Doubts After First Year at UC Berkeley?

[ThePurpleDuck]

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Basically I just finished freshman year with cGPA of 3.60 (total of 36 sem units, first semester 3.43, second semester 3.73) and sGPA of 3.53 (1 semester of Gen Chem: B, 1 semester of O-Chem: B (in lecture; and A- in lab), 1 semester of Physics: A-, 2 semesters of Math: A- & A).

The two B's I received I know were due to the fact that I overlooked chem too much. In high school, I did extremely well in chemistry and during both semesters of college, I focused on my other (more challenging) classes because I had this misplaced reassurance that I would not do so poorly in Chem. I was wrong.

EC's wise - first year I had a small leadership position in an honor committee and I started volunteering at a hospital (~20 hrs). I know, it's really scarce.

This summer, I'll be taking a biology class and doing a clinical research internship full-time.

So I guess my question is, besides the obvious pulling up my GPA, what else should I do to improve my chances of getting accepted into a California public med school (UCLA, UCSD, UCD, UCSF)?

Also, how do I get rid of that annoying feeling in the back of my mind that I may not be cut out for med school and that there are probably other endeavors that I may be able to do well in? I've never been this indecisive before, but it almost feels as if I can no longer irresponsibly "commit" fully to being a pre-med.

Thank you.

 

[NickNaylor]

The feeling of insecurity is always there. If it's not, you think you know more than you do. Shadowing will probably give you a better idea of how you feel about medicine, which would help.

Look for things you enjoy doing EC wise, but keep your schoolwork a top priority.

 

[drizzt3117]

3.6 at cal is pretty good, I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[JJMrK]

A 3.6 is about the average for accepted students. You're on your way.

 

[ThePurpleDuck]

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm not so optimistic this will get better though.

It's not that I HAVE to party every weekend, but I feel like the ONLY solution to raising my GPA AND improve my EC's would mean to lose my social life completely. How did you guys manage?

Just discovered the MDapplicants site last night, read through a bunch of profiles, and this process seems a lot more difficult than I previously imagined. There are people with 40 MCATS, 3.9/4.0's, multiple publications, hundreds of volunteer/tutoring hours, etc, etc, not getting into a majority of the Cali public med schools...

 

[TFS]

.

 

[deleted325463]

It's not that I HAVE to party every weekend, but I feel like the ONLY solution to raising my GPA AND improve my EC's would mean to lose my social life completely. How did you guys manage?

Everybody's different. You just have to find out what sort of schedule works for you. You have to know how to manage your time in a way that works for you. I feel like you took too many classes as a freshman; make sure you know your limits.

You can easily boost your GPA over the next 2-3 years (depending on when you're applying) while doing stuff that you're interested in if you make the necessary sacrifices. Long term goals > short term goals. What's more important to you: partying every weekend in college or working toward becoming a physician which you'll do for the rest of your life? Prioritize.

It's completely possible to have a social life, as long as you know how to manage your time. Unfortunately, most Cal students don't know how.

 

[UMICHPremed]

Do you guys think it is harder to get a 3.6 at Cal than at UMich?

I am only asking because both are top public universities, and I would like to know more about the academic perceptions people hold in general about these two schools.

 

[ThePurpleDuck]

I'm not stressing out for no reason, it's just that I am now finally fully aware of where I stand regarding my med school chances. Well I guess after discovering this site and MDapplicants.

Yeah, you're right, I did take too many classes my freshman year. It all started out with 1st semester taking on chem/physics for majors/engineers and getting owned, and then 2nd semester taking too many "easy" classes to boost my GPA. A-'s are such a pain.

 

[chman]

Do you guys think it is harder to get a 3.6 at Cal than at UMich?

I am only asking because both are top public universities, and I would like to know more about the academic perceptions people hold in general about these two schools.

Ucheeem...UW is not on the list? hehe

 

[barcoderider]

Well, just make sure you stay on top of it next year, because Chem 3B, Bio1A/1AL and MCB 102 are all pretty bad.

I had a 3.97 at Cal, but I'll admit that I did have to sacrifice a lot (though not all) of my social life to do it. Don't feel beat down though, you can improve a lot over the next couple years!

The last part of your post is more troubling--is medicine what you really want to do? If so, then go for it and you'll make it, but if not...it's best to figure that out now.

Oh, and join a lab on campus, any lab, as soon as possible.

 

[ThePurpleDuck]

Well how are you supposed to know if you are meant to do medicine with your life, at 19? I am just not 100% sure.

As for research, I put it off first year because I was told it wasn't THAT important? As compared to volunteering/more clinical stuff.

 

[JokerMD]

asdf

 

[barcoderider]

Well how are you supposed to know if you are meant to do medicine with your life, at 19? I am just not 100% sure.

As for research, I put it off first year because I was told it wasn't THAT important? As compared to volunteering/more clinical stuff.

Yeah, I hear you. It's hard enough just to choose a major! haha

As far as what's really the most important...I don't think anyone truly knows. But long term research certainly helps (or so I've been told by other neurotic pre-meds).

 

[cfx]

Well how are you supposed to know if you are meant to do medicine with your life, at 19? I am just not 100% sure.

As for research, I put it off first year because I was told it wasn't THAT important? As compared to volunteering/more clinical stuff.

I don't see how you can ever be 100% sure. You know yourself and your interests better than anyone, so I'm sure you have a sense if medicine is something that you really want to do and will be something rewarding and stimulating for you. If you do think that you really want to do it, and it's not just a fleeting interest or a $/prestige/security thing, keep going with it! Get some exposure to the work (shadow, work in clinical setting, etc.), and then you'll really start to understand if it's something you want to do.

 

[ThePurpleDuck]

what i want to do - potentially very much so, but unsure just how much
stimulating - yes
rewarding - yes
money - yes
prestige - yes
security - yes

Is this bad? Is there a certain type of personality that is suitable for being a doctor? I've always wondered. Growing up, the thought of me being a doctor has, quite honestly, never come up.

This is going to sound dumb, but I've taken personality/career tests and all of them tell me basically to do some sort of business administration/management type of thing. ENTJ's ftw.

 

[searun]

OP, since you apparently like Ducks, I recommend transferring to the University of Oregon, the home of the Ducks. At Oregon, you can party every weekend, get killer grades, enjoy life, and get admitted to med school. No reason to be miserable and tense in Berkeley. Eugene is cool and laid back and there are ducks everywhere, plus the Pac 10's hottest cheerleaders.

 

[phoenixsuns]

Berkeley is a hard school to be premed at. You're competing against 200-300 kids in all your premed classes and it can be really tough. Talk to older students and figure out what worked for them. If you plan it right, you won't have to take more than 2 science classes in any semester till you graduate. Iv realized that scheduling makes as important a factor in doing well as anything else does. Once you've finished all your prereqs take "easy" BCPM classes (astro, IB classes). Also, don't worry about research till end of second year/ beginning of third year- it's hard to get a lab position before that since so many kids want to work on campus and most of them are a couple years older than you. If you want to start now, go to UCSF (the commute sucks though)

also, the poster who said Cali med schools are hard to gauge is right: i only got into one UC and it was UCSF