Am I finished?

[Cnm89]

So I finished with my first semester of college and frankly I did so poorly I don't know where I am at and what I should do.

Bio: C (4cred)
Chem: B- (4cred)
Music: B+ (3cred)
Math: F (4cred)

Cum GPA: 1.877

I need some advice on what I should do, I know I have to retake Calc but other than that can I still recover and if so how should I do it?

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[theslave]

So I finished with my first semester of college and frankly I did so poorly I don't know where I am at and what I should do.

Bio: C (4cred)
Chem: B- (4cred)
Music: B+ (3cred)
Math: F (4cred)

Cum GPA: 1.877

I need some advice on what I should do, I know I have to retake Calc but other than that can I still recover and if so how should I do it?

I take it you are placed on academic probation right now? Having said that, retake bio and math and take another couple of classes to get the 12 credit thing. Get A's and your GPA will survive.

 

[Pedsbro]

So I finished with my first semester of college and frankly I did so poorly I don't know where I am at and what I should do.

Bio: C (4cred)
Chem: B- (4cred)
Music: B+ (3cred)
Math: F (4cred)

Cum GPA: 1.877

I need some advice on what I should do, I know I have to retake Calc but other than that can I still recover and if so how should I do it?

Really the only good thing about this is that it occurred in your first semester of your first year. Med schools will be forgiving about that IF from here on out you bring up those grades...we're talking as close to straight A's and A-'s as possible. I can't imagine what other advice there is to give you other than "do better from here on out." (I got a D and had to retake Calc in college, so I feel ya on that one).

 

[phospho]

can I still recover ?

One bad semester isn't the end of the world. Many of us have had crappy semesters. Of course you can recover.

how should I do it?

study more? study more efficiently? see what went wrong?

How would people who don't know you be able to diagnose your study deficiencies? only you would know.

 

[Narmerguy]

Do you understand why you got those bad grades?

 

[JeetKuneDo]

Study. Go to professor's office hours. Retake classes.

 

[Cnm89]

Yes I am on academic probation right now.

Thanks for the advice that I can still recover that makes me feel a whole lot better. As for study deficiency I need to rethink my study habits but I also delegated way too much of my attention to my gf. Also, how will med schools look at me with my first semester should I pick it up with A's and A-'s

 

[rjf]

You can definitely recover...but the odds are against you. In all honesty, you do not have any more wiggle room as for as getting poor grades. Maybe a B or two here and there but at this point, I don't think you can survive too many more Cs or worse. Don't give up though, it takes some people a couple of years to "get in the groove" of what it takes to be successful at the college level. Good luck, you can do it!

 

[Food]

Yes I am on academic probation right now.

Thanks for the advice that I can still recover that makes me feel a whole lot better. As for study deficiency I need to rethink my study habits but I also delegated way too much of my attention to my gf. Also, how will med schools look at me with my first semester should I pick it up with A's and A-'s

Sorry buddy, but you'll have to ditch the gf - if she is time consuming. If you can explain to her exactly how much time and effort you're going to have to put into your future, and if she can understand it, maybe it'll work out. But I am going to make the grim prediction that it won't. This goes for girls with annoying bfs too. I think the best advice is - date a fellow pre-med, but don't actually end up marrying a doctor.

 

[Mobius1985]

Actually, a lot of med students had a bad first semester in college while they figure out how to perform well in a competitive environment. Being young and unfocused is forgivable. ONCE. If you aren't ready to give school 100% of your effort, then take a leave from school and get a job in a low-paying, entry-level position. It's amazing how fast drudgery gives one an appreciation for getting a good education.

 

[Cnm89]

So during the summer should I also take classes and if so how many credits and what classes?

Right now I feel devastated by my GPA but since it doesn't seem I am totally dead in the water yet there seems to be some hope for me.

 

[Chemdude]

Yes I am on academic probation right now.

Thanks for the advice that I can still recover that makes me feel a whole lot better. As for study deficiency I need to rethink my study habits but I also delegated way too much of my attention to my gf. Also, how will med schools look at me with my first semester should I pick it up with A's and A-'s

Dude, were you hanging out 24/7?!

I don't think the gf is the problem. Your course load doesn't look that heavy. I think it's bad just study-habits/time management...

I don't think you're "finished" If you ace all your other classes, you can pretty much convince the adcoms that your first semester of college was a fluke.

 

[Chemdude]

So during the summer should I also take classes and if so how many credits and what classes?

Right now I feel devastated by my GPA but since it doesn't seem I am totally dead in the water yet there seems to be some hope for me.

By taking more courses, you can bring up your GPA to 3.5+. If I were you, I'd take a full course-load this semester, and I'd make sure that I'd ace math.

 

[Cnm89]

Thanks for all the advice. I will be taking 18 credits next semester and when I retake math and bio getting an A, then will the adcoms notice I can handle the work?

 

[rjf]

Yeah they will notice that you can handle the workload IF you can do well. Personally, I would knock your credits down to 15 or 16 credits and GET YOUR As. Getting a 4.0 this next semester with 15 credits looks better than a 3.4 with 18 credits. In my opinion, more pre-meds need to take more time...don't be in such a hurry to graduate. Who cares if it takes you 5 years to get through college? If you rush and end up with a 3.0, as compared to taking an extra year and earning a 3.6 or higher, your odds of getting into a med school are not good.

 

[Greonis]

Thanks for all the advice. I will be taking 18 credits next semester and when I retake math and bio getting an A, then will the adcoms notice I can handle the work?

Yes, but be wary of taking an above-average course load while you are still trying to learn the ropes, as that has the potential to further complicate things. Do not expect the adcoms to be forgiving if you receive any more poor grades, even with those additional credits added on.

 

[Mobius1985]

I echo the above excellent advice. Do not further endanger your GPA resuscitation by overloading yourself. Your first priority is to get straight As, and it seems you have yet to figure out how to do this. Take it slow. Be thorough. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

[RevivedPreMed]

Sorry buddy, but you'll have to ditch the gf - if she is time consuming. If you can explain to her exactly how much time and effort you're going to have to put into your future, and if she can understand it, maybe it'll work out. But I am going to make the grim prediction that it won't. This goes for girls with annoying bfs too. I think the best advice is - date a fellow pre-med, but don't actually end up marrying a doctor.

Why do you say that?

 

[nogolfinsnow]

One of my good buddies here got a 0.68 is first college semester. Took him 2 tries to get into med school, but it's doable. Is this a long distance gf who you dated in hs and now you live far way from eachother? That's one reason why I loaded up on Cs my first 2 quarters of college.

 

[njbmd]

So I finished with my first semester of college and frankly I did so poorly I don't know where I am at and what I should do.

Bio: C (4cred)
Chem: B- (4cred)
Music: B+ (3cred)
Math: F (4cred)

Cum GPA: 1.877

I need some advice on what I should do, I know I have to retake Calc but other than that can I still recover and if so how should I do it?

First semester means that you have more college in front of you than behind you. You can easily explain this one semester of "oops" to "freshman" inexperience and being away from home for the first time. In the meantime, figure out why you did poorly in your courses and retake the F. Since it's Calculus, you might want to audit Pre-calc before you retake if you didn't have a good base before taking this course.

Take the next semester slow (no math and minimum number of credits to make you full-time) get all As period. Use the winter break to set your study schedule and stick with it. When you start back after the break, take action at the first sign of trouble (go to office hours; get tutoring; work with a study group) but don't let things get to the point that you are in danger of failing anything else.

As for your girlfriend: Let seeing her be your reward for getting As on all of your first set of exams. If the relationship is wonderful, then she will understand that you are going to be busy working on your reward and won't be calling or seeing her until you get your first set of grades.

 

[trustd1]

Yeah they will notice that you can handle the workload IF you can do well. Personally, I would knock your credits down to 15 or 16 credits and GET YOUR As. Getting a 4.0 this next semester with 15 credits looks better than a 3.4 with 18 credits. In my opinion, more pre-meds need to take more time...don't be in such a hurry to graduate. Who cares if it takes you 5 years to get through college? If you rush and end up with a 3.0, as compared to taking an extra year and earning a 3.6 or higher, your odds of getting into a med school are not good.

I echo the above excellent advice. Do not further endanger your GPA resuscitation by overloading yourself. Your first priority is to get straight As, and it seems you have yet to figure out how to do this. Take it slow. Be thorough. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

I agree. These posters have offered you great advice. There is no need to rush in bringing up your GPA. If you don't have the right study habits and time management skills now, then overloading on courses will probably bring you more stress and hurt than taking less credits. Plus, from here on out, the courses will be less introductory but more specific and most likely harder.

For me, it helps to find classmates to study and review with. that way, you can keep each other accountable and also share notes with one another. there are plenty of other resources that are helpful: professors/TA office hours, past exam booklets, tutor, attending lecture, etc.

You can do it!

 

[dragonfly99]

OP,
Only YOU can figure out what it was that made you fail during 1st semester. Was it really your girlfriend? Poor time management? Difficultly stepping up your understanding from high school to college level? Not enough hours devoted to studying (need at least 2 hours/every 1 hour in class, if not 3).

Taking 18 hours and vowing to get "all A's" next semester is a horrible plan, IMHO, unless the only reason you did poorly 1st semester was basically not studying at all. I would take 12-14 hours, no math, probably only take distribution requirements/fairly easy classes. Seek help early and often (college writing center, professor and TA office hours, etc.). Then if you do better next semester, could consider re-entering the premed maelstrom. You're getting way ahead of yourself here. This is a marathon and not a sprint. It's also not high school. You're playing with the big kids now and if you want to outdo the majority of the other students ( = getting A's) you will have to be smart, tough and dedicated to studying.

 

[katarina90]

Thanks for all the advice. I will be taking 18 credits next semester and when I retake math and bio getting an A, then will the adcoms notice I can handle the work?

I agree with dragonfly about a smaller courseload...I got fairly decent grades my first semester, but not as high as I would have liked. The next semester, I decided to take 16 credits (ostensibly to raise my GPA) but neglected to factor in things like commuting time, laboratory classes, and other extraneous things that took up a lot of time.

Needless to say, I quickly got over my head and ended up having to drop a class (calculus). I ended up doing slightly worse that semester, also racking up a C in a Bio class. Ever since, I've been taking a much more manageable course load (4 credits/session over the summer and 13 over fall) and GPA has been much better (3.8 this semester).

Sorry that was a long post : ) I just would hate to see you make the same mistake I did, because I'm still working on bringing up my GPA.

 

[HolyGrail]

OP,

I've done poorly one semester as well, it's not the end of the world. I also had some pretty extenuating circumstances, but what it came down to was that I knew what was wrong. I dropped 6 credits, went down to 9 credits total, did poorly due to the circumstances...

The next semester I took 18 credits and got a really good GPA. You need to figure out where you went wrong, and fix it, before you can think of everything else.

 

[Mobius1985]

As for your girlfriend: Let seeing her be your reward for getting As on all of your first set of exams. If the relationship is wonderful, then she will understand that you are going to be busy working on your reward and won't be calling or seeing her until you get your first set of grades.

This is a great idea.