Bad Semester

[MarikaAnime]

Does everyone just have a bad semester once in a while? Do schools hold that against you? I am probably going to make straight C's this semester and my GPA has never been this low in my life. I mean I know they were all upper level classes and other majors say it happens to everyone but I would just like some input from pre-vet majors.

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[tigerkissedqt]

It obviously doesn't happen to everybody but it does happen. The good news is the applications give you an opportunity to explain circumstances of a bad semester and will also take your class load into account with your work & volunteer loads. It doesn't necessarily mean a veterinary school will hold it against you but it will affect your GPA calculations and if you don't have a good reason for the slip in grades that won't help your case either. If that's not usually how you perform I wouldn't panic over it too much but don't make it a habit to just slide by with C's either.

 

[Minnerbelle]

It may be a ding on your transcript that will bring down your overall gpa. But if all your other semesters were like a 3.5+, then one bad semester will look uncharacteristic and many schools will take that into account esp if you have an explanation for it. I would personally rather have one bad semester and have the rest be excellent, over mediocre gpa throughout.

 

[mulletsarelove]

Since you've already applied and clearly your gpa was good enough to get you an early interview to FL, I think that it should be ok. My guess is that any schools that you interview at next semester, if they have open file interviews, may bring it up in your interview as something that seems uncharacteristic, and then you'll have an opportunity to explain it then. Most schools won't factor this semester into your GPA calculations I don't think, so in that aspect it's probably better to have an off semester this semester than it would have been to experience that earlier.

 

[ApplicantNSoCal]

Does everyone just have a bad semester once in a while? Do schools hold that against you? I am probably going to make straight C's this semester and my GPA has never been this low in my life. I mean I know they were all upper level classes and other majors say it happens to everyone but I would just like some input from pre-vet majors.

I had a bad first 4 semesters and they still let me in. lol Don't worry about it. It is not going to keep you out, it might just be brought up in an interview and you can explain then, what went wrong. Most importantly, I think it is critical to explain what you learned from it and how you have improved since then.

 

[kaydubs]

Honestly, from a former perfectionist, the bad semesters can tear the heck out of you. In fact, my undergrad career as a whole put several holes in my boat to vet school. I almost sunk it personally this summer. (Note: I was already accepted. And because of me + anxiety + fear, I almost withdrew). Now, after a few months of being in the real world post-graduation, I built a bigger boat. 😉

That's what the explanation sections are for in the application. I actually incorporated mine into my PS because I indicated that my dream of being a vet for my lifetime thus far saved my life. Literally. And this motivates me to go into rehabilitation medicine and conservation. Saving lives seems more fitting to a medical professional than taking life, right?

 

[MarikaAnime]

This is why I love this site everyone knows just what to say. I just wish I had known about it earlier. It's nice to know you're not alone.😍

 

[HelloNello]

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[kaydubs]

This is why I love this site everyone knows just what to say. I just wish I had known about it earlier. It's nice to know you're not alone.😍

*hug* Abso-freakin-lutely! We're all in this together 😉

 

[Toto1988]

If you already applied and get into the school, I dont think they will care too much..
They say C's are okay.

 

[EnvyPointers]

..

 

[nyanko]

I had approximately 4 bad quarters and 6 bad semesters and still got in, and that's by a real definition of bad, not a warped one like this:

on a similar page with HelloNello, I started with a 3.85 and graduated with a 3.7 after plunging down to a 3.48 one semester. (Did I cry? Yeah, I cried a lot.😳)

If I heard somebody literally crying about a 3.48 dropping them down to a 3.7 or whatever, I might actually not have been able to stop myself from throttling said person with my bare hands.

Just sayin.

 

[Emiloo4]

I had approximately 4 bad quarters and 6 bad semesters and still got in, and that's by a real definition of bad, not a warped one like this:



If I heard somebody literally crying about a 3.48 dropping them down to a 3.7 or whatever, I might actually not have been able to stop myself from throttling said person with my bare hands.

Just sayin.

👍👍👍👍

 

[kaydubs]

...the importance of learning to say what you mean and mean what you say...lesson, reinforced.

 

[nyanko]

I live by my own standards. They are impossibly high. If I live by yours or anyone else's standards, I know that I'd do a disservice to, well, me. Just sayin'.

What if my standards for life aren't measured by grades?

edit: When you post something like what you posted in a thread where the topic is something like what it is, it just looks like some manner of insecure bragging, to be honest. Just sayin'. 🙄

 

[Dsmoody23]

*hug* Abso-freakin-lutely! We're all in this together 😉 And, on a similar page with HelloNello, I started with a 3.85 and graduated with a 3.7 after plunging down to a 3.48 one semester. (Did I cry? Yeah, I cried a lot.😳) But, in my senior year, I took 20.5 credits, scoring a 3.95 and then 12 credits with a less stellar GPA. In the game of numbers, it's always relative😀

I don't think Plunge means what you think it means.

 

[Bisbee]

Kaydubs - It does sound a bit dramatic to say that your GPA plunged when it was still pretty high, especially when there are people who have truly had very bad semesters. I don't think mentioning this small decline in GPA would help anyone to feel better. It just makes them feel worse to think, "If that's plunging, then what do you call what my GPA did?" Having a 3.4 something is not really a "bad semester". You shouldn't be devastated by a 3.4. This is not such a big deal in the scheme of the world and terrible things that can happen in life. In vet school you might not do as well as that, so you should prepare yourself and realize it wouldn't be so awful. You will still become a vet. In you life there may come things that are far worse than this, so don't sweat the small stuff.

 

[mulletsarelove]

I think that everyone's ideas of a 'plunging' GPA is different and just varies based on what you are used to getting. The point wasn't so much the exact GPA numbers cited, but the idea--she had a good GPA, then had an off semester that may not have been disappointing for a lot of people, but disappointed her personally, but since it was not representative of her normal performance, she brought her GPA got brought back up to where she wanted. So, having one bad semester is not the end of the world.

 

[sunnex3]

I think that everyone's ideas of a 'plunging' GPA is different and just varies based on what you are used to getting. The point wasn't so much the exact GPA numbers cited, but the idea--she had a good GPA, then had an off semester that may not have been disappointing for a lot of people, but disappointed her personally, but since it was not representative of her normal performance, she brought her GPA got brought back up to where she wanted. So, having one bad semester is not the end of the world.

👍👍👍👍 this
i think this is EXACTLY what she was trying to say. (may be biased because i personally related to the "perfectionism" that kaydubs refers to 🙄)

 

[nyanko]

That's all well and good until you realize that she could very well have expressed the same sentiment without including the numbers.

 

[breenie]

That's all well and good until you realize that she could very well have expressed the same sentiment without including the numbers.

Talking about numbers like this is like talking about your weight with a group of friends.

You might be outraged that you expanded to 130lbs one holiday season full of post-breakup booze and turkey binges, but when you whine about it, there is always going to be one girl in the room clenching her fists and thinking, "I'd murder 1,000 dolphins with my bare hands to weigh 130lbs for a day."

While you think you're relating about the same frustrations on a common issue, the actual nitty gritty details end up alienating the person you're talking to because that's all they can see/hear.

 

[HelloNello]

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[kaydubs]

I apologize. That's the weird thing I often forget about on here. It's a public forum. I don't know why that slips my mind more than not. I apologize if people took what I posted the wrong way. I didn't intend for what I said to be taken that way. So, again, I'm sorry. I'll try harder next time.🙂 Also, I really don't want to run around the forum punching people metaphorically. I'm sorry if anyone thinks that was my intention....😳 (Sometimes I'm too over-dramatic...and passionate....I'll save that for...where it's appropriate.

So, to OP, sorry for being a troll and taking over the thread [unintentionally]. All of us SDNers could probably acknowledge this happens, oh, a lot.....

 

[spoondiggity]

You might be outraged that you expanded to 130lbs one holiday season full of post-breakup booze and turkey binges, but when you whine about it, there is always going to be one girl in the room clenching her fists and thinking, "I'd murder 1,000 dolphins with my bare hands to weigh 130lbs for a day."

🤣🤣🤣

 

[Bisbee]

Kaydubs - No biggie. My comment was not to make you feel terrible; it was just to let you be more aware of and more sensitive to other people's predicaments. You have always been a supportive and caring poster, so I'm sure no one is angry with you at all.

 

[Bisbee]

...also, looking back on my comment, my purpose was also to try to help you to see that you shouldn't be too upset over things like a bit of a lower grade and not to be so hard on yourself. You will overlook so many good things in life if you're fretting over the little, unimportant details.