Got 5 C's/C+'s out of BCPM prereqs

[PikaPikaPika]

I should just give up, right?

So depressed. I don't expect positive feedback at all...I know I can save myself through post-bacc, retakes, and DO applying years later but I feel so discouraged...

Sorry for ranting.

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[flodhi1]

I should just give up, right?

So depressed. I don't expect positive feedback at all...I know I can save myself through post-bacc, retakes, and DO applying years later but I feel so discouraged...

Sorry for ranting.

Well more importantly how do you think you will do on the MCAT or medical school (if some how you do get accepted) because it really seems like you have a slight weakness in foundation and study habits?

 

[PikaPikaPika]

Well more importantly how do you think you will do on the MCAT or medical school (if some how you do get accepted) because it really seems like you have a slight weakness in foundation and study habits?

My fears exactly. I'm not even sure if I'm ready to study for my MCATs this summer at all...

 

[ilubse7en]

were there a reason why you received those grades? if there is a solid reason such as financial difficulties or illnesses, i think it can be forgiven somewhat...

my report card looks just abit more uglier than yours, so far i had one MD interview and one DO acceptance. so, hope is not lost...i will let you know if i get accepted from the MD school as well.

don't give up, unless you want to.

 

[PikaPikaPika]

were there a reason why you received those grades? if there is a solid reason such as financial difficulties or illnesses, i think it can be forgiven somewhat...

my report card looks just abit more uglier than yours, so far i had one MD interview and one DO acceptance. so, hope is not lost...i will let you know if i get accepted from the MD school as well.

don't give up, unless you want to.

Oh please do tell. Did you have extenuating circumstances though?

 

[flatearth22]

Strong thread content to avatar ratio.

What's your overall and BCPM GPA, OP? How many more semesters do you have of UG?

 

[dominicandoctor]

I have 2 C-'s and a D+ in the first semesters of Bio, Phys, and Chemistry so I know your concern. All I can say is follow it up with strong upward trends, good grades in other science courses, and a strong MCAT score to remove doubts about you being capable of handling the medical school course load. For example, I got a C- in first semester physics and bio, but I got an A- and B+ respectively in the second semester portions. I took a lot of 'other' sciences courses did well in courses like Biochem, Neurobiology, Animal Behavior etc to help my sGPA. Medical schools will question you about it, but from my own personal experience they love that 1) you didn't quit or give up and 2) were able to drastically improve. Ultimately, they like that you were faced with a challenge and were able to overcome it. In a certain light, you can turn the situation around and transform it into a crucial learning experience that validated your perseverance to enter the medical field.

Despite these poor grades, I got a 33 on my MCAT and maintained a decent 3.5 GPA. I've been invited to 4 interviews at all very good schools including Cornell, Columbia, and Emory. It isn't a complete deal breaker and can actually make you stand out as an applicant if you can write/talk about it well (I attacked the issue head on in my personal statement.)

 

[235788]

Do an SMP if you have to. Don't rely on the getting a 33+ MCAT (91st precentile or something crazy). With an SMP you can still go MD and don't have to go DO.

^dominicandoctor^, what is your science GPA? I'm guessing you are a URM?

 

[dominicandoctor]

Yeah, I'm sure my URM status helps a bit. My sGPA is ~3.3 but mostly because of those 3 stinker grades really bring it down a lot. On the flip side, I really overloaded in a lot of BCPM courses my junior and senior years and did very well in them to help raise my sGPA to a respectable level. It can be done if you don't give up and work hard at it.. medical schools will see this. I find that schools are willing to see hurdles like this as a demonstration of your passion/devotion towards your goals. Not all low GPA's are created equal.. if they see that is mostly due to a few grades in your freshman/sophmore year and that you worked hard to raise it up it can become a positive attribute. And yes, SMP programs can only enhance this aspect even more (assuming you do well). Most importantly though, you're going to have to start producing results and performing well at some point.. the earlier the better.

 

[plumhill]

If you have the time and really want to make sure you know the material, I'd just re-take those classes, especially if they are foundation classes. If you truly don't understand the material and then try to go onto higher-level classes in hopes that you can improve, you'll probably do just as bad or worse because you don't know the foundational materials. Even if you end up needing an extra semester just to re-take those, then I personally would say its worth it.

 

[PikaPikaPika]

Strong thread content to avatar ratio.

What's your overall and BCPM GPA, OP? How many more semesters do you have of UG?

I've taken a ton of community classes back in high school, so I'm sure that inflates my cGPA somewhat. (last time I calculated 0.2)

Overall University GPA (excluding CC courses) is 3.3. BCPM GPA falls somewhere around 3.0, mostly because of all these prereq fails.

Got Cs in ochem (both sem in lecture portions, though got As in both labs), C+ Bio (1 sem), C+ Phys (1 sem), and C+ Biochem (1 sem). Finished all my prereqs this fall. I go to Berkeley, so Biochem counts as second semester of ochem and 1st semester of ochem counts as gen chem, blah blah whatever

I have 3 semesters left at university which are promised to be chock full of BCPM GPA inflators. Was planning to do Princeton MCAT prep this summer, take MCAT whenever comfortable, and possibly retake as many C classes at post-bacc to recover GPA after I graduate in Spr 2013.

 

[dominicandoctor]

Sounds like a good plan, but you'll need to up your game for sure. Find out why you got the grades you got and what you need to do specifically to improve and do well. For me, it was getting out of the public high school mentality of basic memorization/regurgitate and realizing that I needed to have a fundamental understanding of the concepts and be able to apply them to real life situations. IE In physics, not just memorizing a formula and plugging numbers in.. but really understanding what the formula is saying, understanding the underlying principles behind the formula, knowing how each variable affects another, etc. etc. I used a lot of online models that allow you to adjust variables and observe consequences. At this level of understanding, memorizing the formula was the least of my worries. I could derive most of them myself from my own intuition.

If you can maintain a ~3.8 for 3 semesters (preferably 4.0!), succeed in your post bac program, get a good MCAT score, and write about your experience in a positive light in the personal statement... I wouldn't be surprised if you got a few acceptances. It's not too late.. 3.3 cGPA isn't terrible and neither is 3.0 sGPA. I had those exact stats at some point... If you could raise both by at least .3 I think you'll be alright!

 

[ilubse7en]

I've taken a ton of community classes back in high school, so I'm sure that inflates my cGPA somewhat. (last time I calculated 0.2)

Overall university GPA is 3.3. BCPM GPA falls somewhere around 3.0, mostly because of all these prereq fails.

Got Cs in ochem (both sem in lecture portions, though got As in both labs), C+ Bio (1 sem), C+ Phys (1 sem), and C+ Biochem (1 sem). Finished all my prereqs this fall. I go to Berkeley, so Biochem counts as second semester of ochem and 1st semester of ochem counts as gen chem, blah blah whatever

I have 3 semesters left at university which are promised to be chock full of BCPM GPA inflators. Was planning to do Princeton MCAT prep this summer, take MCAT whenever comfortable, and possibly retake as many C classes at post-bacc to recover GPA after I graduate in Spr 2013.

omg, im from berkeley aswell...
so you know about no repeats for anything lower than C-, its really not fair IMO...
i did terrible on most of my prereq courses mainly b/c i was having severe financial difficulties which made me make 4 hour roundtrip commute everyday...
but i did well on my half of junior and senior year and i also took two post bac courses to show the upward trend.
i didn't retake any of those courses, b/c i called the med school admissions and they advised that it would be better to do well on upper division course its better than retaking a C.
i also took MCAT three times, got 33 on the third round,
so, its gonna take an effort, but definitely not impossible...
good luck

 

[PikaPikaPika]

omg, im from berkeley aswell...
so you know about no repeats for anything lower than C-, its really not fair IMO...
i did terrible on most of my prereq courses mainly b/c i was having severe financial difficulties which made me make 4 hour roundtrip commute everyday...
but i did well on my half of junior and senior year and i also took two post bac courses to show the upward trend.
i didn't retake any of those courses, b/c i called the med school admissions and they advised that it would be better to do well on upper division course its better than retaking a C.
i also took MCAT three times, got 33 on the third round,
so, its gonna take an effort, but definitely not impossible...
good luck

Oh really (about the upperdivs)? I'm just thinking if I retake those C's then it would make sense to save my DO apps by retaking those courses at a state school. Your theory makes sense though, but I'm still scared about those Cs being like 5 multiple red flags on my transcript.

I don't know if I can explain my situation that well. I'm poor for sure and have to work part-time, but I think everyone else is poor too and I don't work like 20 hrs a week or anything just to feed myself. I just think it's not a proper excuse to explain why I'm doing so poorly in my courses...

(dude k-pop fan all the way! se7en is awesome )

 

[plumhill]

You can also look into an SMP program or a post-bacc (with post-baccs be careful, some are only for people who haven't done the pre-reqs, and some are "academic record enhancers"; you'd want the latter, i think). They last for a year, sometimes two, and will really work in your favor if you do well.

 

[ilubse7en]

Oh really (about the upperdivs)? I'm just thinking if I retake those C's then it would make sense to save my DO apps by retaking those courses at a state school. Your theory makes sense though, but I'm still scared about those Cs being like 5 multiple red flags on my transcript.

I don't know if I can explain my situation that well. I'm poor for sure and have to work part-time, but I think everyone else is poor too and I don't work like 20 hrs a week or anything just to feed myself. I just think it's not a proper excuse to explain why I'm doing so poorly in my courses...

(dude k-pop fan all the way! se7en is awesome )

Berkeley has a post bacc program, you can retake some courses and also take the upper division science courses, i've seen many students work hard and get good grades, i think its going to take some time to make yourself competitive, but be patient, also work on extracurricular activities..

as for explaining low grades to med school, when the time comes and your low grades comes up during the interview, you can tell them you matured.
these questions never came up during my interviews, tho...

as for se7en, he's cool!!

 

[aSagacious]

Moving to the 'what are my chances' forum.