Another worried Freshman thread?

Started by Sleipnir
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Sleipnir

Full Member
15+ Year Member
So, basically here's what's going on:
I'm a freshman at a UC, majoring in Computer Science. I'm in the second semester now, and finished my first with a GPA of just over 3.0. That is because of a C I got in a General Chemistry course. I know I should never say this anywhere, but it really was a terrible teacher. I'm taking part 2 now, and I'm looking at a A- or a high B in it. I imagine after this semester my overall GPA will be around a 3.4 or so.

So here's my question: Am I screwed? I'm taking Ochem next year, and I'm worried that will only make my GPA (science GPA especially) worse. And I sort of have another; when should I start doing E.C.s for med school, such as volunteering and stuff? So far I've really done nothing except schoolwork -- am I really far behind everyone else?


EDIT: I should mention my ultimate goal is to attend any MD school in CA.
Thanks for any replies, I appreciate it.
 
Sleipnir said:
So, basically here's what's going on:
I'm a freshman at a UC, majoring in Computer Science. I'm in the second semester now, and finished my first with a GPA of just over 3.0. That is because of a C I got in a General Chemistry course. I know I should never say this anywhere, but it really was a terrible teacher. I'm taking part 2 now, and I'm looking at a A- or a high B in it. I imagine after this semester my overall GPA will be around a 3.4 or so.

So here's my question: Am I screwed? I'm taking Ochem next year, and I'm worried that will only make my GPA (science GPA especially) worse. And I sort of have another; when should I start doing E.C.s for med school, such as volunteering and stuff? So far I've really done nothing except schoolwork -- am I really far behind everyone else?


EDIT: I should mention my ultimate goal is to attend any MD school in CA.
Thanks for any replies, I appreciate it.
Click to expand...

Your ultimate goal should be to attend any MD school in the US. Anyway and 3.4 is not terrible for a first year, just improve it over the next 2 years. Also Cali schools are hard to get into.
 
Sleipnir said:
So, basically here's what's going on:
I'm a freshman at a UC, majoring in Computer Science. I'm in the second semester now, and finished my first with a GPA of just over 3.0. That is because of a C I got in a General Chemistry course. I know I should never say this anywhere, but it really was a terrible teacher. I'm taking part 2 now, and I'm looking at a A- or a high B in it. I imagine after this semester my overall GPA will be around a 3.4 or so.

So here's my question: Am I screwed? I'm taking Ochem next year, and I'm worried that will only make my GPA (science GPA especially) worse. And I sort of have another; when should I start doing E.C.s for med school, such as volunteering and stuff? So far I've really done nothing except schoolwork -- am I really far behind everyone else?


EDIT: I should mention my ultimate goal is to attend any MD school in CA.
Thanks for any replies, I appreciate it.
Click to expand...

This is so not a big deal, don't even worry about it. Your GPA went down a lot because you haven't taken a lot of classes yet, so that C counts for a much higher percentage of your overall GPA. As you take more classes and do well in them, that C will become 1/8 of your classes, then 1/16, etc. You get the point.

You are not screwed. I also had trouble with Gen Chem I (also due to a professor who, after 2 years of grad school, still sticks in my mind as the worst teacher ever), and I withdrew and retook it over the summer. You could not possibly find someone who was more afraid of orgo than I was. But, I ended up loving it and doing really well in it! Don't be afraid of it, or then your nerves will cause you to fail -- study hard, and it will be fine.

Start doing ECs as early as possible; med schools like to see sustained, consistent efforts. Your orgo year may not be the best time to be president of 14 clubs, but definitely set aside some time each week to volunteer or something.
 
I will caution you (and anyone else) about blaming a professor for your problems with a subject. One of the things that I learned as an undergraduate was the it didn't make any difference if the devil was lecturing, I could master the material. The messenger is a redundant entity while the material is the most important factor here.

If you find that you are spinning your wheels, figure out what you need and keep moving forward. Dropping and retaking classes becomes expensive if you don't figure out that things are working for you within the first week. You also delay your progress through the curriculum when you withdraw and retake.

When you get to medical school, you are going to find out that professor choice is not an option. You take what you get and again, the material becomes the most important in terms of mastery. Figure out what is was about your performance in any course that can be improved and keep striving for excellence. In the end, you become a better student and your GPA doesn't become a liability.
 
Regardless of whether or not the professor really made the difference, it is always a good idea to look at ratemyprofessors.com. I used it for every single one of my professors this year (I'm a freshman too) and I've had no trouble.
 
on the bright side, people say that if you're bad at gen chem, you tend be good at ochem and vice versa.
 
Sleipnir said:
So, basically here's what's going on:
I'm a freshman at a UC, majoring in Computer Science. I'm in the second semester now, and finished my first with a GPA of just over 3.0. That is because of a C I got in a General Chemistry course. I know I should never say this anywhere, but it really was a terrible teacher. I'm taking part 2 now, and I'm looking at a A- or a high B in it. I imagine after this semester my overall GPA will be around a 3.4 or so.

So here's my question: Am I screwed? I'm taking Ochem next year, and I'm worried that will only make my GPA (science GPA especially) worse. And I sort of have another; when should I start doing E.C.s for med school, such as volunteering and stuff? So far I've really done nothing except schoolwork -- am I really far behind everyone else?


EDIT: I should mention my ultimate goal is to attend any MD school in CA.
Thanks for any replies, I appreciate it.
Click to expand...

I think you're pretty screwed. There's very little hope, unfortunately. There's a rosy picture, and then there is a realistic one.

I'm applying with a 3.45 overall, and a 38 MCAT + acceptable shadowing, volunteering, and work experience and not getting interviews. So yeah, I'd say you are screwed. In fact, we are all screwed. This economy + global competitive pressure + decreased job security for anyone non-healthcare + a terrible admissions system will screw all of you over.
 
njbmd said:
I will caution you (and anyone else) about blaming a professor for your problems with a subject. One of the things that I learned as an undergraduate was the it didn't make any difference if the devil was lecturing, I could master the material. The messenger is a redundant entity while the material is the most important factor here.

If you find that you are spinning your wheels, figure out what you need and keep moving forward. Dropping and retaking classes becomes expensive if you don't figure out that things are working for you within the first week. You also delay your progress through the curriculum when you withdraw and retake.

When you get to medical school, you are going to find out that professor choice is not an option. You take what you get and again, the material becomes the most important in terms of mastery. Figure out what is was about your performance in any course that can be improved and keep striving for excellence. In the end, you become a better student and your GPA doesn't become a liability.
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That might be true, but it doesn't account for the injustice in the system. Professor competency actually makes a reasonable impact on how well you master the material. In addition, the difficulty of the professor also matters. At my school, 3-4 different teachers will all teach Organic 1/2, with different curves, different tests, and often, different material altogether. It's real BS how it works, to be honest. Grade inflation unfortunately is a real problem and one that ends up screwing over people who happened to get the tough guy.
 
You are not screwed. I was also an engineering student in undergrad and got a C in a semester each of bio, chem and orgo. I ended retaking the orgo semester and doing better and studying really hard for my MCATs and doing well. I ended up with a 3.48 GPA and although I have gotten a ton of rejections I have gotten some interviews and one acceptance so far. You are definitely behind the curve in terms of getting into your top choice because there are tons of kids out there with great grades from the beginning. The most important thing is to study hard from here on out and although you should definitely still shoot for your top choices, you need to be happy getting in anywhere because an MD is and MD.
 
junkct said:
on the bright side, people say that if you're bad at gen chem, you tend be good at ochem and vice versa.
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This was very true for me. I think Gen chem was more math and formula based, while orgo is more visual-spatial. I'm terrible at math. I barely scraped B's in both semesters of Gen, but I've found orgo to be much easier, expecting another A for the 2nd half.

You'll be fine. People have come out of their freshman year with MUCH worse gpa's and managed to bring them up. You've got 7 more semesters worth of credits to stack against that C.

As far as EC's, you don't need to be hitting them too hard right now as you've just started, especially since you need to concentrate on your grades. Do something small that you'll enjoy, like participating in an after-school program with kids once a week, or since you're a comp science major, help old people read their email. It doesn't even have to be medically related. Join a club you like and get involved (besides making you more well rounded, it may pave the way for a leadership position in the club when you're an upperclassmen). Besides, it's a good way to meet other people...college is supposed to be fun, remember? Next year, you can start looking for clinical experience and shadowing.
 
junkct said:
on the bright side, people say that if you're bad at gen chem, you tend be good at ochem and vice versa.
Click to expand...
I think this is a load of horse crap. Good students tend to be good students, no matter what the subject. Some people will do better in gen chem then ochem, and vice versa, but thats probably the exception not the rule.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I have to say, bit worried about Food's post, though :/. UC Merced is opening in 2012... maybe I'll have a shot there. 😀
 
Sleipnir said:
So, basically here's what's going on:
I'm a freshman at a UC, majoring in Computer Science. I'm in the second semester now, and finished my first with a GPA of just over 3.0. That is because of a C I got in a General Chemistry course. I know I should never say this anywhere, but it really was a terrible teacher. I'm taking part 2 now, and I'm looking at a A- or a high B in it. I imagine after this semester my overall GPA will be around a 3.4 or so.

So here's my question: Am I screwed? I'm taking Ochem next year, and I'm worried that will only make my GPA (science GPA especially) worse. And I sort of have another; when should I start doing E.C.s for med school, such as volunteering and stuff? So far I've really done nothing except schoolwork -- am I really far behind everyone else?


EDIT: I should mention my ultimate goal is to attend any MD school in CA.
Thanks for any replies, I appreciate it.
Click to expand...

3.0 first semester freshman year, 3.7 cumulative by the end of junior year (and admitted to med). I remember freaking out too about the 3.0 but it's all in your hands bro.
 
ChubbyChaser said:
I think this is a load of horse crap. Good students tend to be good students, no matter what the subject. Some people will do better in gen chem then ochem, and vice versa, but thats probably the exception not the rule.
Click to expand...

i 100% agree with this, i found gen chem to be easy. the exams were mostly understanding. however orgo is completely different, there's SO MUCH MEMORIZATION!! like all the common names to EVERYTHING, and where NMR stuff goes where, IR, etc. i'm very good at understanding but when it comes to memorizing names, i go blank! one of my friends is not very good at understanding but very good at memorization, and his grade is opposite of his gen chem grade.
 
anbuitachi said:
i 100% agree with this, i found gen chem to be easy. the exams were mostly understanding. however orgo is completely different, there's SO MUCH MEMORIZATION!! like all the common names to EVERYTHING, and where NMR stuff goes where, IR, etc. i'm very good at understanding but when it comes to memorizing names, i go blank! one of my friends is not very good at understanding but very good at memorization, and his grade is opposite of his gen chem grade.
Click to expand...
**edited in fear of being banned again.
 
Narmerguy said:
Don't tell someone what their ultimate goal should be 👎
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You are entering a world of pain.


My post saying "Your ultimate goal should be to attend any MD school in the US" was trying to communicate that if your goal is to only attend school in CA you are setting yourself up for failure.
 
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