A question about grade trends...

[Bacchus]

Posting this in pre-osteo because the "good users" from pre-allo only come over here (for the most part). The grades are going alright, but this semester I received my first C for my college career and it "tanked" my GPA. I was on a upward trend from 3.2 to 3.4 to 3.7 the past two semesters. Then, this semester I received a C in an upper level chem class (physical) and it dropped the GPA considerably. My question is, will the 17 credits of science this semester appear to someone as an "inability" to handle a hard course load due to the C and GPA drop. In addition, will it be questionable that I'm only taking 12 credits next semester (want to have a good amount of time to prep for the MCAT) and plan on getting a 4.0 for the semester (only 2 sciences)?

Offer me your advice, please.

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[RySerr21]

if you are really worried about the C messing up your GPA, i went to an osteopathic conference thing and the lady said if you retake a course and do better the second time around, they dont look at your first grade, they only consider the second one when calculating GPA. its just a matter of you wanting to retake the course.

as far as taking 12 credits while studying for the mcats. i dont think it will matter. it would be better to take 12, do well in all courses and do well on the MCAT. i dont imagine much sympathy from admissions peope if you get a low mcat score and you say "well i had a full course load." you konw? thats just speculation on my part. im in the same boat as you (junior year in my undergrad takin the mcat in may)

 

[DiverDoc]

Dont stress about a C. I have a tremendous upward GPA trend and IMO it helped gain me acceptances. I only took 13 hours during MCAT prep last year and no school I interviewed at mentioned it whatsoever.

 

[Bacchus]

Let me refine my concern. I was on an upward trend, then fell, and plan on going up again (because of an "easy" semester). Is it going to be peculiar to an adcom that I can hopefully pull a 4.0 with 12 credits but not 17 credits of pure science courses.

 

[noshie]

Let me refine my concern. I was on an upward trend, then fell, and plan on going up again (because of an "easy" semester). Is it going to be peculiar to an adcom that I can hopefully pull a 4.0 with 12 credits but not 17 credits of pure science courses.

I dont know the answer to that, but I would think that it really would not matter. 17 hours of science in one semester seems kind of excessive to me and I think that getting a C in one of the classes is not too big of a deal if you did really well in the rest of the classes. If you get a 4.0 next semester I bet they wont even notice. Most people cant even pull off a 4.0 in a 12 hour semester, let alone a 17 hour one, so I dont see it as being an issue.

 

[Jpc984]

How would a c in a class drop your gpa considerably, especially with 17 credits. What gpa did you get?

 

[Bacchus]

How would a c in a class drop your gpa considerably, especially with 17 credits. What gpa did you get?

I went from a 3.7 to 3.3 for the semester. 4-credit C .

 

[gasapple]

Ah, there was a time when I only hoped my GPA would move that markedly. I simply have over 170 credit hours (including undergrad as well as M.S.) so nothing moves very quickly. I'm a late bloomer.

You've got nothing to sweat, IMO. That "C" definitely isn't the end of the world or even a setback - I'd imagine it's unlikely it will even be noticed by an adcom. Now a "D" would probably be a different story...

 

[Bacchus]

First test was such an outlier from my other grades that it just made springing back difficult. Hmph. Thanks all.

 

[gasapple]

Keep looking forward. You'll be fine and come through golden if you keep that upward trend intact going forward. This one little hiccup is no problem and really isn't a blight considering it's an upper-level with other courses in the mix.

 

[PBL DO]

The grades are going alright, but this semester I received my first C for my college career and it "tanked" my GPA.

Then, this semester I received a C in an upper level chem class (physical) and it dropped the GPA considerably.

Because this is your first C in your college career, it is not going to significantly affect your ability to get into medical school IMO. Showing a positive grade trend is extremely important especially if you didn't do as well as you would have liked in a particular semester, so taking the low credit hour semester to ensure a 4.0 might not be a bad idea.

That said, they may ask you why you went with an easier course load, particularly after getting a C in Physical Chemistry. In Medical School you will be required to take upwards of 50+ semester hours so be prepared to explain the easier course load come interview time if that is what you decide.

It is in my experience that Physical Chemistry is not pinnacle in a pre-med's career. If you are really that worried about it the best you can do at this point would be to nail the MCAT and tell the schools to which you apply that the grade does not reflect your comprehension of the material and it shown by your high PS score on the MCAT, hopefully.

To sum it all up, IMO: One "C" is not at all devastating, doing well on the MCAT will help make up for the grade, taking an easier course load will look bad come interview time, especially if you are a junior or senior.

 

[Bacchus]

Because this is your first C in your college career, it is not going to significantly affect your ability to get into medical school IMO. Showing a positive grade trend is extremely important especially if you didn't do as well as you would have liked in a particular semester, so taking the low credit hour semester to ensure a 4.0 might not be a bad idea.

That said, they may ask you why you went with an easier course load, particularly after getting a C in Physical Chemistry. In Medical School you will be required to take upwards of 50+ semester hours so be prepared to explain the easier course load come interview time if that is what you decide.

It is in my experience that Physical Chemistry is not pinnacle in a pre-med's career. If you are really that worried about it the best you can do at this point would be to nail the MCAT and tell the schools to which you apply that the grade does not reflect your comprehension of the material and it shown by your high PS score on the MCAT, hopefully.

To sum it all up, IMO: One "C" is not at all devastating, doing well on the MCAT will help make up for the grade, taking an easier course load will look bad come interview time, especially if you are a junior or senior.

The reason I have 12 credit hours is because I already took a social science that fills the spot for next semester. I never did it intentionally, but plan on using the extra time for the MCAT.