gpa question

[drhaibane]

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i'm a (new) sophomore at southern methodist university in dallas. i screwed up my first semester here, making 3 C's and only getting two A's. that lead to a gpa of 2.779. however, this spring semester, i worked very, very hard to change that and so i made a 3.578, which averages out to a 3.228. i know i have a few more semesters ahead of me so i'm going to try my hardest to pull up my gpa. my question: do i still have a chance w/ that really bad semester?

i have other (liberal art) things that may appeal to the adcom: foreign language major (japanese and chinese), lots of hobbies, etc... but as far as grades go, how optimistic should i be? i'm trying to get in to a mstp program because research is what i'd love to do.

any suggestions? 😕

 

[terpgirl]

Of course you still have a chance. What classes did you get the C's in--science? Work your tail off like your life depended on it-- have semesters like you did this spring as well as study for your MCATs.

You're more than a GPA 🙂 Remember that.

-liz

 

[drhaibane]

well, lets see, i got a C in genchem (C+), calc 1, and english. i got a's in chem lab and japanese. second semester, i got A- in genchem ^_^, A's in chemlab, japanese, and eastern religions, B- in comparative politics, and B+ in biology. so yeah, i'm doing really bad right now. after 2 semesters, my bcpm is 3.013 🙁 so sad.

 

[TheRussian]

You can definetely get into med school or a PhD program with those scores. As for MSTP....I am not too sure. My understanding is that these programs are extremely competive. Also these programs don't care as much about things like foreign language major and hobbies. They want a very strong background in science courses as well as a lot of research experience.

Having said that, I don't think that you should give up. Perhaps if you ask on the MD/PhD forum you'll get better answers from the people that have been there. This is just the impression I got from a few of my friends that have applied to these programs.

 

[pekq]

The secret to improving your grade is to install bad RAMs on your computer so you can't play video games or watch videos. You'd be surprised how much my grade improved after my RAM went bad. Also, lay off the anime, it's bad for you. Learning Japanese because you like anime is too obsessive. If possible, mail all your anime to me, that should improve your grade too.

 

[drhaibane]

The secret to improving your grade is to install bad RAMs on your computer so you can't play video games or watch videos. You'd be surprised how much my grade improved after my RAM went bad. Also, lay off the anime, it's bad for you. Learning Japanese because you like anime is too obsessive. If possible, mail all your anime to me, that should improve your grade too.

lol, good idea about lessening the anime, but how bout no on sending it to you 😉 my collection would probably cost more to ship than for you to just buy..lol...sooo much

 

[jlee9531]

i think i had a lower freshman gpa than you and i was able to show an upward trend.
for us applicants that do not do well in the beginning...an upward trend is very important and that is what you should focus on, rather than the overall gpa number you see.

my overall gpa was a 3.4 (relatively low) but the upward trend i showed throughout the rest of my time at school was what gave the schools confidence that i had what it takes to do well in med school.

so you definitely have a chance. dont think about what might turn out in the end...just focus on doing your best every semester. good luck and things will work out as long as you put the work in.

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

As usual, I must post a word of warning. Make sure that you won't be miserable putting in the effort necessary to get a very, very high GPA, and, inevitably, MCAT score. The work never stops. Even after the MCAT, there's the application process that takes forever, then medical school which will eat up 90% of your life, then residency which will eat up 100% of your life, and then practice as a physician, who generally have a very, very hard time getting even a weekend off.

In other words, don't fool yourself about what you're getting into. This is not a cushy, prestigious road. Physicians are paid well because what they do is important, time consuming, and mentally challenging. The work will never stop. Only do it if you like it! If you don't know whether you like it or not, go shadow a physician.

Don't sacrifice too much personal happiness in pursuit of a perceived goal.

 

[mikeyboy]

Maybe that's my problem...I got a 4.0 my first semester and it's been almost all downhill from there...I think they extrapolated my grades 40 years and saw that I'd be failing every class by then. Of course my first semester I was afraid of doing poorly, so I took alot of easy classes and classes that I had already done in high school.

But seriously, one semester won't kill your chances. Just work hard to show that you've fixed it, and do well on the MCAT to prove you learned it, and you should be fine. Do some (or a lot of) research though, if you want to do MD/PhD.

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

I think they extrapolated my grades 40 years and saw that I'd be failing every class by then.

ROFL!

This is the best post I have seen in a week. If there was still karma, you'd get it.

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