Freshman Year Grades In....Are MD Schools out of the question at this point?

[DoctorJJJ]

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I Ended My Freshman Year with a 2.679. Pretty Mediocre Grades on my part due in part to me not fully adjusting to the college rigor and workload, being bad at taking and studying effectively for my Chemistry and Biology Tests. Is MD not an option anymore even in spite of an upward trend?

Going into sophomore Year, I'm Taking a schedule that consists of the following classes:
Physics 1
Physics 1 Lab
Organic Chem 1
Organic Chem 1 Lab
Calc 1A (part of a 2 part series of Calc 1)
Micro Economics 1
Retaking Biology 1

A Pretty Hard Schedule but doable IMO now with the urgency that I've put myself. The 2 things I've learned from this semester and one of year the college rigor that I need use in the next semester are that:
- I need to live in the Tutoring Center and Library next year. I shirked away from making the walk to my Biology and Chemistry tutor and opted to study by myself in the Common Room of My Dorm and did not see results as seen from my grades.

-My testing abilities freshman year were bad. It got better in 2nd semester but overall I felt that I did not have a solid way of studying for Biology Tests (every 3-4 weeks) and Chemistry Quizzes (every week). Now that i'm taking Organic Chem and Physics as courses, I want to get some much needed tips on how to study better for courses of these nature. Any tips?

Freshman Year was hard arguably and I make no excuses to myself for doing how I did. With the classes becoming harder do you guys have tips on how to right the ship and become a competitive candidate for medical school? I really want to be able to raise my grades while simultaneously being eligible to do research and pursue other extracurricular within college.

 

[ciestar]

Given your GPA currently, do NOT try and tackle this type of schedule until you can prove you can pull A’s. Organic is hard.

 

[BorderlineQueen]

How about taking some easy non-science classes to pad your gpa? If you struggled with bio and gen chem then orgo is also going to be difficult.

 

[Moko]

You need to take a step back and first prove to yourself that you can actually get A's with a lighter course load. Do NOT commit to any time-intensive extra-curricular activities such as research before your grades are up to snuff.

Doing poorly during 1st year is not a deal breaker; however, a second year of dismal grades will result in needing grade-enhancing courses after graduation (e.g through a SMP, or via the DIY route) to even have a chance at acceptance to a med school.

Thinking that you'll do well academically by studying harder is one thing, but actually going through with it and getting those results is another.. remember that all of your peers' test-taking skills and study habits will also have improved during their first year. Jumping in head-first to a heavy course load at this time is foolish.

 

[deleted804295]

I Ended My Freshman Year with a 2.679. Pretty Mediocre Grades on my part due in part to me not fully adjusting to the college rigor and workload, being bad at taking and studying effectively for my Chemistry and Biology Tests. Is MD not an option anymore even in spite of an upward trend?

Going into sophomore Year, I'm Taking a schedule that consists of the following classes:
Physics 1
Physics 1 Lab
Organic Chem 1
Organic Chem 1 Lab
Calc 1A (part of a 2 part series of Calc 1)
Micro Economics 1
Retaking Biology 1

A Pretty Hard Schedule but doable IMO now with the urgency that I've put myself. The 2 things I've learned from this semester and one of year the college rigor that I need use in the next semester are that:
- I need to live in the Tutoring Center and Library next year. I shirked away from making the walk to my Biology and Chemistry tutor and opted to study by myself in the Common Room of My Dorm and did not see results as seen from my grades.

-My testing abilities freshman year were bad. It got better in 2nd semester but overall I felt that I did not have a solid way of studying for Biology Tests (every 3-4 weeks) and Chemistry Quizzes (every week). Now that i'm taking Organic Chem and Physics as courses, I want to get some much needed tips on how to study better for courses of these nature. Any tips?

Freshman Year was hard arguably and I make no excuses to myself for doing how I did. With the classes becoming harder do you guys have tips on how to right the ship and become a competitive candidate for medical school? I really want to be able to raise my grades while simultaneously being eligible to do research and pursue other extracurricular within college.

Don't take physics and organic chemistry together next year. I would recommend physics, and 3 easy electives or organic chemistry and 2-3 easy electives. Don't take calc either, you can push it into the summer. Based on your schedule you look like a bio major and bio majors don't really need calc for upper division courses.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

3 science classes and 1 math class is suicidal!!!

 

[candbgirl]

You need to only focus on your grades. Your proposed schedule for next semester is unrealistic based on your current GPA. Why are you retaking Biology? Unless you got a D or F don’t retake it. You can, at some point, take a higher level bio class instead. You’re in a hole but you have time to dig yourself out. Don’t worry about ECs or research. You have to get your grades under control or it won’t mater what ECs or research you have.

 

[deleted480308]

If you want to be a doctor you have to be better at planning.

Booking a schedule like that after proving you are a 2.6 student is not good planning

 

[Select All That Apply]

@DoctorJJJ Pay for a professional medical advisor/performance coach. You are not flawed, you do not need to consider pre-dental, and your D+ in Biology from first semester isn't going to tank you if you're able to get an A on the retake. But you are in a precarious position and no one else on this forum board aside from people who have a native interest in consulting/advising will give you the best advice because there is no service commitment.

 

[deleted480308]

@DoctorJJJ Pay for a professional medical advisor/performance coach. You are not flawed, you do not need to consider pre-dental, and your D+ in Biology from first semester isn't going to tank you if you're able to get an A on the retake. But you are in a precarious position and no one else on this forum board aside from people who have a native interest in consulting/advising will give you the best advice because there is no service commitment.

Did you even read the OP?

What are you talking about?

 

[Select All That Apply]

Did you even read the OP? What are you talking about?

They are considering pre-dental due to poor second semester/end of freshman year outcomes. They got a D+ in Biology from first semester, they tried to make changes in between semesters. But they were probably hoping for far better outcomes after attempting to make a change.

I know. It's weird. I look at thread history before giving advice. It's weird right.

@DoctorJJJ This is a part of my original post. I omitted the parts where I went over how you should space your curriculum because I think you need to figure that out with a professional advisor.

Spoiler

@DoctorJJJ First and foremost, a 2.6 is not a mediocre GPA. It's a bad GPA. When the media discovered that G.W. Bush's GPA in school was a 2.3 they didn't say, "That's a mediocre GPA." They used that to corroborate their narrative that the president was incompetent and lacked the basic intellectual capacity to run the country. Neither of us will ever be POTUS, but you are leading your future down a place of no return and no one else will care enough to intervene and tell you by the time you figure it out you will be loading sixteen tons to get yourself out.

Second, I think that other posters in this thread and other threads are ignorant about (1) the effort you are putting in and (2) the impact that self-doubt can have on your ability to perceive what you need to do in order to succeed. I actually will acknowledge both of those factors. The reason why you stayed at home to study was because you thought it was the most optimal method, I don't think you were in your room getting distracted by League of Legends or COD Black Ops. A lot of graduate students in professional degree programs are self learners and teach themselves what they need in order to succeed. A tutor will help you figure out concepts faster, however you will have to discern which concepts will matter when it comes to testing and what mind state you need to achieve in order to start performing on these examinations.

You wrote a thread about considering pre-dental (What do dentist schools looks for?) because in your mind you likely thought it was less competitive than pre-medical. This is because you likely made a genuine effort between first semester and second semester to change your style (have to retake my first premed class) after getting a D+ in Biology and it wasn't effective, I know that "It got better" really means "It's still wrong and I don't know what's wrong with me." If this mental picture is accurate, then I have unconventional advice. If this is inaccurate, then you can ignore everything and I apologize for wasting your time. But I don't think that I'm wrong because these patterns are common and believe it or not I've found that it's more often than people get their academic mojo after they graduate, not during it.

 

[deleted480308]

I know. It's weird. I look at thread history before giving advice. It's weird right.

I think you mean poster's history. And yeah, no one has time for all that

 

[Select All That Apply]

I think you mean poster's history. And yeah, no one has time for all that

I'm sorry. Do you want to turn this into an actual dialogue?

 

[DoctorJJJ]

i get it guys thanks for the advice, I'm going to take Physics out of my schedule next year and keep the rest of my classes....

 

[deleted480308]

I'm sorry. Do you want to turn this into an actual dialogue?

You asked if it was weird. I thought it was at least unusual. If you don't want someone to respond, don't ask

 

[907914]

Don't take physics and organic chemistry together next year

If a student does this and they perform well in both will that be viewed favorably?

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

If a student does this and they perform well in both will that be viewed favorably?

No one looks at your academics with that much of a magnifying glass. You are expected to get good grades regardless of how hard or easy your schedule is.

 

[dr_kateb]

Second, I think that other posters in this thread and other threads are ignorant about (1) the effort you are putting in and (2) the impact that self-doubt can have on your ability to perceive what you need to do in order to succeed. I actually will acknowledge both of those factors.

Really? Was this necessary?

 

[deleted804295]

@DoctorJJJ Pay for a professional medical advisor/performance coach. You are not flawed, you do not need to consider pre-dental, and your D+ in Biology from first semester isn't going to tank you if you're able to get an A on the retake. But you are in a precarious position and no one else on this forum board aside from people who have a native interest in consulting/advising will give you the best advice because there is no service commitment.

Pre-dental is actually pretty competitive due to it being lucrative.

 

[DoctorJJJ]

based on my post history I was rather exploring the career as an alternative.....I realize that dental school average matriculant GPA's are in the 3.5 range rather than a 3.7 for MD matriculants

 

[deleted804295]

i get it guys thanks for the advice, I'm going to take Physics out of my schedule next year and keep the rest of my classes....

I would also reassess taking calc or not. Everybody has their own strong suits but o chem, calc, and bio- if you already did bad it in- is just asking for it.