Doubts - Can I Make Med School Anymore?

[Mac656]

Hey, it's about time to choose my classes for the spring semester but to do that, I would have to figure out whether there's any point to carrying on the way I am. I'm a first semester pre-med freshman at NYU Arts and Sciences. My four classes have given out unofficial midterm grades, which follow

Essay Writing - B
Biology - C (now probably at a C+, B-)
Chemistry - C (now probably at a B-, B)
Conversations of the West (philosophy requirement): C- (probably still the same)

I'm only a freshman, or so everybody reminds me when I tell them that I'm not sure whether I can make any med schools anymore. The truth is, I can pull the biology up to a B+, B and the same with the chemistry. I don't know how the essay and ConWest class will come out, but probably where they are right now. With these grades, is med school out of reach or not? If it is, it's time that I start going down a different path before it's too late for any other career plans. I'd rather not do chem and bio if they're just detailed and difficult courses that will mean nothing for my future career path (some of what I'm looking at has nothing to do with the health sciences).

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[Disinence2]

Your still a freshman, you have plenty of time to explore different health careers and see what you truely like. Try some research, voluneer in an ER, go to a dental clinic ex... Your GPA freshman year will NOT keep you out of medical school as long as u can show significant improvment later on.

Don't give up if its something your interested in.

 

[mintendo]

The truth is, if you keep on getting C's at this rate, you probably need to reconsider your plans.

But if you figure out what's wrong and improve your future grades, you can still do WHATEVER YOU WANT.

 

[TMP-SMX]

Why are your grades so low? Seems to me you need to figure out what the cause is and remedy it. Keep your hopes up as you are just a freshman. Don't stress out about everything. Many things are out of your control and just do your best. If you decide medicine is for you, then you will have the motivation to succeed.

 

[stixx]

Do your best...if you 'can' pull up those grades do it. 1st year science classes are weeder classes, not really for intelligence but for effort. I had okayish midterms my first semester then I realized, well **** if I hadn't gotten trashed the weekend before I probably could've gotten As. So when finals time around I did get As.

I would stick through the 1st year sciences...

It would be ridiculously frustrating down the road if you did decide to go for medicine and were missing the 2nd half of the year for those prereqs

good luck

 

[MinnyGophers]

To be blunt, if you are waiting to see whether you get good grades to decide whether you want to pursue medicine, you should probably ask yourself whether YOU really want to pursue medicine or not.

If that is what you really want to do, then yeah, you still have a shot. It seems that you already want to give up even though it is only your very first semester of college and that you can definitely make up for these grades by doing better in the future.

 

[Mac656]

Why are your grades so low? Seems to me you need to figure out what the cause is and remedy it. Keep your hopes up as you are just a freshman. Don't stress out about everything. Many things are out of your control and just do your best. If you decide medicine is for you, then you will have the motivation to succeed.

Time management as a commuter. Everyone I've mentioned my classes to also says I'm taking some of the most difficult ones possible. I sort of know how I can improve, but I'm pretty sure that with 14 days left, I won't be improving on these grades this semester besides with the final exams. Next semester might be a whole new story though. Who knows? I plan on doing better and I have a better feel for how I can do well, but even that won't guarantee A's. The main reason why I'm concerned is with time constraints in making the choice. Comp sci, engineering, and econ majors all strongly recommend some related course freshman year so the graduation date need not be pushed back (due to the 8 required pre-med semesters of bio, chem, ochem and physics).

Basically, I can't do pre-med and one of these specialties without running into a bit of trouble in terms of time.

 

[seadizzle]

Apparently I'm the only no so far. Your chances are not shot because of these grades. Your chances are shot because you knew you needed to do well in chem and bio and did not put the effort into those classes. I get the feeling that you'd like the answer to the poll to be that you have no chance, so you have an excuse to stop trying.

You will have to want medicine worse than anything else in the world at a few points in your undergraduate career. It doesn't sound like you do.

 

[ncguy2005]

Just don't give up! I commute to school too, and every problem that a pre med person could have, I have. I'm a music major, so basically I'm taking 8 courses and 2 labs this semester. (Most of my music classes are worth 1 credit, with the work of a 3 credit class).

If I've learned anything about my first semester of being a pre med, it's that it's all about sacrifice. I'm in the basic courses, and I've already had to give up a lot of my time to really study the material. I've spent about three hours out of a lot of my Saturdays in a library just reading my text books, and that's what it takes.

If you don't have a fire in your heart to do this, then take a break from the pre med courses next semester and take some general education classes or something in another field. I'm not saying give up, but I think to become a doctor it's 80% passion for the profession, and 20% intelligence.

The last thing you want to do is get into this with no motivation, I think it's almost impossible to make it through without any drive. Having no drive will be reflected in your grades at the end of a semester. I'm not saying this is your case, but I'm a sophomore, and I spent my entire freshmen year wishing I would have majored in something else, and I came out with a 3.290 GPA.

 

[stixx]

Time management as a commuter. Everyone I've mentioned my classes to also says I'm taking some of the most difficult ones possible. I sort of know how I can improve, but I'm pretty sure that with 14 days left, I won't be improving on these grades this semester besides with the final exams. Next semester might be a whole new story though. Who knows? I plan on doing better and I have a better feel for how I can do well, but even that won't guarantee A's. The main reason why I'm concerned is with time constraints in making the choice. Comp sci, engineering, and econ majors all strongly recommend some related course freshman year so the graduation date need not be pushed back (due to the 8 required pre-med semesters of bio, chem, ochem and physics).

Basically, I can't do pre-med and one of these specialties without running into a bit of trouble in terms of time.

Now I gotta agree with seadizzle...you sounded somewhat confident in your first post, why the self defeatism now? Why even waste your time worrying about when you could be studying, doing something about it? Sounds cheesy but you should evaluate your true aspirations

 

[Chuckwalla]

You are headed towards disaster now but you have time to turn it around. Figure out what is wrong and fix it.

 

[BloodySurgeon]

Apparently I'm the only no so far. Your chances are not shot because of these grades. Your chances are shot because you knew you needed to do well in chem and bio and did not put the effort into those classes. I get the feeling that you'd like the answer to the poll to be that you have no chance, so you have an excuse to stop trying.

You will have to want medicine worse than anything else in the world at a few points in your undergraduate career. It doesn't sound like you do.

Agreed

Your chances are not stumped since you had one rough semester, especially because it's your first semester. This is why there are interviews. However, you may want to re-evaluate why you want to become a doctor. This is an important question and college is a place to find who you are. Becomming a doctor takes an immense load of work and dedication. These pre-med classes are meant to weed out the student who are quick to give up on stress-filled situations. And we all know how easy and stress-free med school is .

 

[spicedmanna]

Hmm. I agree with the camp that says that your current attitude is the real problem, not so much your grades. It seems to me that you are not terribly excited about pursuing medicine; this apparent lack in drive could continue to bite you in the butt. Indeed, you are allowing some Freshman year setbacks to undermine your supposed career aspirations, rather than simply regrouping and recommitting to what it is you want. How is it that you are so willing to let go of a dream to become a doctor? My thought is that if you truly desired to become a doctor, you wouldn't focus so much on the inconvenience of these premedical classes, and you would just do what you needed to do to get what you wanted. We all know that the process of becoming a doctor is a most challenging path that will test you in many ways. If you don't have the heart for it, you'd be doing yourself a huge favor by going for something that you do love. So, it seems to me that you aren't asking the right question. Rather than asking, "can you make it to medical school?", you might be better served by asking, "do I really want to be a doctor?" and, "am I willing to do whatever it takes?"

Good luck!

 

[TMP-SMX]

Just don't give up! I commute to school too, and every problem that a pre med person could have, I have. I'm a music major, so basically I'm taking 8 courses and 2 labs this semester. (Most of my music classes are worth 1 credit, with the work of a 3 credit class).

If I've learned anything about my first semester of being a pre med, it's that it's all about sacrifice. I'm in the basic courses, and I've already had to give up a lot of my time to really study the material. I've spent about three hours out of a lot of my Saturdays in a library just reading my text books, and that's what it takes.

If you don't have a fire in your heart to do this, then take a break from the pre med courses next semester and take some general education classes or something in another field. I'm not saying give up, but I think to become a doctor it's 80% passion for the profession, and 20% intelligence.

The last thing you want to do is get into this with no motivation, I think it's almost impossible to make it through without any drive. Having no drive will be reflected in your grades at the end of a semester. I'm not saying this is your case, but I'm a sophomore, and I spent my entire freshmen year wishing I would have majored in something else, and I came out with a 3.290 GPA.

If it's anything I learned from playing football for 8 years, it was that none of the things you choose in life are a sacrifice. You choose to do them and therefore they are a commitment. There's a huge difference.

 

[ocdp09]

You Are Doomed!

 

[jbrice1639]

I'm only a freshman

yeah, that's pretty much the only part of your post that matters. you didn't fail any classes and you're a freshman. if you really want to go to medical school, work a little harder and you'll be fine. if you're this ready to give up on going to medical school after one sorta tough semester, then maybe the better question isn't if you CAN go to medical school, but if you WANT to go to medical school.

 

[ncguy2005]

If it's anything I learned from playing football for 8 years, it was that none of the things you choose in life are a sacrifice. You choose to do them and therefore they are a commitment. There's a huge difference.

Please excuse me for my diction. I understand it's a commitment as well. And even though I never played football (I wish I had), I understand what a commitment is.

Anyway, just to defend my word. Sacrifice can be defined as devoting something to something else. If studying for a subject is on the receiving end, and time is on the giving end, I can then say:

"I devote a lot of my time to studying biology/chemistry/(and sometimes music theory)"

 

[spicedmanna]

Please excuse me for my diction. I understand it's a commitment as well. And even though I never played football (I wish I had), I understand what a commitment is.

Anyway, just to defend my word. Sacrifice can be defined as devoting something to something else. If studying for a subject is on the receiving end, and time is on the giving end, I can then say:

"I devote a lot of my time to studying biology/chemistry/(and sometimes music theory)"

In further support of your use of the word, "sacrifice", it comes from the old French word, "sacrifise", which was translated from the Latin, "sacra" + "facere", which means, "to perform sacred rites". Thus, the original sense of the word, before it came to connonate the more popular, "to give up something for someone else", meant to do sacred work, or the work of the heart. Anyway, this is how I have chosen to hear the word ever since I learned the original meaning.

Eh, FWIW...

 

[Mac656]

Thanks for all your posts! You've all been so helpful. Just to put in my own two cents though, I'd agree with most of you guys that commitment is probably the biggest issue at play here. When I was choosing my college last spring, I had a bunch of average schools that didn't interest me...and then there was NYU for basically anything I wanted and St. John's for pharmacy. Pharm was definitely the easier route, I would say, but I didn't want to get locked into something I didn't have any idea about. I had relatively less of an idea of what a pharmacist did on that elevated plain behind their fortified wall of OTC medications, than what a doctor did while standing a few inches away, asking me questions and checking my blood pressure, you know?

I decided I needed to know more about pharmacy before choosing to go down that road and so I came to NYU to keep my options open. Now, however, I've realized that some of the other roads (comp sci, engineering, econ) that I've wanted to keep open will close if I don't act on them. I guess I'm just sad I'm losing some of my options for grad school if I stick to these GPA killing pre-med courses (especially this engineering program I'm interested in that won't allow me to take orgo for pre-med unless I take summer courses).

I would love to just sit down and think and come up with an answer to whether I want to be a doctor or not, but how can I really know? What should I consider? Is shadowing the only option I have to find out the real info, or are there others? I think the last question is really what I'm trying to get at here. I think what'd be perfect would be a 365-day video log of a doctor/pharmacist/comp scientist/etc at work. Any recommendations for anything like this that's out there for doctor hopefuls? That'd what it'd really take for me to overcome all these hindrances to the real drive that I want and need.

Again, thanks to all of you for your replies. SDN truly is a special place.

 

[MinnyGophers]

Thanks for all your posts! You've all been so helpful. Just to put in my own two cents though, I'd agree with most of you guys that commitment is probably the biggest issue at play here. When I was choosing my college last spring, I had a bunch of average schools that didn't interest me...and then there was NYU for basically anything I wanted and St. John's for pharmacy. Pharm was definitely the easier route, I would say, but I didn't want to get locked into something I didn't have any idea about. I had relatively less of an idea of what a pharmacist did on that elevated plain behind their fortified wall of OTC medications, than what a doctor did while standing a few inches away, asking me questions and checking my blood pressure, you know?

I decided I needed to know more about pharmacy before choosing to go down that road and so I came to NYU to keep my options open. Now, however, I've realized that some of the other roads (comp sci, engineering, econ) that I've wanted to keep open will close if I don't act on them. I guess I'm just sad I'm losing some of my options for grad school if I stick to these GPA killing pre-med courses (especially this engineering program I'm interested in that won't allow me to take orgo for pre-med unless I take summer courses).

I would love to just sit down and think and come up with an answer to whether I want to be a doctor or not, but how can I really know? What should I consider? Is shadowing the only option I have to find out the real info, or are there others? I think the last question is really what I'm trying to get at here. I think what'd be perfect would be a 365-day video log of a doctor/pharmacist/comp scientist/etc at work. Any recommendations for anything like this that's out there for doctor hopefuls? That'd what it'd really take for me to overcome all these hindrances to the real drive that I want and need.

Again, thanks to all of you for your replies. SDN truly is a special place.

I think you do have time to think about your career options... however, you know that you're going to have to pull up those grades, no matter what career path ( engineering, grad school, pharm, med school...etc...) you choose.
So for now, the best thing would probably be to set your priorities on bringing those grades up and do well in your future classes, and that alone should leave all your options open until you do make a decision ( which should be before junior year ).
Meanwhile, you should probably look into mentoring opportunities at your school, so that you can meet up with people who work in the industry of your choice and learn more about your options.

Good luck.

 

[gary5]

If you're really serious about med school, you need to start getting a 3.5+/4.0 starting as soon as possible. My advice to you is that you (1) never miss a class and (2) start spending as much time in the library (studying) as possible. For next semester, study 6+ hours per day during the week, and 8-10 hours on the weekends. Also, you need to resist the temptations of cell phones and internet. Only take the average number of semester hours (15), quit your part-time job if you have one, and do just one or two extracurricular activities. The important part is that you get your grades in line, then you can make adjustments.

 

[vincikai]

Hey, it's about time to choose my classes for the spring semester but to do that, I would have to figure out whether there's any point to carrying on the way I am. I'm a first semester pre-med freshman at NYU Arts and Sciences. My four classes have given out unofficial midterm grades, which follow

Essay Writing - B
Biology - C (now probably at a C+, B-)
Chemistry - C (now probably at a B-, B)
Conversations of the West (philosophy requirement): C- (probably still the same)

I'm only a freshman, or so everybody reminds me when I tell them that I'm not sure whether I can make any med schools anymore. The truth is, I can pull the biology up to a B+, B and the same with the chemistry. I don't know how the essay and ConWest class will come out, but probably where they are right now. With these grades, is med school out of reach or not? If it is, it's time that I start going down a different path before it's too late for any other career plans. I'd rather not do chem and bio if they're just detailed and difficult courses that will mean nothing for my future career path (some of what I'm looking at has nothing to do with the health sciences).

you are not spend enough time in your classes in college GPA = hours spend study.

 

[Projectx]

A fellow New York commuter, I also commute to school and it usually takes me 3-4 hrs a day in travel time. The best advice I can give is to do some studying on the train/bus (unless you travel by car). Also try to print out some practice questions and do them on the train/bus to keep your mind fresh and sharp.

 

[spicedmanna]

I would love to just sit down and think and come up with an answer to whether I want to be a doctor or not, but how can I really know? What should I consider? Is shadowing the only option I have to find out the real info, or are there others? I think the last question is really what I'm trying to get at here. I think what'd be perfect would be a 365-day video log of a doctor/pharmacist/comp scientist/etc at work. Any recommendations for anything like this that's out there for doctor hopefuls? That'd what it'd really take for me to overcome all these hindrances to the real drive that I want and need.

Well, there are several options for learning about a physician's role. Shadowing one or more physicians is certainly a good way to do it. Make sure that the doctor you are following is someone who is willing to expose you to all the elements of their work. Do it for at least a full shift for several days. You'll want to follow them for several days to a week because sometimes doctors have different roles each day.

Some hospitals offer a shadowing/observership program that allows you to shadow many different specialists for an extended period of time. Make sure you check this out with your local hospitals.

Another avenue would be to obtain some minimal healthcare certification that can place you in direct contact with patients, patient care, and expose you to the entire chain of patient management in a hospital setting. This will involve perhaps a semester's worth of work, or less, but it'll definitely be worth it.

You can also volunteer at a free clinic or at a hospital, but oftentimes this won't give you direct patient contact. It will, however, expose you to some aspects of patient care.

Some hospitals hire people to transport patients around in the hospital. This a good job that gives you decent healthcare exposure. You'll probably need BLS/CPR certification, but it's not hard to obtain.

Anyway, these are just some suggestions. I'm sure there are many more opportunities. You just need to keep your eyes open.

 

[jash0624]

Hey, it's about time to choose my classes for the spring semester but to do that, I would have to figure out whether there's any point to carrying on the way I am. I'm a first semester pre-med freshman at NYU Arts and Sciences. My four classes have given out unofficial midterm grades, which follow

Essay Writing - B
Biology - C (now probably at a C+, B-)
Chemistry - C (now probably at a B-, B)
Conversations of the West (philosophy requirement): C- (probably still the same)

I'm only a freshman, or so everybody reminds me when I tell them that I'm not sure whether I can make any med schools anymore. The truth is, I can pull the biology up to a B+, B and the same with the chemistry. I don't know how the essay and ConWest class will come out, but probably where they are right now. With these grades, is med school out of reach or not? If it is, it's time that I start going down a different path before it's too late for any other career plans. I'd rather not do chem and bio if they're just detailed and difficult courses that will mean nothing for my future career path (some of what I'm looking at has nothing to do with the health sciences).

Hey, I'm in your Bio class, and it's a tough class. He curves pretty generously though, and your lab grade will bump you up, so don't stress over that! And MAP classes (ConWest, Essay) are curved pretty generously too. College takes some getting used to, don't worry!