How am I going to keep pulling straight As? (stressed out)

[deleted972799]

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Hey guys. I am a junior at my state Uni. I transferred from community college with a 4.0 and postponed taking harder classes (they wouldn't transfer) until I reached state uni. Right now I am super nervous because I am taking harder classes in parallel instead of having the luxury of splitting them up.
The line up for this semester is chem, calc, organismal bio, and advanced english. I also want to pursue more clinical opportunities during the semester because right now all I have is volunteering (100 hours at local hospital) and 2 summers of competitive research experiences (Cornell and NIH).

I know GPA and MCAT mean the world, but I also want to start lining up my letter writers for med school apps a couple years from now. I guess I am half-venting because I dont know how to balance it all. I see other premeds do it and they seem to have their **** together. I am still trying to figure it all out.

I'd be open to any advice! Speak freely my fellow strugglers!

-Idge

 

[Moko]

Any chance you can split these harder courses up? If not, then cut down on your ECs temporarily until you get your bearings. ECs can be easily gained over a gap year if need be. Repairing a trashed GPA, not so much.

 

[Cornfed101]

Anki saved my life. During my post-bacc, I was taking full time classes, working 30 hours a week, and volunteering 5+ hours a week. If you can learn to be very efficient with your time it is totally doable.

I do support the recommendation from @Moko. If you can split things up then do it.

 

[Kirby Smart]

For what it's worth, I was in a similar situation where I transferred (albeit not from cc) and didn't really start my Pre-med coursework until my 2nd year, plus I was a non-science major so the pre-reqs didn't fulfill as many of my degree requirements as most science majors.

So, I decided to take a gap year so that I could space out my hard science classes, trying to take no more than two a semester and I tried to avoid combine one relatively easy class with a relatively hard one each semester (i.e.. Bio + Ochem). This also allowed me to taking no science classes my last semester before graduation and study for the MCAT. All in all I pulled out a good GPA and decent MCAT think in part because I didn't overwhelm myself.

Obviously biased, but as Moko said you could space it out and then do a gap year to get more experience (all though know that most of your gap year experiences won't be on your primary app).

I'd do that if I were you and try to keep like a 4-12 hour commitment per week to some ECs in addition so that you come out with a good EC or two and good grades. 🙂

 

[CoitusInterruptus]

just keep yo' eyes on the prize