Incoming Pre-Med Freshman Concerned About D on Transcript

[SHMKPK]

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Hi everyone, recently came across SDN and the forums have been great at answering all my questions as an incoming freshman. Spring semester of my junior year high school I took multivariable calculus through dual enrollment (Georgia Tech) and ended the semester with a D. Mostly attributed to a stressful junior year since ec's, my special needs younger sister getting hospitalized/taking to the ER on multiple occasions due to seizures (she's a major reason for my why medicine narrative since I've been a primary caretaker along with my parents), and honestly procrastination from my end. I was a lot more motivated senior year and was able to bounce back as I chose to take an in-person dual enrollment Anatomy and Physiology I course at my local community college which I was able to get really high A's in both lecture and lab, which makes me a lot more confident in my ability to handle college courses (I've taken AP Bio, Chem, and Physics and done well, but I doubt that really transfers to how I'd do in the college course equivalent).

How badly would you say this D will haunt me for my medical school applications? I really am aiming for a T20 (side note: is there a list of like ranked medical schools since I've seen the term T20 passed around but I'm not sure which schools fit in other than like the obvious Ivy Leagues), but I'm not sure if that's gonna be feasible. I'm coming in with 67 credits, so I'm trying to graduate in 3 years (can't do 2 since pre-reqs) so I can report my final GPA as a traditional applicant, but please let me know if you have any advice. According to claude, if I retake MVC (even tho med schools will still average the D in), I'll end with an overall GPA of 3.82 and a BCPM of 3.77. (I'm sort of in the mindset of shoot for the stars, aim for the moon, but please let me know if that's like not a good idea.) Feel free to ask me any questions!

 

[polymerization]

Take a deep, deep breath. Nobody expects a, what, 16-year-old(?) to ace multivariable calculus. Your college GPA might take an early hit, but it's not the end of the world.

Some friendly advice you may, understandably, take personally (but is actually coming from a good place): you don't actually want to graduate early.

There are a lot of drawbacks, but the main one is that the expectations of medical school applicants are higher than they've ever been, so you need time to stack your resume. Research, clinical experience, non-clinical volunteering, leadership, advocacy, and developing a professional narrative are all things that require a very long-term mindset and will likely become immediate frustrations. Even if the academic aspect is not challenging, identifying opportunities (and then the right kinds of opportunities, meaningful ones that will help you) will feel very urgent, but ultimately sensitive to your location, environment, and some degree of luck.

Maybe you get the opportunity you're looking for precisely when you need it, though it's more likely you won't. Multiply that conundrum by the number of activity categories you're expected to deliver on, and you have burnout. Immediately. It's impossible to do it all at once or magically materialize opportunities out of thin air if they are not available. So you need to stage and plan, which requires more time in school, where you have access to advisors and professionals who are the real key to your success. You have to identify people who will help you because you absolutely cannot brute-force your way into medical school. It will backfire. Ask me how I know.

I'm not sure what your major is, but if you cannot change your major to some similar discipline that could add to your coursework without being considered an excess credit, I would look into combined BS/MS programs to extend your coursework a touch. I extended my degree program by switching majors from biology to neuroscience, which had different core courses and had a different elective set than the biology major. That allowed me to tack on an extra year.

T20s have very high expectations. Everyone will meet a certain threshold for grades to the point where it won't matter anymore. What you will have left is your portfolio of activities and your story of your professional formation.

You cannot build that story on a single year if you're entering college as a rising junior.

 

[Goro]

No one will care

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Why does a high school junior take multivariable calculus? Why do you want to take it again?

Yeah, no one will care. Except maybe MIT (kidding).

 

[Med Ed]

A lot to unpack here.

A college experience done well is part genuine education and part strategic maneuvering. The genuine education occurs both inside and outside the classroom, as one has the opportunity to learn about history, science, art, philosophy, etc. while forging new relationships and getting a taste of independence. If you are doing college right, you won't want to leave after 3 years. Take the time to grow up and experience as much as you can.

The strategic maneuvering part is where you organize certain elements your education in order to maximize subsequent opportunities.

They truly smart kids are the ones who take extreme care preserving their GPAs while setting themselves up for MCAT success. To that end:

1. Stop taking courses like multivariable calculus at Georgia Tech.
2. Do (re)take intro biology, chemistry, and physics in college. They should all be easy on the second go around. Bank the As.
3. Do not major in engineering or any other GPA-destroying subject.

I could go on about the people I know who rushed from one achievement to the next and are now on the career treadmill to nowhere but retirement and death. But perhaps that's better for another time.

 

[astrophage]

Other commenters have already covered every possible angle of this extensively, so I won't rehash what's been said, but you should try your best to relax. A single D with what seem to be a significant amount of extenuating circumstances that year will likely not have a poor impact on your admission cycle. Show consistent excellence in your academics, develop a consistent narrative, and this D will only be an unnoticed blip by admissions committees. Most will understand what you were going through, and you were 16 no less. You will be OK.