- Joined
- Dec 14, 2014
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 8
I could really use some advice. It was not until my sophomore year that I final decided I wanted become an MD. This was mostly due to a lack of confidence on my part through my early years of schooling. I was homeschooled my entire life and always told I would be starting college behind those who had attended traditional schooling. I took my SAT’s and scored high enough to receive the one scholarship I applied for. Here, I would begin my college career at the community college. My parents were not ready for me to leave home and thought it a better transitional process than entering strait into a major university. I received my AA degree, while holding a 3.93 GPA. During this time I was also able to receive two other scholarships and an honor donned on the volunteer work I was fortunate to be involved in through the college. I have over 300 hours of volunteering logged. Time recorded including: tutoring special education elementary students, acting as teacher’s aide at a hearing impaired preschool, working in transportation at a local hospital, heading a food drive in my community, work on English communications with two teens in Sadie Arabia over Skype, ect.
Now it is my junior year, though not so according to most medical school guidelines. In attending the community college, I did so with my twin brother who, at the time, was not as committed to his studies as I. To save on money, my parents had us take all the same classes; as such, I find myself still needing many of my major courses. I have taken biology 1 &2, chemistry 1 &2, and mathematics through calculous with analytical geometry. I am still needing all of my research hours, and still needing time shadowing.
This last semester was my first at university and was admittedly a great struggle for me. I was very sheltered growing up and this transition would mean living on my own and facing the world by myself for the first time. Only a few family members and my best friend knows this, but I was molested within the first few week of classes. Due perhaps to this stress, else I would have contracted regardless, I became very sick. For three weeks I battled of an illness which, to this day, I can’t for sure give name. Besides this challenges the transition from my community college was proving greater than expected. My last class there attended but 8 students. Juxtaposed, two of my four classes at university held 450 students. All of these factors combined, most perhaps the molestation, resulted in a devastating semester. I received a B in Calculus, a B in Sociology, a C in Statistics, and a D in Chemistry 2.
It is crushing to think that one semester could so ruin a GPA I fought so hard to maintain. I am left feeling unsure of where my chances for medical school stand, how best to proceed. On my side, I have strong letters of recommendation available through my biology 2 professor, who told me that my research project was one of the best he has ever received, and from my humanities teach, who gave me a star Christmas ornament on the last day of class saying I had earned more points in her class than any student she has ever taught and that I would always be a star in her eyes.
Factors not in my favor include my less than perfect GPA, lack of shadowing, and lack of research. Besides this, in order that the transition might go smoother, at the start of the semester I resigned from my job of 2-years. I feel as though this might have been acceptable for one semester, however any further time spent jobless would be mistake. Also due to my upbringing and homeschooling, I am not a part of many extracurricular. I took ballet lessons and was part of both the demonstrator and teacher trainee programs and my studio; though, this was during my high school years. I plan to join AMSA at the start of the next semester. I love English, I might pick up a minor in creative writing. When I was 11, I self-published a children’s book and held a number of workshops on the publishing processes. Though again, I am not sure if this will be taken into consideration as it was not during my college years.
Thank you for any who took the time to read all of that. Any advice you could give would be most welcome. Best of luck to you all.
Most Sincerely,
A Friend
Now it is my junior year, though not so according to most medical school guidelines. In attending the community college, I did so with my twin brother who, at the time, was not as committed to his studies as I. To save on money, my parents had us take all the same classes; as such, I find myself still needing many of my major courses. I have taken biology 1 &2, chemistry 1 &2, and mathematics through calculous with analytical geometry. I am still needing all of my research hours, and still needing time shadowing.
This last semester was my first at university and was admittedly a great struggle for me. I was very sheltered growing up and this transition would mean living on my own and facing the world by myself for the first time. Only a few family members and my best friend knows this, but I was molested within the first few week of classes. Due perhaps to this stress, else I would have contracted regardless, I became very sick. For three weeks I battled of an illness which, to this day, I can’t for sure give name. Besides this challenges the transition from my community college was proving greater than expected. My last class there attended but 8 students. Juxtaposed, two of my four classes at university held 450 students. All of these factors combined, most perhaps the molestation, resulted in a devastating semester. I received a B in Calculus, a B in Sociology, a C in Statistics, and a D in Chemistry 2.
It is crushing to think that one semester could so ruin a GPA I fought so hard to maintain. I am left feeling unsure of where my chances for medical school stand, how best to proceed. On my side, I have strong letters of recommendation available through my biology 2 professor, who told me that my research project was one of the best he has ever received, and from my humanities teach, who gave me a star Christmas ornament on the last day of class saying I had earned more points in her class than any student she has ever taught and that I would always be a star in her eyes.
Factors not in my favor include my less than perfect GPA, lack of shadowing, and lack of research. Besides this, in order that the transition might go smoother, at the start of the semester I resigned from my job of 2-years. I feel as though this might have been acceptable for one semester, however any further time spent jobless would be mistake. Also due to my upbringing and homeschooling, I am not a part of many extracurricular. I took ballet lessons and was part of both the demonstrator and teacher trainee programs and my studio; though, this was during my high school years. I plan to join AMSA at the start of the next semester. I love English, I might pick up a minor in creative writing. When I was 11, I self-published a children’s book and held a number of workshops on the publishing processes. Though again, I am not sure if this will be taken into consideration as it was not during my college years.
Thank you for any who took the time to read all of that. Any advice you could give would be most welcome. Best of luck to you all.
Most Sincerely,
A Friend
