bad grades, help!!

[chitown2011]

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I know SDN probably gets this topic all the time - but I refuse to give up my med school aspirations without a fight and I would like someone to hear me out. I was not a science major in college, (I studied economics), and when I switched to pre-med I stupidly tried to cram in all the sciences in 2 years plus finish my major and graduate on time. I also had an unexpected family tragedy that set me way off course and caused my grades to fall. My sibling passed away two weeks before final exams in my hardest quarter yet. I went right back to school the following week and tried to pull things together for exams...it did not end well.

Looking back, I should have done things a lot differently, but I can only move forward and learn from these mistakes. For the first 2 years of college I had very good grades (A's in calculus, linear algebra, and multivariable. I also have high grades in humanities/writing classes - but those probably don't count as much for med school...), but after my brother's death my grades went downhill. I got a C- in chemistry, a C in physics. It wasn't all bad though, I do have some good grades sprinkled in there, I managed an A in physiology and an A- in genetics (which, I think, proves I do enjoy biology and I really loved physiology.) as well as an A- in physics II.

Should I try to retake Chemistry? I've actually started taking o-chem though, so I'm not sure how that would look...

Will good MCAT scores make up for low grades? And I'm not aiming for top 10 med schools here.

Thank you.

 

[KindofBlue]

I know SDN probably gets this topic all the time - but I refuse to give up my med school aspirations without a fight and I would like someone to hear me out. I was not a science major in college, (I studied economics), and when I switched to pre-med I stupidly tried to cram in all the sciences in 2 years plus finish my major and graduate on time. I also had an unexpected family tragedy that set me way off course and caused my grades to fall. My sibling passed away two weeks before final exams in my hardest quarter yet. I went right back to school the following week and tried to pull things together for exams...it did not end well.

Looking back, I should have done things a lot differently, but I can only move forward and learn from these mistakes. For the first 2 years of college I had very good grades (all A's in math classes and humanities/writing classes -and not to brag but I did have to take 1.5 years of math for the econ major), but after my brother's death my grades went downhill. I got a C- in chemistry, a C in physics. It wasn't all bad though, I do have some good grades sprinkled in there, I managed an A in physiology and an A- in genetics (which, I think, proves I do enjoy biology and I really loved physiology.) as well as an A- in physics II.

Should I try to retake Chemistry? I've actually started taking o-chem though, so I'm not sure how that would look...

Will good MCAT scores make up for low grades? And I'm not aiming for top 10 med schools here.

Thank you...

I'm sorry for your loss, it is definitely tough to try and do other things in life that seem so trivial when tragedies like these happen..
I think you still have a good chance of getting back in the game, especially if you haven't graduated yet.
C- is definitely reason to retake, since it means you did not pass the class (in med school standards), so I would retake those anything under C.
But as long as you can keep your grade up and do well on the MCAT, don't bother with retaking Cs or higher.
By the way, those profs who didn't let you take the final a bit later are pretty f***ed up you know? Maybe you didn't ask for more time but still..

Anyway, good luck with your studies, make MCAT your bitch and get into med school.🙂

 

[generator]

I know SDN probably gets this topic all the time - but I refuse to give up my med school aspirations without a fight and I would like someone to hear me out. I was not a science major in college, (I studied economics), and when I switched to pre-med I stupidly tried to cram in all the sciences in 2 years plus finish my major and graduate on time. I also had an unexpected family tragedy that set me way off course and caused my grades to fall. My sibling passed away two weeks before final exams in my hardest quarter yet. I went right back to school the following week and tried to pull things together for exams...it did not end well.

Looking back, I should have done things a lot differently, but I can only move forward and learn from these mistakes. For the first 2 years of college I had very good grades (A's in calculus, linear algebra, and multivariable. I also have high grades in humanities/writing classes - but those probably don't count as much for med school...), but after my brother's death my grades went downhill. I got a C- in chemistry, a C in physics. It wasn't all bad though, I do have some good grades sprinkled in there, I managed an A in physiology and an A- in genetics (which, I think, proves I do enjoy biology and I really loved physiology.) as well as an A- in physics II.

Should I try to retake Chemistry? I've actually started taking o-chem though, so I'm not sure how that would look...

Will good MCAT scores make up for low grades? And I'm not aiming for top 10 med schools here.

Thank you.

yes your MCAT score can make up for a low gpa. just my opinion, i think its useless to retake gen chem. Go forth to organic and do well. it is a completely different beast anyway. Spend time/money from what you would have on gen chem alone and use that for the MCAT. good luck :]

 

[generator]

I'm sorry for your loss, it is definitely tough to try and do other things in life that seem so trivial when tragedies like these happen..
I think you still have a good chance of getting back in the game, especially if you haven't graduated yet.
C- is definitely reason to retake, since it means you did not pass the class (in med school standards), so I would retake those anything under C.
But as long as you can keep your grade up and do well on the MCAT, don't bother with retaking Cs or higher.
By the way, those profs who didn't let you take the final a bit later are pretty f***ed up you know? Maybe you didn't ask for more time but still..

Anyway, good luck with your studies, make MCAT your bitch and get into med school.🙂

👍
I didn't know about that C- thing. Huh. well I agree then, retake only C-'s

 

[chitown2011]

When I asked my gen chem prof if I could take an incomplete, his response: "your brother died 8 weeks ago, get over it." He finally consented to give me a Withdraw after I corrected him that 8 weeks was 2 weeks, it was with the caveat that he would "tell all my future professors about me." (ok clearly I'm still holding a grudge against him.) That's why he's in academia, I suppose?
I graduated this past June, so no chance of retaking it at the same university.
Thanks for the input.

 

[Catalystik]

1) Should I try to retake Chemistry? I've actually started taking o-chem though, so I'm not sure how that would look...

2) Will good MCAT scores make up for low grades? And I'm not aiming for top 10 med schools here.

1) Concentrate on excelling in OChem for now. Retaking the Gen Chem is fine, as it would help you do better on the MCAT if you completely grasp it. It would "look" like a logical move, considering what you've been through and how distracted you were back then.

2) An excellent MCAT score, a recent upward grade trend, and good ECs can all help compensate for low grades.

 

[KindofBlue]

When I asked my gen chem prof if I could take an incomplete, his response: "your brother died 8 weeks ago, get over it." He finally consented to give me a Withdraw after I corrected him that 8 weeks was 2 weeks, it was with the caveat that he would "tell all my future professors about me." (ok clearly I'm still holding a grudge against him.) That's why he's in academia, I suppose?
I graduated this past June, so no chance of retaking it at the same university.
Thanks for the input.

What a f***ing a**hole... I'd like to punch him in his face..!
Anyway, clearly you were in a situation that was extremely difficult to get a good grade, so if retaking a class is not that convenient, I would just forget about it. But I believe some schools require a grade of C or higher, so I would look into the individual school's requirements, or call them and ask about it.

But yeah, keeping a good gpa from now on, lots of ECs (volunteering, research, shadowing, sports, leadership positions etc) and a good MCAT will definitely up your chances.

 

[MeowMeowCAT]

Continue on to organic. You can always improve that C- later on when you have extra free time, over a summer semester or something.

 

[DeltaPlaya]

I know SDN probably gets this topic all the time - but I refuse to give up my med school aspirations without a fight and I would like someone to hear me out. I was not a science major in college, (I studied economics), and when I switched to pre-med I stupidly tried to cram in all the sciences in 2 years plus finish my major and graduate on time. I also had an unexpected family tragedy that set me way off course and caused my grades to fall. My sibling passed away two weeks before final exams in my hardest quarter yet. I went right back to school the following week and tried to pull things together for exams...it did not end well.

Looking back, I should have done things a lot differently, but I can only move forward and learn from these mistakes. For the first 2 years of college I had very good grades (A's in calculus, linear algebra, and multivariable. I also have high grades in humanities/writing classes - but those probably don't count as much for med school...), but after my brother's death my grades went downhill. I got a C- in chemistry, a C in physics. It wasn't all bad though, I do have some good grades sprinkled in there, I managed an A in physiology and an A- in genetics (which, I think, proves I do enjoy biology and I really loved physiology.) as well as an A- in physics II.

Should I try to retake Chemistry? I've actually started taking o-chem though, so I'm not sure how that would look...

Will good MCAT scores make up for low grades? And I'm not aiming for top 10 med schools here.

Thank you.

Wow your professor is a jerk.

Explain what happened when you are applying, and I really DOUBT that this C- will have any negative reflection. It's a tragedy what happened to you, and I am really sorry for your loss.

I cannot believe some professors...

 

[chitown2011]

I am taking a 10-week organic chemistry boot camp, I mean summer school class... at very good university close to home and it's kicking my *****! Probably time to get off SDN and focus on the here and now.

I'm thinking (actually praying to the ochem gods) that I might get a B in this first semester, maybe I am just bad at chemistry?

 

[chitown2011]

thank you for the quick responses everyone.

 

[chitown2011]

I did not get the C- from him though, he did grudgingly give me a withdraw. So I can hardly blame him for that.

 

[MeowMeowCAT]

Why would professors be so hard on students about withdrawls? Do they in any way effect the reputation of the professors? I heard about professers getting crap for having too high of a failure rate, but I don't think w's are that damaging considering they are not exactly a clear evidence of failure.

 

[chitown2011]

Xxxxx