Honestly, am I cooked?

[28cooked]

I am ending my freshman year with a 3.1 gpa.


Of this, I took 2 stem classes and have a gpa of 3.15 average in those two. These two were a B+ and B in 2 intro biology courses.


My first semester cumulative gpa was a 3.82 and one terrible semester in which I had to go to the country my family is from for 3 weeks due to a family matter and suffered loss in my family after returning later, this is where I am at. This terrible second semester led to me failing one (non-stem) class and basically lowering my gpa all the way down from a 3.82 to a 3.151


I'm not a bad student and am confident I can do well in my next three years to have an upward trend, bringing my gpa to at least a 3.7 or 3.6. Is there anything else I should be doing besides just focusing on school? I am in a dance club and have leadership, have research, and have a job in the hospital for clinical hours. I plan to join more extracurriculars that fit my interests and passions soon.

Please help me I am very scared. This is stressing me out so much. Thanks in advance.

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[karaya]

RELAX. A single F will not sink your app. Stay on your trajectory. In the future, if your personal life becomes unbearable again, try to get withdrawals instead of Fs. (And look into retroactive withdrawal).

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Why did you not seek a leave of absence or a semester withdrawal?

 

[Goro]

Absolutely not cooked.

You do need to up your game.

Also, learn coping skills, and how to compartmentalize crises. You won't be able to run home every time some relative is ill.

 

[AJS59]

I am ending my freshman year with a 3.1 gpa.


Of this, I took 2 stem classes and have a gpa of 3.15 average in those two. These two were a B+ and B in 2 intro biology courses.


My first semester cumulative gpa was a 3.82 and one terrible semester in which I had to go to the country my family is from for 3 weeks due to a family matter and suffered loss in my family after returning later, this is where I am at. This terrible second semester led to me failing one (non-stem) class and basically lowering my gpa all the way down from a 3.82 to a 3.151


I'm not a bad student and am confident I can do well in my next three years to have an upward trend, bringing my gpa to at least a 3.7 or 3.6. Is there anything else I should be doing besides just focusing on school? I am in a dance club and have leadership, have research, and have a job in the hospital for clinical hours. I plan to join more extracurriculars that fit my interests and passions soon.

Please help me I am very scared. This is stressing me out so much. Thanks in advance.

Your grades will not sink you, at least not right now. That being said, hyper-focusing on your grades and catastrophizing about them can hurt you. Water under the bridge, as some might say.

My best recommendation for now is to drill in on your grades and continue your activities as you do them. I would also recommend that you wait to apply until at least your senior year (so you'll need to take a gap year before medical school) just so you can get the most good grades possible on your transcript.

Once you have all your grades and an MCAT score, then we can actually assess where you sit and what your best course of action is. You won't be able to know this for at least 2 years. For now, keep doing what you're doing — making the necessary modifications to your study habits — and don't forget to enjoy the undergrad life while you're at it (within reason, of course).

 

[Dr. Fiddlesticks]

focus on practice problems and flashcards, get an upward trend, then apply to DO or MD

 

[Goro]

focus on practice problems and flashcards, get an upward trend, then apply to DO or MD

Also get help from your school's learning or education center, and for God's sake if you have a problem with the material, go talk to your faculty!

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

You're not cooked, just lightly toasted; you've got a lot of runway. Don't waste it!

 

[LindaAccepted]

I am ending my freshman year with a 3.1 gpa.


Of this, I took 2 stem classes and have a gpa of 3.15 average in those two. These two were a B+ and B in 2 intro biology courses.


My first semester cumulative gpa was a 3.82 and one terrible semester in which I had to go to the country my family is from for 3 weeks due to a family matter and suffered loss in my family after returning later, this is where I am at. This terrible second semester led to me failing one (non-stem) class and basically lowering my gpa all the way down from a 3.82 to a 3.151


I'm not a bad student and am confident I can do well in my next three years to have an upward trend, bringing my gpa to at least a 3.7 or 3.6. Is there anything else I should be doing besides just focusing on school? I am in a dance club and have leadership, have research, and have a job in the hospital for clinical hours. I plan to join more extracurriculars that fit my interests and passions soon.

Please help me I am very scared. This is stressing me out so much. Thanks in advance.

I agree with those who said you are not yet toast and encouraged you to apply after you have your senior year grades so that you'll have 3 years of (hopefully) solid grades and just that one bad semester in your freshman year.

Obviously we don't know what sent you flying home for 3 weeks, and who passed away. It's clear you went through a rough period. However, as others have indicated, you need to think about how you handle a crisis. Life happens and so do crises. Should you have taken a leave of absence or dropped a couple of courses to concentrate on the remaining ones? IF there is another crisis at home, what will you do differently so that you don't flunk a class and your GPA doesn't take a major hit?

 

[premed2024_123456]

IMO, this will be a really good experience to write about on your applications. Acknowledge your bad semester, say how you learned from it, and don't repeat it. There may be a silver lining here.