Do i still have a chance?

[Nano]

Hey guys... i know i'm buggin everyone... but there is no one that really gives me good advice than anyone around here. So my question is would i still have a chance, or go on working hard with my grades.. and here they are:

Bio 101: B
Bio 102: C
Pre-calc: C
Finite Math: D
Genetics: D
Botany: Possible B
Cell Bio: Possible D if lucky a C.

The other crappy classes like computer, art, languages, english i have mostly As.

I admit i was not giving it all i got... i need to get on it. But it's hard cuz i took advantage of myself in Highschool where i never studied and i graduated with a 3.3 GPA. But now my GPA is 2.63 and i need to SERIOUSLY raise it! Now i'm thinking of majoring in Psychology to get As or sociology cuz i'm good at being logical and all that...that's what got me my good grades in highschool. But that's if i still got a chance to go to med school.. i still have Chemistries to do and Physics too (which i have W for now). I'm going to med school around here and i have GWU and Georgetown and also Howard. I dunt care if i go to Howard which i think they want 3.0 or 3.2 .... and i also dunt mind dental which is 2.7 minimum for howard. BUT if i really dunt have a chance because of my science grades should i just go for PA bachelors at howard and call it a day? or should do psychology, try for med or dental and then if there is no chance, go for the masters program of PA in GWU?

I'm really stressed out, cuz i need to decide where i'm going and what i'm doing so that i know what to register for summer classes... they are starting may 21!!!

I have a friend who's going to do the PA at howard and i wanted to go for it cuz i do like it, and i need someone with me so that i study hard! i need motivation. But if i go for psychology and then do the PA, i dunno anyone at all.. may be later, but i dunno! Medical, i dunt really care cuz i can find peeps later u know.. or dental too! So tell me.. should i go for PA bachelors.. and then may be later on i can try for medical if i want to.. or forget it?

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[soeagerun2or]

Your post makes my head hurt

 

[Nano]

i know... me too.. i'm sorry!

 

[twohearted]

Are you trying your hardest to get the best grades that you can? If so, then there are two possible problems: 1. You have poor study skills and resultantly, your best effort has yeilded grades lower than your capabilities . . . or 2. You try as hard as you can and your grades are representative of your potential. You need to find out which is the case and fast. If #1 happens to be the case then get some help and learn to study. It will change your grades drastically. I recieved Cs and Ds from 6th grade until college. Not because I was stupid, but because I didn't know how to properly study. I learned some study skills and now I get pretty much straight As. So learn some study techniques soon if you can. If your case is #2 however, then you might want to consider a different career b/c you prob won't be able to hang in med school. Just drink less and do less drugs and you should be fine.

 

[psipsina]

What year are you in UG? Depending on how many credits you have left, if you could get it above a 3.0-3.2 and do something impressive on the MCAT you might have a chance for an allo school. You'd definitely have to apply more broadly than just DC schools and you would seriously have to consider DO or Caribbean too. You could also do a postbac to prove yourself if you don't have enough time to really do anything about your UG GPA.

Only you can decide if you would be happy being a PA. If the answer is no then its worth it to try to do what you really want.

 

[Robizzle]

You raised about 5 million questions in random order.

Here are some of my thoughts, sorry if I sound harsh but your post gives me a headache too.

First, With your current science grades, your chances are slim to none, especially if you only want to go nearby. Switching majors isn't going to help you. When you apply, you will have an overall GPA, and also a BCPM (science) GPA. You overall might be like a 3.2 if you can get all A's from here on in in your psych classes but your science is still going to be in the mid 2's and that's not going to cut it.

Second, you sound like you don't really care what program you end up in. As long as you make the cutoff, you'll pick one over the other. Like if you can't make the 3.2 for med school then okay you'll try hard for the 2.7 for dental, and if not that you'll go for the PA. Sorry but that mentality is not going to cut it. If you really want to be a doctor, then you can buckle down, retake the classes you bombed, take upper-level science classes and ace them (easier said than done), and study your ASS off for the MCAT.

And holy **** you better be joking about picking a CAREER just because a couple of your friends are going to that school too and you want company.

Bottom line: You still have a chance, but you're gonna have to work for it.

 

[Nano]

By the end of this semester i will have 64 credits. SO i'm going on my third year... and i love medicine more than PA... but i still like PA u know. I would do that if med school doesn't work out. And i dunt feel like i am trying my hardest cuz i tend to only understand the lecture and what i'm reading but not memorize. It's just soo much u know... i try to ge tmyself out of that in a way. i dunno what else to say... plus i have exams this week. so yeah i'll leave at that. oh one question: you mentioned post-bacc? what is that.. i've seen it around but what is and what is the advantage for that?

 

[psipsina]

By the end of this semester i will have 64 credits. SO i'm going on my third year... and i love medicine more than PA... but i still like PA u know. I would do that if med school doesn't work out. And i dunt feel like i am trying my hardest cuz i tend to only understand the lecture and what i'm reading but not memorize. It's just soo much u know... i try to ge tmyself out of that in a way. i dunno what else to say... plus i have exams this week. so yeah i'll leave at that. oh one question: you mentioned post-bacc? what is that.. i've seen it around but what is and what is the advantage for that?

Going into third year you are not going to get your UG high enough for an allo school. Post bacc is a good idea, there is a forum about it I think where you'd get some more informed answers. But you need to figure out how to get your grades higher before you even consider dropping more money on a post bac, because you need a to rock out the post bac and the MCAT to have a chance. So work on that first. See if you can get your grades up next semester and go from there.

 

[geogil]

By the end of this semester i will have 64 credits. SO i'm going on my third year... and i love medicine more than PA... but i still like PA u know. I would do that if med school doesn't work out. And i dunt feel like i am trying my hardest cuz i tend to only understand the lecture and what i'm reading but not memorize. It's just soo much u know... i try to ge tmyself out of that in a way. i dunno what else to say... plus i have exams this week. so yeah i'll leave at that. oh one question: you mentioned post-bacc? what is that.. i've seen it around but what is and what is the advantage for that?

If lower division bio is sooo much, you're going to have a tough time with the rest of the pre-reqs, let alone medschool.
Postbaccalaureate programs are classes you take after you have a bachelor's degree. Most people who do this fit into two categories: those who didn't take the prereqs teh first time, and those who did poorly the first time. Basically you're taking the pre-reqs after you graduate. It is better to take them and do well the first time around, especially if you're planning on medicine from teh beginnig, because it will save you money and time.

From your post, it doesn't sound like you're passionate about medicine. Why do you want to be a doctor? (ask yourself this, you don't have to tell us) Are you willing to retake all those science classes and get A's? If you retake, you should get A's for two reasons. One: Adcoms will see that you're retaking the class and have already been exposed to the material, so you should be doing very well. Two: You have already been exposed to this stuff, and with your newfound motivation, you should do well. Is there an academic learning center? some kind of TA/ Tutoring that could improve those study skills?

 

[geogil]

By the end of this semester i will have 64 credits. SO i'm going on my third year... and i love medicine more than PA... but i still like PA u know. I would do that if med school doesn't work out. And i dunt feel like i am trying my hardest cuz i tend to only understand the lecture and what i'm reading but not memorize. It's just soo much u know... i try to ge tmyself out of that in a way. i dunno what else to say... plus i have exams this week. so yeah i'll leave at that. oh one question: you mentioned post-bacc? what is that.. i've seen it around but what is and what is the advantage for that?

So you don't remember what you're reading? read it again. take notes on it. tell someone else what you're learning about. Have someone grill you on what you're studying. Make up your own test questions and answer them.

i try to ge tmyself out of that in a way

What do you mean? do you stop studying or skip stuff you don't understand?If so, stop. The stuff you don't understand is what will drop your A to a D, depending on how much there is.

 

[Nano]

you see here is thi thing. i understand everything that i study... when i go over the questions with my study group (which don't exist, they all dropped) i go through everything and tell them all the answers to the questions, and they always go like "dang girl, u studied alot!! ur getting an A for sure!" and i dunt... it's frustrating... and i dunt skip anything.. i study all the details.. but i only read, understand and answer her objective questions. and then her test is like completely out of range... no one in class thinks she relates to her objective questions!! so it's not just me.. BUT her questions are easy, and i'm not good MCQs so i tend to answer wrong!! i dunno how to take those damn tests.. i'm an essay person.. gimme all that in an essay question and i will ace it! so wtf should i do with my MCQ test taking? HOW CAN I IMPROVE THAT?!!!!!


i thank u all for replying though! and it's ok if ur harsh with me.. i need that anyways to get my act together!

 

[Law2Doc]

Hey guys... i know i'm buggin everyone... but there is no one that really gives me good advice than anyone around here. So my question is would i still have a chance, or go on working hard with my grades.. and here they are:

Bio 101: B
Bio 102: C
Pre-calc: C
Finite Math: D
Genetics: D
Botany: Possible B
Cell Bio: Possible D if lucky a C.

The other crappy classes like computer, art, languages, english i have mostly As.

I admit i was not giving it all i got... i need to get on it. But it's hard cuz i took advantage of myself in Highschool where i never studied and i graduated with a 3.3 GPA. But now my GPA is 2.63 and i need to SERIOUSLY raise it! Now i'm thinking of majoring in Psychology to get As or sociology cuz i'm good at being logical and all that...that's what got me my good grades in highschool. But that's if i still got a chance to go to med school.. i still have Chemistries to do and Physics too (which i have W for now). I'm going to med school around here and i have GWU and Georgetown and also Howard. I dunt care if i go to Howard which i think they want 3.0 or 3.2 .... and i also dunt mind dental which is 2.7 minimum for howard. BUT if i really dunt have a chance because of my science grades should i just go for PA bachelors at howard and call it a day? or should do psychology, try for med or dental and then if there is no chance, go for the masters program of PA in GWU?

I'm really stressed out, cuz i need to decide where i'm going and what i'm doing so that i know what to register for summer classes... they are starting may 21!!!

I have a friend who's going to do the PA at howard and i wanted to go for it cuz i do like it, and i need someone with me so that i study hard! i need motivation. But if i go for psychology and then do the PA, i dunno anyone at all.. may be later, but i dunno! Medical, i dunt really care cuz i can find peeps later u know.. or dental too! So tell me.. should i go for PA bachelors.. and then may be later on i can try for medical if i want to.. or forget it?

I think you need to stop taking math and sciences for a while until you figure out how to approach those. If I were you, I would stop them altogether, take whatever you think you'd enjoy and do well in, and finish out undergrad with as high a GPA as you can get. Then, take some science classes in an informal or open enrollment postbac, at a nice slow pace, once you've better honed your study skills and focus. People mature into better science students at different times, and frankly, from the grades you've put up, you haven't blossomed in those just yet. It would be foolish to take on the chemistries and physics, which for non-science/non-math oriented people tend to be harder than bio, until you're ready. You'll only be digging yourself a bigger hole. That's my two cents.

 

[Law2Doc]

BUT her questions are easy, and i'm not good MCQs so i tend to answer wrong!!

Med school, the MCAT and the boards are all MCQs.

 

[Nano]

yeah i figured i should stop taking science for a while and change major from bio to like sociology or psychology.. anything that's easy for me. So umm did anyone take psychology classes? i never did i dunno if it's harder than sociology... i took sociology and found it really easy, and i enjoyed the class... i also love languages too! soo, should i major in french (cuz i got my mom who was french teacher for a years now!) and i like it.. or should i go for sociology or psychology? what's easy... i want As from now on!

 

[Jccripe]

If you cant hack it in basic science classes, what makes you think you can last one semester in medical school?

 

[scrubsaresexy]

Your spelling and grammar make my head hurt.

 

[Robizzle]

Your spelling and grammer make my head hurt.

 

[Nano]

Well, I apologize for my grammar and spelling! I was not not aware that it was hurting your head. I also didn't realize that there are people that are english professors. I will start to write properly for your own pleasure, if I must!

 

[Institute]

By the end of this semester i will have 64 credits. SO i'm going on my third year... and i love medicine more than PA... but i still like PA u know. I would do that if med school doesn't work out. And i dunt feel like i am trying my hardest cuz i tend to only understand the lecture and what i'm reading but not memorize. It's just soo much u know... i try to ge tmyself out of that in a way. i dunno what else to say... plus i have exams this week. so yeah i'll leave at that. oh one question: you mentioned post-bacc? what is that.. i've seen it around but what is and what is the advantage for that?

Well, this is nothing compared to med school....there are tons of people who can juggle numerous EC's with school and work. You're really not displaying potential here.

 

[Institute]

Well, I apologize for my grammar and spelling! I was not not aware that it was hurting your head. I also didn't realize that there are people that are english professors. I will start to write properly for your own pleasure, if I must!

Well, in all fairness, this isn't just a message board. There are professionals who circulate these forums. Not to mention, a lot of students you're conversing with tend to read and write on a different level than your average college grad.

 

[jochi1543]

Well, I apologize for my grammar and spelling! I was not not aware that it was hurting your head. I also didn't realize that there are people that are english professors. I will start to write properly for your own pleasure, if I must!

Well, if you want people to read and respond, you have to post in a manner that doesn't require the reader to re-read every sentence over and over. It's the same reasoning that goes into resume writing. If your resume is poorly formatted/written, it will be going to the garbage because the reader has 10 other, much easier ones to read.

 

[Nano]

ok, i asked to be directed in my education not in my writing... and it just seemed like they came here to point that out and leave.. how do u think i would feel about that? if only they advised me on my education AND my horrible grammar! i wouldn't say anything! And i do not write like this if it's going to hurt me, like you mentioned about resume or anything of that sort. i'm not trying to be rejected, u see. Anyways, they didn't say it nicely too... or they could have just emailed me that instead of leaving it to the open.

Well, i'm sorry for offending anyone through this post or the last, as well as my unintended bad grammar and spelling. I'll be cautious next time. <--- not being sarcastic here.


To respond to the past posts: yes i know medical school is ten times harder than undergrad. Anything is hard as you progress in it, but i am still willing to get to that point and try. I hate to quit something that i haven't even tried...that's just my way of thinking. I know i will regret that i never even got close, so i might as well try. I do have other plans in mind if medical field as a whole doesn't work out. Thank God, i do have talents in many other things. No need to disclose; not trying to show off here. But if it helps you to help me out, i can say! Anyways, thank you for all that are replying and taking your time...please leep them coming!

 

[Neelesh]

Okay, well at least you know that you need to improve. That's the only good thing I can say here.

Your grades need drastic improvement. Don't cut the BS by saying that everyone in the class does poorly, because someone has to get an A, and if you really cared enough, you could go to office hours and study more than you do now.

Also, you said you are doing poorly because you didn't try in HS and got a 3.3? Well, that's not even a good GPA, and you're in college, now, so now, you have to study harder to get the same grades in HS.

As someone said earlier, you need to take a break from science classes, as they are kicking your ass. If you start getting A's in psych classes, then maybe you should stick with that. Medicine = science, so if you really can't hack in during undergrad, stick to something you are better at.

 

[Meatwad]

Sounds like you weren't motivated at all. Were you taking these classes with the goal of becoming a doctor, or were you just wandering around taking random classes? I doubt you tried at all if you got a D in something called finite math. What does that class entail?

 

[Institute]

^ aye, and lower 100 courses are usually remedial courses.

 

[Law2Doc]

As someone said earlier, you need to take a break from science classes, as they are kicking your ass. If you start getting A's in psych classes, then maybe you should stick with that. Medicine = science, so if you really can't hack in during undergrad, stick to something you are better at.

OP - This doesn't mean you will never be able to tackle the sciences and do med school, but it certainly suggests that it's time to take a break and try something else for a while, until you figure out how to manage the sciences. You are better off not taking the prereqs than taking them and doing poorly. Lots of people on the nontrad board came back to science (years) later, after they had learned better study skills and discipline. That may be the approach that fits your academic history best.

 

[jochi1543]

ok, i asked to be directed in my education not in my writing... and it just seemed like they came here to point that out and leave.. how do u think i would feel about that? if only they advised me on my education AND my horrible grammar!

That's the problem, your post is written so that no one can really get through it, which is why you are getting few constructive responses.

I wasn't going to post re: education because I felt that my views had been expressed by other people earlier, but if you insist....

I don't think medicine (or dentistry) is for you. You've taken a good amount of some very basic science classes and have done poorly in all of them. Precalculus, for example, is not even really a course that you are expected to take at the university level - I can't think of any of my friends that didn't come into college with AP Calc AB (or BC, for some). It was a junior level math class at my high school. I've taken most of the courses you've listed, and while some professor-dependent differences would sure be there, the material in genetics and the like is not super-challenging. And I'm the first person to admit I'm not the smartest kid out there.

The Bs don't look very good either, you want them to be the lowest grades on your transcript, not the highest. Howard might have low standards for stats, but there are still standards.

Plus you still have to take the real weeder courses - organic chemistry and physics. If you can't get through the likes of intro bio, they are going to slaughter you, and I'm speaking from experience here. In my physics class, 19 out of 28 people in the class received an F on the midterm. A third of the class withdrew immediately after that midterm, but even out of the 20 or so people who stuck with it, many got Ds and Fs. I had a B and I believe it was the third highest mark in the class. The whole point of those pre-reqs is to see whether you are medical school material - i.e. can handle intense science classes successfully, and judging by your science GPA, you can't. Nobody is going to care about your cumulative even if it were high (but you know it won't even if you get ALL As for the next 2 years - it'll be somewhere in the 3.3 range) when your BCPM right now is 2.0 - and that's if you meet your expectations of getting a B and a C instead of a C and a D. So to pull your BCPM up to the cut-off range, you'd have to take 7 more science courses and get As in ALL of them, and so far you haven't managed to make a grade above a B in a science class, so expecting to pull in As is rather ballsy. Oh, and to second Neelesh, 3.3 in high school is NOT something to brag about either. It might be ok in the non-academic world, but for med and grad schools, it's not competitive.



Anyway, long story short, go for the PA route if you insist on going into healthcare. I am familiar with the profession, though not with the entry requirements, but if they are in any way similar to nursing, I'm going to assume that you might have a chance if you work hard. Though if PA has pre-reqs, you may have to retake your D classes if they are pre-reqs. I would investigate the PA admission process further.

 

[lilnoelle]

You stated that the individuals that you study with were impressed with your knowledge - but they've all dropped out of the study group (and perhaps out of the class). Perhaps you have been studying with the wrong people. Try to find someone that is doing well in the class and try to study with them. Figure out what they do differently than you and that might help you do better.

Also, talk to your instructors and try to figure out how you can improve your grades. They probably have some study tips and maybe will even point you in the right direction about what is most important to learn for tests.

If your school has tutoring available, try that.

Have you taken Psychology courses? I think Psych is something that you either get or you don't. I loved Psychology and did very well in the courses I took. I know some other intelligent individuals in my Psych courses that didn't do quite as well.
If you liked Sociology, then chances are that you'll also like Psych.

The problem with majoring in something like Psych (and Biology for that matter) is that there isn't a whole lot that you can do with the degree other than go to graduate school. If you doubt your ability to get into med school and don't really want to go to graduate school in Psychology, psychology may not be the best major to have.

 

[Nano]

in my pre-calc and finite math espacially.. i didn't give at all. I screwed up badly in my first two years.. and this year i'm trying to get back on track. I basically had the mentality that hey i can handle it: but i didn't! So yeah i know i'm literally F'ed up! And a 3.3 is not all that, but for not studying and all that... people were surprised. I'm not bragging about it because i know i could have gotten much higher if i cared. The reason i didn't try, nor did i take IB courses or AP courses was because i wasn't planning to get into the medical field until i started college. So, i was very late i know!! Then as i went on with college, i never knew med school had REALLY high GPAs and all that fancy stuff. I know, again, i'm a looser. I realized that the GPA's need to be 3.5 minimum blah blah blah...a year later. BUT, my GPA was a 3.6. Then i hit the science classes and it killed it down by alot!!

I have thought of just quitting medical as a whole, but i keep on coming back. That's my problem now. Nothing out there has interested me as much as the medical field. I'm constantly facinated about it when ever i read, watch or learn about it.

Anyways, i appreciate everyone's help and posts. It does help me being aware of many things. I think it's ok if no one replies to this, but if you want to go ahead. But thank you soooo much! ^___^

 

[jochi1543]

See what the pre-reqs are for PAs (if any). I would presume some of them would overlap with med. Then when you take those classes, you can see whether you'd be able to make an A/A- in them (as I mentioned above, a B/B+ would not be acceptable given your academic history).

But even if you get all As in EVERYTHING now, I think a low-tier DO school is honestly the most you could possibly expect, because they'd be more forgiving of your past if they see a very impressive upward trend.

 

[Nano]

You stated that the individuals that you study with were impressed with your knowledge - but they've all dropped out of the study group (and perhaps out of the class). Perhaps you have been studying with the wrong people. Try to find someone that is doing well in the class and try to study with them. Figure out what they do differently than you and that might help you do better.

Also, talk to your instructors and try to figure out how you can improve your grades. They probably have some study tips and maybe will even point you in the right direction about what is most important to learn for tests.

If your school has tutoring available, try that.

Have you taken Psychology courses? I think Psych is something that you either get or you don't. I loved Psychology and did very well in the courses I took. I know some other intelligent individuals in my Psych courses that didn't do quite as well.
If you liked Sociology, then chances are that you'll also like Psych.

The problem with majoring in something like Psych (and Biology for that matter) is that there isn't a whole lot that you can do with the degree other than go to graduate school. If you doubt your ability to get into med school and don't really want to go to graduate school in Psychology, psychology may not be the best major to have.

I wasn't planning ot continue with psychology as a masters if i did it as a bachelors degree. I wanted to do that because it is interesting, as well as, it might boost my grades. As for what to do after psychology if Medical field does not work at all, i was going to head for University of Maryland and get into the 3.5 years of Architecture (BS and Masters combined). One can only do that if you previously have had a bachelors degree. I have great talent in art and design, but i didn't want to major in that because it has no relation with medicine what so ever. Therefore, i decided i can do that later only if medical doesn't work out. I will take everyone's advice on not taking science at all and just focus on my major for now. If i still want to go for medical i will do post-grad at American University, otherwise i will go for something else.

 

[lilnoelle]

I wasn't planning ot continue with psychology as a masters if i did it as a bachelors degree. I wanted to do that because it is interesting, as well as, it might boost my grades. As for what to do after psychology if Medical field does not work at all, i was going to head for University of Maryland and get into the 3.5 years of Architecture (BS and Masters combined). One can only do that if you previously have had a bachelors degree. I have great talent in art and design, but i didn't want to major in that because it has no relation with medicine what so ever. Therefore, i decided i can do that later only if medical doesn't work out. I will take everyone's advice on not taking science at all and just focus on my major for now. If i still want to go for medical i will do post-grad at American University, otherwise i will go for something else.

So why not major in art and design or architecture? If you are majoring in Psych just because its interesting and will help your GPA, so will your real interests! Its really the same thing. So complete your degree in what you really love, do whatever you need to to figure out how to correctly tackle science courses, if you can pull it off, go to med school.

Someone has mentioned Osteopathic medicine - I don't see why thats not a very good possibility if you can figure out study methods in science. They're more forgiving about GPA and also produce great physicians.

I think it would be good to do some research - both about osteopathic medicine and about physicians assistants. Decide what your goals are, and go from there.
No doubt you will probably not be able to apply to med school in two years, you will probably take longer than to get whatever major you end up doing and then another few years of postbach science courses.

Do whatever you need to do to decide what your goal is, clear your mind of any confusion (I don't know if your posting represents your thoughts, but it sure sounds like your confused) and go forward in a stepwise methodical manner.

 

[scrubsaresexy]

Touche.

At least I can spell 'hypocrite'!