Feeling bad about first yr performance. help please!

[woodhorse22]

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Hello,
I was just feeling a little down about my first year performance because I didn't get all the grades I wanted. The worst grade that I have gotten so far has been a B+ but my GPA is a 3.46 after first year completion. I got half B+'s and half A's. I am going to hit it up a notch next year for sure. is this decent performance or poor performance?? any feedback would be much appreciated. thank you

 

[tideleonheart]

Hello,
I was just feeling a little down about my first year performance because I didn't get all the grades I wanted. The worst grade that I have gotten so far has been a B+ but my GPA is a 3.46 after first year completion. I got half B+'s and half A's. I am going to hit it up a notch next year for sure. is this decent performance or poor performance?? any feedback would be much appreciated. thank you

You're in medical school. You're doing great. The days of 4.0 are gone for 90% of your class. Residencies put only a little weight on preclinical grades and unless you have red flags (lots of C's, failing a class or two, etc), you should be fine.

 

[woodhorse22]

thanks tideleonheart. that was really encouraging

 

[bigDinLV]

You have 2 options the way I see it..

1. drop out and then shoot yourself.

2. (the much better option!!) just accept it. A 3.5 in med school is fine. I remember when I wanted to pull a 4.0 through all of med school. Then I realized a few B's here and there never killed anyone (this was after the first block of exams). I don't honestly think the big extra effort would have been good for me, I really value a balance in life. I had many great weekends snowboarding and having good times with friends. Looking back I wouldn't trade those times for a 4.0 GPA.

 

[spicedmanna]

2. (the much better option!!) just accept it. A 3.5 in med school is fine. I remember when I wanted to pull a 4.0 through all of med school. Then I realized a few B's here and there never killed anyone (this was after the first block of exams). I don't honestly think the big extra effort would have been good for me, I really value a balance in life. I had many great weekends snowboarding and having good times with friends. Looking back I wouldn't trade those times for a 4.0 GPA.

👍 I agree with this. There were things more important to me in life than scoring the highest.

 

[Exit Strategy]

.

 

[DaveinDallas]

Dude (or Dudette as the case may be) -

I would have loved to have a B+ average my first year in medical school the first time through.....you're doing fine. At this point, all you NEED to do is pass, everything else is gravy.....don't slack, do the best you can. After residency, no one cares where you graduated in your class or what your GPA was....

A very successful physician once told me there are three A's to success as a physician ----

1) You have to be AVAILABLE.
2) You have to be AFFABLE
3) You have to be ABLE

Patients will forgive a myriad of screwups if they feel they can trust you to do your best, say 'I don't know right now, let me think about it' when you honestly don't know, and if you're not a USDA, government inspected, ruby red sphincter when dealing with them......

My daughter's allergist graduated from one of the top programs in the Southwest, placques and honors wall papering the walls....but I'm hunting a new one because the dweeb refused to make eye contact with us and hid behind his EMR computer workstation and asked us questions off of the checklist, rather than communicating with us to figure out what the hell was going on....history and physical? If it wasn't on the checklist, it didn't get asked. Heck, I never saw his face, just the top of his head and the sides of his glasses frames......but boy he sure is smart and got the placques to prove it......

 

[all stock]

Dude (or Dudette as the case may be) -


1) You have to be AVAILABLE.
2) You have to be AFFABLE
3) You have to be ABLE

we learned it as the 3 pillars to success. lol

 

[karizma098]

Are you kidding me?

I go to CCOM, in fact, I'm in your class. I have a similar gpa and I know for a fact my class rank is near the top 20% of the Class, if not higher. Why are you freaking out about a 3.46 gpa?

Be happy that you're passing your classes without trouble, keep working hard and u'll continue to rock school. Also, residency programs care minimally about your grades from years M1 and M2 , so take a breather and enjoy your summer homefry.

 

[woodhorse22]

Thanks a lot folks.. that was very helpful.. I feel much better and I am thankful that I have successfully PASSED all my classes.

 

[sia_simba]

Grades are important if you are applying to competitive program. Someone having a 4.0 GPA will have a better chance theoretically. Most of the times, you get pretty good grades on your clinical rotation unless you are really lazy, arrogant, constantly late, apathetic, etc.

However, if you can get half and half of B's and A's and do well on your comlex or usmle, your grade doesn't matter too much. Most of the residency program looks at a few things:

1. Who you know
2. Board exam grades
3. Your attitude
4. Letters of recommendation
5. Clinical rotation grades
6. Classroom grades

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I am one of the person having input on who gets accepted to my program and who doesn't. Basically, if I have someone who is average or a little above average on board exam, works well with all the residents, good attitude, I could care less about what they got in biochemistry. That's just my take on it. Take it with a grain of salt, but keep the mentality in your head.