a little worried about recent grades

[scarlet5565]

Hello, I'm sure this is a common situation posted on these boards, but I need advice to give myself some peace of mind. I am a electrical engineering graduate and did fairly well as a student (graduated with a 3.69) .

Anyway, I want to pursue medical school, ideally a M.D. program. Unfortunately I took bio recently since it was the only pre-req I haven't completed. I messed up and got a B and C+ in bio1 and bio2 respectfully. My BCMP is 3.61 and have a 3.63 overall now (compared to 3.69 before). Right now I am studying for mcats and trying my best to do really well on the bio section. My question is should I be worried ? Additionally, I going to the NIH soon and going to be in there post-bacc program for 1-2 years, so I was thinking of possibly taking upper level bio courses such as biochem and molecular bio while I am there, but even if I recieve an A in these courses I will go up to around 3.65ish I believe.

So anyway, my question is should I be worry and I did I royally screw myself ? Should I bother with a retake ? Should I take upper level bio coursework ? ugh...I have been stressing out because of this. Please help....any suggestions are much appreciated.

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[moneduloides]

any suggestions are much appericated.

Stop worrying.

 

[scarlet5565]

Stop worrying.

lol thanks...hard thing to do though

 

[Mobius1985]

You have a great GPA for an engineering major. Though your aggregate GPA is still fine, I'd agree with your concern about the impression that a C (really a C+) in Biology will leave in the minds of adcomms, considering you only took two bio classes. If you do well on the MCAT, and get an A in molecular biology, that should help relieve any concerns that you might not succeed in the intense, upper-level biology environment of med school.

 

[scarlet5565]

You have a great GPA for an engineering major. Though your aggregate GPA is still fine, I'd agree with your concern about the impression that a C (really a C+) in Biology will leave in the minds of adcomms, considering you only took two bio classes. If you do well on the MCAT, and get an A in molecular biology, that should help relieve any concerns that you might not succeed in the intense, upper-level biology environment of med school.

Thanks for this reply. Anyway, I make a long story short. When I took bio1,bio2 I got side track I was working intensely with this professor at Rutgers expanding on our senior project. My school wanted to start a pilot entrepreneurial program where they select a group of students (engineering) and help them expand into a full fledged company by providing them business training and start-up capital. Anyway, we were work working under the professor who was the director of this program (or tentative director rather). Unfortunately, there was a lot of political B.S. that occurred and our support was suddenly dropped. So while I was taking my bio class I was working extensively on this "program" and working full time as well as an engineer. So I lost track since I was dreaming big on and working on becoming a little start up company.

While I know this not a legitimate excuse to do poorly...it is what happened and unfortunately I cannot change that now. Even if I have to explain the C+ on during interviews I want to keep the explanation minimal and really do not want to bring up this story.

But, anyway as I said I will be at the NIH soon and plan on taking upper level bio course work. But you (or anyone) believe that this should somehow balance this out ? I figure I should do this anyway since some schools require additional bio besides bio1,bio2. Despite doing poorly in bio...on a side note my gpa showed a positive trend throughout college (3.5 freshmen year to eventually 3.95 last semester of senior year, and overal 3.69 and graduated summa cum laude) and than I took bio where as you know I messed up. Thanks again...and again anything anyone can add will give me some piece of mind.

 

[Mobius1985]

I will be at the NIH soon and plan on taking upper level bio course work. But you (or anyone) believe that this should somehow balance this out ? I figure I should do this anyway since some schools require additional bio besides bio1,bio2.

If you get an A in one upper-level bio course, it will be reassuring. If you take three upper-level bio courses and get As, it will prove the C+ in Bio II was a fluke. If I were you, I'd take whatever available opportunities they provide to demonstrate your proficiency in biology classes, as it can only help you. A huge advantage you have is that the rest of your academic record speaks for you, that you will likely be successful at difficult coursework.