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I just got the wonderful email from my professor just an hour ago.

My sGPA went down to a 3.2 from a 3.318. This is with 25 credits. I have yet to recieve my grade for lab for for Biology yet, but being realistic, my sGPA will likely end up being a 3.13.

I'm a rising second semester sophomore. I'm about to go off to christmas break for a month. What do I do in the meantime? Did I completely sever my chances for MD at this point in time?

I had a favorable upward trend in my grades, from Bs first semester freshman year to a few As the semester afterward. Now I'm back to where I started and I'm absolutely horrified and devastated.

I guess all I can say to start this off is that I don't know where I went wrong.
 
I got a C+ in OCHEM too and I am accepted to an MD school. Don’t worry about it too much. You have plenty of time to show that you can handle a med school curriculum. Learn the study techniques that work best for you and be diligent. Good luck
 
Breathe young grasshopper. You’re at 25 credits out of at least 120 to graduate. I had a 2.2 GPA after my first 20 credits, it’s not all over for you. You have time to turn it around and one prerequisite C+ will not kill you. Just make sure you study the Orgo 1 material for the MCAT when the time comes. MCAT orgo is WAY LESS HARD than actual class.
 
21Rush12 said:
Breathe young grasshopper. You’re at 25 credits out of at least 120 to graduate. I had a 2.2 GPA after my first 20 credits, it’s not all over for you. You have time to turn it around and one prerequisite C+ will not kill you. Just make sure you study the Orgo 1 material for the MCAT when the time comes. MCAT orgo is WAY LESS HARD than actual class.
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Thanks a lot for the advice. Sorry if the post came off as confusing, but I meant I had 25 credits of science classes, not in total. In total I will have 47 credits by the end of the semester. My cGPA is probably going to be around a 3.34.
 
WorriedOptimist said:
I just got the wonderful email from my professor just an hour ago.

My sGPA went down to a 3.2 from a 3.318. This is with 25 credits. I have yet to recieve my grade for lab for for Biology yet, but being realistic, my sGPA will likely end up being a 3.13.

I'm a rising second semester sophomore. I'm about to go off to christmas break for a month. What do I do in the meantime? Did I completely sever my chances for MD at this point in time?

I had a favorable upward trend in my grades, from Bs first semester freshman year to a few As the semester afterward. Now I'm back to where I started and I'm absolutely horrified and devastated.

I guess all I can say to start this off is that I don't know where I went wrong.
Click to expand...
calm down! You have plenty of time to recover. But you need to start getting A's and B's now. And more A's than B's at that. You don't need a 4.0 GPA to go to med school
 
Grades tend to go in cycles like this: poorly, recover, get cocky-> do poorly, recover (at least for me anyway). The biggest thing I did when I finished my freshman year off poorly was realize what I did wrong, realize that if someone else can do it I can too, and realize that the average GPA for medical school acceptance is a ~3.7 (not to freak you out). This got me motivated to do the best I could and by the end of undergrad I got there. You have plenty of time and honestly your grade trend over the next 2 years can really help.

Don't worry, just do better. Easy right?
 
How I see this story: you just put yourself in a position for dat sweeeet upward trend.

You have 75% of your credits still to go. Get As and improve your gpa by focusing on the mistakes you made. Everyone has a rough time adjusting to college, so get situated and do well now.

Remember though, your gpa won’t change if you keep doing the same thing. Identify what the problem is, and act on it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
First, grades are looked at by academic year, not by semester or quarter. You still have half of the academic year left to bring up Year 2.

Second, the most common trajectory for med student applicants is a curve that looks something like the Nike logo. The second year GPA is almost always the lowest with the fourth year being the highest and the first and third years being somewhat in-between. This is very predictable and not a deal breaker.

What made organic chem so challenging for you? (It is challenging for many people and almost always, in my experience, the lowest grade earned as an undergrad.) Spend break reviewing organic and getting your head around the concepts that didn't come easy to you. This is important because O Chem II will build on what you did in the first course. Beyond that, take some time to relax and enjoy the time off so that you get back to school ready to take on the new term.
 
21Rush12 said:
Breathe young grasshopper. You’re at 25 credits out of at least 120 to graduate. I had a 2.2 GPA after my first 20 credits, it’s not all over for you. You have time to turn it around and one prerequisite C+ will not kill you. Just make sure you study the Orgo 1 material for the MCAT when the time comes. MCAT orgo is WAY LESS HARD than actual class.
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I LOL'd at "young grasshopper"
 
Well you tried, but now its over, time to move on. With your grades, you MIGHT be able to get work in a slaughterhouse re-purposing sterilized hog entrails. If you're dead set on health care, you could seek out work on a floating oil rig applying salve to the roughnecks' virulent genitalia. That's the closest you'll get to being a doctor with a C+ on your transcript. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
 
I got a C in the first semester of physics, and felt very similarly devastated--like my med school dreams were over. I despaired for a couple of weeks over break, then kicked myself into high gear to figure out what went wrong and ended up getting a B+ in the second semester of physics. Now, I have an acceptance to med school. It's not over yet. Think about what happened and be honest with yourself about how you can improve your studying habits/think about places where you can get extra help and start the next semester fresh. But I totally get how you're feeling right now!!
 
LizzyM said:
First, grades are looked at by academic year, not by semester or quarter. You still have half of the academic year left to bring up Year 2.

Second, the most common trajectory for med student applicants is a curve that looks something like the Nike logo. The second year GPA is almost always the lowest with the fourth year being the highest and the first and third years being somewhat in-between. This is very predictable and not a deal breaker.

What made organic chem so challenging for you? (It is challenging for many people and almost always, in my experience, the lowest grade earned as an undergrad.) Spend break reviewing organic and getting your head around the concepts that didn't come easy to you. This is important because O Chem II will build on what you did in the first course. Beyond that, take some time to relax and enjoy the time off so that you get back to school ready to take on the new term.
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What would you say the "second lowest" graded course would be, if O-chem is first?
 
Robin-jay said:
What would you say the "second lowest" graded course would be, if O-chem is first?
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Probably physics. I hear premeds 1 year ahead of me moan about it all the time, but then again so do people with Ochem, and even Anatomy, which I still don’t understand how people think it’s hard.
 
Robin-jay said:
What would you say the "second lowest" graded course would be, if O-chem is first?
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It varies. But if someone has a J-curve (that's the technical name) in grades by year, it is almost always o-chem in the lowest year. That's why I think it is terrible for first year students to use AP chem to go straight into O-Chem. It can be demoralizing. Likewise, I've seen seniors with what looks like a downward trend and then I'll look and it will turn out that they took O-Chem as juniors.
 
Yep, that OChem stuff is challenging! (And awesome. All that IR and NMR stuff...I'm pretty sure it's all some sort of beautiful magic.) It would be nice if you'd earned something better than a C+ in OChem 1, but that's water under the bridge at this point and you shouldn't obsess over it. Let your disappointment galvanize you into action, not anxiety.

@LizzyM's advice is, as always, excellent. To review:
LizzyM said:
Spend break reviewing organic and getting your head around the concepts that didn't come easy to you.
Click to expand...
LizzyM said:
Beyond that, take some time to relax and enjoy the time off so that you get back to school ready to take on the new term.
Click to expand...
She didn't say to panic and try to relearn the entire course over break. Make your review a directed, high-yield one, focusing on the concepts that were most challenging for you. Compartmentalize things so you can be efficient during your review time but mentally present with your loved ones when you're not reviewing. (Learning that skill now will serve you well in med school and residency.)

LizzyM said:
That's why I think it is terrible for first year students to use AP chem to go straight into O-Chem.
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Nothing about that plan sounds good.
 
Thank you everybody for the advice. I guess what made it so challenging was the fact that it required a totally new and different type of thinking...the kind of stuff I guess I wasn’t ready for coming out of Gen Chem. I’m meeting my prof on Monday to see what I can do to prep for next semester and to see what went terribly wrong. The first test I did well on but then it went downhill.

Entering second semester sophomore year and thanks to all of you, I have faith that this will all work out. 47 credits after this semester so I have 60% of my credits to go. I am determined to fix this horrible mistake and will let this be the lowest grade I ever get.
 
I would not stress the single orgo grade and move on. You should stress some over your 3.2 GPA and consider how your going to increase to 3.4, 3.5, 3.6.
 
WorriedOptimist said:
Indeed I do—and yes he is still teaching but I’m with another teacher
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don't worry, friend. My appa leader got a 32 on Kelly's first exam and finished the semester with a B+, then got an A in the spring. Orgo is allllll about repetition. Make sure you're putting in 2-3 hours per day as a routine and you'll get it.

There are also really great resources for free tutoring. Sign up 24 hours in advance! It's an opportunity that I regretfully did not take advantage of in my earlier years.
 
Goro said:
calm down! You have plenty of time to recover. But you need to start getting A's and B's now. And more A's than B's at that.
"You don't need a 4.0 GPA to go to med school"
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Amen!
 
Learn from this about why you had a difficult time with it. These science courses are a lot of complex information quickly, similar to med school pre-clinical years. This is a signal that your study habits need to change. Visit your academic center and join a study group. Go to office hours early and regularly. Change up what you have been doing to prepare.

In the scheme of things, you'll be fine. Just learn from this to show med schools that you got the message that this grade was sending you.
 
I just skimmed the above replies so sorry if this is repetitive, but don't stress! I had a C+ and a C- in two science courses on my transcript, but I studied hard and did very well on the MCAT, retook the C- course and received a B, and have had 8 interviews and 2 acceptances so far this cycle. Granted, I completed my MPH before applying, but all of that is to say that I was incredibly concerned that my ~3.2 sGPA would spoil my chances at medical school and it didn't. You just need to show that you have the skills/competency to succeed in scientific coursework, which can be demonstrated on the MCAT and by retaking courses and getting a better grade. Also when you *do* get those interviews, be prepared to clearly and concisely explain what happened to result in that grade, and what you learned from that experience that will help you succeed in medical school (e.g., study skills, balancing ECs with academics, etc.).
 
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