Bad first semester - Freshman Year

[realtalk15]

These are my stats

English: Withdrawn
Chem: C
Chem Lab: B
Bio: C+
Pre-Calc: C

I'm looking at a 2.25 GPA right now. Will maintaining a near 4.0 GPA from now on till graduation help me become a good candidate for med school?

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[thepoopologist]

These are my stats

English: Withdrawn
Chem: C
Chem Lab: B
Bio: C+
Pre-Calc: C

I'm looking at a 2.25 GPA right now. Will maintaining a near 4.0 GPA from now on till graduation help me become a good candidate for med school?

Yes?

I'd advise taking less units and turning up the heat in the next 1-2 semesters.

 

[SeminoleVesicle]

These are my stats

English: Withdrawn
Chem: C
Chem Lab: B
Bio: C+
Pre-Calc: C

I'm looking at a 2.25 GPA right now. Will maintaining a near 4.0 GPA from now on till graduation help me become a good candidate for med school?

Easier said than done bud. Better figure out your issues quickly.

 

[realtalk15]

Thanks for the replies. I am interested in both Dental and Medical school; What EC's should I partake in that would look good for both schools? Please offer any advice

 

[plumhill]

Yes it will, but getting a 4.0 the rest of the way through is going to be tough, as was said above. If you're getting C's and C+'s that indicates you don't really know the foundational material very well in bio, calc and chem, so when you go on to upper level classes, you're going to have trouble keeping up.

Do whatever you need to do in order to get your grades up AND learn the material from the intro classes. If you need a tutor, get a tutor. If you need to retake those classes, then retake them (your grades will average for MD applications, so if you get A's the second time around they'll average into B's. For DO schools, the second grade will replace the first). If you need to resolve any external/personal issues that are distracting you, do so ASAP, whether that means talking it out with an adviser or counselor, or even taking time off.

 

[plumhill]

Thanks for the replies. I am interested in both Dental and Medical school; What EC's should I partake in that would look good for both schools? Please offer any advice

I can't answer about dental school since I've never considered it, but for med school you need to do a significant amount of clinical volunteering (free clinics, hospitals, etc), physician shadowing, and if you can, some research. I think those would look good for dental school as well (well I guess for dental school you'd shadow a dentist...). Take challenging courses without overloading yourself, and maintain good grades from here on out.

Also, figure out sooner rather than later which kind of school you want to go to, since there are two different standardized tests you'd have to prepare for (MCAT vs DAT). The MCAT will take a good amount of preparation.

 

[realtalk15]

Thank you plumhill; I've read your reply. Can you please explain to me what the difference between MD and DO is? (or redirect me to a link) how many credits do you think I should take per semester? Can you elaborate a bit more on redoing couses... If i redo Chem, Medical schools will calculate the new AND old grade in?

Also, isn't the DAT similar to the MCAT?

 

[V5RED]

Is there any special reason you did so poorly? Were you studying regularly and taking school seriously?

If the course load is too tough and you were doing your best you might have a problem since the course load you took was not heavy.


MD:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Medicine
DO:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Osteopathic_Medicine

They are essentially the same thing currently. It makes no sense to me that they still have the distinction. The main differences are that DO schools make you learn some voodoo chiropractor magic in addition to real medicine, getting an MD is a bigger ego boost than getting a DO due to differential admission standards, and MD schools have the public option which can save you a bundle on tuition.

 

[crazypilovee]

These are my stats

English: Withdrawn
Chem: C
Chem Lab: B
Bio: C+
Pre-Calc: C

I'm looking at a 2.25 GPA right now. Will maintaining a near 4.0 GPA from now on till graduation help me become a good candidate for med school?

if u were struggling w/ these classes last semester (& not because u were simply slacking off), i suggest you lay low on the extracurriculars and REALLY focus on getting your grades up first. because getting a 4.0 will NOT be easy.

also, does your school have a withdraw from the semester type of policy? i think it would be best to just withdraw from that semester (meaning all the classes will not count) & retake all of those classes to get better grades (at least a B+). because all four of those classes are core classes u need to apply for med school, and getting those grades will not be acceptable, even if you do much better later. sorry for being harsh...

 

[plumhill]

Thank you plumhill; I've read your reply. Can you please explain to me what the difference between MD and DO is? (or redirect me to a link) how many credits do you think I should take per semester? Can you elaborate a bit more on redoing couses... If i redo Chem, Medical schools will calculate the new AND old grade in?

Also, isn't the DAT similar to the MCAT?

Someone already answered the MD vs DO question. A lot of people see DO schools as a fallback option for if they can't get into MD schools; I personally don't agree with this approach because osteopathy is a different "kind" of medicine, and the DO schools I've talked to are very aware of students who are only going to DO schools because they couldn't get into MD schools.

On a semester system, you should be taking anywhere between 12-18 credit hours; 12 being a bit low (usually four classes) and 18 being a bit high (usually six classes); this is assuming they're all/mostly 3-credit classes. Your academic advisers will know more about what an appropriate courseload is. For me personally, I never take more than two math/science/lab classes at once (mainly because I'm on the quarter system, which is more intense). But even on semesters that may be a good rule of thumb to follow.

Also, having a good mix of courses in the humanities would be helpful. You took a semester of pure BCPM courses (after withdrawing from English), which is 1. a bit dull after a while and 2. quite challenging. You will need to spend a good amount of time in the future arranging your schedule so that it is balanced. I like having a bit of variety in my schedule so I always take one class that's quite different from the rest.

 

[alexrgross]

Yes, med schools take the average of the two grades, one from a 1st take and the next from a re-take.

 

[realtalk15]

if u were struggling w/ these classes last semester (& not because u were simply slacking off), i suggest you lay low on the extracurriculars and REALLY focus on getting your grades up first. because getting a 4.0 will NOT be easy.

also, does your school have a withdraw from the semester type of policy? i think it would be best to just withdraw from that semester (meaning all the classes will not count) & retake all of those classes to get better grades (at least a B+). because all four of those classes are core classes u need to apply for med school, and getting those grades will not be acceptable, even if you do much better later. sorry for being harsh...

I'm not struggling... I though the workload was rather easy. My problem was with being mature and managing my time. Is that the truth?... even if I retake those courses and get an A in them? (On top of keeping a great GPA afterwards)

 

[realtalk15]

Someone already answered the MD vs DO question. A lot of people see DO schools as a fallback option for if they can't get into MD schools; I personally don't agree with this approach because osteopathy is a different "kind" of medicine, and the DO schools I've talked to are very aware of students who are only going to DO schools because they couldn't get into MD schools.

On a semester system, you should be taking anywhere between 12-18 credit hours; 12 being a bit low (usually four classes) and 18 being a bit high (usually six classes); this is assuming they're all/mostly 3-credit classes. Your academic advisers will know more about what an appropriate courseload is. For me personally, I never take more than two math/science/lab classes at once (mainly because I'm on the quarter system, which is more intense). But even on semesters that may be a good rule of thumb to follow.

Also, having a good mix of courses in the humanities would be helpful. You took a semester of pure BCPM courses (after withdrawing from English), which is 1. a bit dull after a while and 2. quite challenging. You will need to spend a good amount of time in the future arranging your schedule so that it is balanced. I like having a bit of variety in my schedule so I always take one class that's quite different from the rest.

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely take balancing my schedule into consideration. Is it true, like the other poster posted that even if i maintain a great GPA from now on that it will still not cut it? What suggestions do you guys have on what i should do aboutthis fall semester? I'm pretty sure I can't withdraw from the semester. I can retake a course, only the latter grade would be calculated into my GPA although both are shown on the transcript

 

[varsityblue]

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely take balancing my schedule into consideration. Is it true, like the other poster posted that even if i maintain a great GPA from now on that it will still not cut it? What suggestions do you guys have on what i should do aboutthis fall semester? I'm pretty sure I can't withdraw from the semester. I can retake a course, only the latter grade would be calculated into my GPA although both are shown on the transcript

1) Retake courses if you need them for your major or for premed requirements.
2) Focus on adjusting whatever imbalance caused you to earn poor grades during this break so that you're refreshed and recharged before the spring term starts. If that means spending a few days in the country doing nothing but reading Kerouac and living off of cereal in a tent, do so. (PM me if you need ideas.)
3) Talk to your academic adviser about the circumstances which led you to perform poorly this term. It may be possible to retroactively withdraw from your fall courses depending on your situation.

 

[crazypilovee]

I'm not struggling... I though the workload was rather easy. My problem was with being mature and managing my time. Is that the truth?... even if I retake those courses and get an A in them? (On top of keeping a great GPA afterwards)

umm i'm not sure since i'm going to be applying next year haha.. but from what i hear yes if u have like 3 Cs in the premed requirements, it'll look really bad... but if u retake them & get As then it should be ok. but i think if u withdraw from the semester the grades won't show up so they won't factor into ur gpa? i'm not 100% positive though since i've only had friends do that and we're on a quarter system

 

[V5RED]

umm i'm not sure since i'm going to be applying next year haha.. but from what i hear yes if u have like 3 Cs in the premed requirements, it'll look really bad... but if u retake them & get As then it should be ok. but i think if u withdraw from the semester the grades won't show up so they won't factor into ur gpa? i'm not 100% positive though since i've only had friends do that and we're on a quarter system

At my school it is impossible to withdraw from a semester past the official resignation period except in extreme cases where the student was prevented from completing coursework through no fault of his own(ie medical issues or some sort of family tragedy). Being lazy or unmotivated would not qualify.

Unlikeliness of this actually being an option aside, it brings up a few problems. You are essentially suggesting that he try to deceive admissions boards by covering up a bad semester. Financial aid is calculated based on actually taking classes, so a complete withdrawal will cause problems financially. A semester of W's with no reasonable explanation for it will look like a covered up semester of F's, so the OP would actually make it look like he did worse than he really did.


OP said the material was not tough, he was just lazy. My advice is to stop being lazy, and if this next semester is not a world apart from last semester he should drop out of college until he is mature enough to actually try his best. A few weak grades won't kill his chances, but lack of motivation definitely will.

 

[crazypilovee]

At my school it is impossible to withdraw from a semester past the official resignation period except in extreme cases where the student was prevented from completing coursework through no fault of his own(ie medical issues or some sort of family tragedy). Being lazy or unmotivated would not qualify.

Unlikeliness of this actually being an option aside, it brings up a few problems. You are essentially suggesting that he try to deceive admissions boards by covering up a bad semester. Financial aid is calculated based on actually taking classes, so a complete withdrawal will cause problems financially. A semester of W's with no reasonable explanation for it will look like a covered up semester of F's, so the OP would actually make it look like he did worse than he really did.


OP said the material was not tough, he was just lazy. My advice is to stop being lazy, and if this next semester is not a world apart from last semester he should drop out of college until he is mature enough to actually try his best. A few weak grades won't kill his chances, but lack of motivation definitely will.

i suppose most semester-schedule schools would be like this then? well at my uc you can withdraw from any quarter, anytime before you graduate. 3 of my friends have done that (1 for bad grades, 2 for health problems). getting Cs aren't as bad as Fs that adcoms might assume for the withdrawn quarter/semester, but i was just making a point that it might be an option, seeing how the Cs wouldn't be averaged with their retake grades and would help their gpa, although it will be difficult to justify withdrawing if he/she didn't have a legit reason.

after my friend withdrew, i think she had to pay the loan back within the next few months but she did not have to pay back any financial aid money that was awarded to her.