Having a really bad semester. Should I give up on med school?

[onerepublic96]

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Hi everyone. I'm sure this type of thread has been seen here countless times, but I've read a whole bunch of similar ones and just can't help posting as well, since everyone's circumstances are always a little different.
Hopefully I'll get some responses.

Alright, so I am currently completing my first semester of sophomore year as a premed at a very reputable private university (top 10), but this semester has turned out to be a complete nightmare for me. Last year, as a freshman, I earned mostly A's, with a few B's mixed in, and ended up with a GPA of 3.51, which qualifies for Dean's List at my university (which I was told by my adviser is a good GPA for a premed coming from my university). However, this semester I got involved in a lot of extracurricular activities and took on a tougher load of classes, and as a result suffered from time management issues, which wreaked havoc on my grades this semester. I was pulling a C in Calc II and then utterly failed the final (large portion of my grade), which resulted in me failing the class. As for my other grades, I'm looking at at least one more C (possibly 2 more), and two A's. My GPA is looking to be dismal at around 2.06-2.4 (the latter if I'm lucky).

I'm really panicking now because I feel like I've dug myself into a hole out of which I can't hope to go onto med school and pursue an MD, so I'm just looking for an outside opinion. I keep wavering between feeling like if I can show a strong upward trend from now on, I have a chance, and feeling like either way, when it comes down to it, med schools will choose the candidate that never got the F.

 

[whatever5]

One bad semester won't kill you, as I'm sure you already know. Drop some of your ECs and focus on pulling up your grades. It's easier (and cheaper) to get in ECs during a gap year then having to a do post-bacc for GPA repair.

 

[spiffysteve]

I think that you just made things more difficult for yourself, but it's not impossible. Pull back on some of your EC's. Pick just a few of them and stay consistently involved, but focus on your grades. You still have 5 semesters of potential good grades to bring yourself back from one bad one.

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

I agree; one bad semester won't kill you! Just focus on improving from here on out. I'm sure your school has resources for helping students improve study skills/time management. Don't be afraid to take advantage of them.