Hey everyone sorry for making one of these threads... I'm just getting done with my freshman year undergrad and kind of freaked out that I ruined my chances for acceptance. My first semester I got a 3.25 gpa and the next I got slightly higher leaving me with around a 3.4 overall. On top of these mediocre grades, I was caught smoking marijuana by my campus's police and was placed on disciplinary probation. I also dropped Calculus Two my second semester and got a W. I'm just pretty depressed right now as my future is starting to look bleak. I promised myself that I would quit pot, but the damage feels like it's already been done. How bad does it look for me? Please be honest,
Am I screwed?
- Thread starter Zloop
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2011
- Messages
- 28,818
- Reaction score
- 55,101
This can all be remediated with enough effort.
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2014
- Messages
- 1,921
- Reaction score
- 2,657
It's very early. Live and learn. Make a conscious effort to do better from this point forward, if you really want to go to medical school you can make it happen.
As far as GPA goes, you're fine. Still above a 3.0 and it's your first year so you can easily get that up. Just remember, many people get accepted into medical school that are far from the stereotypical "perfect applicant." Keep your head up, relax, have fun, and study. The rest will fall into place.
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2013
- Messages
- 458
- Reaction score
- 329
Don't get into any more disciplinary trouble. It's far easier to explain than multiple incidents/trends and from what our dean has told us, as long as it's one single incident and it's not a DUI, it's forgivable.
Not a stellar freshman year GPA but you didn't bomb it by any means. Work hard next year and go back and own calc. The W will matter less if you go get an A in it and don't have any other Ws. Try to impress the professor, maybe get a rec letter out of it if you're really worried about the W.
Not a stellar freshman year GPA but you didn't bomb it by any means. Work hard next year and go back and own calc. The W will matter less if you go get an A in it and don't have any other Ws. Try to impress the professor, maybe get a rec letter out of it if you're really worried about the W.
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2014
- Messages
- 436
- Reaction score
- 293
One W won't sink your application. I dropped physics in my freshman year with a W and got an A on the retake, and the W was never an issue after that. You have 3 years to bring up your GPA, so just study hard and do your best.
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2014
- Messages
- 631
- Reaction score
- 472
You are NOT screwed.
A 3.4 freshman GPA is not bad at all. Many people get into MD schools with 3.4 overall GPAs. And like others have said, you still have 3 years to raise your GPA to the ideal level of 3.6+.
Now, the disciplinary probation for smoking weed will have to be disclosed on your medical school application. This is a more serious matter than a minor alcohol violation, but it is nothing that can't be overcome.
A 3.4 freshman GPA is not bad at all. Many people get into MD schools with 3.4 overall GPAs. And like others have said, you still have 3 years to raise your GPA to the ideal level of 3.6+.
Now, the disciplinary probation for smoking weed will have to be disclosed on your medical school application. This is a more serious matter than a minor alcohol violation, but it is nothing that can't be overcome.
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2013
- Messages
- 458
- Reaction score
- 329
Unless OP is taking a year off there are only 2 years left before apps, fwiw.
Many with 3.4 and a 33+ maybe. A 3.4/31 is a below average application stats-wise. OP can recover but unless they know for sure MCAT is getting knocked outta the park I wouldn't get comfortable at 3.4.
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2010
- Messages
- 75,134
- Reaction score
- 120,709
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2015
- Messages
- 28
- Reaction score
- 16
You're on your way to screwing yourself - both literally and figuratively. I would quit smoking weed and just keep studying from now. You can dig yourself out of the hole. Just believe and focus!
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2015
- Messages
- 2,963
- Reaction score
- 3,877
Your GPA is a bit low, but it's your freshman year. You can bring that up. Dropping calc will be a nonissue if you don't make any sort of habit of dropping classes. As far as the weed goes, just learn from it and don't do it again. This is something Adcoms will probably understand if you can articulate why it was a poor decision, what you did to rectify it, and how it changed you as a person/what you learned from it. From here on out, stay away from bad influences as much as possible, learn good study habits and work your butt off.
