Looking for an honest opinion.

[Tahmid3088]

I just got out of my A&P final exams, and must say I believe my performance to be quite less than stellar. These finals will be wrapping up my first semester as a Junior and I was wondering if I should continue on with the Pre-Med course or move onto something more realistic with my current statistics.

At the moment my grades have been for the majority, B's.

FALL TERM 2007
PHY105 PHYSICS I (ALGEBRA BASED) 1.00 B 3.00
PSY250 PSY OF RELATIONSHIPS 1.00 A- 3.70
BIOL115 EVOLUTION, BEHAVIOR & ECOLOGY 1.00 A- 3.70
SOC101 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY 1.00 A- 3.70

*Term GPA 3.525 Comp 4.00 Calc 4.00 Pts 14.10
*Cum GPA 3.525 Comp 14.25 Calc 4.00 Pts 14.10

SPRING TERM 2008
CHEM112 CHEMICAL EQUILIBRIA 1.00 B 3.00
PHY106 PHYSICS II (ALGEBRA-BASED) 1.00 B- 2.70
MATH120 ELEMENTARY STATISTICS 1.00 B 3.00
MEDA250 NEW MEDIA 1.00 A- 3.70

*Term GPA 3.100 Comp 4.00 Calc 4.00 Pts 12.40
*Cum GPA 3.313 Comp 19.25 Calc 8.00 Pts 26.50

I also transferred in some credits when I attended another school for my freshman year. While I was there I basically made all A's with each 5 class load, except for B's in Gen Chem 1, Pre-Cal I and II, and Cell Bio.

Reason I'm so worried is up until now, I've made only one A in my science classes, and with A&P it looks like there might be a C added onto that. I was also taking O. Chem this semester, which I dropped for a WP literally the week before finals.

I realize that when med-schools look at my transcript, they're going to see this dropped class along with a big fat C in A&P. Just the thought's making me nervous. The two other classes I'm taking this semester however are expected A's, unfortunately they're just Humanities classes.


But yeah, that's what's on my plate in a nutshell. I've got about a year and a half left before graduation, and haven't taken the MCAT yet. At the moment, I'm planning to sit in for O. Chem II next semester as well as take an MCAT prep course before attempting the test next May, and taking O. Chem I and II over the summer.


Smart idea? Horrible idea? I just don't know, some input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Your scores are not great, but they are far from the worst we've ever seen here on SDN. The question is why are you having so much trouble getting A's in your classes? If it's a question of motivation to study hard enough, then you just need to buckle down and decide this is what you want to do with your life and make it happen. If, on the other hand, it's a matter of you genuinely having trouble mastering the material after studying as hard as possible, then you need may need to have an honest look at yourself and decide if there is anything more you could do or any other way you could study that could get you the results you want, or if in fact this path may not be right for you.

Remember, the average age of matriculants at med school is 23 or 24, so if you have to take a year off after your senior year to take some post-bacc classes and bump up your GPA, you would not be the first, and there's absolutely no shame in having to do so.

 

[Mobius1985]

One C in science is not a dream killer. Why not calculate your real GPA for all your post-high school classes to see where you sit. Use:
AMCAS GPA calculator: http://medschool.ucsf.edu/postbac/pdf/AMCAS%20GPA_Calculator%20Version%204%20Final.xls

Why take Organic Chem II before mastering Orgo I? Ah, I see. You're going to sit in on the classes without taking it for credit to help you learn it for the MCAT. You know, there's no rush to take the MCAT so soon, and in fact it's a poor idea if you haven't mastered the material very well. Why not wait until you've taken the classes for credit and done well? There's no rush to apply this summer. Another year will give you time to get your science GPA into a more competitive range.

 

[Tahmid3088]

One C in science is not a dream killer. Why not calculate your real GPA for all your post-high school classes to see where your sit. Use:
AMCAS GPA calculator: http://medschool.ucsf.edu/postbac/pdf/AMCAS%20GPA_Calculator%20Version%204%20Final.xls

Why take Organic Chem II before mastering Orgo I? Ah, I see. You're going to sit in on the classes without taking it for credit to help you learn it for the MCAT.

I really appreciate the feedback from both of you, just sort of lost atm I guess. I'll run my grades through real quick, and as for O. Chem II, I'm not actually registering for the class, and just instead sitting in to supplement my MCAT prep class. And also to make my taking of O. Chem in the summer a little easier I guess.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I really appreciate the feedback from both of you, just sort of lost atm I guess. I'll run my grades through real quick, and as for O. Chem II, I'm not actually registering for the class, and just instead sitting in to supplement my MCAT prep class. And also to make my taking of O. Chem in the summer a little easier I guess.

Again, there's no need to hurry your application; if your application would be stronger by taking things slower and waiting an extra year to buff up your app, you should consider it.

 

[202781]

OMG...people have gotten in with worse you still have like 40% of college left to get up your grades. Maybe next term just study a little harder or take fewer classes or do whatever you need to make sure you make more "A" grades than "B" grades.