Any advice for low-GPA?

[Rollerpink12]

Hey, I'm kinda new to the hustle and bustle of being a pre-med, well -ish. To be honest I've been procrastinating registering at my school's pre-health office because I'm so anxious and that sends me on a mental spiral, though my friends have finally pushed me so here I am. I'm a first-semester junior my gpa is a 3.1, I've got 8 Cs all in pre-reqs with an upwards trend. The bulk of those Cs are from last year when I had to see my dad die which definitely did a number on my life and my grades. I've got roughly 100 hours of hospital volunteering(was hard because I couldn't be around hospitals without crying for a time), I'm president of my school's GSA, held a couple leadership roles, shadowed three doctors, and I don't know where this counts but I have 600 hours from working a suicide hotline. I've got a paper under my belt, but it's in humanities research. I'm really trying here and it's kind of a struggle, but I want to try my best. I'd really appreciate some advice on where I go from here. My friends banded together and bought me the Kaplan MCAT prep books. Having and making plans really ease my anxiety and just yeah. Hello world.

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[Blueprint Med School]

First of all, I'm so sorry to hear about your father.

To answer your question, it's hard to say. A low GPA will definitely make things tough, but not impossible. On most medical school applications, there is an opportunity for you to explain any low grades you might have. You'll be able to explain your situation there. You can also talk about this in your PS.

As for next steps, kill your classes from now on. Demonstrate to medical schools that those low grades are not a reflection of you as a student by doing well on all your future classes and by killing the MCAT.

Even after doing all this, there remains the possibility that you might need to do an SMP or post-bac. Regardless, medical schools is still very much a possibility for you as long as you are willing to put in the work.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[candbgirl]

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[Goro]

Very sorry to hear of your woes OP.

1) Get your anxiety under control or you will never be a doctor. Period. Seek out your school's counseling center or talk to your family doctor. This is NOT giving medical advice!

2) Go to your school's learning or education center for help with learning styles, test taking strategies, time mgt.

3) Your GPA is the most important thing now. Dump excess ECs if needed. Research especially for the mean time, if you're doing it/thinking about it.

You have plenty of time to improve. Rising GPA trends are always a good thing. We like come-from-behind stories!

 

[imbesrs]

You have amazing friends. Dont lose them.

 

[imbesrs]

edited by moderator

edited by moderator

edited by moderator

OP's dad recently passed away and they are facing the reality of tanking grades during a hard situation and losing faith in their chances at becoming a doctor.... and this is what you come up with? Yikes

 

[TheDataKing]

Let's try to keep it professional, kind, and treat others with dignity, everyone.