Failed my 1st year of college. Am I doomed?

[souslepont]

I failed my 2nd semester of college (I got a 2.0 first semester) & was dismissed from the university. I probably should never have been admitted in the first place, but I took a lot of AP exams in HS and I'm a good test-taker.

Do I have any options left? Do I go to community college, bring up my GPA, and then transfer?

My understanding is that AMCAS will still calculate the failing grades from my old transcript into my GPA, so it'll take me a looott of classes to salvage my GPA. Am I wrong about this?

Any help/guidance/ideas/advice would be very much appreciated. This REALLY sucks.

Thanks.

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[aebvd97]

I failed my 2nd semester of college (I got a 2.0 first semester) & was dismissed from the university. I probably should never have been admitted in the first place, but I took a lot of AP exams in HS and I'm a good test-taker.

Do I have any options left? Do I go to community college, bring up my GPA, and then transfer?

My understanding is that AMCAS will still calculate the failing grades from my old transcript into my GPA, so it'll take me a looott of classes to salvage my GPA. Am I wrong about this?

Any help/guidance/ideas/advice would be very much appreciated. This REALLY sucks.

Thanks.

Is it possible to do a grade replacement for some of the classes (particularly science classes)? That could at least dull the blow in your GPA. Certainly this is going to hurt your application. Many will say that an upward trend is good for your GPA, and I agree, so you're not completely doomed.

If you are unable to do any coursework at your university, or any others nearby, I guess you could do some coursework at a CC, although you may want to shy away from taking your science courses there.

Whenever you do get back in the classroom, work your a** off, then kill the MCAT (you said you're good at taking tests..) and you will have a decent chance, I'd say.

 

[souslepont]

Is it possible to do a grade replacement for some of the classes (particularly science classes)? That could at least dull the blow in your GPA. Certainly this is going to hurt your application. Many will say that an upward trend is good for your GPA, and I agree, so you're not completely doomed.

If you are unable to do any coursework at your university, or any others nearby, I guess you could do some coursework at a CC, although you may want to shy away from taking your science courses there.

Whenever you do get back in the classroom, work your a** off, then kill the MCAT (you said you're good at taking tests..) and you will have a decent chance, I'd say.

None of the classes I failed were science classes, luckily...I failed Calc II, Intro to Linguistics, Advanced german II and and a freshman composition class. All I have left to take is Orgo II (I got a C in Orgo I) and Physics; I got credit for Bio and Gen Chem through AP exams and taking them again would be reeeeally mind-numbing. Your point about grade replacement does help, though--I suppose I could retake Orgo I.

 

[bobsagat]

Also, I don't know if you have your heart set on MD or not, but DO schools will throw out old grades if you retake the classes again, whereas AMCAS will not. So your chances at a DO school are probably much better, if you can dedicate yourself to improved grades.

 

[souslepont]

Unfortunately your failing Calc 2 will factor in to your BCPM (science) GPA when applying to medical school.

Yeah, I thought so--but if I do end up making it back to a 4-year university, I'll probably be a science major anyway, so that should help bring it up, right?

At this point, my biggest concern is whether or not I can even make it back to college...let alone medical school. Ugh.

 

[Emmet2301]

Unfortunately your failing Calc 2 will factor in to your BCPM (science) GPA when applying to medical school.

I'm in a similar position. I'm getting a bad grade in Calc 2, but it's a really hard class. It's a weed-out class. Should I take Multivariable to boost my GPA?

 

[aebvd97]

ANother question I have is why did you fail? Was the material too hard for you in the first place? Did you slack off? were you a victim of WoW?

 

[souslepont]

ANother question I have is why did you fail? Was the material too hard for you in the first place? Did you slack off? were you a victim of WoW?

I wish I could give you a satisfactory answer, but I have no clue. Some combination of lack of motivation, stubbornness, bad habits, ADD & oversleeping, most likely. The material wasn't too hard for me; I just never cracked open a book. It'd probably be a hell of a lot easier to fix what's wrong if I knew what it is! Maybe I should see a shrink

 

[scg]

Some schools don't include the first year grades in their calculations I think and weigh the later years more heavily than the earlier years. I believe UW has a system like this.

 

[alwaysaangel]

I wish I could give you a satisfactory answer, but I have no clue. Some combination of lack of motivation, stubbornness, bad habits, ADD & oversleeping, most likely. The material wasn't too hard for me; I just never cracked open a book. It'd probably be a hell of a lot easier to fix what's wrong if I knew what it is! Maybe I should see a shrink

Overcoming this is the first issue you need to deal with, and if you can't you realistically shouldn't be going to medical school. You said yourself you "should never have been admitted in the first place." Explore why you think that first. Fix it. Then go to a community college and do everything else.

Making yourself motivated when you're not is HARD. Studying hard is easier than forcing yourself when you don't want to. I am very fortunate and have very good retention and am an excellent crammer. I made it through high school and college easily and now I'm in med school and its like "damn...you expect me to study? A lot?" Its very hard to retrain yourself if you're a good test taker and never had to.

So fix that first. Or you'll end up half way through your second year wondering how on earth you're going to manage to study for Step 1 for 5-7 weeks straight without jumping out a window or just slacking off and blowing one of the most important tests you'll take.

 

[Bacchus]

I just want to clear some things up/make them clear:

1)If you grade replace, AMCAS will take the average of the two grades.
2)Also, by APing out of chem and biology you have done yourself disservice. Not all medical schools take AP credit or only take it for one semester. You might have to retake biology and chemistry to meet the requirements.
3)We can give you all the advice in the world but you're the one that needs to give yourself a swift kick to the backside to get it into gear and succeed.

 

[link2swim06]

ANother question I have is why did you fail? Was the material too hard for you in the first place? Did you slack off? were you a victim of WoW?

haha victim of WoW, is that a disease or something now? glad I got over that in h.s. before grades mattered

 

[zenlike]

I wish I could give you a satisfactory answer, but I have no clue. Some combination of lack of motivation, stubbornness, bad habits, ADD & oversleeping, most likely. The material wasn't too hard for me; I just never cracked open a book. It'd probably be a hell of a lot easier to fix what's wrong if I knew what it is! Maybe I should see a shrink

I've been there. My advice to you: stop sucking.

 

[alwaysaangel]

To clarify on this point: If I took Calc 2, say 4 credits, and failed it, I would have a GPA of 0.0 for 4 credits. If I retook Calc 2 and made an A on it, I would then have 4 additional credits of a 4.0. My question is, when you say AMCAS takes the average of the two grades, do you mean that I will have 4 credits of a 2.0, or 8 credits of a 2.0? Because if it's the latter, then there's really no point to the averaging - it's essentially calculated as if the courses were completely seperate.

Exactly - its calculated as if the courses were completely separate. Premeds say averaged because its easier to think about having a C than an A and F.

 

[Excelsius]

I just want to clear some things up/make them clear:

1)If you grade replace, AMCAS will take the average of the two grades.
2)Also, by APing out of chem and biology you have done yourself disservice. Not all medical schools take AP credit or only take it for one semester. You might have to retake biology and chemistry to meet the requirements.
3)We can give you all the advice in the world but you're the one that needs to give yourself a swift kick to the backside to get it into gear and succeed.

I am not exactly aware of this process. Are you saying that if your school replaces a particular grade, AMCAS counts that differently than the regular grades? Here is an example: if you take Class A (3units) and get a D and then retake it with an A, AMCAS counts it only as 3 units of B- (vs 6 units)? What's the source?

 

[shaggybill]

To the OP, going to a community college and bringing your GPA back up is probably the best thing you can do. You only have 2 semesters behind you, so it shouldn't be that bad. I'm worse off than you are and I think I stand a chance after several years of hard work.

I had 5 semesters with a cGPA of 2.06 (and failing my last semester for a variety of reasons) before I quit school altogether. After a few years of working full time, I realized I wanted to go into medicine, so I went to a community college and completed 3 semesters of 4.0's with heavy science loads. I was accepted at a state undergrad and am working my tail off again with heavy science loads to bring my GPA up. Right now my plan is to have 6 semesters of 4.0's and then apply to my state schools with a 3.1 cGPA/3.6 sGPA if I can manage a really good MCAT score.

Basically, you'll need a fantastic MCAT, awesome LOR's, and a little luck.

 

[biophysicianai]

props, Shaggybill

i admire your fortitude


OP, there's still hope

 

[shaggybill]

props, Shaggybill

i admire your fortitude

Thanks, I have no delusions about how difficult it will be and how well I will have to sell myself, but I think I can still pull it off. Even if it takes a couple of cycles.

 

[aznb0y129]

haha victim of WoW, is that a disease or something now? glad I got over that in h.s. before grades mattered

I knew a friend who suffered from that in college. Symptoms included: lack of a social life, absence of basic hygiene, and a fractured mouse-clicking finger.

 

[Nemuri]

You can always start fresh at another university

 

[zetandu]

I knew a friend who suffered from that in college. Symptoms included: lack of a social life, absence of basic hygiene, and a fractured mouse-clicking finger.

Typical of someone living in Real Life. In the Virtual World, I'm a level 80 (I know, I'm that good, only a week after WOTLK came out) Blood Elf Paladin with a strong sword arm and myriad of comrades from across Azeroth, fighting against minotaurs and to win jewels and apparel. Word.

 

[Nemuri]

Typical of someone living in Real Life. In the Virtual World, I'm a level 80 (I know, I'm that good, only a week after WOTLK came out) Blood Elf Paladin with a strong sword arm and myriad of comrades from across Azeroth, fighting against minotaurs and to win jewels and apparel. Word.

It's hard enough to balance an education, volunteer hours, clinical hours, research hours. shadowing hours, social life, physical fitness, and whatever else college throws at you without WoW sucking every possible minute out of your day. To quote DMX at his court date before returning to prison, "I AINT GOIN BACK".

 

[souslepont]

My understanding of the AP credit situation was that med schools will give you credit for AP Bio and AP Chem as long as you then take an upper-level course in both areas. I don't want to have to retake Bio and Chem at community college AND THEN retake them at a 4-year college...although I guess I'd be REALLY prepared for the MCAT.

Thanks for all the help, guys.

 

[rigel]

souslepoint, i have some idea of what youre going through, having been in roughly the same situation myself.

this might sound a little trite, but you should probably do some thinking about why you want to go to school and/or become a doctor. in my experience these sorts of issues are too often a result of students simply doing what is expected (going to college) rather than forging their own path. so at this point, rather than try and figure out how to do damage control for something that is at least 4 years away, take some time to do a bit of introspection.

if, after examining your reasons for pursuing this path, which is long and grueling and involves a great deal of heartbreak and shattered hope (it's got plenty of rewards too, of course), you decide that it is still important to you, then i would echo the suggestion of shaggybill and suggest you enroll at a community college and work on bringing up your grades. i would also highly recommend taking a wide spectrum of electives, things that you find personally interesting or fulfilling, and not be so concerned with your science gpa, as your heart does not seem to be in it at the moment. if you can demonstrate that you've gained some self-knowledge from this experience to future adcoms, that can only help you.

 

[Aladdin]

To the OP:

It's going to be a difficult path, but it is absolutely possible. To put this in perspective, I know a physician who was arrested in college for drug trafficking (marijuana) and possession of a controlled substance(cocaine) - granted this was in the early 70's. He paid his due to society, persisted, and ended up being a great physician. He ended up being a member of an admissions committee at a very good medical school.

My point is, anything is possible. You've dug quite a hole, but there are plenty of people who do the same. If you really want to be a doctor, you can be a doctor.

 

[Thrombomodulin]

.

 

[Nemuri]

AMCAS counts all courses that you have taken in your undergraduate academic career, regardless of the institution. Therefore, you cannot "start fresh" at another undergraduate institution.

That's odd. A friend of mine went to a 4 year institution, completely bombed, then when he arrived back home he enrolled into a CC here as a freshman stating he had never gone to college yet. You're saying AMCAS would have record of that even though upon graduation whatever med school he applies for will only be recieving his records from said CC and whatever 4 yr he then transfers to?

 

[rigel]

the credentialing services will have a record of the other school your friend went to. he will likely have to transfer his credits from that school to his CC before they will grant him a degree. i did this after a hiatus of several years, not understanding that all my credits needed to be transferred from every school, and they withheld my degree until i transferred them, though i suppose it could depend on the school/state.

there is no "starting fresh" unless you get put in witness protection or something. you have to deal with the fallout of your bad choices, hopefully by making better choices.

 

[GoSpursGo]

That's odd. A friend of mine went to a 4 year institution, completely bombed, then when he arrived back home he enrolled into a CC here as a freshman stating he had never gone to college yet. You're saying AMCAS would have record of that even though upon graduation whatever med school he applies for will only be recieving his records from said CC and whatever 4 yr he then transfers to?

Obviously, AMCAS will only have record of it if he revealed that information to them, i.e. sent them a transcript from the school he bombed out of. That said, you are required by AMCAS to send them transcripts from all schools you have attended since HS. If AMCAS or a med school ever found out he had ever been to another college that he didn't report on his application, that would be grounds for automatic rejection at every school he applied to, and even expulsion from medcial school if they found out about it after he started classes.

Of course, if he doesn't get caught, I guess he beat the system, but I'm not sure I could live with worrying about whether I'll be found out, and furthermore it's certainly unethical.

 

[Nemuri]

The more you know.. hope we can still get into UF together.

 

[Proxy]

Typical of someone living in Real Life. In the Virtual World, I'm a level 80 (I know, I'm that good, only a week after WOTLK came out) Blood Elf Paladin with a strong sword arm and myriad of comrades from across Azeroth, fighting against minotaurs and to win jewels and apparel. Word.

I'm sorry, but WoW doesn't require an ounce of skill...