him. If you have nothing but salt to share, leave the thread.

OP: if there's nothing you can do about it at this point you'll just have to accept the 3.87, but use this as motivation to work harder or smarter or whatever you need to in future semesters.
 
droidz said:
Jesus SDN is a bunch of salty folk. Yea a 3.87 might be great and stupid to complain about in your books but to a 4.0 student it's a pretty hard hit, no matter what he "eventually will get after this fluke". My god. We all ask for empathy for low GPA students or consistently bad performers to make them feel good, but your crappy performance does not make OP's drop any less deserving of attention to him. If you have nothing but salt to share, leave the thread.

OP: if there's nothing you can do about it at this point you'll just have to accept the 3.87, but use this as motivation to work harder or smarter or whatever you need to in future semesters.
Click to expand...

People talk about sdn like it's a place where everyone is really snooty and will ostracize you if you aren't high performing, but I've noticed that people give helpful optimistic advice to those who have consistently struggled, and others who have struggled less asking for similar advice just get childishly trolled.
 
Your neuroticism is far more worrisome than your imagined academic decline.

ditritium monoxide said:
Hey, I have a question. It looks like my gpa is going to be a 3.87 this semester after getting B's in 3 of my four classes and an A in the other. This is probably the worst semester I've had academically mainly because I committed to too many things. Is this sudden drop going to be a problem for most med schools? I'm a junior by the way.
Click to expand...
 
3 B's + 1 A = bad grades. It's not neurotic to be worried about getting bad grades. Worrying is a useful tool to motivate improvement.
 
ditritium monoxide said:
How so? All I'm trying to figure out is how detrimental this sudden drop is going to be.
Click to expand...

droidz said:
Jesus SDN is a bunch of salty folk. Yea a 3.87 might be great and stupid to complain about in your books but to a 4.0 student it's a pretty hard hit, no matter what he "eventually will get after this fluke". My god. We all ask for empathy for low GPA students or consistently bad performers to make them feel good, but your crappy performance does not make OP's drop any less deserving of attention to him. If you have nothing but salt to share, leave the thread.

OP: if there's nothing you can do about it at this point you'll just have to accept the 3.87, but use this as motivation to work harder or smarter or whatever you need to in future semesters.
Click to expand...

ditritium monoxide said:
People talk about sdn like it's a place where everyone is really snooty and will ostracize you if you aren't high performing, but I've noticed that people give helpful optimistic advice to those who have consistently struggled, and others who have struggled less asking for similar advice just get childishly trolled.
Click to expand...

I know that this may be hard for you to understand, but succeeding in medicine is about a heck of a lot more than doing well in classes. Developing as an individual and as a professional is as big a prerequisite as grades. While they may not block someone from getting into medical school because of how our system is setup, they certainly will be major road blocks down the line. No where in this thread are you being trolled. No where is anyone even being remotely close to being mean. You are getting real feedback from educators. Maybe it isn't what you want to hear. Maybe you have lived a sheltered life where your parents and teachers coddle you and tell you only nice things. That isn't how it works in the real world. I am sorry that you are so easily offended by feedback about your queries.

walloobi said:
3 B's + 1 A = bad grades. It's not neurotic to be worried about getting bad grades. Worrying is a useful tool to motivate improvement.
Click to expand...

So is being introspective and thinking about one's situation outside of a single dimension. Failing to understand that there is more at play than grades is of higher concern to someone with a 3.87 than a single semester of poor grades. The solution after a single semester of poor grades is obvious to every single person in this thread including you and the OP. Do better. The how is even highlighted in the original post, cut back on ECs and refocus. You don't need a thread in order to figure that out. While making this thread the OP has highlighted some obvious, fairly common pathology among pre-meds. Someone of us who have been around this process for long enough are going to point it out.
 
mimelim said:
So is being introspective and thinking about one's situation outside of a single dimension. Failing to understand that there is more at play than grades is of higher concern to someone with a 3.87 than a single semester of poor grades. The solution after a single semester of poor grades is obvious to every single person in this thread including you and the OP. Do better. The how is even highlighted in the original post, cut back on ECs and refocus. You don't need a thread in order to figure that out. While making this thread the OP has highlighted some obvious, fairly common pathology among pre-meds. Someone of us who have been around this process for long enough are going to point it out.
Click to expand...
Now you're just arguing against a straw man; everyone understands that there's more at play than grades. Being worried and introspective aren't mutually exclusive. OP is allowed to worry about the negative impact of a bad semester while simultaneously understanding the multidimensional nature of med school admissions.
 
mimelim said:
I know that this may be hard for you to understand, but succeeding in medicine is about a heck of a lot more than doing well in classes. Developing as an individual and as a professional is as big a prerequisite as grades. While they may not block someone from getting into medical school because of how our system is setup, they certainly will be major road blocks down the line. No where in this thread are you being trolled. No where is anyone even being remotely close to being mean. You are getting real feedback from educators. Maybe it isn't what you want to hear. Maybe you have lived a sheltered life where your parents and teachers coddle you and tell you only nice things. That isn't how it works in the real world. I am sorry that you are so easily offended by feedback about your queries.



So is being introspective and thinking about one's situation outside of a single dimension. Failing to understand that there is more at play than grades is of higher concern to someone with a 3.87 than a single semester of poor grades. The solution after a single semester of poor grades is obvious to every single person in this thread including you and the OP. Do better. The how is even highlighted in the original post, cut back on ECs and refocus. You don't need a thread in order to figure that out. While making this thread the OP has highlighted some obvious, fairly common pathology among pre-meds. Someone of us who have been around this process for long enough are going to point it out.
Click to expand...


I'm grateful for the feedback I got. Just a few of the posts qualified for trolling in my opinion, and I was saying I've seen similar responses in similar threads.

Not sure how you got the vibe that I've disregarded individual and professional development or all the other stuff you proposed, but I'll bear all of that in mind.
 
Last edited:
It will be a problem for all medical schools

Will it hurt you as bad as you think...probably not. Commit yourself to being a good student next semester and stop doing everything else if your grades are declining.
 
doctorbob23 said:
It will be a problem for all medical schools

Will it hurt you as bad as you think...probably not. Commit yourself to being a good student next semester and stop doing everything else if your grades are declining.
Click to expand...
Your website is awesome! Your life story is compelling too. Congrats on the turnaround and the success 🙂
 
Medical schools view downward trends unfavorably. However, keep in mind medical schools view the year GPA, not the semester GPA. I think I've read here before it's typical for students to have a GPA trend similar to a V.
 
Side note - how much do you think a semester GPA of 3.4 would impact an application that has already been submitted when the GPA at submission was 3.85? Between traveling for interviews as well as personal difficulties, I've seen a drop in my grades this semester. Do you think a 3.4 this semester will largely impact my application if I just interviewed in the last 2 weeks?


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illinimed said:
Side note - how much do you think a semester GPA of 3.4 would impact an application that has already been submitted when the GPA at submission was 3.85? Between traveling for interviews as well as personal difficulties, I've seen a drop in my grades this semester. Do you think a 3.4 this semester will largely impact my application if I just interviewed in the last 2 weeks?


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Click to expand...
Nah, all you really need to do is pass your classes if you've already been accepted
 
illinimed said:
Side note - how much do you think a semester GPA of 3.4 would impact an application that has already been submitted when the GPA at submission was 3.85? Between traveling for interviews as well as personal difficulties, I've seen a drop in my grades this semester. Do you think a 3.4 this semester will largely impact my application if I just interviewed in the last 2 weeks?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...
Brooooooo welcome to my world
 
Thank god, I've already been accepted somewhere, but unfortunately I'm still waiting back on other schools so I'm hoping that my current semester's grades don't hurt me too much


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illinimed said:
Thank god, I've already been accepted somewhere, but unfortunately I'm still waiting back on other schools so I'm hoping that my current semester's grades don't hurt me too much


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Click to expand...
How would they even find out what your grades are?
 
I'll have to send them end of term grades once all of mine are finalized. I applied to Texas schools which use a match system, so chances are they'll see my grades by the Feb match date, I assume?


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illinimed said:
I'll have to send them end of term grades once all of mine are finalized. I applied to Texas schools which use a match system, so chances are they'll see my grades by the Feb match date, I assume?


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Click to expand...
Oh that's weird, I don't know anything about the Texas app system. You usually just have to send final transcripts after being accepted and before matriculating.
 
illinimed said:
Side note - how much do you think a semester GPA of 3.4 would impact an application that has already been submitted when the GPA at submission was 3.85? Between traveling for interviews as well as personal difficulties, I've seen a drop in my grades this semester. Do you think a 3.4 this semester will largely impact my application if I just interviewed in the last 2 weeks?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...

I got destroyed for two semesters as a sophomore/junior for a variety of reasons which really brought down my gpa (3.27 and a 3.24...not doing me favors) but your situation isnt nearly as bad, as you're applying so if you're interviewing, you've really got nothing to worry about, unless youre getting C's or failing courses. I wouldn't worry much about it.
 
We have a distaste for perfectionists.

They're always in our offices arguing over why their 96 score on the exam should actually be a 97.

They also end up trying to learn everything, and end up learning nothing.


droidz said:
Jesus SDN is a bunch of salty folk. Yea a 3.87 might be great and stupid to complain about in your books but to a 4.0 student it's a pretty hard hit, no matter what he "eventually will get after this fluke". My god. We all ask for empathy for low GPA students or consistently bad performers to make them feel good, but your crappy performance does not make OP's drop any less deserving of attention to him. If you have nothing but salt to share, leave the thread.
Click to expand...


Maybe on the Planet Zool, but here on Earth, a single semester like this is harmless. We don't look at grades semester by semester, but year by year.

3 B's + 1 A = bad grades. It's not neurotic to be worried about getting bad grades. Worrying is a useful tool to motivate improvement.
 
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