Declining GPA...

[helpNhand]

Hey all,

My hopes of becoming a physician are dwindling by the semester. I started with a 3.5, then a 3.0, and my worst of my life just now, 2.75. First semester, no sciences, then I had 2 my second, and 3 the third. On top of a personally challenging semester, I don't feel 2.75 was what I earned, but that is neither here nor there.

I realize this is a horrible decline, but is it recoverable?

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[Cegar]

Hey all,

My hopes of becoming a physician are dwindling by the semester. I started with a 3.5, then a 3.0, and my worst of my life just now, 2.75. First semester, no sciences, then I had 2 my second, and 3 the third. On top of a personally challenging semester, I don't feel 2.75 was what I earned, but that is neither here nor there.

I realize this is a horrible decline, but is it recoverable?

Some cursory calculations show that you can, given five semesters of 4.0 work with equivalent units/hours each semester, get a 3.66.

You can bump that number up further by taking summer units. That wouldn't be necessary though.

You're pretty much out of 3.8 territory, but a 3.6-3.7 is competitive.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Some cursory calculations show that you can, given five semesters of 4.0 work with equivalent units/hours each semester, get a 3.66.

You can bump that number up further by taking summer units. That wouldn't be necessary though.

You're pretty much out of 3.8 territory, but a 3.6-3.7 is competitive.

IF he can 4.0..thats pretty tough

 

[Cegar]

IF he can 4.0..thats pretty tough

Indeed it is.

 

[FrickenhugeMD]

Some cursory calculations show that you can, given five semesters of 4.0 work with equivalent units/hours each semester, get a 3.66.

You can bump that number up further by taking summer units. That wouldn't be necessary though.

You're pretty much out of 3.8 territory, but a 3.6-3.7 is competitive.

Not to be mean or to call you out personally, but I always wonder why people say that "if you get a 4.0 for the rest of college, you will have a decent GPA by graduation". Even if they were trying their hardest, a 4.0 in every class is very unrealistic, if not impossible. I have had semesters when I got a 4.0, but there were others that I tried even harder in and got a 3.6. A handful of people can turn the ship around, most cant. Life aint all sunshine and rainbows.


To the OP: You can turn things around, but have some realistic goals for yourself. I would shoot for at least a 3.5 or higher for the rest of college. If you set the bar too high you will only get yourself frustrated at failing. Prepare yourself to apply DO or carribean if being a physician is truly what you want. What about school is causing you so much difficulty? Are you not studying enough, or do you not understand the material?

I myself started college with a 3.0 GPA after my first semester, at a time when I didnt know or care what I wanted to do with myself. It took the rest of college with hard work to get it up to a 3.67, so it can be done. I regret that semester, and if it had been even a 3.5 I know I would have gotten more interviews with a 3.75ish GPA. O well, live and learn right?

 

[Jolie South]

OP-

you really need to figure out why your grades have been declining. i experienced a similar trend as my high school was really rigorous and first year of college was seemingly a repeat of my senior year. it lulled me into thinking that i didn't have to put any work in to get good grades.

did you just coast through first year? try keeping up with the material and reading as the course goes on. put in a few hours a week for review so you're integrating the material and not just cramming a day or two before the test.

also, try to get help with concepts you don't understand. don't wait until the week before the test to realize that you're not getting it. talk with your professors at office hours over the course of the semester. not only will this help your progress in the short-term, but will give you a leg up when it's time to get LORs.

 

[pinkblue]

OP-

you really need to figure out why your grades have been declining.

I agree. Maybe your study strategies aren't very effective. Unlike in high school where you had a fresh start each semester, college course material are going to build material from the previous semesters. Make sure you arent just memorizing the material for the test and then forgetting it.