Low Overall/Science GPA

[TheCruelOne]

First off, I am going to be a junior in undergrad this Fall. In my freshman year of undergrad, I did okay in my classes. I did, however, receive a C+ in General Chemistry II. I did pretty terribly in my sophomore year, though. I got a B- in Biology II, a C+ in Orgo I, a C in Orgo II, and a C- in Genetics. I don't have any outstanding excuse for these grades except that maybe I lost motivation and spread myself out too thin with regards to extra curriculars. In my sophomore year, however, I got nearly all A's in pretty much anything that wasn't science...

At this point my cumulative GPA is 3.04 and my science GPA is a 2.34. I know both of these are completely terrible, and believe me I'm incredibly disappointed in myself. Ultimately, my question is this:

As of now, I'm a biology major and I am pursuing a minor in Psychology after I took my first Cognitive Psychology class this past semester and enjoyed it immensely. Ideally, I'd like to double major in Psychology and Biology, but I decided this kind of late in the game. If I were to pursue the Psychology major, it would be possible but I would only be able to take the rest of my required 6 biology electives and no more than that. I'm confident that I can get A's in these psychology classes, so this would improve my overall GPA but even if I do well in my biology electives, my science GPA will not even reach a 3.0. If I choose the minor instead, my overall GPA probably will not rise as much, but I would be able to take more biology electives and try to improve my science GPA to at least attempt to get it to a 3.0. The thing is, I'm not sure if I'd be able to do as well if I took so many science classes at once anyway. I was also wondering if it would make any difference in the eyes of medical schools if I were to take a minor in Psychology versus a major. Would doing the major be more "impressive" to them at all? Or does it really not make that much of a difference?

If anyone could help me, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

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[theseeker4]

First off, I am going to be a junior in undergrad this Fall. In my freshman year of undergrad, I did okay in my classes. I did, however, receive a C+ in General Chemistry II. I did pretty terribly in my sophomore year, though. I got a B- in Biology II, a C+ in Orgo I, a C in Orgo II, and a C- in Genetics. I don't have any outstanding excuse for these grades except that maybe I lost motivation and spread myself out too thin with regards to extra curriculars. In my sophomore year, however, I got nearly all A's in pretty much anything that wasn't science...

At this point my cumulative GPA is 3.04 and my science GPA is a 2.34. I know both of these are completely terrible, and believe me I'm incredibly disappointed in myself. Ultimately, my question is this:

As of now, I'm a biology major and I am pursuing a minor in Psychology after I took my first Cognitive Psychology class this past semester and enjoyed it immensely. Ideally, I'd like to double major in Psychology and Biology, but I decided this kind of late in the game. If I were to pursue the Psychology major, it would be possible but I would only be able to take the rest of my required 6 biology electives and no more than that. I'm confident that I can get A's in these psychology classes, so this would improve my overall GPA but even if I do well in my biology electives, my science GPA will not even reach a 3.0. If I choose the minor instead, my overall GPA probably will not rise as much, but I would be able to take more biology electives and try to improve my science GPA to at least attempt to get it to a 3.0. The thing is, I'm not sure if I'd be able to do as well if I took so many science classes at once anyway. I was also wondering if it would make any difference in the eyes of medical schools if I were to take a minor in Psychology versus a major. Would doing the major be more "impressive" to them at all? Or does it really not make that much of a difference?

If anyone could help me, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

Won't make any difference, as far as a major vs a minor (or just random classes without a major or minor). You just need to do what you need to do to get A's in every class you take from now on. You also need to get your science GPA above 3.0.

Re-take anything C or below for improvement of your DO GPA, especially science courses.

Remember that every grade below an A is a step away from med school. Good luck!

 

[FrkyBgStok]

and it won't make any difference because if you don't completely turn everything around, you won't be going to med school. Your chances for MD are shot anyways. raising a 2.3 sgpa to a competitive level is going to take 3+ years. start retaking everything you got a C in like seeker said and bust ass on the rest of your stuff,. then you may have a chance, but you are going uphill and if you are serious about med school, you can't afford to stumble.

 

[DetroitDoc1993]

Anything is possible and if your are still passionate and work hard it will come! Do not let it get to you and just keep moving forward, staying sad about what happened in the past will only hurt you. Go for the psyche major and try to retake a class or two, but I wouldn't recommend retaking more than two or three classes because its expected that as a retake your grade should be higher by default. And honestly, med schools really do not care what your major is especially since most applicants are bio majors by default, so if switching to a psyche major will improve your gpa then do that but really work hard to get all A's. I think your best option is to finish your degree and graduate, then either enroll in a masters program or take 20 credits of upper level science courses as a post-bac and make sure to do well, I have friends who did this and were accepted into medical school. This will prove to med schools you are capable of doing well in science courses and help with mcat or the other option is to enroll in a masters program which I know first hand that it is what the admissions reps at my medical school suggest to students in situations such as yours because the new gpa as a masters student will look good.

 

[candbgirl]

Anything is possible and if your are still passionate and work hard it will come! Do not let it get to you and just keep moving forward, staying sad about what happened in the past will only hurt you. Go for the psyche major and try to retake a class or two, but I wouldn't recommend retaking more than two or three classes because its expected that as a retake your grade should be higher by default. And honestly, med schools really do not care what your major is especially since most applicants are bio majors by default, so if switching to a psyche major will improve your gpa then do that but really work hard to get all A's. I think your best option is to finish your degree and graduate, then either enroll in a masters program or take 20 credits of upper level science courses as a post-bac and make sure to do well, I have friends who did this and were accepted into medical school. This will prove to med schools you are capable of doing well in science courses and help with mcat or the other option is to enroll in a masters program which I know first hand that it is what the admissions reps at my medical school suggest to students in situations such as yours because the new gpa as a masters student will look good.

You do realize this thread is almost six years old right?

 

[DetroitDoc1993]

You do realize this thread is almost six years old right?

So? And no i did not know it was from 6 years ago but whats your point? Doesn't mean someone else doesn't have some kind of similar problem who might benefit from it

 

[Malkin.12]

So? And no i did not know it was from 6 years ago but whats your point? Doesn't mean someone else doesn't have some kind of similar problem who might benefit from it

I am very proud of the user that created this thread! The individual is now a medical student! The thread gave me lots of hope!

 

[Cardboard101]

So? And no i did not know it was from 6 years ago but whats your point? Doesn't mean someone else doesn't have some kind of similar problem who might benefit from it

Admissions can change a lot in 6 years. For example, DO schools no longer do grade replacement. So, all the retake advice given in this thread is irrelevant now.

 

[Lucca]

Closing old thread