Critical situation for my sister

[aznboy]

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My sister is now going into her fourth year with
1st year: 2.0 GPA
2nd year: 4.0 GPA
3rd year: 4.0 GPA
4th year: Do not know yet.
She is immensely depressed because some guy told her that her unweighed accumulative GPA is only 3.3 and said that she has no hope at all in going into medicine and that she should try something else like occupational therapist and such.
I tried to calm her down, and say that there's more to life than medicine, but she's just saddened even more. 😕 🙁
She did pretty well in her MCAT and all of her science courses. I personally think she has a chance. What are your opinion about this? What action should she take? Our school councellor is not very helpful and do not know that much. It's such a shame because it's only her first year that got messed up very badly.

 

[blz]

define "pretty well on the MCAT"

 

[brs23]

med schools totally look at a positive progression--I think she's definitely got a shot

 

[Pinkertinkle]

If BCPM is good, cumulative won't be a big hurdle. Where she's getting that GPA is also important.

 

[Giving My .02]

med schools totally look at a positive progression--I think she's definitely got a shot

Med schools do like an upward trend, so I think she has a chance. It also depends on her state of residence. Besides her overall GPA, if her science GPA is great, then she has a chance. In her personal statement, she might need to address what caused the lower grades her freshman year, and what happened where she made such a great improvement. Women, are emotional and express their emotions more about stuff they care about. Just comfort her, and tell her to apply.

 

[lolli]

If she got above 30 on her MCAT she definately has a shot. People get in all the time with gpa's like that, especialls since she was able to pull herself up after her first year. That reflects very positively on her. She shouldn't loose hope!

 

[stoic]

As long as she's got a good MCAT score, good extra curriculars, and strong letters of recommendation, she'll be fine.

Lots and lots of people mess up as freshman. It's not a unique or partcularly noteworthy problem. She recovered well and that's what matters. In fact, when med school get her application, her GPA will be broken down by year for the admission comittee.

Tell your sister that the "guy" is an idiot.

P.S. your sister may want to look into DO schools; traditionally they are very forgiving of "poor freshman year syndrome"

 

[elephunt]

If your sister managed 30+ on the MCAT and has been doing worthwhile extracurriculars (leadership in organizations, volunteering, physician shadowing, etc.), then I think she definitely still has a chance at admission! I believe adcoms look favorably on upward trends in grades, and your sis has definitely managed to do very well over the last two years.

What is her science GPA? If it is a lot higher than her cumulative GPA, that will help her out. And she can explain any mitigating circumstances from her freshman year in her personal statement. Even if it was just that she came to college, went crazy and partied too much, she can say that she has matured a lot and turned her academic life around, etc. etc. As long as she's honest and addresses/explains the situation, I think she'll still have a good shot at your state school(s).

There are also private schools that have average accepted GPA around 3.5--that's average, so there must be people both above and below that, and she's not that much below. Check the MSAR or US News for this info.

Also, your sis could choose to delay her application for a year. If she manages a 4.0 her senior year, that would bring her overall GPA up to 3.5 and hopefully her science GPA would be even higher. She could find some really amazing volunteer/research/social service job for her glide year, which would help her application even more. By the time she put in her application at the end of her senior year, she could be much more competitive than she is now. Just something to think about.

Tell her good luck! 👍

 

[WalterSobchakk]

I can't believe that loser told her that. I really can't see them caring about that GPA since the last two years were 4.0. Apply!! She'll do fine. 🙂

 

[Swack]

Dude, 2 years of 4.0s is like 20+ straight As. I think that's pretty impressive.

 

[aznboy]

lol
I want to kick that guy's ass too.
I'll tell me sister to look at this thread when I get home.

 

[Zweihander]

It's bullsht. A 3.3 is a respectable GPA, and the fact that it was an upward progression will count in her favour. She's definitely got a chance.

 

[W222]

The BEST ADVICE I CAN GIVE IS for your sister to not apply until after her senior year. She should wait atleast until she graduates to apply, work for her year off in some medical/research position, and EXPLAIN WHY SHE GOT THE 2.0 FRESHMAN YEAR. ALSO, the MCAT, ECs, and undergrad school are going to have to come into play alot more because of her GPA trouble freshman year. A ton of people enter college and feel overwhelmed or party a little to hard, whatever the case you sister has a great shot and she sounds like she really wants this. My neighbor, a Doc who graduated when he was 35 from med school, told me that you can ALWAYS find a way to be a doctor, you just have to want it bad enough to put in alot of work. Tell her not to give up, it worked for me. I was ready to give up but my dream wouldnt let me. Best of luck to your sister.

 

[skiz knot]

My sister is now going into her fourth year with
1st year: 2.0 GPA
2nd year: 4.0 GPA
3rd year: 4.0 GPA
4th year: Do not know yet.
She is immensely depressed because some guy told her that her unweighed accumulative GPA is only 3.3 and said that she has no hope at all in going into medicine and that she should try something else like occupational therapist and such.
I tried to calm her down, and say that there's more to life than medicine, but she's just saddened even more. 😕 🙁
She did pretty well in her MCAT and all of her science courses. I personally think she has a chance. What are your opinion about this? What action should she take? Our school councellor is not very helpful and do not know that much. It's such a shame because it's only her first year that got messed up very badly.

I call Bull **** on this thread. Who would care what some guy told her what her gpa is? Shouldn't she know what her actual GPA is? Unless she hardly took any classes her second and third year, and a **** load her freshman year, her gpa would be better than a 3.3. Say it was a balanced load of 30 hrs per year. That would give her a gpa of 3.67. Pretty damn good. Especially with the upward trend.

 

[Swack]

I call Bull **** on this thread. Who would care what some guy told her what her gpa is? Shouldn't she know what her actual GPA is? Unless she hardly took any classes her second and third year, and a **** load her freshman year, her gpa would be better than a 3.3. Say it was a balanced load of 30 hrs per year. That would give her a gpa of 3.67. Pretty damn good. Especially with the upward trend.

(2+4+4)/3 = 3.33

Am I doing this right?

 

[purple_rainbow]

Say it was a balanced load of 30 hrs per year. That would give her a gpa of 3.67. Pretty damn good. Especially with the upward trend.

not to be anal or anything (sorry i'm a math major), but a balanced load of 30 hrs per year would give her a gpa of 3.33

 

[just_in_time]

Are you sure that with a balanced load all 3 years it would be a 3.67 because I came up with a 3.3 if all years were balanced.

 

[just_in_time]

Sorry for repeating Purple Rainbow your post was not up when I went in here.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Ahaha, pwned, the bolding only makes it worse. Skiz prolly just read 3.0 instead of 2.0.

 

[Medikit]

Your sister is doing great. You should congratulate her on bringing her GPA up like she did. If she continues the trend she may have a 3.5 going into medical school.

 

[skiz knot]

I call Bull **** on this thread. Who would care what some guy told her what her gpa is? Shouldn't she know what her actual GPA is? Unless she hardly took any classes her second and third year, and a **** load her freshman year, her gpa would be better than a 3.3. Say it was a balanced load of 30 hrs per year. That would give her a gpa of 3.67. Pretty damn good. Especially with the upward trend.

Whoops, my bad. I read first year gpa as 3. Gotta improve my reading comprehension skills. I'm sooooo embarrassed.

 

[synapse lapse]

Tell your sister not to worry. She has a great chance at getting in, especialy if the rest of her app is atleast average. Tell her she'll make a great doctor, and to tell that guy to F off. BTW, there's nothing else to life but medicine (j/k!) 🙂

 

[Yogi Bear]

is this a trolling thread? i mean....who gets exactly 2.0, 4.0, and who's average is exactly 3.33?

 

[velo]

Whoops, my bad. I read first year gpa as 3. Gotta improve my reading comprehension skills. I'm sooooo embarrassed.

happens to the best of us skiz knot....although the bolding made it extra funny

simple mistake though, don't sweat it

 

[skiz knot]

happens to the best of us skiz knot....although the bolding made it extra funny

simple mistake though, don't sweat it

I bolded the phrase because it specifically said "some guy told her her unweigh(t)ed gpa was...", and I thought it was funny that some guy had to tell her what her gpa was. Anyway, I am still embarrassed. I was pwned.

 

[rcd]

The BEST ADVICE I CAN GIVE IS for your sister to not apply until after her senior year. She should wait atleast until she graduates to apply, work for her year off in some medical/research position, and EXPLAIN WHY SHE GOT THE 2.0 FRESHMAN YEAR. ALSO, the MCAT, ECs, and undergrad school are going to have to come into play alot more because of her GPA trouble freshman year. A ton of people enter college and feel overwhelmed or party a little to hard, whatever the case you sister has a great shot and she sounds like she really wants this. My neighbor, a Doc who graduated when he was 35 from med school, told me that you can ALWAYS find a way to be a doctor, you just have to want it bad enough to put in alot of work. Tell her not to give up, it worked for me. I was ready to give up but my dream wouldnt let me. Best of luck to your sister.

why should she wait a year to apply? i haven't heard of schools that punish an applicant for applying more then once in their lifetimes. imo she should apply now, and only then if she doesn't get in take a year off for post bacc / research position.

 

[synapse lapse]

That's rediculous. The success rate for reapplicants is somewhere around 40% acceptance. That's not bad at all considering it's only 44% for first timers. NO school is gonna punish you for reapplying. Anyhow, your sister needn't take a year off, she has great chance of getting in.

 

[W222]

The reason I suggested the year off, is the at this point they have one bad year of college that is off-set by two excellent years, why not make it three excellent years. ALSO, you know nothing about the girl's EC. What if she has no volunteer work and just has some good grades, IT WOULD BE F-ING RIDICULOUS TO APPLY WITH NO RELAVENT EXPERIENCE IN HEALTHCARE. THAT IS WHY YOUR SISTER SHOULD TAKE A YEAR OFF.

 

[sunflower79]

I sure as heck hope that guy who told the OP's sister off doesn't get into med school.

 

[skiz knot]

The reason I suggested the year off, is the at this point they have one bad year of college that is off-set by two excellent years, why not make it three excellent years. ALSO, you know nothing about the girl's EC. What if she has no volunteer work and just has some good grades, IT WOULD BE F-ING RIDICULOUS TO APPLY WITH NO RELAVENT EXPERIENCE IN HEALTHCARE. THAT IS WHY YOUR SISTER SHOULD TAKE A YEAR OFF.

I know that I should stay out of this thread because of my stupid post before,but...



I applied with no relevent experience in healthcare. I got in. With a 3.3 GPA no less.


I did have other EC's though. You make a good point that another poster knows nothing about her EC's, but you don't either. Before you try to dictate how this girl spends a year, or more, of her life, maybe you should take the time to find out her whole situation.


Oh, and the bold this time IS a joke.

 

[gujuDoc]

She has a shot at getting in.

Let me tell you something. I know two people this year that at one point in their college careers had like a little over half a dozen F's to almost 10 F's.

One of these people did like above 35 on his MCAT and some other stuff that really set him apart, showed a huge trend of straight A's and got 4 interview invites, and one acceptance, since he only went to 2 interviews.

The other got 3 interviews and got in, but she made the many F's back like more than 10-15 yrs ago, and got 3.8 when she went back to school. She also was a cop of several years so had life experience that set her apart.

My point is never listen to worthless advisors


They are Useless

 

[cher25]

(2+4+4)/3 = 3.33

Am I doing this right?

It's not as simple as balancing the averages.

To accurately calculate her gpa you need to take the total number of credit hours and the total number of grade points.

Divide the total number of grade points by the total number of credit hours: (grade points/credit hours)

Depending on your school:

A= 4.00 It works quite nicely to make an excel spreadsheet. That way
A-= 3.67 she can keep track of her GPA with every class that she
B+= 3.33 recieves a grade for.
B = 3.00
B- = 2.67
C+= 2.33
C = 2.00
C- = 1.67 Hope this help.
D+ = 1.33
D = 1.00
F = 0.00

 

[ravaha08]

My point is never listen to worthless advisors


They are Useless

Amen to that!!!

 

[VCMM414]

My point is never listen to worthless advisors


They are Useless

Speak for yourself. My ugrad premed advisor was well-respected in the med school adcom circles and was generally knowledgeable and helpful, though not always errorfree.

 

[1viking]

Speak for yourself. My ugrad premed advisor was well-respected in the med school adcom circles and was generally knowledgeable and helpful, though not always errorfree.

So, if your advisor is useless, why is he respected? Read the post you replied to. "Never listen to wortless advisors." I sure wouldn't listen to a financial advisor that was heavily in debt.

 

[gizmoduck]

My advisor also happened to be the prof that taught the majority of my core classes. That Scottish man reemed me fairly nicely on my GPA (3.37 thanks to a nice fat row of C's in upper level biology courses). Granted he's pretty well screwed me over in that respect but I still like the guy. Maybe med schools will be impressed with the fact that I can pronounce biological terms with a Glasgow accent!

 

[gujuDoc]

Speak for yourself. My ugrad premed advisor was well-respected in the med school adcom circles and was generally knowledgeable and helpful, though not always errorfree.

Maybe that is your experience, but the good majority of people I have talked to at my school and the good majority of the people that have talked about their advising experiences on this board, have always said that their advisors have been horrible.

Maybe yours was good, but most of them tend to tell you nothing but that you are never gonna make it to med school.

 

[gujuDoc]

Amen to that!!!

Thank you thank you thank you. Someone understands my viewpoint.

Personally, I would talk to an admissions director or dean if they want professional advice.

 

[gujuDoc]

To the original poster,

tell your sister to go ahead and apply, and that she still has a chance.

 

[aznboy]

👍 I told her to apply. It's better to try than not try at all. I don't know how whole medical school application works because I'm going into my third year now and don't plan to apply until fourth. I can only offer help by letting her know about this board and introducing her to some people that I know who got into med school. blah

 

[gujuDoc]

👍 I told her to apply. It's better to try than not try at all. I don't know how whole medical school application works because I'm going into my third year now and don't plan to apply until fourth. I can only offer help by letting her know about this board and introducing her to some people that I know who got into med school. blah

AZN BOY,

I PMed you. PM me back if you have any more questions