Is it time to give up? Please give me some advice.

[ScarletKnight91]

As many on these forums, becoming a doctor has been my dream since i was young. This dream of mine seems to be unattainable after my past four semesters. I am currently a junior Cell Biology/Neuroscience and Psychology Double Major with a Religion minor at Rutgers University. Here are my classes, grades, and GPA.

First Semester Freshman Year:
Religion 101- A General Psychology- B Expository Writing 2- B Honors Physics-B cGPA: 3.077

Second Semester Freshman Year:
Honors Physics 2- C Honors Chemistry 2- C Calculus 1- C+ Physiological Psychology- C+ cGPA:2.648 Semester GPA:2.25

First Semester Sophomore Year:
Fundamentals of Cell Biology- C Fundamentals of Neurobiology-C Organic Chemistry 1- C+ Hindu Philosophy-B Conditioning and Learning Psychology- B
cGPA: 2.593 Semester GPA: 2.500

Second Semester Sophomore Year:
Organic Chemistry 2- C Calculus 2- C+ Religions of the Western World- B and Sensory and Perception Psychology- B+
cGPA: 2.614 Semester GPA: 2.679

Additionally I am taking the MCAT in September an am currently averaging a 35 (12 BS 10 PS 13 VR) on the 5 practice MCATs I've taken.

As far as Resume builders, I'm President of my Fraternity, worked over the summer everyday for 12-14 hours a day at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey with one publication in the Journal of Molecular Cell Biology. It looks like I can be a third author on an article we are submitting to Nature. I am a certified EMT but stopped actively riding last semester due to school. I've shadowed a Gastroenterologist for 50 hours and I'm about to start shadowing a Neurologist. For work experience I am a tour guide for my school.

Also if I apply to matriulatr Fall 2013, would be senior grades not be as highly weighted?

Please give me some honest advice I could really use it.

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[2sk0ol4c0ol]

As many on these forums, becoming a doctor has been my dream since i was young. This dream of mine seems to be unattainable after my past four semesters. I am currently a junior Cell Biology/Neuroscience and Psychology Double Major with a Religion minor at Rutgers University. Here are my classes, grades, and GPA.

First Semester Freshman Year:
Religion 101- A General Psychology- B Expository Writing 2- B Honors Physics-B cGPA: 3.077

Second Semester Freshman Year:
Honors Physics 2- C Honors Chemistry 2- C Calculus 1- C+ Physiological Psychology- C+ cGPA:2.648 Semester GPA:2.25

First Semester Sophomore Year:
Fundamentals of Cell Biology- C Fundamentals of Neurobiology-C Organic Chemistry 1- C+ Hindu Philosophy-B Conditioning and Learning Psychology- B
cGPA: 2.593 Semester GPA: 2.500

Second Semester Sophomore Year:
Organic Chemistry 2- C Calculus 2- C+ Religions of the Western World- B and Sensory and Perception Psychology- B+
cGPA: 2.614 Semester GPA: 2.679

Additionally I am taking the MCAT in September an am currently averaging a 35 (12 BS 10 PS 13 VR) on the 5 practice MCATs I've taken.

As far as Resume builders, I'm President of my Fraternity, worked over the summer everyday for 12-14 hours a day at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey with one publication in the Journal of Molecular Cell Biology. It looks like I can be a third author on an article we are submitting to Nature. I am a certified EMT but stopped actively riding last semester due to school. I've shadowed a Gastroenterologist for 50 hours and I'm about to start shadowing a Neurologist. For work experience I am a tour guide for my school.

Also if I apply to matriulatr Fall 2013, would be senior grades not be as highly weighted?

Please give me some honest advice I could really use it.

To be quite frank, your GPA sucks eggs. Med schools look at your GPA to see how you handle a 'rigorous' course load and looking at your GPA I would say not very well. Honestly, I don't see a kick butt MCAT score compensating for this AT ALL.
You need to get it together! Why is your GPA so poor? You might want to take a step back and see what's keeping you from doing well. A 3.0 puts you at the bottom of the barrel o the applicant pool and anything lower than that practically excludes you from the game.

Exactly what is holding you back. You need to assess your work ethic/study habits. I can not stress how self-assessment are not only important in medicine but the academic world period.
Should you give up? No.
Is it likely you will matriculate the year after med school? With this trend no.
So what should you do? First you need to pull your Ugrad GPA up. Then I would say do master's degree or an Post-Bac (If this is an option). Then apply. This is just my opinion though. Best of Luck.

 

[Mithril]

Do a post-bacc or even a second undergrad. Your GPA is really low and the changes are against you being admitted into an American med school. You could try international, like Caribbean, if you really want to become a doctor. You should ask yourself if you're getting such low grades in undergrad, what makes you think that you will succeed in med school?

 

[MedAdComMD]

For people who did poorly in their freshman year, I always tell them (2.X + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4)/5 = 3.6 (around there)

In your case, its hard to justify such formula. First 2 years of 2.X + final 2 years of 4.0 only get you somewhere between 3.0 - 3.5. You need to stretch your undergrad out to 6 years, and basically nail the next 4 years.

 

[GreenRabbit]

I assume you're a rising junior. Ace the next two years. Your verbal is good and the rest of the scores are balanced, which leaves hope for a really outstanding MCAT. You should apply after senior year, while taking an SMP. You need to change your daily mentality to get those 4.0s from now on. With a flawless performance (no Bs) and a 36+ I think you'd have a decent shot. Don't give up, especially with DO as an option, but your number one priority right now is grades, not the MCAT.

 

[Eternalangel]

I assume you're a rising junior. Ace the next two years. Your verbal is good and the rest of the scores are balanced, which leaves hope for a really outstanding MCAT. You should apply after senior year, while taking an SMP. You need to change your daily mentality to get those 4.0s from now on. With a flawless performance (no Bs) and a 36+ I think you'd have a decent shot. Don't give up, especially with DO as an option, but your number one priority right now is grades, not the MCAT.

+1 exatcly
Getting 4.0s will be hard, but if you really work at it, you WILL do it, and have a decent shot at a medical school and you won't have to waste an extra 2/3 years in postbacc or retaking your low gpa classes.
And when the med schools see an upward trend in your grades, that will give them a positive message about you
~Good Luck

 

[Velocity]

I think you have a good shot at DO programs. For MD programs, it's hard to say. You may need to do a graduate program to increase your chances of making it to an MD program.

MD programs will like your publications. Most DO programs are not focused on academic medicine and research, so it won't matter to them as much

I know that for my master's program, two of my classmates had low GPAs - a 3.0 and a 3.1, I believe it was (science GPAs were around 2.9?). They blew away the MCAT - one scored a 38 (got lucky - said he was averaging 32's on his practice tests), and I think the other scored a 36. I don't think that either of them were accepted straight out of their interviews, but they were on the first wave of waitlist acceptances and just finished their first year at a competitive school.

So the good news for you is that it can be done. The bad news is that you're grouped with those of us in the "it could go either way" camp.

Good luck on your MCAT - hopefully you'll get lucky to earn a high score, too.

 

[Jstone123]

u absolutely have to retake classes. do well, and apply DO. if you are doing well on your mcats u can easily ace the classes you got C's in. at this point, don't waste ur time doing anything else other than getting that gpa up. i personally dont think an MCAT or ECs can save you from multiple sub 3.0 semesters. to hell with the frat by the way, if its hurting your gpa it is doing everything but "resume building"

 

[TriagePreMed]

Try switching majors to something easier and retake all those low prerequisite grades. MD is not a closed door yet, but you do need to turn it around immediately with 4.0s.