bad start need advice!!

[CR08panthers]

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I am curretly a freshman bio major and I'm off to a very bad start.
First quarter I got a 2.67 GPA ( all Bs and a C in chem) and this past quarter I got a 2.64(Bs and a C in chem and C+ in bio!!). I am going into my last quarter of freshman yr with an overall GPA of 2.65 and Im very worried that this bad start may have ruined my chances of making it to med school, what do you think my chances will be and what advice can you give me, should I retake those classes that I got Cs in to show commitment to improvement?

 

[loveoforganic]

I don't know how much my situation is relevant, as my freshman year grades were mostly due to maturity issues, but at any rate -

I was nearly in the same boat as you after freshman year - actually made pretty decent grades outside of the sciences, but my science grades were chem - C, B and bio - C, B-.

For getting into and MD school, it puts you in a really rough position. However, after getting serious about working, I made/am making A+'s in organic, physics, quantitative analysis, organic lab, and my miscellaneous other courses. If you make really stellar grades for the rest of your college career, and you do well on the MCAT (proving that you know the gen chem and gen bio material that you didn't do well in), you should be ok (as I'm hoping I will be 😛). However, you will be stuck in the awful situation of literally not being allowed a single mess-up from here on out.

For getting into a DO school, and if you don't think you can perform perfectly in your coming upperlevel classes, then it would probably best serve you to retake them at some point. If I don't get in anywhere (MD or DO) my first year, I'm going to spend the following year retaking the science classes I didn't do well in, while working at a hospital, and hope for the best the next cycle with more applications to DO schools than first cycle.

Good luck!

 

[Mobius1985]

With 6 quarters of 4.0, added to what you have, you could potentially get your GPA up to a competitive 3.66 when you'll still have one quarter to go before the traditional submission time to allopathic schools. But you won't accomplish this if you can't figure out why you're not getting As. Every B you get from here on will delay the redemption of your GPA. You can add summer school classes and you can wait an extra year before applying if you can't keep your grades high, but you still have a shot if you turn things around now.

I think repeating the Gen Chem classes is a good idea, as you must have a solid understanding of the material to do well on the MCAT. The secondary gain is the boost to your GPA, and if you apply DO their grade repalcement policy will make your GPA go up even faster.

 

[Stratego]

Does your school have some type of academic counselor you could meet with to get help? If you don't ask for help, no one will offer it to you. Maybe they could suggest an academic coach, tutors, or study sessions that can help you. The window is still open for you to salvage your GPA, but if you keep underachieving, the opportunity to follow your dream won't last long. I'm glad you're figuring this out now, instead of at the end of sophomore year.