Bad First Semester..(Re: Grades)

[Emmet2301]

Well this was the first semester of college for me and I have to say I did badly. My grades were as follows.

Intro Chem: C+
Calc 2: C
Intro to Engineering:B+
Intro to Comp Sci:A

Chem and Calc are really hard classes at my school. Chem I had a bad teacher. I don't exactly know what went wrong there. I studied enough for it and I understood the material. I was really really close to a B- in that class. Calc 2, I kind of understood the grade there.

I'm still undecided on my major. I want to do either Neuroscience or Engineering. Should I do Neuroscience to spare my gpa? I also seem to like Neuroscience better than Engineering, but I'd be happy with either one.

What should I do from here on out? Should I retake Calc 2 at a community college? Should I take Calc 3 to help my BCPM GPA?

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[Mobius1985]

I'm still undecided on my major. I want to do either Neuroscience or Engineering. Should I do Neuroscience to spare my gpa? I also seem to like Neuroscience better than Engineering, but I'd be happy with either one.

What should I do from here on out? Should I retake Calc 2 at a community college? Should I take Calc 3 to help my BCPM GPA?

Pick the major you'd enjoy the most, because you're most likely to do well in classes you like. It sounds like you should be in Neuroscience, and if you think your GPA will be better in the required classes, that's all to the better for a premed.

Calc II is required at very few med schools. Presumably, you got AP credit for Calc I. I'd consider it desirable to compensate for the C in some way, to help the BCPM GPA. You have a number of choices. 1) Take Calc I for credit and get an A (should be pretty easy for you). 2) Retake Calc II and get an A. 3) Take Calc III and get an A. 4) Take Statistics and get an A (as many med schools let you take either Calc I or Stats). 5) Do nothing and take no more math classes, instead compensating with a bio course. It's your choice.

 

[Emmet2301]

Should I retake Chemistry to get a better grade?

 

[Mobius1985]

To me the name Intro to Chem implies a class getting you ready for Gen Chem I & II. If this is correct, it is not a prerequisite class, so just do well in Gen Chem I & II and you'll be fine. If instead, at your school Intro to Chem is the first of the basic series before you take Organic Chem, then you have two choices to redeem it: either retake and get an A or B (which I'd choose if you didn't really understand the material), or take the second class in the series and get an A, thereby proving you understood the first semester's material.

 

[Emmet2301]

Any other advice?
BUMP

 

[flip26]

Well, this advice will come too late for you, but for any other pre-frosh out there, do not take such an intense course load your first semester in college. Ease into college - get some good grades under your belt - don't take a load of nothing but sci/tech/engr/calc classes...

Oh, and blaming the teacher for a bad grade is lame. Own your grade.

 

[Emmet2301]

Is this really such an intense courseload? This is somewhat normal for people at my school.

 

[Roy G Biv]

I'm a freshman too and your course load for 1st semester was about the same as mine. I also think that is normal. I agree that you should choose whatever major that would make you most happy. I don't know if your school allows you retake Calc 2 if you have a C, but either way, I would suggest that you take Calc 3 and do well in that class so you can show that you can handle math classes and that the grade in Calc 2 was a "fluke".

 

[flip26]

Is this really such an intense courseload? This is somewhat normal for people at my school.

Well, should I assume you just aren't cut out for college then, at least not at your school? Because I am positive that some of the pre-meds you are competing with at your school knocked out a 4.0 their first semester...so what's your excuse?

Personally, I think you should "ease into" freshman year at college with an easier course load...get some good grades under your belt...learn the ropes...take an intro foreign language class, or a sociology or psych class...taking all sci/engr/calc courses can be a bad idea, as it turned out to be for you...

 

[Emmet2301]

Well, should I assume you just aren't cut out for college then, at least not at your school? Because I am positive that some of the pre-meds you are competing with at your school knocked out a 4.0 their first semester...so what's your excuse?

Personally, I think you should "ease into" freshman year at college with an easier course load...get some good grades under your belt...learn the ropes...take an intro foreign language class, or a sociology or psych class...taking all sci/engr/calc courses can be a bad idea, as it turned out to be for you...

I just merely stated that at my college this is a normal courseload. I've seen pre-meds take even harder classes than these. There's no need to be rude.

Also, I go to a Top 30 school so I should take that into consideration. I'm not trying to use that as an excuse, but just as a fact.

 

[flip26]

I just merely stated that at my college this is a normal courseload. I've seen pre-meds take even harder classes than these. There's no need to be rude.

Also, I go to a Top 30 school so I should take that into consideration. I'm not trying to use that as an excuse, but just as a fact.

It may be a "normal" or average course load at your school, but were the grades you received similarly normal or average, especially for a pre-med? I doubt it...

You will not be the first pre-med who destroyed his chances at med school in the first semester at a "Top 30" college. There is a reason that the number of pre-meds in college drops precipitously - half or more of them wash out in the first semester or two with bad grades.

Did they do the thing at your pre-med orientation where they said "look at the person to your left and your right and wave bye bye, because only one out of 3 of you will survive as a pre-med here at our Top 30 college?" The competition for med school begins the first day of your first semester of college, and it really begins well before that with the choice of college.

My advice for anybody who wants to go to med school: major in something you love AND can get excellent grades in, and if necessary, take the med school pre-reqs in a post bacc after you have mastered college.

When applying for college, do not get hung up on the ranking of the undergrad institution - go to the college where you can earn the best grades (and hopefully save your $) - med schools will not be impressed with a low GPA from a "Top 30" undergrad.

 

[Rzarecta]

It may be a "normal" or average course load at your school, but were the grades you received similarly normal or average, especially for a pre-med? I doubt it...

You will not be the first pre-med who destroyed his chances at med school in the first semester at a "Top 30" college. There is a reason that the number of pre-meds in college drops precipitously - half or more of them wash out in the first semester or two with bad grades.

Did they do the thing at your pre-med orientation where they said "look at the person to your left and your right and wave bye bye, because only one out of 3 of you will survive as a pre-med here at our Top 30 college?" The competition for med school begins the first day of your first semester of college, and it really begins well before that with the choice of college.

My advice for anybody who wants to go to med school: major in something you love AND can get excellent grades in, and if necessary, take the med school pre-reqs in a post bacc after you have mastered college.

When applying for college, do not get hung up on the ranking of the undergrad institution - go to the college where you can earn the best grades (and hopefully save your $) - med schools will not be impressed with a low GPA from a "Top 30" undergrad.

qft.

 

[Mobius1985]

Flip, it would be great if you could also post this in hSDN. It's great advice, if received before the final choice of college is made.