Bad grades in pre-med courses and still accepted???

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shan1997

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What are some of the worst grades that some of you made in your pre-med courses and still went on to get accepted into medical school? Just wanted to know if there are any people that were in that boat and how you overcame it. thanks in advance.
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shan1997 said:
What are some of the worst grades that some of you made in your pre-med courses and still went on to get accepted into medical school? Just wanted to know if there are any people that were in that boat and how you overcame it. thanks in advance.
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Anyway I have gotten plenty of bad grades in my pre-med courses...mostly Cs to be exact. What I do to overcome my bad grades is I tutor/teach the course that I did bad in while I was here. This way I can prove I still have the ability to grasp the course material and to teach it to others.

I am not joking about this! It is very possible to get into a good school even though your grades may not have been completely up to par. I interviewed at probably 8-10 places and got interviews at 13 or so places...so I think it is very possible. Also you should be bale to explain why you got those bad grades. Most interviewers won't ask you but the d!!ks out there will...so be prepared if you do get a bad grade.

Alright hope that helps a little!

Peace
 
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I got a BC in Bio 101 after getting an A in Bio 100. I also got a B in Orgo 1. Not really the worst grades in the world, but below "pre-med standards". I never got asked about them in interviews, I don't think schools will really look that closely at them. Remember, an average school will probably have about 6,000 applications to go through. Do you really think they're going to analyze every grade that every person got throughout college (and possibly grad programs)? Not a chance. There's a reason why AMCAS calculates BCMP GPA, Other GPA, and Total GPA itself. I doubt many, if any schools actually look at individual grades.
 
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I had about four or five B-pluses on my transcript, and a C-plus in Calculus II. Not a big deal at all, as it turned out. I think one interviewer remarked, "Not too fond of math, huh?" and that was it.

If you have a lot of weak spots in your transcript, I think it's a great idea to tutor students in those subjects. You just need to demonstrate that you're aware of any "deficiencies" and have mastered those subjects even if your grades may not demonstrate it. That, and make yourself an attractive candidate in other ways - EC's, etc.
 
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I made a B in pchem2 and physical organic chem. In the same same semester. Then there was a B in french2(?) one semester and an B in an intro anatomy class consisted mostly of pre-nursing students(?). I also made a B in quantititative analysis my sophmore year.

I guess to balance these B's out I didn't have any B's in the core premed classes, but still, medical schools don't expect a perfect transcript.
 
I got a C+ in one semester of orgo and a C+ in biochem and I still got into med school. I got interviews at 5 top-30 schools and got into one of them. Of course, that's not all there was to it: I did very well on the MCAT (38-40), did well in my other science courses in my major (A's, A-minuses, and B-pluses), had an upward trend in my grades (except for biochemistry, the low grades were received freshman and sophomore year and I did much better i.e. 3.7-3.8 my junior and senior year), and I think the fact that I attended an Ivy League college helped as well. I did still get questioned about my grades in a few of my interviews, but these were at very competitive schools. If I'd been applying to my state school I doubt if they would have cared. Even so, most interviewers didn't give me a hard time about it, after looking at my record and seeing my vast improvement in the last two years of college. So it's possible to have some bad grades on your record and still get into med school, even into a competitive school, if you have enough else going for you. Just be prepared that you may be waitlisted and may have to fight for it more than a stellar candidate with straight A's.
 
I had a 3.2 science GPA and got into a number of schools including Pitt yesterday:) Two C's in Physics did me in...
 
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Cs in both Math classes
low Bs in gchem,pchem
Cs in biochem classes.
 
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I know someone who put two 'F's on his medical school application! Everyone told him not to....but he didn't want to be dishonest. He got his life together and decided that if God wanted him there, he would get in.

Anyway, he prayed and truly put the situation in God's hands. He then applied to four schools, got four interviews...and NOT ONCE did any of them ask him about his grades! I couldn't believe it!

Today, he is two months away from finishing his residency. In the near future, he is looking to get involved in missionary work.
 
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naturalmd7 said:
I know someone who put two 'F's on his medical school application! Everyone told him not to....but he didn't want to be dishonest. He got his life together and decided that if God wanted him there, he would get in.

Anyway, he prayed and truly put the situation in God's hands. He then applied to four schools, got four interviews...and NOT ONCE did any of them ask him about his grades! I couldn't believe it!

Today, he is two months away from finishing his residency. In the near future, he is looking to get involved in missionary work.
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:rolleyes:

lesson learned. Dont study, pray to get into medschool. Be sure to tell your interviewer that too, that you are praying he makes the "right" decision.


as for me I had about 4 C's mostly in labs, but i did get stung in pchem.
 
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In chem lab 1 I made an F then a D I have to retake it over
Chem lab 2 made a D have to retake

i hate labs
 
CyberTammy said:
Since when are B's bad grades?

I'd be more interested in hearing about people with C's in orgo. I think that is more along the lines of the thread.
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C orgo II, C+ Biochem/Cell Bio (first time) C Calc II, B- Biochem Lab, C Chem Lab II, B- Physics II

did fine. but those grades were early in college which was a LONG time ago for me.
 
I had 1 F, 4 D's and 9 C's in undergrad but finally got into a couple of med schools after 5 years of atoning for my sins. I'm only allowing myself to answer this kind of thread once per month, so this time I'll have to redirect you to:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=122812
 
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If you have bad grades, your MCAT, PS, and EC's best be superb.
 
Amicus said:
:rolleyes:

lesson learned. Dont study, pray to get into medschool. Be sure to tell your interviewer that too, that you are praying he makes the "right" decision.


as for me I had about 4 C's mostly in labs, but i did get stung in pchem.
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in general, praying is easier and more efficient than studying! :)
 
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Man must always do his part.....so whispering a prayer BEFORE studying is better.
 
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Gotta C in Orgo 1, retook it, got an A. Got a C in Orgo 2, no time to re-take it. Overall (and science) GPA 3.3-3.4. Definately did my fair share of praying.
Accepted to 2 schools (also turned down a couple of interviews.)
 
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D+ in my 3rd semester of Calc
C+ in BioChem
C in Gen Chem 2
And the worst...I accidentally slept through an 8am exam in a blow off class (Journalism in America) and was not allowed to make it up. The zero I received dropped my average 20 something points and my grade went from an A to a C-. That one still burns everytime I look at my transcript...

I recently finished a post-bacc program where I was taking about 80% of a med school curriculum (all major classes except Gross) and did well. I guess this was enough since I got accepted to 2 of the 5 schools to which I applied.
 
lesson learned. Don't study, pray to get into medschool. Be sure to tell your interviewer that too, that you are praying he makes the "right" decision.
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Did you actually think you could get away with this crap? There is plenty of data out there that shows that prayer is effective, both as a means of attaining what drives you in life and in focusing you on where you need to be.

I think what the post illustrates is that a sense of determination (even after you've messed up in the past) goes a long way.
 
I got like a B+ in orgo 2 once, It really ruffled my feathers, knocked me out of magna cum laude. I almost considered dropping out of college, and picking up a drug habit. I was sooooo convinced I wasn't going to go anywhere, except maybe Granada for med school. Haha, in seriousness, it doesn't matter. Just don't fail anything, and you should be good. And from what I've seen here, you can fail stuff, do a post-bac and still get into med school. They'll pretty much let anyone into med school if you're persistent enough. And once you're in, you're college grades matter about as much as what you got in 10th grade home ec. Don't sweat the details dude.
 
nellybee said:
I had a 3.2 science GPA and got into a number of schools including Pitt yesterday:) Two C's in Physics did me in...
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just wondering...what did you get on the mcat and what kinds of ec did you have to make yourself stand out?? i will have about a 3.3/3.4 gpa when i graduate and was wondering if there's hope of getting accepted w/out doing post bacc or smp.
 
Celestron2000 said:
Gotta C in Orgo 1, retook it, got an A. Got a C in Orgo 2, no time to re-take it. Overall (and science) GPA 3.3-3.4. Definately did my fair share of praying.
Accepted to 2 schools (also turned down a couple of interviews.)
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Same question I asked before...how did you make your application stand out?
 
sweetsaja said:
just wondering...what did you get on the mcat and what kinds of ec did you have to make yourself stand out?? i will have about a 3.3/3.4 gpa when i graduate and was wondering if there's hope of getting accepted w/out doing post bacc or smp.
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Rock the MCAT, and maybe take a year off to get some good research/clinical experience. You can make some cash at the same time, which might come in handy.
 
For all of you who were accepted with sub 3.5 gpas and no post bacc or SMP:

Did any of you get accepted OOS?
How many schools did you apply to?
What schools do you think are more forgiving of low GPAs?
What was it about your application that made it special? Was it your high MCAT, research, personal statement, LOR, etccc??
Does a person w/average everything and 3.3/3.4 GPA stand a chance??:confused:
 
sweetsaja said:
For all of you who were accepted with sub 3.5 gpas and no post bacc or SMP:

Did any of you get accepted OOS?
How many schools did you apply to?
What schools do you think are more forgiving of low GPAs?
What was it about your application that made it special? Was it your high MCAT, research, personal statement, LOR, etccc??
Does a person w/average everything and 3.3/3.4 GPA stand a chance??:confused:
Click to expand...

I had an overall GPA in the 3.4-3.5 range with a strong upward trend, 38 MCAT, no post-bacc/SMP, above average university, and average everything else--so far 9 interviews (applied to 25 schools), a couple acceptances. I would say the high MCAT, upward trend, broad range of schools, and decent everything else got me the interviews.
 
thanks guys for divulging your grades...
this has probably been asked before but I figured I'd rather have applicants who are more like me- grade-wise- to shed insight on this question: to do graduate studies or to not do graduate studies? I heard somewhere that american medschools only consider your undergraduate scores and that graduate GPA = non-factor. Is this true, and if so, how true is it? I.e, are there exceptions to them paying more attention to your graduate GPA?
Thanks!
 
shan1997 said:
What are some of the worst grades that some of you made in your pre-med courses and still went on to get accepted into medical school? Just wanted to know if there are any people that were in that boat and how you overcame it. thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

yes, i did miserably in the beginning- but pulled myself together at the end, you can still get in, don't give up!
 
sweetsaja said:
For all of you who were accepted with sub 3.5 gpas and no post bacc or SMP:

Did any of you get accepted OOS?
How many schools did you apply to?
What schools do you think are more forgiving of low GPAs?
What was it about your application that made it special? Was it your high MCAT, research, personal statement, LOR, etccc??
Does a person w/average everything and 3.3/3.4 GPA stand a chance??:confused:
Click to expand...

My overall is above a 3.5, but only slightly.
And I had a 1 C and 1 C+ in core pre-med classes. And I was not a physical science major. My science is somewhat decent because of math classes, stats, and physiological psych classes that got counted in BCPM.

My MCAT was not stellar either.
You can see my MDApps for the info on my numbers and other stuff.

Basically, i took a year off and did some unique extra-curriculars and am currently working in administration for a GI department in a hospital. I also did a fair amount of research.

I think low MCATs and low GPA definitely hurts you, but it isn't the end of the game. Some schools (most top tier) will not give you any sympathy for low numbers, but many schools are interested in other things too. For me, I realized how i messed up with my numbers, but tried to show i was still interested and could handle it with my ECs and strong upward trend.

I only have 1 acceptance so far (in state), but am waiting on decisions from a few others and have an interview still scheduled.
 
I know its up to the individual person, but would you recomend taking biochemistry for some on whogot C's in orgo and hates chemistry? I want to take it so that I can demonstrate that I can handle medical school classes and it would increase by BCPM gpa, but don't want to get a bad grade in it. Also I am doing this Voluteer Paramedic thing this semester but it requires a lot of travel time and such, do you guys think its worth the trouble or should I just voluteer some where else?
 
Am a sophomore in college, I did really bad so far I have a 2.7 overall. I recently decided I wanted to be a doctor I didn't know what I wanted to do before that. I think that's one of the reasons why it's so low. Anyways I was wondering is it possible to still get into medical school? I have started to work really hard to raise my gpa so by the end of this semester it should be 3.0 overall.
 
shan1997 said:
What are some of the worst grades that some of you made in your pre-med courses and still went on to get accepted into medical school? Just wanted to know if there are any people that were in that boat and how you overcame it. thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

C in Gen chem 2.
C in Physics 1
B- in Physics 2
 
Finishing up my freshman year now.

B in calc1
A- in gen chem1

B(?) in cell bio
B+ to A- in gen chem2
C+ to B in calc2

Was wondering if I really shot myself in the foot with these poor grades already. Seems like my gpa will be 3.1 at the low end and but a 3.2 most likely. I work as a tutor in various subjects but not anything near the intensity as college science courses. Let's say I end with a 3.6 overall and science GPA and get a 30 on my MCAT, will my chances for top 20 be ruined?

Crazy how competitive it is now after 9years.
 
C in Biochem (at a school known for grade inflation)
B- in an intro physics class (professor decides for the first time he is not lecturing that term but instead having a seminar style Q and A for an intro physics class with 100+ students...brilliant idea)
B in Orgo I and intro Bio (I know not really bad, but the Orgo was at the school with grade inflation where many people take it twice because F's and late drops do not show up on official transcripts)
B in physio (looking back, again not bad but at the inflated grade school, I was stupid. literally 3 points on any test from an A).


I was also humanities major so I had way fewer science classes to make up for mistakes in others. however I studied my ass off on the science sections of the MCAT and got respectable scores that helped show I was not science inept.
 
fourhumours said:
C in Biochem (at a school known for grade inflation)
B- in an intro physics class (professor decides for the first time he is not lecturing that term but instead having a seminar style Q and A for an intro physics class with 100+ students...brilliant idea)
B in Orgo I and intro Bio (I know not really bad, but the Orgo was at the school with grade inflation where many people take it twice because F's and late drops do not show up on official transcripts)
B in physio (looking back, again not bad but at the inflated grade school, I was stupid. literally 3 points on any test from an A).


I was also humanities major so I had way fewer science classes to make up for mistakes in others. however I studied my ass off on the science sections of the MCAT and got respectable scores that helped show I was not science inept.
Click to expand...


what was your mcat score and what undergrad school did you attend?
 
Thanks guys! I'll be going to school in the southwest....I'll leave it at that. I did retake physics as med schools wouldn't take a C-. I applied to only allopathic schools so that grade still stood.
 
I had an F in immunology. Retook it, got a B+. Then took it in graduate school (I did a post-bac masters) and got an A. I was asked about this almost as soon as I sat down in one of my interviews. Most other schools I interviwed at did not even mention it. As long as you can prove you are capable of doing well, and that bad grade was a fluke or the result of some hardship or personal problem, you should be ok. Adcoms know that people make mistakes and one mistake will not define your abilities or future performance.
 
shan1997 said:
What are some of the worst grades that some of you made in your pre-med courses and still went on to get accepted into medical school? Just wanted to know if there are any people that were in that boat and how you overcame it. thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
I got two Bs in five credit hour classes in one semester. Physics and Inorganic Chem... can you guess what my lowest section on the MCAT was? ;)
 
D in Gen Bio II, C- in Gen Chem II
 
Had a D in band ... But I guess they don't care too much a out that.
 
moisne said:
Had a D in band ...
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Qua??? I used to show up to band drunk off my ass (there's a bar literally across the street from my undergrad), often fell asleep, and get yelled at for goofing off with the low brass section all the time. I never got less than A. IIR the only real ways to have your grade lowered were unexcused absences from performances and excessively skipping rehearsals.
 
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naturalmd7 said:
I know someone who put two 'F's on his medical school application! Everyone told him not to....but he didn't want to be dishonest. He got his life together and decided that if God wanted him there, he would get in.

Anyway, he prayed and truly put the situation in God's hands. He then applied to four schools, got four interviews...and NOT ONCE did any of them ask him about his grades! I couldn't believe it!

Today, he is two months away from finishing his residency. In the near future, he is looking to get involved in missionary work.
Click to expand...
where did your friend get in?
 
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