johns hopkins gpa struggle

[handsanitizer2021]

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[Cardboard101]

hopkins is known for low gpas and grade deflation but apparently we still have to have a 3.7-3.9 gpa to be competitive for top med schools according to an advisor

If you really think its the school that's holding you back, then transfer to a "easier" one. You're in Freshman year of college, you shouldn't already be planning to take a gap year when you have 2-3 years left. Visit your school's learning center and figure out what you need to do to get better grades.

Every class you take is included in your GPA when you apply. Switching to pre-dental isn't going to make a bad grade disappear.

 

[altblue]

Please don't switch to a different profession just because you believe it'd be easier to get into. Happens way too much. Dentistry (and pharm, PT, and yeah other stuff like law) is so much different from medicine and you might not like it as much

Talk to your academic success center and come up with a concrete plan to improve your study habits and test taking, then consider other routes

 

[Cath Up]

I went through a similar experience but never seriously considered transferring to another program at the time. Attending a large research university is great for research and ECs, but those are not the most important part of your application. Your grades are. I wish I had transferred to a school with less brutal competition and grade deflation. They exist. I am sure adcoms consider the institution an applicant is coming from on some level, but I am confident that a 3.8+ from a less prestigious university will take you further in med school admissions than a 3.5 from a prestigious university. It is so much more defensible to have that higher grade and say "I think I could have earned this grade wherever I took these classes" than to say "well my school does grade deflation so I am hoping you understand that this 3.5 actually reflects much greater effort than it would elsewhere".

Like I said, I didn't transfer. I graduated with a 3.1-3.2.Most of it was due to my lack of academic effort combined with overextending myself with ECs early on, but I am confident I would have a higher GPA had I transferred, and probably would have had more doors open (I am incredibly grateful and excited for the opportunities this cycle has given me, however).

Johns Hopkins is an excellent school to be at though. It is a tough decision. But in hindsight, I think it would have been the right choice for me to transfer from an approximately equivalent-caliber program as you. I knew I wanted to go into medicine and it was really the only goal from the start. JHU might leave other research/grad school-related careers open though.

 

[DoctorSnow]

Freshman grades are not always looked at as highly as junior/senior year so don't worry if you don't do the best for your first semester.

 

[handsanitizer2021]

I went through a similar experience but never seriously considered transferring to another program at the time. Attending a large research university is great for research and ECs, but those are not the most important part of your application. Your grades are. I wish I had transferred to a school with less brutal competition and grade deflation. They exist. I am sure adcoms consider the institution an applicant is coming from on some level, but I am confident that a 3.8+ from a less prestigious university will take you further in med school admissions than a 3.5 from a prestigious university. It is so much more defensible to have that higher grade and say "I think I could have earned this grade wherever I took these classes" than to say "well my school does grade deflation so I am hoping you understand that this 3.5 actually reflects much greater effort than it would elsewhere".

Like I said, I didn't transfer. I graduated with a 3.1-3.2.Most of it was due to my lack of academic effort combined with overextending myself with ECs early on, but I am confident I would have a higher GPA had I transferred, and probably would have had more doors open (I am incredibly grateful and excited for the opportunities this cycle has given me, however).

Johns Hopkins is an excellent school to be at though. It is a tough decision. But in hindsight, I think it would have been the right choice for me to transfer from an approximately equivalent-caliber program as you. I knew I wanted to go into medicine and it was really the only goal from the start. JHU might leave other research/grad school-related careers open though.

Were you premed? How are you doing now?

 

[handsanitizer2021]

Please don't switch to a different profession just because you believe it'd be easier to get into. Happens way too much. Dentistry (and pharm, PT, and yeah other stuff like law) is so much different from medicine and you might not like it as much

Talk to your academic success center and come up with a concrete plan to improve your study habits and test taking, then consider other routes

will do--thank you for the input. however, last time i talked to a preprof advising she completely ripped me apart and basically told me i wouldn't succeed if i consistently got Bs.

 

[altblue]

will do--thank you for the input. however, last time i talked to a preprof advising she completely ripped me apart and basically told me i wouldn't succeed if i consistently got Bs.

Do you have some kind of academic support center you could speak to?

 

[Cath Up]

Were you premed? How are you doing now?

Yes I was premed during undergrad- and still am! But I’ve been accepted to a couple DO schools.

 

[handsanitizer2021]

Yes I was premed during undergrad- and still am! But I’ve been accepted to a couple DO schools.

congrats! so you are a senior now? what type of extracurriculars/research/volunteer work/leadership did you do in your undergrad years? and what's your science gpa?

 

[handsanitizer2021]

Do you have some kind of academic support center you could speak to?

we have academic advising but that's mostly for selecting classes and stuff. i'm in two study groups, do group tutoring for physics (the class i'm really struggling in) a few times a month but it's not amazingly helpful, and i'm signing up for study consulting. that's about it haha

 

[Cath Up]

congrats! so you are a senior now? what type of extracurriculars/research/volunteer work/leadership did you do in your undergrad years? and what's your science gpa?

I graduated undergrad in 2015. I have scribed (~1 year)and worked in clinical research (~1.5 years) since. I have also taken a few postbacc classes at a CC and 1 at a 4 year university and done reasonably well (I already had a decent upward trend).

Extracurriculars: little leadership experience other than being a resident advisor and selling mountaineering experience as leadership. -350 hours clinical volunteering, 400 hours non-clinical volunteering, 1 first author pub, a few abstracts and posters - these were from 1 year bench lab experience, 3 years research experience, 1.5 years clinical research experience. Had ~50 hours shadowing ~15 of which were DO shadowing with a DO letter from it.

My science GPA is ~3.1 on AACOMAS.