GPA question =[

[Technorino]

Here are the hard facts:

-Messed up the first 3 semesters of college, like horribly.
-cGPA around 2.16 (, depression inducing, yeah i know)
-sGPA probably lower
-Its not that I don't know the material, i just never cared...i guess and i was "down" all the time

Projected GPA for 4th semester (current): 4.0
-(Yes, its a big change but i did what i needed to do)

MCAT prep already on the way, been getting around 43(max) and 38(min) on practice exams. Completely serious.

Shadowing and all the volunteer experience already in progress.

In addition to the killer gpa (literally), I had a run in with the academic honor policy here, but no "action" was taken, i was allowed to redo the assignment and some paperwork was signed.


So....what do i do now?


Not a troll.

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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

3 semesters of screwing up.. Ouch.. Well all I can say is dominate the mcat and try to get your cgpa and sgpa to around a 3.5, take a 5th year if you need.

 

[Cleavername]

3 semesters of screwing up.. Ouch.. Well all I can say is dominate the mcat and try to get your cgpa and sgpa to around a 3.5, take a 5th year if you need.

i am pretty much in the same boat right now, minus the pwnage MCAT, my gpa is like 2.91 right now and i am trying to ace my fourth semester with all i got.

med schools do not see your fifth year grade when they ask to interview you, right? assuming if you are going to be accepted on the 6th year after the start of college.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

i am pretty much in the same boat right now, minus the pwnage MCAT, my gpa is like 2.91 right now and i am trying to ace my fourth semester with all i got.

med schools do not see your fifth year grade when they ask to interview you, right? assuming if you are going to be accepted on the 6th year after the start of college.

From what I understand the process begins in june. So its made so that all your grades from the year you applied still get sent. However for example if you take 5 years to graduate and apply the 4th year they will only see the 4th year's grades.

More or less a lower gpa is a bitch. One of the reasons why I dislike the medical school competitiveness is that people aren't allowed any forgiveness for a bad semester. I'm happy to say that I knew I wanted to go onto either medical school or a graduate program. So I worked hard to maintain my gpa. However people who decide to go premed after there 3rd semester usually end up being screwed over very much.

 

[Cleavername]

From what I understand the process begins in june. So its made so that all your grades from the year you applied still get sent. However for example if you take 5 years to graduate and apply the 4th year they will only see the 4th year's grades.

More or less a lower gpa is a bitch. One of the reasons why I dislike the medical school competitiveness is that people aren't allowed any forgiveness for a bad semester. I'm happy to say that I knew I wanted to go onto either medical school or a graduate program. So I worked hard to maintain my gpa. However people who decide to go premed after there 3rd semester usually end up being screwed over very much.

agreed. what about you, what year are u at right now?

*trying to start a convo since i am loney and bored in my school's library during spring break trying to watch a lecture on the human heart since i want my A so bad that i am willing to give up my happiness for it.....*

 

[Technorino]

Its awesome to have to work again for real grades for the first time since middle school but i am not happy about those 3 semesters. I'm talking like wtf dude, are you "******ed" grades.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

agreed. what about you, what year are u at right now?

*trying to start a convo since i am loney and bored in my school's library during spring break trying to watch a lecture on the human heart since i want my A so bad that i am willing to give up my happiness for it.....*

I'm year 1. So far so good I guess. Aw, i'll keep ya company if your that lonely. I feel ya, I'm kinda doing the same for chem 102 right now, but its not working out. I'm at the point where im basically like lets just get a C in chem and i'll go enjoy my life maintaining my 3.7 gpa.

 

[Cleavername]

I'm year 1. So far so good I guess. Aw, i'll keep ya company if your that lonely. I feel ya, I'm kinda doing the same for chem 102 right now, but its not working out. I'm at the point where im basically like lets just get a C in chem and i'll go enjoy my life maintaining my 3.7 gpa.

heh. cool avatar tho, is that from an anime?

 

[UC pre med]

Excel in all your classes from here on out and do well on the MCAT, you should be able to explain the 3 semesters as and exception and not representative of your real work ethic or smartness.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

heh. cool avatar tho, is that from an anime?

Nope my Avatar is from megaman battle network 3. His name is also serenade the god of mercy.

 

[Cleavername]

Nope my Avatar is from megaman battle network 3. His name is also serenade the god of mercy.

...very cool lol.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

...very cool lol.

Yup, he's also the king of paradise plain with this really cool music in the background.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu3sbbHrVF8&feature=related < here's a remixed version of it which I personally adore.

 

[Cleavername]

yup, he's also the king of paradise plain with this really cool music in the background.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu3sbbhrvf8&feature=related < here's a remixed version of it which i personally adore.

well he may be the king but my power levels are over 9000!!!!

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

well he may be the king but my power levels are over 9000!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwU2vPeRTOQ&feature=related

 

[Technorino]

The levels of nerdy-ness in this thread are OVER 9000!!

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

The levels of nerdy-ness in this thread are OVER 9000!!

Feel the power of my square rooted energy blast....
Good night MEXICO!!!!!!

 

[Cleavername]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwU2vPeRTOQ&feature=related

no f$%&(ing way, i dont believe oprah have said that.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

no f$%&(ing way, i dont believe oprah have said that.

Believe it buddy.. DATTYBYO.

 

[Yeesh]

From what I understand the process begins in june. So its made so that all your grades from the year you applied still get sent. However for example if you take 5 years to graduate and apply the 4th year they will only see the 4th year's grades.

More or less a lower gpa is a bitch. One of the reasons why I dislike the medical school competitiveness is that people aren't allowed any forgiveness for a bad semester. I'm happy to say that I knew I wanted to go onto either medical school or a graduate program. So I worked hard to maintain my gpa. However people who decide to go premed after there 3rd semester usually end up being screwed over very much.

I may be wrong, but don't DO schools offer some type of academic forgiveness? I know this thread is in the "MD" section, but in terms of academic forgiveness for medical school, I think the DO schools replace bad grades entirely!

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I may be wrong, but don't DO schools offer some type of academic forgiveness? I know this thread is in the "MD" section, but in terms of academic forgiveness for medical school, I think the DO schools replace bad grades entirely!

Yes 20 out of the nations 160 medical schools are forgiving.

 

[blaithnaid]

if you go here : http://www.back2college.com/raisegpa.htm you can see how many credits you'll need to raise whatever.

 

[womp]

I had a really low GPA, including 3 quarters of utterly pathetic grades (failures, withdrawals, C's) in my junior year. I reorganized my life in my senior year, worked for two years, kicked the MCAT's ass last April (scored 38) and ended up with 9 interviews this cycle and several acceptances. So anything is possible. Don't dwell too much on the past, otherwise you'll just end up demoralized. The last thing you want is starting the marathon feeling like you won't finish.

 

[TJ87]

study study study buddy! You can do it!

 

[CarlATHF]

If worst comes to worst, you can try an SMP. It's practically tailor-made for people with low GPAs but high MCATs (i.e. your situation).

 

[mooshika]

As long as you show improvement and maintain the level of excellence you reached for a few semesters, maybe even a post-bac with a 3.6-3.9 kind of thing...

My overall sGPA is 3.75 and cGPA is only 3.1 but I got very good feeback on bringing up the GPA. Some times I have seen that they love a good redemption story just like Hollywood does. If you are a 4.0 from the get-go, lets face it, it's a little boring - I mean wheres the lesson? Wheres the story? Wheres the humanity?

Me? I'm the comeback kid - story of my life. Even with the MCAT. First try - X, last try - X+7. I don't know the ADCOMS like to see that determination factor...

 

[Technorino]

if you go here : http://www.back2college.com/raisegpa.htm you can see how many credits you'll need to raise whatever.

Doesn't work well with my college as we have a slightly different system here, but the link you posted differs in the gpa calculation by 0.2. Thanks though

I had a really low GPA, including 3 quarters of utterly pathetic grades (failures, withdrawals, C's) in my junior year. I reorganized my life in my senior year, worked for two years, kicked the MCAT's ass last April (scored 38) and ended up with 9 interviews this cycle and several acceptances. So anything is possible. Don't dwell too much on the past, otherwise you'll just end up demoralized. The last thing you want is starting the marathon feeling like you won't finish.

True. thanks, hopefully i can do everything without having to do post-bac or what not. Lets see

study study study buddy! You can do it!

thanks!

If worst comes to worst, you can try an SMP. It's practically tailor-made for people with low GPAs but high MCATs (i.e. your situation).

what is that exactly? care to explain in your own terms please? thanks

As long as you show improvement and maintain the level of excellence you reached for a few semesters, maybe even a post-bac with a 3.6-3.9 kind of thing...

My overall sGPA is 3.75 and cGPA is only 3.1 but I got very good feeback on bringing up the GPA. Some times I have seen that they love a good redemption story just like Hollywood does. If you are a 4.0 from the get-go, lets face it, it's a little boring - I mean wheres the lesson? Wheres the story? Wheres the humanity?

Me? I'm the comeback kid - story of my life. Even with the MCAT. First try - X, last try - X+7. I don't know the ADCOMS like to see that determination factor...

I guess so, hopefully they see me like that

 

[CarlATHF]

SMP = Special Masters Program. Useful for people with a stellar MCAT (32+) but lower than average GPA (< 3.3 usually).

Try this thread:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=346106

Many of the SMP application deadlines are coming up or have passed, so you should definitely look into this ASAP if you want to start a program in the Fall.

Also, just FYI, if you enroll in an SMP and your SMP GPA leaves something to be desired (< 3.2 or so), it can be a deathblow to your application; adcoms view it as an indication that a student won't be able to succeed in med school.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

SMP = Special Masters Program. Useful for people with a stellar MCAT (32+) but lower than average GPA (< 3.3 usually).

Try this thread:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=346106

Many of the SMP application deadlines are coming up or have passed, so you should definitely look into this ASAP if you want to start a program in the Fall.

Also, just FYI, if you enroll in an SMP and your SMP GPA leaves something to be desired (< 3.2 or so), it can be a deathblow to your application; adcoms view it as an indication that a student won't be able to succeed in med school.

He's only in his 4th semester. If he can manage to do well the rest of his semesters he won't need SMP. Hell in my opinion with a 38+ on the mcat you can arguably get in with a 3.2 without a problem.

 

[Technorino]

He's only in his 4th semester. If he can manage to do well the rest of his semesters he won't need SMP. Hell in my opinion with a 38+ on the mcat you can arguably get in with a 3.2 without a problem.

Yeah the SMP is something that, after reading into, im not fond of. The highest gpa i can get within 120 credit hours is about a 3.2 so, im hoping :/

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Yeah the SMP is something that, after reading into, im not fond of. The highest gpa i can get within 120 credit hours is about a 3.2 so, im hoping :/

A SMP is a good thing for many people. However if you have your pushing a near perfect mcat there's no need to spend 30k on a SMP, unless you want to go to a top tier university.

 

[loveoforganic]

I think DO should be emphasized as an option. DO schools will consider your most recent grade for a class. Retake your D's and F's and you could probably boost your GPA very substantially in a semester or two. However, if you end up getting a ridiculous (38+) MCAT, it would probably be worth the money giving the MD schools you're interested in a shot, as long as you can break your cGPA and sGPA out of the 2's.

 

[Technorino]

Any other suggestions guys? thanks so far!

 

[Technorino]

Hey everyone,

Would this scenario work?:

My current gpa is at 2.17 and I will be able to bring it up to a 3.3ish by the time i graduate (in about 50 credit hours). My MCAT is going to be fairly high based on practice exams ive been taking which have ranged from 38 to 42.

Lets say i finish undergrad in 3 years. Do you think it wise to do an internship or work at a hospital somewhere? Get some work experience and then apply to med school?

What do you suggest I do in that 1 year off before med school? (shadow, volunteer, work, intern)?

Thanks!

 

[Frazier]

nice spread.

 

[Technorino]

Why is your MCAT so high and your GPA so low?
What's your science gpa?

Did you rock at all your pre-req classes and suck for gen-ed's like sociology 101?

Oh, well basically i never went to class the first 3 semesters and really didn't even put forth effort in my studies. I stepped it up this semester however (4th semester) and the I guess my MCAT is so high because Ive been studying?

No my pre-req classes are probably all D's so im taking them over again, this time to get an A and show adcoms what im capable of.

 

[illegallysmooth]

Hey everyone,

Would this scenario work?:

My current gpa is at 2.17 and I will be able to bring it up to a 3.3ish by the time i graduate (in about 50 credit hours). My MCAT is going to be fairly high based on practice exams ive been taking which have ranged from 38 to 42.

Lets say i finish undergrad in 3 years. Do you think it wise to do an internship or work at a hospital somewhere? Get some work experience and then apply to med school?

What do you suggest I do in that 1 year off before med school? (shadow, volunteer, work, intern)?

Thanks!

Regardless of whether or not you take time off, you absolutely need volunteer and clinical experience. So, yes. All of the above. Although I'm not sure what you mean by "internship."

 

[Technorino]

Regardless of whether or not you take time off, you absolutely need volunteer and clinical experience. So, yes. All of the above. Although I'm not sure what you mean by "internship."

Would you suggest finishing undergrad in 3 years and doing more clinical work/volunteer work.

Or

finish undergrad in 4 years and try to incorporate those EC's in while taking classes?

 

[Vol tron]

Oh, well basically i never went to class the first 3 semesters and really didn't even put forth effort in my studies. I stepped it up this semester however (4th semester) and the I guess my MCAT is so high because Ive been studying?

No my pre-req classes are probably all D's so im taking them over again, this time to get an A and show adcoms what im capable of.

You're on your 4th semester with a 2.17? Do you have any classes you need to retake (D or worse)?

 

[brooklynblunder]

when you re-take classes, the grades are averaged, not replaced. finishing undergrad in 3 years will not give you a sufficient gpa

 

[Technorino]

You're on your 4th semester with a 2.17? Do you have any classes you need to retake (D or worse)?

Only classes i have to retake are the pre-reqs (bio 1, bio 2, chem 1, chem 2, and 2 labs) Lowest grade is a D, no F's. So yes a 2.17 after my 3rd semester. It will be a 2.65 after this semester and will continue to increase as the semesters pass.

 

[illegallysmooth]

Would you suggest finishing undergrad in 3 years and doing more clinical work/volunteer work.

Or

finish undergrad in 4 years and try to incorporate those EC's in while taking classes?

It doesn't matter how long it takes you to finish. At this point you need to get As, consistently. You cannot try to cram all ECs/volunteer/clinical work into one year (that screams "I'm just doing this for my application!")

 

[illegallysmooth]

when you re-take classes, the grades are averaged, not replaced. finishing undergrad in 3 years will not give you a sufficient gpa

For DO schools, they will be replaced.

 

[Technorino]

when you re-take classes, the grades are averaged, not replaced. finishing undergrad in 3 years will not give you a sufficient gpa

Yes, im aware of that. After i retake classes and finish my major classes, i will end up with something around a 3.3. I've calculated that

 

[missbones]

Oh, well basically i never went to class the first 3 semesters and really didn't even put forth effort in my studies. I stepped it up this semester however (4th semester) and the I guess my MCAT is so high because Ive been studying?

No my pre-req classes are probably all D's so im taking them over again, this time to get an A and show adcoms what im capable of.

I call bullsh*t.

How on earth could you get D's in all your pre-req classes and be able to manage such a high average on practice MCATs? You mean to tell me that your exposure to these topics over a 1.5 year span wasn't sufficient to get you even a C in the courses but you have somehow made time to study the same subjects on your own enough to get a 38-42 on the MCAT? When/how did you start studying for the MCAT?

Also if you get a D in a course how can you continue on to the next level? IE bio 1->bio 2, chem 1a->chem 1b. If you had at least passed your pre-reqs the most advanced course you could be in would be org II this current semester. But you said you got d's, so what have you been doing? Taking one pre-req from each department (bio, chem, calc) per semester lol

Even if this story of yours is true, you're still ridiculous. You need to re-evaluate your priorities.

 

[Law2Doc]

Would you suggest finishing undergrad in 3 years and doing more clinical work/volunteer work.

Or

finish undergrad in 4 years and try to incorporate those EC's in while taking classes?

Um, if you have a C average with D's in the prereqs, you should start thinking about whether you ought to graduate in a LONGER period of time, not shorter. The biggest mistake folks make is to rush things. The goal isn't to finish first, it's to put you in good shape, however long it takes, to do what you want to do with your life for the next 40+ years. I would slow things up A LOT, take classes at a pace that you can do well, get A's in everything from here on out, do a full 4 years of college, and if you are still below the 3.5 range, think long and hard about whether you need to hold off on graduating, or maybe do an SMP to improve your credentials before applying. Rushing through classes with a crappy GPA is a huge red flag for adcoms. They are primarilly looking at people who will SUCCEED in med school, not folks who flew threw things barely passing. You may have to do a variety of things from here on in to prove yourself to adcoms. You have dug a deep, but not insurmountable hole. This does not suggest you are someone who should be trying to graduate early. This suggests you are someone who needs to slow things down drastically. Just my two cents. This is a marathon, not a sprint. And especially not a sprint for someone who tripped on his own feet so early in the run.

 

[Vol tron]

What changed this semester that made you suddenly start attending class and wanting to make A's?

 

[Technorino]

I call bullsh*t.

How on earth could you get D's in all your pre-req classes and be able to manage such a high average on practice MCATs? You mean to tell me that your exposure to these topics over a 1.5 year span wasn't sufficient to get you even a C in the courses but you have somehow made time to study the same subjects on your own enough to get a 38-42 on the MCAT? When/how did you start studying for the MCAT?

Also if you get a D in a course how can you continue on to the next level? IE bio 1->bio 2, chem 1a->chem 1b. If you had at least passed your pre-reqs the most advanced course you could be in would be org II this current semester. But you said you got d's, so what have you been doing? Taking one pre-req from each department (bio, chem, calc) per semester lol

Even if this story of yours is true, you're still ridiculous. You need to re-evaluate your priorities.

I really don't care if you don't believe me about my MCAT score range. Thats just you. There are no blocks in my school, preventing me from moving on to a higher level course if i got a D in the previous course (i.e. I can move on to chem 2 if i got a D in chem 1)

I've been doing a lot of self studying...trust me on that. Not really sure what you mean by taking one pre-req from each department per semester...

I have re-evaluated my priorities and i came here to find out if they are in the right direction.

 

[Technorino]

Um, if you have a C average with D's in the prereqs, you should start thinking about whether you ought to graduate in a LONGER period of time, not shorter. The biggest mistake folks make is to rush things. The goal isn't to finish first, it's to put you in good shape, however long it takes, to do what you want to do with your life for the next 40+ years. I would slow things up A LOT, take classes at a pace that you can do well, get A's in everything from here on out, do a full 4 years of college, and if you are still below the 3.5 range, think long and hard about whether you need to hold off on graduating, or maybe do an SMP to improve your credentials before applying. Rushing through classes with a crappy GPA is a huge red flag for adcoms. They are primarilly looking at people who will SUCCEED in med school, not folks who flew threw things barely passing. You may have to do a variety of things from here on in to prove yourself to adcoms. You have dug a deep, but not insurmountable hole. This does not suggest you are someone who should be trying to graduate early. This suggests you are someone who needs to slow things down drastically. Just my two cents. This is a marathon, not a sprint. And especially not a sprint for someone who tripped on his own feet so early in the run.

This is what i considered doing, slowing it down and taking the full 4 years and taking my time with the classes, but I found that i can take the classes and still get A's in them with an 18hour course load.

I will definitely take this into consideration as it is something that i've pondered about myself. Thanks.

 

[missbones]

I really don't care if you don't believe me about my MCAT score range. Thats just you. There are no blocks in my school, preventing me from moving on to a higher level course if i got a D in the previous course (i.e. I can move on to chem 2 if i got a D in chem 1)

I've been doing a lot of self studying...trust me on that. Not really sure what you mean by taking one pre-req from each department per semester...

I have re-evaluated my priorities and i came here to find out if they are in the right direction.

Im interested to see how you were able to get such a high score without putting any effort into your pre-req courses. You must have some kind of technique that gave you such a huge edge. Would you mind sharing what tools/books you used and over what period of time you studied?

 

[missbones]

This is what i considered doing, slowing it down and taking the full 4 years and taking my time with the classes, but I found that i can take the classes and still get A's in them with an 18hour course load.

I will definitely take this into consideration as it is something that i've pondered about myself. Thanks.

How have you found this out in one semester, especially since it isn't even over yet...