I’ll try to keep this short. I just called my parents from the little cabin I’m staying in by myself (socially distancing from them as I work in healthcare with COVID patients) in the middle of an online chem 102 exam I’m positive I failed. Epically. Like, sub-50 scores. This is my second semester at UNC Chapel Hill, and I’m having a hard time adjusting to the rigor. I made a 3.1 last semester with a C+ in chem 101. I really felt like I was getting the hang of things this semester and then everything changed with coronavirus.
They had the talk with me tonight of “are you just beating a dead horse trying to do this thing?” I don’t have a great GPA from my previous community college - about a 3.6. I can pass/fail the course and get credit for my major as the university’s changed their policy for this semester but I’ve been told that’s not a good idea for a med school application.
So basically, I’m trying to figure out if they’re right and I need an outside perspective/advice. Any and all advice is welcome, even if it’s probably not what I want to hear. Their point is that maybe this just isn’t right for me. That I’m not suited for it. That if I’m having this much trouble now, I won’t be able to make it through medical school anyway. My point of view still leans toward not giving up. And maybe I’m looking at it the wrong way when I say “giving up,” but I cannot picture myself doing anything other than medicine. I work in hospice and it feels like my calling, as cliche as that may sound. I’m willing to sacrifice years of my life for this - if it means grad school, so be it. But I understand their point as well. My dad literally referred to it as “whipping a dead horse” and I get it; it might be time to cut my losses. I love teaching, but it feels like settling. And everyone keeps telling me it’s not, but that’s what it feels like. Because I know I would rather be practicing medicine.
Do I still have a chance? I might have a compelling explanation of the pass chemistry grade of working in hospice for terminal COVID patients. I’ve moved three times in the past week trying to find a place to stay so that I don’t get my parents sick. I just wonder, with 5 semesters left at UNC, if a positive trend in my grades after this and a compelling story will be enough.
They had the talk with me tonight of “are you just beating a dead horse trying to do this thing?” I don’t have a great GPA from my previous community college - about a 3.6. I can pass/fail the course and get credit for my major as the university’s changed their policy for this semester but I’ve been told that’s not a good idea for a med school application.
So basically, I’m trying to figure out if they’re right and I need an outside perspective/advice. Any and all advice is welcome, even if it’s probably not what I want to hear. Their point is that maybe this just isn’t right for me. That I’m not suited for it. That if I’m having this much trouble now, I won’t be able to make it through medical school anyway. My point of view still leans toward not giving up. And maybe I’m looking at it the wrong way when I say “giving up,” but I cannot picture myself doing anything other than medicine. I work in hospice and it feels like my calling, as cliche as that may sound. I’m willing to sacrifice years of my life for this - if it means grad school, so be it. But I understand their point as well. My dad literally referred to it as “whipping a dead horse” and I get it; it might be time to cut my losses. I love teaching, but it feels like settling. And everyone keeps telling me it’s not, but that’s what it feels like. Because I know I would rather be practicing medicine.
Do I still have a chance? I might have a compelling explanation of the pass chemistry grade of working in hospice for terminal COVID patients. I’ve moved three times in the past week trying to find a place to stay so that I don’t get my parents sick. I just wonder, with 5 semesters left at UNC, if a positive trend in my grades after this and a compelling story will be enough.
