end of semester update

[Shayla Flowere]

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So it was a really nerve racking semester just because I needed to repair a horrible second semester of Freshman year. But I did it and I've finally got all my grades back.

Newspaper Practicum: A+
Digital Media: A+
Physics: B
Organic 1: D+
Zoology: A+
Semester GPA: 3.16
sGPA: 2.62
cGPA: 3.02
I know that Organic grade is going to need to be retaken.

On top of that I volunteered 10.5 hours at the art gallery I've been volunteering at since freshman year, and put in about 20 hours at my campus newspaper which I've also been writing at since freshman year. I'm getting about 10 hours of shadowing over break and that will put me at 18 shadowing hours. How am I doing so far?

 

[HomeSkool]

You pretty much hit it: the OChem needs to be retaken, but the Physics should not. Any idea why OChem was so challenging for you? That's quite a discrepancy from your other grades, so I wonder if your study practices may not have been conducive to mastering that particular subject.

It looks like your GPA is trending up, which is good, and you're smart to be working on volunteering and shadowing. What clinical and nonclinical volunteering opportunities are available to you?

 

[Shayla Flowere]

You pretty much hit it: the OChem needs to be retaken, but the Physics should not. Any idea why OChem was so challenging for you? That's quite a discrepancy from your other grades, so I wonder if your study practices may not have been conducive to mastering that particular subject.

It looks like your GPA is trending up, which is good, and you're smart to be working on volunteering and shadowing. What clinical and nonclinical volunteering opportunities are available to you?

Three weeks to the end of the semester I realized that I was practicing the wrong types of problems. My professor tests a lot on IR, NMR, locating different carbons and periodic trends for electronegativity and I was focusing more on nomenclature, I started off really lost and that didn't rectify itself for the rest of the semester so I think that was my problem. I'm going to retake it over the summer and I know I'll do better this time around. I'm starting a nonclinical volunteering activity where I'll be helping disabled students adjust to college life at my university. I need to work on getting a clinical volunteering gig....

 

[binky23]

You pretty much hit it: the OChem needs to be retaken, but the Physics should not. Any idea why OChem was so challenging for you? That's quite a discrepancy from your other grades, so I wonder if your study practices may not have been conducive to mastering that particular subject.

It looks like your GPA is trending up, which is good, and you're smart to be working on volunteering and shadowing. What clinical and nonclinical volunteering opportunities are available to you?

I have a quick question. What exactly is clinical volunteering? I was under the assumption that shadowing was a form of clinical volunteering.

 

[NotYou20]

Three weeks to the end of the semester I realized that I was practicing the wrong types of problems. My professor tests a lot on IR, NMR, locating different carbons and periodic trends for electronegativity and I was focusing more on nomenclature, I started off really lost and that didn't rectify itself for the rest of the semester so I think that was my problem. I'm going to retake it over the summer and I know I'll do better this time around. I'm starting a nonclinical volunteering activity where I'll be helping disabled students adjust to college life at my university. I need to work on getting a clinical volunteering gig....

Personally, I don't think volunteering should be your concern right now. It can all be done after you graduate if necessary. Grades should be priority 1, 2, and 3. You need a few semesters of 3.8ish to get your gpa to a competitive range. Focus all of your productive time of that. Good luck!

 

[HomeSkool]

I have a quick question. What exactly is clinical volunteering? I was under the assumption that shadowing was a form of clinical volunteering.

Nope, it's different. Clinical volunteering is a bit more formalized, as it's done through "official channels" in a hospital. It often includes direct contact with patients, but that's not an absolute requirement. In addition to being altruistic, it allows you to see how different pieces of the health system interact. UW has a page listing some of the typical duties of clinical volunteers: What Do Volunteers Do? | UW Medicine

Shadowing is often less formal, being arranged just with the physician you're shadowing. It allows you to see the physician's responsibilities and workflow. Shadowing is more observational. When I have students shadowing me, I explain my duties and clinical decision-making process, as well as some of the fun and not-so-fun aspects of my job.

Your school's pre-professional advisement center may have contacts to help facilitate both clinical volunteering and shadowing opportunities for you. Check it out!

 

[HomeSkool]

Three weeks to the end of the semester I realized that I was practicing the wrong types of problems. My professor tests a lot on IR, NMR, locating different carbons and periodic trends for electronegativity and I was focusing more on nomenclature, I started off really lost and that didn't rectify itself for the rest of the semester so I think that was my problem. I'm going to retake it over the summer and I know I'll do better this time around. I'm starting a nonclinical volunteering activity where I'll be helping disabled students adjust to college life at my university. I need to work on getting a clinical volunteering gig....

You may want to reconsider taking it over the summer. Challenging courses like OChem often become even more challenging during the summer since they compress the content into a shorter timeframe. And with this being a retake, you need to get an A the second time through. As @gonnif has explained, failure to get an A will make adcoms think, "What's wrong with this person that they can't get an A even after they've seen the material before?"

 

[binky23]

Nope, it's different. Clinical volunteering is a bit more formalized, as it's done through "official channels" in a hospital. It often includes direct contact with patients, but that's not an absolute requirement. In addition to being altruistic, it allows you to see how different pieces of the health system interact. UW has a page listing some of the typical duties of clinical volunteers: What Do Volunteers Do? | UW Medicine

Shadowing is often less formal, being arranged just with the physician you're shadowing. It allows you to see the physician's responsibilities and workflow. Shadowing is more observational. When I have students shadowing me, I explain my duties and clinical decision-making process, as well as some of the fun and not-so-fun aspects of my job.

Your school's pre-professional advisement center may have contacts to help facilitate both clinical volunteering and shadowing opportunities for you. Check it out!

Thanks very much!

 

[Shayla Flowere]

You may want to reconsider taking it over the summer. Challenging courses like OChem often become even more challenging during the summer since they compress the content into a shorter timeframe. And with this being a retake, you need to get an A the second time through. As @gonnif has explained, failure to get an A will make adcoms think, "What's wrong with this person that they can't get an A even after they've seen the material before?"

Yeah I know that I've taken a class over the summer...its brutal. But my school only offers organic II in the spring, and since I'm not taking organic II this spring I'll have to take it next spring, which means that I'll have to take Biochem in the fall the summer after I take my MCAT. I've heard that Biochem is really big on the new MCAT so I want to take Biochem next fall....I can only do that at my school with above a C. Basically I'm in a bind because of how things are set up at my school.

 

[Whale2018]

Organic is tough, but you'll eventually pass it. I got a D the first time then this semster I got a C+. Try to read the textbook and write the important stuff.