Bad Freshman Year-How screwed am I?

[Pinkswan]

So I just finished my freshman year at a well respected, challenging private liberal arts college. I was on the Pre-Med track, but I ended up with a 2.6 cGPA for my Freshman year. My second semester went worse than my first semster. I never partied (tbh haven't really socialized much) but I got sidetracked second semester due to other stuff happening in my life. My courses and grades first semester was: Gen Chem-B, Gen Chem Lab-C, FYE-B, Sociology-B+, and Religion-C+. For second semester: Integrative Biology-D+, Psychology-C+, Biology Lab-B, and PE-A. I had two W's for Organic Chemistry and Org Chem lab. I plan on improving and bringing up my gpa the next three years. I will take Org Chem the coming semester and retake Biology at some point. Is it fruitless at this point to continue pre-med, possibly by applying to a DO school? If not, what are my chances for PA or Optometry? I really would like to continue somewhere in health care. Also, if school matters, I am transferring to a public university for the coming year as well.

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[workaholic181]

So I just finished my freshman year at a well respected, challenging private liberal arts college. I was on the Pre-Med track, but I ended up with a 2.6 cGPA for my Freshman year. My second semester went worse than my first semster. I never partied (tbh haven't really socialized much) but I got sidetracked second semester due to other stuff happening in my life. My courses and grades first semester was: Gen Chem-B, Gen Chem Lab-C, FYE-B, Sociology-B+, and Religion-C+. For second semester: Integrative Biology-D+, Psychology-C+, Biology Lab-B, and PE-A. I had two W's for Organic Chemistry and Org Chem lab. I plan on improving and bringing up my gpa the next three years. I will take Org Chem the coming semester and retake Biology at some point. Is it fruitless at this point to continue pre-med, possibly by applying to a DO school? If not, what are my chances for PA or Optometry? I really would like to continue somewhere in health care. Also, if school matters, I am transferring to a public university for the coming year as well.

Nah man you haven't ruined your chances. You need to do better obviously but you've realized that and realized how easy it is to be derailed from the pre med track. That in and of itself matters. You'll be fine, just work hard.

 

[Johnny Appleseed]

Started out with a 1.something after freshman year. Took five years, but I pulled it up to 3.5 and got a 90 percentile MCAT. Don't give up yet, but shape up! Now!

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[holdthemayo]

Your chances aren't over, but you've definitely made things harder for yourself. It's good to plan to do better next semester, but you need to fix whatever is keeping you from succeeding or the plans won't amount to much.

Some important questions to ask yourself:
Why were your grades too low? What have you done to fix it?

If you don't have good answers to those questions, then you aren't likely to right the ship. Utilize your school's resources for counseling (academic and personal) as needed.

I came back from a worse GPA than that. Many other posters here have done the same and more. This process is long. There are opportunities to redeem most mistakes if you are willing to give it the time and put in the work. Good Luck.

 

[Dreamstoo]

You can definitely come back from it. A few of my classmates admitted to a rough start to their college career, 2.7-2.9 (distractions from school etc) GPAs for freshman year with upward trends the following 3 years.

 

[Turkishking]

Medical schools greatly favor upward trends. Just do well from here on out.

 

[Peach Newport]

You're not screwed.

But you have used up all your chances to screw up.

 

[Goro]

So I just finished my freshman year at a well respected, challenging private liberal arts college. I was on the Pre-Med track, but I ended up with a 2.6 cGPA for my Freshman year. My second semester went worse than my first semster. I never partied (tbh haven't really socialized much) but I got sidetracked second semester due to other stuff happening in my life. My courses and grades first semester was: Gen Chem-B, Gen Chem Lab-C, FYE-B, Sociology-B+, and Religion-C+. For second semester: Integrative Biology-D+, Psychology-C+, Biology Lab-B, and PE-A. I had two W's for Organic Chemistry and Org Chem lab. I plan on improving and bringing up my gpa the next three years. I will take Org Chem the coming semester and retake Biology at some point. Is it fruitless at this point to continue pre-med, possibly by applying to a DO school? If not, what are my chances for PA or Optometry? I really would like to continue somewhere in health care. Also, if school matters, I am transferring to a public university for the coming year as well.

A) Go visit your school's education or learning center
B) Retake the D and W classes
C) starting aceing things from now on.
D) ALWAYS have a Plan B

 

[NecrotizingFasciitis]

If you turn it around right now you'll be fine. Bare down and focused. Get help if you need it.


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[Pinkswan]

A) Go visit your school's education or learning center
B) Retake the D and W classes
C) starting aceing things from now on.
D) ALWAYS have a Plan B

Yea I'm possibly switching my major to finance, so that I can use it for my plan B.

 

[Pinkswan]

You can definitely come back from it. A few of my classmates admitted to a rough start to their college career, 2.7-2.9 (distractions from school etc) GPAs for freshman year with upward trends the following 3 years.

What would the have raised their cGPA to? And did they need to do a postbac?

 

[Pinkswan]

Your chances aren't over, but you've definitely made things harder for yourself. It's good to plan to do better next semester, but you need to fix whatever is keeping you from succeeding or the plans won't amount to much.

Some important questions to ask yourself:
Why were your grades too low? What have you done to fix it?

If you don't have good answers to those questions, then you aren't likely to right the ship. Utilize your school's resources for counseling (academic and personal) as needed.

I came back from a worse GPA than that. Many other posters here have done the same and more. This process is long. There are opportunities to redeem most mistakes if you are willing to give it the time and put in the work. Good Luck.

Will do! Thanks so much for your advice! If you don't mind me asking, what did you bring your final gpa to? Did you get into med school? And did you need a postbac?

Also, if demographics matter, I'm an Asian female, which would make me an ORM. With that said, is this going to further affect my chances?

 

[holdthemayo]

Will do! Thanks so much for your advice! If you don't mind me asking, what did you bring your final gpa to? Did you get into med school? And did you need a postbac?

Also, if demographics matter, I'm an Asian female, which would make me an ORM. With that said, is this going to further affect my chances?

My GPAs were both up to 3.1 when I applied. I did have the benefit of grade replacement which I am sure helped immensely with DO applications. I am an MS1 at a USMD school, which suggests I would have had some DO interviews without grade replacement too. I did an DIY postbac over a 2 year period. It could have been done in 1 year if I was not working as much.

Don't worry about the ORM status. Concentrate on getting As, the rest will fall into place.

 

[grapefruit17]

You're fine. Only your freshman year, mistakes happen. Work hard and you'll get into md or do.

 

[SterlingMaloryArcher]

What would the have raised their cGPA to? And did they need to do a postbac?

A post-bac seems silly if you did well the last 3 years