Call me crazy, I go to an Ivy UG and I still want out but I'm trapped.

[Lys Ile Glu Leu]

Firstly, it will definitely be OK. However, you have to be smart about the choices you make from here on out and you'll likely have to face some tough choices. For example, is it reasonable to stay in a school because your parents want you to? If they're footing the bill, perhaps yes. If not and you're on all loans, this is one of those phases of adulthood when you may have to just make the choice that's best for you, your happiness, and your future while being as respectful to your parents as you can.

Similarly, it may be time to reevaluate how you're going about your courses. Are you taking classes that are beyond you? Are you studying efficiently? Are you taking too many credits? Try reducing your credits down to the minimum for full-time students for one semester and see how that makes you feel. Sometimes a couple semesters of kicking a** is all it takes to get you back on the horse. Clearly you got into this school somehow, you likely have the intelligence to hang in your classes even if you're not always the top 10%.

Just keep in mind that most people struggle their first year of college. It's fine to struggle, but it's more important that you learn from your struggles and make realistic changes to adjust. If you are able to resume an upward trend in your grades, it will go pretty far and most people won't even bother putting that much weight on your first year. That's the prize dangling out for you, now you have to go get it.



This is school-dependent. Some schools have much higher rigor than others. For example, the state school most of my highschool friends went to is largely a joke and most students spend close to 0 time studying while maintaining a 3.6+ GPA. These are biology/biochem majors mostly.

If only my state school were a joke. Truthfully, there's so much inter-professor variability that sometimes it's a joke and other times, it's a massacre.

I don't know why, but today seems like it's gonna be a great daaaaaaaayyyy...

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[ranson]

A lot of people think UPenn is a state school. Given your sGPA, I wouldn't stay for that kind of prestige.

I hope you are replying to the OP because my sGPA is pretty decent no matter what school you are from.

 

[supposedlyfun]

It just wasn't in two or three classes. I had 45 credit hours and those included premed courses (look it up if you don't know that this means; google is your friend), language requirements, etc. The fact that I was in highschool and studying much less than I was at my current school and still getting A's at the state school says something. Also, the material at Ivy league schools is different in some courses. My 1st semester gen chem course skipped the basic chemistry that is on the MCAT and focused solely on quantum mechanics.

There is no top school that is unheard of, unless you are talking to a bunch of *****s.

I am not saying that all state schools are less rigorous than the top schools. There are big differences among state schools. However, people saying that ivy league schools are on the same level as state schools have no idea what they are talking about. It's like saying that the difficulty of Stanford med school is the same as a low ranked state med school and it is not.

Let's see, you've been to one state school and one Ivy. Sorry, but your conclusions are not statistically backed-up, you have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[pokm]

I also go to an Ivy league school ( one typically known for grade inflation) and I felt the same way as the OP (possibly worse, because there's supposed to be rampant grade inflation at my school) when I was getting my first round of midterms back. In the second round of midterms I ended up doing much better. I just let go of all of the grade paranoia and decided to learn. It sounds cheesy, but I really really stuck to that. I stopped studying with the next test in the back of my mind and just decided to learn the material. I told myself that grades wouldn't matter and I actually meant it, and I improved so much. Anyway, the point of this corny story is that sometimes the reason that college is difficult or uncomfortable is because we forget why we actually came. And this applies to a whole bunch of other aspects of the college experience including the social and the personal.

Last piece of advice: take everything one day at a time. When you wake up, ask yourself what you can realistically do in the next 12 hours that's going to improve your situation. Then work for 18 hours. It's a great way to go to sleep feeling accomplished.

One more thing: I'm really not trying to be arrogant here; I'm a person with a great sense of humility, but state school are significantly less academically rigorous than the Ivies. I know anecdotal evidence is practically useless in an argument like this, but in high school, my GPA was ~4.5 (3.9 UW), and my best friend's was 3.8 (3.3 UW). Now I have a 3.7 and she has a 3.9. She goes to a great school; there is no doubt about that, but the effort that some kids at my school put in to get B-'s in intro chem would have gotten them solid A's at her school (intro chem is tough; putting in ~5hrs/week outside of class would result in a B-). This is my earnest, non-prejudiced observation.

 

[ranson]

Let's see, you've been to one state school and one Ivy. Sorry, but your conclusions are not statistically backed-up, you have no idea what you're talking about.

Why don't you say the same thing to the person I quoted initially? I have been to both an Ivy and state school. Most people here making judgements have only been to one. I have more credibility than you ever will have.

 

[Titus Times]

One more thing: I'm really not trying to be arrogant here; I'm a person with a great sense of humility, but state school are significantly less academically rigorous than the Ivies. I know anecdotal evidence is practically useless in an argument like this, but in high school, my GPA was ~4.5 (3.9 UW), and my best friend's was 3.8 (3.3 UW). Now I have a 3.7 and she has a 3.9. She goes to a great school; there is no doubt about that, but the effort that some kids at my school put in to get B-'s in intro chem would have gotten them solid A's at her school (intro chem is tough; putting in ~5hrs/week outside of class would result in a B-). This is my earnest, non-prejudiced observation.

Great post, but I must say this. You assume that since you had a higher HS gpa than your friend that your bound to out perform them in college. That is nonsense, and you think that some students at her school don't bust chops to pull out a C. It happens at every school, there is a reason why Med schools don't weigh where you went to U grad as an important factor. Pre med is a weed out curriculum at EVERY university. If you know of one that hands out A's then you sir are foolish for not attending that University, you would be alot closer to getting into an Ivy med school which would be far more beneficial to your future than attending one for U grad.

Its comments like what were seeing on this thread that give SDN the stigma of being home to neurotic pre meds out of touch with the real world. Heres a fun fact the name Ivy league was given to these schools way back in the day because they played football against one another, not because they were far more difficult than any other school.

 

[sworzeh]

Definitely switch to a state school. You'll only need to study 1 hour/gen ed test and 3 hour/science test if you're proficient at cramming. I'm sure this varies based on the school, but it's been my experience.

Plus it's way cheaper here and the college's atmosphere is lovely.

 

[supposedlyfun]

Why don't you say the same thing to the person I quoted initially? I have been to both an Ivy and state school. Most people here making judgements have only been to one. I have more credibility than you ever will have.

Muh anecdotal evidence, you know, you're pretty stupid for someone who went to college at 16.

 

[ranson]

Great post, but I must say this. You assume that since you had a higher HS gpa than your friend that your bound to out perform them in college. That is nonsense, and you think that some students at her school don't bust chops to pull out a C. It happens at every school, there is a reason why Med schools don't weigh where you went to U grad as an important factor. Pre med is a weed out curriculum at EVERY university. If you know of one that hands out A's then you sir are foolish for not attending that University, you would be alot closer to getting into an Ivy med school which would be far more beneficial to your future than attending one for U grad.

Not really. The benefits are basically the same. The differences between top schools and others (whether Ugrad or medschool) are the research opportunities and quality of students. You can get into any specialty from any med school if you have the appropriate board scores and clinical rotation grades, just like how you can get into any med school from any Ugrad if you have the appropriate GPA and MCAT scores. Furthermore, the training you receive to become a doctor at a top 10 med school is the exactly the same as one you would receive from any other medical school. The only exception is if you are interested academic medicine because there are more research opportunities at some med schools.

 

[ranson]

Muh anecdotal evidence, you know, you're pretty stupid for someone who went to college at 16.

Aww, did someone get his/her feelings hurt on the interwebz ? Resorting to name calling is the first sign.

 

[Lys Ile Glu Leu]

Not really. The benefits are basically the same. The differences between top schools and others (whether Ugrad or medschool) are the research opportunities and quality of students. You can get into any specialty from any med school if you have the appropriate board scores and clinical rotation grades, just like how you can get into any med school from any Ugrad if you have the appropriate GPA and MCAT scores. Furthermore, the training you receive to become a doctor at a top 10 med school is the exactly the same as one you would receive from any other medical school. The only exception is if you are interested academic medicine because there are more research opportunities at some med schools.

I think you guys are making about the same point. Why go ivy UG vs. other UG (e.g., state schools) when the difference of strictly attending one or the other accounts for little to nothing regarding medical school admissions decisions? Forgive if I've misunderstood either, or both, of you.

 

[supposedlyfun]

Aww, did someone get his/her feelings hurt on the interwebz ? Resorting to name calling is the first sign.

You're right, it's about as good an argumentative method as relying on anecdotal evidence.

 

[cuculici1]

I also go to an Ivy league school ( one typically known for grade inflation) and I felt the same way as the OP (possibly worse, because there's supposed to be rampant grade inflation at my school) when I was getting my first round of midterms back. In the second round of midterms I ended up doing much better. I just let go of all of the grade paranoia and decided to learn. It sounds cheesy, but I really really stuck to that. I stopped studying with the next test in the back of my mind and just decided to learn the material. I told myself that grades wouldn't matter and I actually meant it, and I improved so much. Anyway, the point of this corny story is that sometimes the reason that college is difficult or uncomfortable is because we forget why we actually came. And this applies to a whole bunch of other aspects of the college experience including the social and the personal.

This is good advice. The proper way to study in undergrad is to make sure you know the material, not simply study for a grade. OP, if I were you, I'd try to reevaluate study habits as the first step to addressing this problem. You should be studying with the goal of mastering the material. Now I know that may seem like an arduous task, but it is possible if you focus on studying smart rather than simply studying hard. Figure out what each professor emphasizes. Some professors like to emphasize their lecture material. If that's the case, skip reading the textbook, go to class, and focus on mastering what the professor emphasizes in class. Some professors emphasize both lecture and textbook material, in this case, study both. Some professors just pretty much lecture on what's in the textbook, if that's the case just focus your efforts on mastering the textbook material. Usually professors will be happy to tell you what to focus your studying on if you ask them, and if you are ever unsure I recommend you do that. If you focus on mastering the content rather than just the grade/curve/etc., I promise you that you will experience less anxiety, and you'll be thanking yourself come MCAT time. This is something I wish I did earlier in my undergrad career, but that's another story for a different day.

To the OP, I'd recommend you try this for a semester before you think about transferring. If struggling to get good grades is the only reason that you want to transfer, I would recommend toughing it out a bit longer. If you don't like the environment of the school, that's a different situation entirely. One thing I will say is that, in general, state schools tend to offer a more balanced college experience. You can still learn a lot of information, go to football games, have a vibrant social life, etc. It is likely much easier to balance everything at a state school than at the school you attend. The main reason for this is the environment; students at state schools, on the whole, tend to be more balanced individuals. Additionally, the larger size means there are a wider variety of opportunities. If you feel like you'd benefit more from being in this type of an environment, transferring would probably be worth considering.

 

[Dr Love]

It just wasn't in two or three classes. I had 45 credit hours and those included premed courses (look it up if you don't know that this means; google is your friend), language requirements, etc. The fact that I was in highschool and studying much less than I was at my current school and still getting A's at the state school says something. Also, the material at Ivy league schools is different in some courses. My 1st semester gen chem course skipped the basic chemistry that is on the MCAT and focused solely on quantum mechanics.

There is no top school that is unheard of, unless you are talking to a bunch of *****s.

I am not saying that all state schools are less rigorous than the top schools. There are big differences among state schools. However, people saying that ivy league schools are on the same level as state schools have no idea what they are talking about. It's like saying that the difficulty of Stanford med school is the same as a low ranked state med school and it is not.

Re-read that sentence. It is not the top school that is unheard of, I am saying that at a top school it would be unheard of to have a class with not a single 'A' being given, whereas that happened several times at the state school I went to.

And I think it is entirely believable that Stanford med might be less difficult than a state med school. I am at a highly-ranked med school and I find that the key difference is that we have better access to research and clinical experiences than other folks, not that the tests are any more harder.

 

[Medstart108]

A lot of people think UPenn is a state school. Given your sGPA, I wouldn't stay for that kind of prestige.

The easiest way to piss a penn student off.

Oh you go to Penn State? I hear thats a great school