a question for those who used to get Cs and Bs students in undergrad

[youngjock]

How did you change yourself, attitude, study habit in order to where you are now?

For me, I want to get good grades on all classes
it seems that I can get good grades on easy classes,
but not on those hard classes.

easy classes are those that I can just read the notes, and get good grades.
hard classes are those that no matter how many times I read the notes,
the questions always seem to be beyond the simple 1+1 = 2 style.

So how did you change yourself in order to get into med. school?

Thanks.

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[laavp]

Youngjock:

I was in the same boat as you are in now. I got a 2.2 freshman year in college, and by fall of senior year I had a 4.0 . It was an uphill battle that did not happen overnight. My undergrad cum is a 3.29 (with AACOMAS calculations ). My main problem were my science grades! I had a 2.5 science GPA undergrad and so I decided to do a postbaac at the same college I graduated from. Even my postbaac first year was not stellar, I got Bs both semesters of Orgo. But this past fall I managed to pull a B+ in Physiology and Orgo. lab and this semester I am getting an A in Biochem. My postbaac premed GPA is a 3.1-3.2 (far better than a pitiful 2.5!) I am not sure that would be strong enough for MD schools, but my state DO school admissions office said I had some nice trends. Sometimes it takes peristence and time. That was my case. Good luck.
Laavp

 

[Doc Wiz]

Youngjock,
You have recieved some good advice from the other posts.
It depends on what is holding you back. If it is test anxiety the treatment is one thing. If it is reading comprehension another. Usually,in the more difficult courses it is simply a matter of memorizing a large amount of information.
I found that often I had to stop trying to "learn" the material. It was more beneficial to give the professors the answers they wanted. In a word, regurgitate. To clarify, study to pass the exam rather than learning all you can about the subject. I know, it sucks and goes against all I believe in, but sometimes one has to do whatever it takes. Lee

 

[melancholy]

Youngjock,
When you say "read the notes" do you mean learn and understand the material or memorize it for the exam? I got the sense that some of your more difficult professors ask questions that go beyond the "repeat-back-to-me" type answers. If that is the case, really learning and _understanding_ the material makes a huge difference. I find if I understand the material the first time around, it becomes much easier to memorize and I have a slightly better chance of guessing questions if I know what they are talking about.

It seemed like for a few courses, I was able to do one or the other and get by fine.. either memorize it all or understand it all, but I think life gets easier if you can do both. Granted I'm not the best note taker and I can't comprehend everything in class, but I just try to see if I understand everything coming out of the professor's mouth (if I don't get something, I'll put a question mark next to it and go and ask about it later. You can also do this with a TA in undergrad and I do recommend getting help from fellow students or TA's.. that's what they're there for!) Even if it is the night before the exam and I'm looking over notes, I'll find I remember certain points here and there and all I have to do is memorize it instead of spending time trying to comprehend it for the first time.

Sorry that was a bit drawn out but hopefully it helps.