Confused Sophomore?

[Stephannie]

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Hello, well I'm about to be a Sophomore in College, Biology Major (Pre-Med). I'm planing on attending Medical School after graduating. I'm interested in Pediatrics.
My first year in college was.. rough. First time away from home, everything was new.. it was a lot for a first year and I ended up with a 2.8 GPA. Horrible.
I'm taking summer classes right now hoping to raise it to a 3.0.
I'm really confused on what I should be doing though. Last year I didn't do much for my resume and this year I want to start fresh and do what I need to do. Is it too late though?
My advisor doesn't really seem to know anything about Medical School which is disappointing since she is the only person I thought I could get help from.

I just need some guidance from someone.
What should I be doing to impress Medical Schools other than raise my GPA.
Anyone with experience, I feel like I could be doing a lot but I don't know what it is 🙁 I'm really passionate about medicine.
Anything would be tremendously appreciated. Thank you!

 

[lorenzomicron]

Well, your main problem is the work hard on your GPA.

then, you should looking into doing some club things around school that interest you. some fulfilling and recommended activities are volunteering.

then, try to get some clinical experience, which is a key factor; this means volunteer or work in a hospital.

then, also shadow a doctor, i.e. ask to spend time with a doctor to see what its all about.

also, if you can, get involved with research, by getting an REU or something. if you are URM, consider SMDEP for next summer.

for you, focus on grades. try to get A's and A-'s, to pull that GPA up. that is most important. also, you need to get clinical experience and just do EC activities. what and how these activities happen will depend on your personal interests.

good luck!

and hey, dont worry, if you really wanna be a doctor, work hard, and you'll get there someday. look around SDN for more information. also stay off SDN; it's the worst thing that could happen to a premed

 

[mdbound1987]

Firstly, don't stress about gpa, but if it isn't high enough after your junior year when people generally apply, wait another year and apply the summer you graduate so you can use your senior year to bring up your gpa even more. As for outside of the classroom, you want quality/dedication over quantity and need to cover all your bases. The bases are: research, shadowing, community service (medical and non-medical), ECs, and leadership. Get in a research lab asap, start contacting physicians to shadow, get involved in ECs now so you can set yourself up for some leadership positions in a year, find some sort of non-medical community service you enjoy and will be dedicated to, and lastly try to volunteer in a hospital. I know it sounds like a lot, but if you do a few hours a week for at least the two years before you typically apply, you will be in good shape. Also, when you take the mcat, make sure you receive your scores, at the latest, in June so you can apply early. This will greatly increase your chances.

 

[Catalystik]

Your first priority is a high GPA. You need a string of straight As to repair your GPA. Don't get distracted by the need for ECs. They can always come later. Average age for matriculation is 24, so there's no rush; you'll have 30s and 40-somethings for classmates.

So nail down the academics first, as the ECs won't help you much if your GPA is dismal. And it is increasingly more time consuming and expensive to fix a bad GPA the longer you wait. Right now, you could get your GPA to a 3.4-3.5 by a year from now with sufficient effort. And you could have a competitive 3.66 by the end of junior year. Attend office hours for help, go to group tutoring sessions, do all the problems in the back of each chapter, figure out where your study strategy is going wrong.

 

[mdbound1987]

Your first priority is a high GPA. You need a string of straight As to repair your GPA. Don't get distracted by the need for ECs. They can always come later. Average age for matriculation is 24, so there's no rush; you'll have 30s and 40-somethings for classmates.

So nail down the academics first, as the ECs won't help you much if your GPA is dismal. And it is increasingly more time consuming and expensive to fix a bad GPA the longer you wait. Right now, you could get your GPA to a 3.4-3.5 by a year from now with sufficient effort. And you could have a competitive 3.66 by the end of junior year. Attend office hours for help, go to group tutoring sessions, do all the problems in the back of each chapter, figure out where your study strategy is going wrong.

That is true. It will be tough to do all you need to do outside the classroom and bring your gpa up too. I'm just going on personal experience because I had a 2.7 after freshman year and was able to bring my gpa up while managing all those other activities. Granted I did apply after my senior year. So OP, your best bet would be to follow Catalystik's advice and focus on the gpa first because if you take on too many outside activities and can't simultaneously show a serious upward trend in gpa, you will be screwed.

 

[EyEnStein 07]

Be happy that your GPA can still be fixed. Considering you probably have around 35ish credits or so as rising sophomore, taking all of sophomore and junior year doing well can definitely increase that. Don't stress that much but work hard enough to bring up your gpa. I didnt have such a great first year myself (different set of issues though), but for the last year (im a rising junior) ive maintained a 3.9+ GPA which was a tremendous increase.

Keep going, you can definitely make it! Also if doing shadowing and those things are too stressful during school, then use your winter / summer sessions to get volunteering and research or w.e interests you done. Most importantly when it comes to EC's do things you enjoy, exactly what mdbound1987 has advised.

Best of luck!