Failed a pre-med class

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AmyM1998

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I just got my marks for the first term of my first year back. I failed the intro bio class and it's very depressing. How much will this hurt my chances of applying to medical school? I am taking it next term again and I am determined to do extremely well in it.

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Instead of worrying too much about your chances at this stage of the game (which is really early) I would take time over the break to reflect. Why did you fail? Was it bad study habits, underestimating the difficulty, too many EC’s, didn’t attend class, took too many classes, new or break up with boyfriend/girlfriend, etc.? Try to get to the bottom of that and ensure you don’t repeat the same mistakes next semester. It can be a vicious cycle that certainly impacts other courses and such, so the sooner it can be addressed, the dream to become a doctor should not fizzle out.


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Don't freak out. I know it's disappointing, but this is not the end of the world. That grade is going to show up when your AMCAS GPA is calculated, but it won't keep you out of med school. Do everything in your power to get an A when you retake it: that's what adcoms will expect now that you've already been exposed to the material once before. As long as you do that, it'll be water under the bridge and not a problem for you in the long run.
 
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I think you have to ask yourself if this was related to mental health, study habits, or natural ability. I would guess one of the latter. Be candid with yourself.

I do genuinely wish you the best. An F will not keep you out of schools. If you keep an excellent GPA the rest of the way, it may not even hurt your chances. I would think you could still easily finish 3.8 sGPA. And heck, many people get into DO schools with a 3.2-3.4 sGPA.

If it's mental health, seek help--and tell people. People will surprise you with how understanding they are. And in general, reform study habits. Do things to try to stay focused. Eat well, sleep well, and exercise. You can certainly do it.
 
Are you a freshman? An F doesn't look good, but if you retake and do well in future classes, it won't matter much in the long run. Upward GPA trend is also important, I've heard.
 
Just learn from your mistakes and move on. Let this minor setback to push yourself to work smarter and harder.
 
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Are you a freshman? An F doesn't look good, but if you retake and do well in future classes, it won't matter much in the long run. Upward GPA trend is also important, I've heard.
Yeah this was my first university course
 
Did you take any other science courses this semester? If so, which and how’d you do?


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I just got my marks for the first term of my first year back. I failed the intro bio class and it's very depressing. How much will this hurt my chances of applying to medical school? I am taking it next term again and I am determined to do extremely well in it.

It will hurt your chances but you’ve got 3.5 years to turn that around. Like others have said look at WHY you failed. A lone fail isn’t a deal breaker but it cleanly indicates you’ve gotta re-evaluate your study strategy.

One of my favorite past times is coming into pre-alo and telling people I failed bio on the first try lol. So clearly med schools will still look at your app, but you gotta do better
 
You can still do it, but make sure you know how. Plenty of people are "determined" to do well, but that doesn't always pan out into better grades. What did you do wrong? How will you improve? Do you have a plan?
 
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