I'm not sure if you're trolling or just young, but I'll bite.
my advisor was not very helpful
That's often the case. There are several admissions committee members and other knowledgeable folks active here on SDN, and they'll give you far better guidance than an advisor who never went to med school or sat on an admissions committee. Pay attention to
LizzyM, Goro, gonnif, gyngyn, Med Ed, and Catalystik, for starters. They won't steer you wrong. (Although I think
@Goro really likes premed advisors...
)
I know you need at least a 3.7 to even have a chance at medical school.
Not true. Peruse the threads here and you'll see that people get into US med schools
all the time with GPAs lower than that. My own brother-in-law got into med school with a 3.2. I'm not saying that's ideal or easy (he had some rockin' ECs) but you're most certainly not doomed.
Plus, I'm graduating a year early
Why, and how do you know so early?
I feel like this 3.3 will have an even bigger impact on my overall gpa than it would with 4 years.
That largely depends on how (if?) you satisfy requirements to graduate early. GPAs are weighted by credit hours, not number of semesters. If you plan to graduate early by doing spring/summer courses and compressing the same number of credits into a shorter time span, it won't matter a whit. On the other hand, if you're using a bunch of AP credit to bypass gen ed requirements, then yeah, the 3.3 would have a greater relative weight. (But if that's your plan, you should do some research in the MSAR. Some med schools don't accept AP credit for prereqs.) Also, I earned a 3.22 for one of my first two semesters, and I got into a T25 med school.
I don't have any medical-related volunteer hours or internships yet
So what? You're very young and you just started college. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is a competitive med school application. I personally think you
shouldn't get heavily involved in those types of ECs during your first semester; instead, you should devote your time and energy to learning how to be an excellent college student. (Also: I didn't do
anything like that during my entire freshman year.)
That's why it's way too early to start worrying. Planning and preparing are appropriate for this stage in your education. Fretting is not.
Actually, the title of the album is "All Hope Is Gone", and it's outstanding (if a little bit angsty).
Did any of you bounce back from a situation like this?
There really isn't anything to bounce back
from. You're fine.
How will a C look like on my transcript, especially since this is a pre-med course?
It'll look like a C during your first semester of undergrad, which is not at all concerning. DO NOT retake the course -- if you do, adcoms will expect you to get an A, and the C will still be averaged into your GPA for AMCAS purposes. You have nothing to gain from retaking anything in which you earn a C or better.
I think I may have depleted the SDN "quote" function supply. Keep your head up and try to worry less. Use your first semester experiences to learn, and adjust your habits and patterns to improve your performance. But don't worry. Worry is just imagination used in an unproductive way.
)
