Hey everyone! I'm currently a sophomore in my undergraduate studies and I am studying Supply Chain Management but I'm also pre-health as well. Meaning I'm taking science courses along with my business courses (I just wanted options and I'm interested in business as well, but my main goal is to go to Med school). So this semester I took a work load that I extremely underestimated, and as a result my organic chemistry grade is suffering tremendously. After my first 2 exams I was doing poorly, and I thought instead of quitting and giving up, I'd decide to stick with it because at this point I could still get an A in the class. But I did poorly on my 3rd exam and I just had my final. Realistically I'm looking at an F in the course to possibly a C at this point. I just don't know what to do. My current GPA is a 3.9 and I have extracurriculars. Will I still be able to get into a great Med school? Because prior to this class I had my hopes set on Columbia, University of Chicago, and University of California- San Francisco. Do I still have a shot at those schools, or am I just hopeless? haha
From reading your entry, I'm assuming that like most schools since you've already taken the final you're well past the withdraw/drop period, in that case the grade is already set. Each school has a different retake policy, for example my university will not allow you to retake a course if you've obtained a C or better, so you may want to know your school's specific policy before taking people's advice about your courses. With that said, how important that one C will depend on your AMCAS calculated GPA:
-There are two GPAs you need to consider: your overall GPA (AO) and your sciences and math GPA (BCPM).
Typically, people have a higher AO than their BCPM (I had vice versa, go figure). It's hard to compare premed to premed using AO, because a Molecular Biology major may have a terrible AO compared to say a Philosophy major. Therefore, I think its probably a better idea to think about your BCPM, because that is how premeds can be compared directly as we all had to take those courses. So, with that said, if your BCPM is approaching your AO GPA then I don't think that one C will destroy your chances at your top picks, especially if you were able to retake and destroy the course and chalk it up to a learning experience during your application. The best source of information would be looking up the official MSAR of the schools you're interested in, and using the AMCAS previous matriculation stats to ascertain your competitiveness in those programs.
Even if you had aced Ochem, I would still suggest you broaden your application and apply to schools like you top pick, medium picks etc.
Good luck, I have no idea where you are in your Ochem journey, but I do have a guide that's specific for premeds taking the first course:
http://doctororbust.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/organic-chemistry-competing-reactions-part-4-quick-guide/
