I am an African American female undergrad sophomore at Princeton University. I got a C- freshman year in gen chem and had to retake fall of sophomore year and got a B+. I am taking the second part of gen chem now and planning on taking organic chemistry over the summer. My gpa currently is a 2.99 because I have a lot of B-‘s. I just wanted to know if being premed is even still an option at this point??
Is there any hope for premed?? (C- and 2.99 Sophomore year)
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deleted859689
YES. SOLID YES.
Don't give up being a pre-med just because you had a bad first year. Sometimes the adjustment to College life can be difficult. I was an RA in undergrad and have seen many lose their way. I recommend talking to your RA if you live in a dorm on campus! I recommend you seek immediate academic help from your institution and I doubt there are a lack of resources at Princeton. I'm sure you will be able to find student tutors at your academic help center. I do not know your socioeconomic background, however, African Americans are under-represented in healthcare. That being said, still strive for excellence during your undergraduate career and take time off if you need to. I honestly wish I had more time to mature between high school and college. For reference, I had a sub-3.0 undergrad GPA and am planning on attending a DO school. I did get 1 MD interview 2018-2019 cycle. Don't lose hope and use the resources your college offers. Best of luck.
edit: also I was a Chemistry major/PhD candidate. Knowing your periodic table trends now will help immensely when you take organic chemistry. #1 rule in organic - negative to positive. Know what causes electropositive centers (e.g. electronegative atoms attached to carbon).
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1) Yes, absolutely.
2) Do NOT take Orgo over the summer
3) Get thee to your school's learning or education center for help with time mgt, test taking skills, etc.
4) maintain a 3.5 to 3.7 GPA from now on and you should be OK
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Yeah, you are far FAR from the point where you should be losing hope. People generally agree that Med schools are pretty willing to forgive poor performance early in undergrad as long as you show improvement. At this point it won't be that hard for you to bring your GPA up to an acceptable range, as long as you are able sort out whatever issues with study skills have been weighing you down thus far.
Taking intense courses like orgo over the summer is generally advised against. I took physics 1/2 over the summer and while I did get an A/A+ I definitely could have gained a better understanding of the material in a less rushed setting. You will want a solid knowledge based in orgo for later biochem course(s) and eventually the MCAT. Even if that does mean that you have to push back your MCAT test/med school applications, being slightly delayed and much more well prepared is the better option imo.
Taking intense courses like orgo over the summer is generally advised against. I took physics 1/2 over the summer and while I did get an A/A+ I definitely could have gained a better understanding of the material in a less rushed setting. You will want a solid knowledge based in orgo for later biochem course(s) and eventually the MCAT. Even if that does mean that you have to push back your MCAT test/med school applications, being slightly delayed and much more well prepared is the better option imo.
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Absolutely yes!! I had a bad year, a couple C's (even a couple D's) but made sure I had a strong upward trajectory and finished undergrad with a 3.7 senior gpa. Don't give up!
Thank you for your response! My school's Health Profession advisors suggested that I take Orgo over the summer because if I take Orgo during the semester I will be taking it with 4 other classes because my major has a lot of departmentals so they don't think I'll be able to manage Orgo while taking the other 4 classes. Taking 5 classes during the semester isn't usually recommended. Princeton doesn't have summer classes, but they have a program to arrange for me to take the class at Rutgers. If I did end up taking Orgo over the summer do you think medical schools would look down on it because I am not taking it at my home institution?
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Fair enough, I'm willing to assume your advisors know what they are talking about. Taking Orgo with an overly heavy courseload probably wouldn't really be a great improvement over taking it in the summer.
I've never heard of taking courses at an institution other than the one granting your degree being frowned upon. The only methods of taking courses that I have heard are discouraged is taking core science courses either at community college, as highschool AP courses or online.
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Absolutely do not do ochem with four other classes. That's a disaster waiting to happen, especially for someone in your situation.
My school would not have an issue with your taking a summer class at another institution such as Rutgers, though rushing such a dense course (and a prereq no less) over several weeks may not be setting yourself up for success either. A third option would be to pursue any remaining prereqs in a DIY post bacc, or to delay graduation. This will give you more time to study and ensure competitive grades from now on. If there's no way to reorganize your schedule to accommodate all of these classes in a sensible manner, and delaying graduation is not an option due to finances or other constraints, then the summer option is easily the lesser of two evils. Just my thoughts
My school would not have an issue with your taking a summer class at another institution such as Rutgers, though rushing such a dense course (and a prereq no less) over several weeks may not be setting yourself up for success either. A third option would be to pursue any remaining prereqs in a DIY post bacc, or to delay graduation. This will give you more time to study and ensure competitive grades from now on. If there's no way to reorganize your schedule to accommodate all of these classes in a sensible manner, and delaying graduation is not an option due to finances or other constraints, then the summer option is easily the lesser of two evils. Just my thoughts
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deleted480308
Ditto on advising against summer orgo or taking it with 4 other classes. Are you doing anything else with your time to distract from class?
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Hey, I was in a similar situation to yours my sophomore year, but if you can figure out how to study and prioritize you can definitely slam all A's from now. At the start of my sophomore year my GPA was 2.87, fast forward 4 semesters later my GPA is now a 3.63. Don't give up!
