i failed

[tompi90]

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I know my high school record wont matter at all for adcoms, but im just posting it for background info.

in high school, I performed quite poorly academically since i spent my time doing research instead of focusing on school work (and I published in a prestigious scientific journal , however that didnt carry over to the admissions officers). As a result of this I did not get into the colleges I wanted to.

In college, my first semester was HORRID...a 2.3 gpa. It was all my fault. I felt like a failure for not getting into the schools I wanted, I was surrounded by people whose work ethic/goals were pulling me down, and as a result had no motivation to work. Later during that semester, my grandfather had a lethal heart attack and my family was in a state of shock. This trauma also got to me and had me worried about what was going to happen.

My second semester improved slightly (a 3.0) but still nowhere near what I wanted to get. This semester I was hoping for a 4.0, but fell WAY short of my goal, I got a 2.8, making my cGPA around a 2.7.

My goal was to go to HMS, UPenn, Hopkins, and other top med schools. I was never attracted to their name, in fact I would have been (and still will be) happy with any respectable medical school i get into. I just had a desire to hitch my wagon to the highest star.

The point of this post is that I have lost all hope and motivation. I don't know what to do. Medicine is my passion, I can't bring myself to do another career path. I am going into a depression knowing that I will never be able to achieve my goal. Please help.

 

[NoMoreAMCAS]

Finish your undergrad strong, get your GPA up in the 3.2/3.3 range and apply DO. 👍

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

? i dont see the problem..
your acting like your applying for medical school at the end of freshman year..
you have 2 to 3 years no including summer/winter sessions.
that my friend is a lot of time to get your grades up..
so what a 2.8 at the end of freshman year..
big woop.
i know ppl who had 1.7s in freshman year and graduated with a 3.6

you need to chill and help yourself learn better study skills and give yourself the chance to get good grades from now on.
+ get experience in volunteering.
+ score well on the mcat, through studying hard.

end result
stop moping and feeling sorry for yourself, stand up and do better.

 

[Alwaysbehopeful]

What I don't understand is that if medical school was your dream and you want it SO badly, wouldn't you have the thought of "oh I should stay in and study for my midterms instead of go out with my friends tonight" kind of attitude?

I think if you studied your butt off and still got low grades that is one thing. However, not putting in the work and being a slacker is another.

I partied a lot when I first went to college too but soon realized that I needed to start studying hardcore to compete.

If you wanted it that bad then you should have made a bigger effort in school...because it all starts with the GPA

 

[Catalystik]

OP, if you have no hope and no motivation, I suggest you take the next term off until you get your act together, before your GPA is irremediable. If you are depressed, you need to see a mental health counselor. If you have no clue how to study, you need an academic counselor. You can still turn things around and succeed at getting into a med school. But face the fact that you need to get help to achieve your goals. Are your dreams important enough for you to do whatever it takes?

 

[kdizzy]

What I don't understand is that if medical school was your dream and you want it SO badly, wouldn't you have the thought of "oh I should stay in and study for my midterms instead of go out with my friends tonight" kind of attitude?

I think if you studied your butt off and still got low grades that is one thing. However, not putting in the work and being a slacker is another.

I partied a lot when I first went to college too but soon realized that I needed to start studying hardcore to compete.

If you wanted it that bad then you should have made a bigger effort in school...because it all starts with the GPA

Agreed. You can't apply saying you really really want to go to med school without showing the same with your grades. Get it together, stop whining, start studying.

 

[apumic]

OP, you need to decide to either stop whining and start working or just quit & go a different direction in life. If you've been slacking since HS and nothing has changed, it may be time to take some time off school & seek some counseling & mentoring. You have got to get it together. If you do well from here on out you can be successful but your past doesn't seem to indicate you're going to change so quickly so before starting next semester STOP! Reassess. Am I ready for this? I am devoted? What is my plan? What is my goal? How specifically will I achieve my goal?
Find someone to keep you accountable. Find a mentor... or two. Don't return to school until you're 110% committed AND prepared.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

I think the first thing you need to do is talk to a professional counselor or therapist to try to work out the emotional issues that are holding you back. If you don't address those and start trying to work through them, no amount of advice from anonymous SDN members is going to help you.

 

[tompi90]

First off i would just like to clarify that I gave clear reasons for the grades I got in high school and my freshmen year. It was not because i slacked off. This past semester I could have worked harder, but I got sidetracked. That I admit is my fault.

I apologize if this comes across as whining but im sure anyone of you in my situation would have tried to get some advice as to what to do.

To those who asked. I am 110% committed to obtaining my goal of becoming a doctor, and I always start the semester with strong motivation but start to lose it for some reason as time progresses. I think it is because of the reasons i mentioned above.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

First off i would just like to clarify that I gave clear reasons for the grades I got in high school and my freshmen year. It was not because i slacked off. This past semester I could have worked harder, but I got sidetracked. That I admit is my fault.

I apologize if this comes across as whining but im sure anyone of you in my situation would have tried to get some advice as to what to do.

To those who asked. I am 110% committed to obtaining my goal of becoming a doctor, and I always start the semester with strong motivation but start to lose it for some reason as time progresses. I think it is because of the reasons i mentioned above.

losing motivation over time.. -.-
you lack composure..
everyone loses motivation over time, we get lazy we desire nothing but to sit down on our ass's..
YOU HAVE TO WANT TO WORK! and if you dont want to.. force yourself!

excuses.. excuses..
work your ass off till you get the A.. that is the only way you'll survive in college.. and in life.

 

[MilkmanAl]

You don't have to want to work at all. However, you do have to accept that you need to work and then act on that realization. Keep pushing when you feel yourself starting to slack off. If that's not something you think you can do next semester, take it off so you can get your act together. Like Catalystic said, don't tank your GPA irreparably. You're already in a position where you need to bring your "A-game" for the rest of college if you want to get an MD acceptance somewhere down the line, so don't screw yourself if you feel another sub 3.5 semester coming on.

 

[Alwaysbehopeful]

First off i would just like to clarify that I gave clear reasons for the grades I got in high school and my freshmen year. It was not because i slacked off. This past semester I could have worked harder, but I got sidetracked. That I admit is my fault.

I apologize if this comes across as whining but im sure anyone of you in my situation would have tried to get some advice as to what to do.

To those who asked. I am 110% committed to obtaining my goal of becoming a doctor, and I always start the semester with strong motivation but start to lose it for some reason as time progresses. I think it is because of the reasons i mentioned above.

Okay the family tragedy is unfortunate but a lot of people have family members pass away in college and still get >3.0. My grandpa, three close family friends (one committed suicide) , one of my good friends (ODed), my best friend's parents (shot to death), and a high school friend (car accident) all passed away in college but I still maintained an okay GPA. Granted it was hard and sucked ass.

I think you made some poor choices so it seems, if it was really difficult for you in some way you should have taken a semester or year off rather than drag your GPA down. Taking time off to grieve and de-stress is important. The problem here I think is that medical schools definitely want to see that you can pull through stressful times because being a doctor is stressful. Can you handle stress or tragedy w/o it affecting your performance?

I don't think you are whining, at least that isn't what I got out of it. I'm just trying to say that your excuses for have a lower GPA isn't strong enough for the admission's committee. There are quite a bit of people who have had hardships in college and yet still manage a good GPA. How are you going to explain your situation? I mean death in the family is definitely sad for sure but at our age, it's not uncommon. I think you should really try to improve your GPA next semester, don't lose sight of your dreams, don't let other things sidetrack you. Come up with a more compelling story to explain your GPA, not like make up a story but definitely really know why exactly you did poorly. I'm not trying to make your situation seem less important but it's just that losing a grandparent is pretty common which can be bad for you even though it affected you more than others and probably for very good reasons.

Don't lose hope though, you always have a shot at medical school if you keep working! Overcoming hardship I think is much more impressive!!! So hang in there and study!

 

[dokein]

I had a 2.7 GPA my freshman year, and now I have interviews at 6 of the top 10* schools w/ one acceptance, and 1 pre-interview rejection. Didn't apply to 2 of them so that's a pretty good track record. But that's now--at the end of Freshman year, I was 99.9% sure that no medical school would be in my future, and includes both MD and DO programs.

So ... it isn't over for you.

What's more, I didn't get a 4.0 my sophomore year. Believe it or not, good study habits take a while to form, and it wasn't until senior year that my courseload and performance was really impressive.

But that being said, it is ALMOST over. Very close to catastrophe. For every one story like mine, there are 999 that end up the other way. Not many people start out with a 2.3 and end up with a reasonable GPA, because habits are difficult as **** to change. It was sweat, it was a lot of luck, it was the sweat that allowed me to take advantage of the luck.

The one major attitude shift you need (and I experienced) is: there might be reasons but there are no excuses. Okay, you did poorly in hs because of your awesome research. Who the **** cares!? Nobody! The real reason you did poorly in hs is because YOU did poorly in hs. Similarly you aren't getting low grades because of being sidetracked or because of your gramps or because of your peers. **** that. I have a close friend whose BOTH PARENTS died within 4 months of each other and then his gf broke up with him because he was down a lot those months. It took him one semester to get back on track, not three semesters to find excuses. You're getting low grades because YOU are getting low grades.

Next semester, don't do anything else except classes. Nothing else! You have to learn to walk before running, which means stop trying to do awesome extracurriculars while handling a full courseload. Because if your current GPA continues you will need to win a Nobel Prize to get in. And even if your research is Nobel-Prize-worthy, they don't give those out until a few decades after.

If you get a 3.3 next semester, do NOT get discouraged. Study habits take time to form. That being said, aim for a 4.0 and don't say, oh well if I get one B it's still on track ... it's not, you're already way off track. But don't let it keep you down, keep improving yourself and your habits.

After you handle one semester, maybe two semesters, and get into a groove, continually challenge yourself. Do you know how many times I checked the average grades and MCAT for people admitted to a top 10 school is, until June of this year? ZERO. Because your challenges are all internal, and your competition is yourself. Do the best you can and you'll end up where you end up.

But keep that challenge at all times. In classes where you think you easily get an A, aim for an A+. No it doesn't count in your GPA, but if you screw up you'll get an A- instead of a B-.

The second thing is, don't lie to yourself. You're not 110% committed to becoming a doctor, otherwise you wouldn't be in this situation. You're liking the idea of being a doctor, but not committed to BECOMING a doctor. Nobody is born a doctor, and it is hard work and humility that gets you there. So in all your classes, in your interactions with professors, in your interactions with people where you volunteer, work hard and be humble. You can learn from everyone.

If you need to act like an ******* once in a while, take it out on internet strangers on forums 😀 like me, but keep your eyes and ears wide open in real life.

Lastly, don't get discouraged and lose confidence. Rather, formulate a plan of action and follow through. If you can't take action nobody can help you.


*note: since I am very research focused the US News rankings are actually somewhat relevant (because part of it is research rep and part of it is NIH funding), but be very very careful how much you take from it. A lot of it is just historical brand recognition (Harvard, Yale, UPenn, Michigan, Washington, Mayo etc. were not-so-coincidentally some of the first big medical schools in this country) and it doesn't necessarily mean anything about the school itself (which you will have to evaluate for yourself).

 

[Buzz Me]

While I sympathize with your difficult family situation and offer my condolences, the truth of the matter is that if you want to get into med school, you'll have to pull those grades up. A sub-3.0 GPA will close virtually all doors for you (and I'm being generous here).

If you need professional help, please see your school counselor or speak to someone you trust. If you need to take time off, do that. But while adcoms will take some of your story into account, you still need to demonstrate at least decent grades in order to gain their sympathies. No amount of excuses will compensate for lousy grades.
Best of luck to you.

 

[tompi90]

dokein…..that is really impressive, and inspirational.

thanks guys, ur all ryt….i need to get my act together NOW. its now or never and I refuse to lose this race. Im gonna do the best i can, truly, next sem and see where I end up.

 

[alexlex143]

First off i would just like to clarify that I gave clear reasons for the grades I got in high school and my freshmen year. It was not because i slacked off. This past semester I could have worked harder, but I got sidetracked. That I admit is my fault.

I apologize if this comes across as whining but im sure anyone of you in my situation would have tried to get some advice as to what to do.

To those who asked. I am 110% committed to obtaining my goal of becoming a doctor, and I always start the semester with strong motivation but start to lose it for some reason as time progresses. I think it is because of the reasons i mentioned above.

I'm going to have to agree with everyone else. And I know you don't mean to come off as whiny, but you totally do. You are still in the early stages of your undergrad career and if you get yourself together now, you should be able to do just fine. So what if you didn't get into your dream schools! You are still perfectly capable of fulfilling med school requirements at your school (provided it's an actual university, not a cc) and you should be content knowing that, especially since it is your "passion" in life to become a doctor. You're crying about things that you can't control, like the school you go to. Just deal with the cards you've been dealt. You can still get into a good med school if you just freakin SUCK IT UP. You have plenty of time to make up for your mistakes. Some people have it waaay worse than you. Just get it together dude or you won't be a doctor. period.

 

[dokein]

dokein…..that is really impressive, and inspirational.

thanks guys, ur all ryt….i need to get my act together NOW. its now or never and I refuse to lose this race. Im gonna do the best i can, truly, next sem and see where I end up.

Good luck man.

Trust me when I say this: it's not going to be easy. It really, really isn't. It isn't easy for anyone. You'll probably bomb at least one more test after studying for it super hard. Don't quit. You might have 5 dry lectures to power through one more time for the seventh time because the first six times weren't enough for your internal standard. Don't quit.

Get a $20 stethoscope and hang it at your bedpost if you have to. Your friends might laugh, SDN will laugh if you tell us, but do whatever you need to do to motivate yourself.

Remember, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS:

1. Plan
2. EXECUTE

If you mess up a little bit (don't put yourself in a situation where you can mess up majorly), just remember you're human. And then quickly forget and think of yourself as mother****ing Bruce mother****ing Wayne powering through ****ing ninja training so he can become the ****ing BATMAN and beat the everloving **** out of mother****ing tests.

Then sometime a year from now, maybe longer maybe shorter, you won't have to resort to ridiculous Batman daydreams to motivate yourself and you'll find discipline is automatic, and you can focus on the real goals of medicine (helping others, discovering new treatments, etc.)

 

[avksx]

I had a 2.7 GPA my freshman year, and now I have interviews at 6 of the top 10* schools w/ one acceptance, and 1 pre-interview rejection. Didn't apply to 2 of them so that's a pretty good track record. But that's now--at the end of Freshman year, I was 99.9% sure that no medical school would be in my future, and includes both MD and DO programs.

How exactly did you do this?

 

[tompi90]

im just not happy at my current uni overall, would you recommend me transferring to a different one?