Am I doing okay?

[UCLABruin]

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Hi, I just finished my freshman year at UCLA and am hoping that my first year GPA is okay. I ended up with a 3.5. I am not sure if I am doing well enough in the sciences. I got a B- in general chem (first quarter), a B+ in general chem (second quarter), and an A in organic this last quarter. I have taken two quarters of math and got an A- in each of them. In the two chem. labs (winter quarter and spring quarter), I got a B and a B+. That is all of the science that I have taken so far. Are all of the B's going to hurt me? (Specifically, the B- that I got in the first quarter.) Thanks for any help. 🙂

 

[freakazoid]

Do some volunteer work, and some research, and improve your GPA. Grades in inorganic and organice seem good enough, though in the greater scheme of things, there are more important things you should worry about. Find some experiences that'll show that you're a good person and care about people. Show some leadership. Empathy. Motivation. Oh, and study for the MCAT. It's probably as important as your overall GPA, and much more important than what you get in any one class. Good luck. 🙂

 

[Jalby]

I think it might be time to hang it up.

 

[RSQ 1der]

i am an ex bruin too, so here are my suggestions...

first off, don't listen to what anyone says, your grades are not bad! i know how hard those classes are, especially since it is so easy to snooze and get lost in a sea of 300 faces.

from what i understand, med schools take improvement into consideration, so that is great that you are improving in chem! keep it up though, jr and sr years are way harder than you could imagine, especially if you are a science major.

what is your major by the way?

office hours!!!! these are so important. profs at ucla, in general, are so super busy and overloaded, that you should really make that effort to go to office hours and get to know them. also, your TA is invaluable!!! especially if you want a letter of rec. for that class.

you should think about letters now! get your file started with the career center, then ask profs for letters right after the class. this will take some polite badgering, and notes from your TA will help out too. don't be shy about this! i waited way too long on this, and am now paying the price.

like my phy sci advisor used to say, if you really want to be a doctor, it will happen.

pm me if you have any q's and want any advice from someone who may or may not know what they are talking about :wink:

 

[rainmkre]

dude you're screwed...B's are horrible...i don't know if any med schools are going to accept you...

 

[Alli Cat]

Hey, cut the OP some slack. He/she is just a first-year student, probably used to getting straight A's in high school (am I right, UCLABruin? 🙂 ). Of COURSE a straight-A transcript is ideal, but very few people can do that, and med schools know it. On the other hand, while getting B+ in all your premed science reqs sounds pretty good, that's a 3.3bcpm, and you want more than that.

I agree that your upward trend is good (way to rock O-chem!) and the fact that your B- was in the first quarter could signify adjustment to college, which is tricky.

Regarding upper division science classes: if you are a science major, upper division science classes will not necessarily be tougher for you. I found that Gen Chem and O Chem were boring and thus I had a hard time putting effort in. I actually got better sci grades once I got into upper division, where I was learning about what I like--Molecular Biology.

You'll be fine! I wish I had started thinking about med school as early as you are. Good luck!

~Alison

 

[kidsmd]

I agree that the upward trend is good. And I know those G. Chem professors at UCLA can be tough, being a past-Bruin myself.

ANd YES, definitely start worrying about letters of recs. I so regret that I didn't start thinking about all this stuff earlier; now I'm just scrambing to get them all.

 

[rajneel1]

you are not out of the game yet. but you need to bring up those grades, get to know faculty members, and do some extraordinary things.

 

[kafshar]

Hey UCLABruin,

Dont sweat it. Just do better from now on. You will be fine. I graduated from UCLA. I got a B- in Math 32A my 2nd quarter at UCLA and thought that was a very bad thing for medical school admissions.

Then I got a B- in Math 32B, and C in Math 33A and a C in Math 33B. Not to mention four other C's I got on my DPR (3 of them in 1 quarter). I also had 2 withdrawals in week #9 (the following quarter).

I ended up with 9 interviews out of 31 schools I applied to. Accepted to 6 of them. Got into a top 20 school. I am currently waitlisted at a top 10 and am pretty optimistic about getting in sometime soon.

So what is my secret..... the upward trend is very important. MCAT is also very important for people who feel that their GPA is lower than it should be.

You may think that I discovered the cure for cancer or something like that or that I have the most interesting extracurriculars or I am an under-represented minority. None of those are true. To be candid with you (and if it sounds like I am bragging... I apologize)... but I dominated my last 2 years at UCLA... getting a 3.97 in Biochemistry while averaging 18 units per quarter. I was simultaneously volunteering at UCLA medical center for like 16 hours a week. I was also doing research for 10 hours a week. I did well on the MCAT also (I got a 36).

Admissions Committees are human beings and they see beyond just pure numbers; that is why the AMCAS application calculates your GPA by year. They know that the first year is rougher for some than others. Also... extracurriculars and letters of rec are also important. Mine probably suck... but who cares now..... 3 years ago I would have begged for ANY medcial school acceptance (I had like a 3.3 and was not motivated to continue on with school). Now I think I may get into my dream medical school (Univ of Michigan).

I realize that this is kinda private and I should have PMed it to you... but I dont think many people would care to read it anyway and I guess nobody really knows who I am.

good luck... and dont worry about it at all... you can still go to any school you want.