Less Than Stellar Freshman Year

[modernantiquity]

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I overwhelmed myself with activities during my first year of college, joining seven organizations on top of volunteering at the local hospital. This proved to be detrimental to my grades, as my current 2.54 GPA reflects. To make matters worse, my lowest grades were earned in science classes, namely a C+ in introductory biology I, a D+ in introductory biology II, and a D in organic chemistry I. I cannot blame things entirely on extracurricular involvement; however, I definitely devoted more time to clubs than my studies.

For my sophomore year, I am limiting my extracurricular activities to the three organizations that I am an officer of, as well as volunteering at the hospital. This will free a significant amount of time.

I have faith that I can continue to raise my GPA until it is time to apply for medical schools. Furthermore, I am currently taking six non-science credits to help boost my GPA. However, it is apparent that breaking a 3.5 by the end of junior year is practically an impossible feat.

My question is this - is it too late to salvage my dream of med school? Will admissions committees take into consideration the level of involvment I have? Also, if I do well on the MCATs, will my less-than-stellar GPA still hold me back?

I don't plan on retaking orgo I or bio II because I plan to bust my ass to get an A in orgo II as well as in upper-level biology courses. I also feel that if I can do well on the MCAT's on the organic chemistry and biology sections, it would help too.

Sorry for the lengthy post... thanks in advance for any replies!

 

[gujuDoc]

A friend of mine was in this same predicament this year. He had the same freshman gpa and went on an upward trend til he got a 3.6 gpa. He had a 29 MCAT and had interviews at BU, NYU, and Howard

 

[BOBODR]

A friend of mine was in this same predicament this year. He had the same freshman gpa and went on an upward trend til he got a 3.6 gpa. He had a 29 MCAT and had interviews at BU, NYU, and Howard

I was in a similar position. I had a 2.4 first semester but then had a 3.5 or higher every semester, topping off my senior yr. In my first semester senior year I took Orgo 2, Biochem, Micro, American Lit, and Bio research for 20 credits and got a 3.8.(at a top school) I took a similar tough load second semester and got a 3.7. Point of this is that when I interviewed one of my interviewers said how remarkable it was to go from my first semester to where I was now. They thought the improvement showed alot of guts. My worst grade freshman year was bio, I could have forgotten about majoring in Bio but I did it anyway. Not only did I graduate with a 3.8 in bio but I even got a scholarship for senior year because of it. So set your sights high, get rid of those extracurrics as they wont get you into med school, and tear it up. Get nothing below a 3.5 from now on. Rip up the MCAT and you will be fine. that being said I am reapplying.... good luck.

 

[gujuDoc]

I was in a similar position. I had a 2.4 first semester but then had a 3.5 or higher every semester, topping off my senior yr. In my first semester senior year I took Orgo 2, Biochem, Micro, American Lit, and Bio research for 20 credits and got a 3.8.(at a top school) I took a similar tough load second semester and got a 3.7. Point of this is that when I interviewed one of my interviewers said how remarkable it was to go from my first semester to where I was now. They thought the improvement showed alot of guts. My worst grade freshman year was bio, I could have forgotten about majoring in Bio but I did it anyway. Not only did I graduate with a 3.8 in bio but I even got a scholarship for senior year because of it. So set your sights high, get rid of those extracurrics as they wont get you into med school, and tear it up. Get nothing below a 3.5 from now on. Rip up the MCAT and you will be fine. that being said I am reapplying.... good luck.

You didn't get any acceptances?????? My friend who I mentioned had one acceptance but screwed up in his other two interviews.

 

[Tenten]

me too. i was on probation for the first semester during freshmen year. i realized how unfocused i was with all the ECs, so i decided to cut it down. so during the second semester i did a lot better and got a 3.0 gpa. :-D let's hope i get into medschool.

 

[Tenten]

I overwhelmed myself with activities during my first year of college, joining seven organizations on top of volunteering at the local hospital. This proved to be detrimental to my grades, as my current 2.54 GPA reflects. To make matters worse, my lowest grades were earned in science classes, namely a C+ in introductory biology I, a D+ in introductory biology II, and a D in organic chemistry I. I cannot blame things entirely on extracurricular involvement; however, I definitely devoted more time to clubs than my studies.

For my sophomore year, I am limiting my extracurricular activities to the three organizations that I am an officer of, as well as volunteering at the hospital. This will free a significant amount of time.

I have faith that I can continue to raise my GPA until it is time to apply for medical schools. Furthermore, I am currently taking six non-science credits to help boost my GPA. However, it is apparent that breaking a 3.5 by the end of junior year is practically an impossible feat.

My question is this - is it too late to salvage my dream of med school? Will admissions committees take into consideration the level of involvment I have? Also, if I do well on the MCATs, will my less-than-stellar GPA still hold me back?

I don't plan on retaking orgo I or bio II because I plan to bust my ass to get an A in orgo II as well as in upper-level biology courses. I also feel that if I can do well on the MCAT's on the organic chemistry and biology sections, it would help too.

Sorry for the lengthy post... thanks in advance for any replies!

me too. i was on probation for the first semester during freshmen year. i realized how unfocused i was with all the ECs, so i decided to cut it down. during second semester i did a lot better and got a 3.0 gpa. :-D let's hope i get into medschool. i think you only need to have ECs that are VERY important to you and medschool.

 

[KingTutATL]

I definitely did the same thing. I truly did not have aspirations to become a doctor until the beginning of my second semester as a freshman. I really wanted to have fun and be able to make A's as well. I really don't think that the two go hand in hand. I'm sitting somwhere around a 2.7 gpa entering my sophomore year. Unfortuneately i'm in the middle of transferring schools also which will cause me to loose credits which i will have to retake.