do-able?

[awh112]

Hey all,
I have recently posted concerning transfer grades, GPA, etc., but now that I have finished my first semester I still have little to no clue if I am in a hole too deep. Pretty much, I got a 1.464 at my first school (freshman year), and now have transferred and have a 2.417 so far (only first semester). My combined GPA is 1.750, and I was wondering if I can bring it up enough to be competitive. Since my credits didn't transfer perfectly, I am probably going to spend 4-5 years at my new school rather than just 3. Please let me know if you have any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

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[DocSomeday]

Assuming you're going to spend 4-5 years and take mostly science courses, you should be good to go. You have plenty of time, stay motivated, prioritize, acquire relevant EC's and kick butt!! You can do this, hang in there!

 

[RnD4Lyf]

http://www.back2college.com/raisegpa.htm

You can play around there to see what it will take to raise your gpa to X.XX.

So far from what I've seen/read, 3.6 and a 30 MCAT score is what you want to shoot for plus whatever EC's you can get.

Hope this helps.

 

[sindadel]

Keep in mind that AMCAS will use all of your courses (not just the ones that transferred) when calculating your GPA.

Also, I don't mean to be harsh, but a 2.4 for the fall semester is still very very low. You really need to figure out why you are doing so poorly in classes. Do you go to office hours? Talk to your TAs? Make use of tutoring sessions? How do you study? Where? When? Are your friends supportive of academic success? How are you doing grades-wise in your current semester? (If you don't know, make an appointment with each of your professors and ASK them.)

If your grades are not significantly improved this semester, it would probably be better to take a year off and figure out how to study effectively than to continue taking classes and doing poorly. You can recover from 1 or 2 years of poor grades. 4-5 years is much much much more difficult.

Good luck!!

 

[awh112]

I tried that calculator, but when I did it it seems like I would have to take 190 credits to raise my GPA to a 3.6, and that's 12 semesters, or 6 years. Am I missing something here, or does it differ in the fact that maybe I'm doing it wrong? To me that seems nigh on impossible, but then again I'm not sure. Help!

 

[sindadel]

Yes, it looks like you are using it right. If you currently have approx 45 credits at an avg GPA of 1.75, it would take 209 credits at 4.0 to get an avg of 3.6 so I assume you must have a few less than 45 currently.

To get a 3.4, you would only need 120 hours of 4.0 - and if you can do that, have a good story for your slow start, do well on the MCAT, you will probably get in somewhere.

But every semester you turn in with low grades, you dig deeper into a hole. So again, if you don't know how to get A's - stop taking classes for a while until you figure it out.

 

[awh112]

Thanks for the advice. I'm hoping to apply to University of Kentucky or Louisville, I am a Kentucky resident and am hoping that since they are very heavy in-state schools, I will have a bit of an advantage as an in-state applicant. Does anyone know how important that is, or if it really won't make a difference? I've heard that it makes some sort of difference because they are big in-state schools. Thanks!

 

[awh112]

Sorry for the repost, but I figured out I may have done a miscalculation. I included my current hours in the GPA calculator, I put 41 instead of my actual 36 attempted hours. How does this affect my GPA calculations?

 

[DNM]

I believe it will make it slightly easier to raise your GPA to where you want it to be, but not by much.

 

[sindadel]

Yup - it will make it a bit easier. Also, getting the best possible grades this semester is very important.

So STOP posting on SDN and get your butt into your advisor's office and make appts to see all of your profs and make a plan to rock the rest of the semester. LOL.

Best of luck to you!