Making up for my freshman year...

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[GoSpursGo]

Hi guys. Right now I'm a sophomore, and just recently I started to worry about my grades(really worry). I was just absolutely awful about school my freshman year. Not going to class and such.
Right now, I have a 2.9 cGPA
I'm taking 17 hours this semester and might be receiving one B (The rest A's)
I've been reading over some people's threads and many of their comments read that the OP had ordinary scores.
I'm starting out pretty low and I know I'm not that good of a test taker (I'm working on it), so I'm scared that the MCAT won't help my situation when it is time for me to take it.
I've done some community service. I plan on going to Haiti for a medical missions trip during spring break. I want to get into research and find a place to shadow/intern by next year. I know these things aren't set in stone, so I want to know if there is hope for me at least. And if so, I'd really appreciate some tips.

Thanks

Lucky for you, you've woken up early enough to still have time to salvage your GPA. A 2.9 is a lot easier to bring up after only 30 hours than it is after 90! 🙂

You know what you have to do academic-wise. Your 1st year hasn't left you much wiggle room, so you've gotta get mostly A's from here on out, maybe with a B here or there. If you're worried about how you take tests, I strongly advise taking an MCAT prep course, as it's useful not for only going back over the material but also for getting you used to the test format, and that's half the battle. I did Kaplan and it worked great for me, but others have had great results with Exam Krakers and Princeton, too.

It sounds like you have good ideas for ECs; now what you have to do is actually put that into action. Go find a research professor, pay for the Haiti trip, email the head of volunteers at the nearby hospital... TOMORROW, not "in the next few weeks!" You'd be surprised how time slips away, and though I feel confident in my app, I always have those days where I worry if I did enough. No time like the present!

Good luck! You seem like a good guy, and I hope you really manage to turn things around!

 

[Mobius1985]

Your highest priority needs to be resuscitating your GPA. Don't be so focused on extracurriculars that you lose sight of that. You can definitely turn things around. Making some assumptions: With the approximately 3.75 GPA you'll get this semester, your GPA will be up to 3.18. With three more semesters of straight As, you'll be up to a 3.59, or so, which will be a competitive GPA for allopathic med school consideration. Even one B will set you back. Though spending an extra two semesters bringing your GPA up before applying wouldn't be the end of the world, it would be more cost effective to be able to apply at the traditional time after junior year. If you need to take a smaller class load to get perfect grades, then do so.

These are my suggestions. If you can set your mind to achieving this, there is indeed hope for you. Without a good GPA, the extracurriculars and MCAT won't matter.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Your highest priority needs to be resuscitating your GPA. Don't be so focused on extracurriculars that you lose sight of that. You can definitely turn things around. Making some assumptions: With the approximately 3.75 GPA you'll get this semester, your GPA will be up to 3.18. With three more semesters of straight As, you'll be up to a 3.59, or so, which will be a competitive GPA for allopathic med school consideration. Even one B will set you back. Though spending an extra two semesters bringing your GPA up before applying wouldn't be the end of the world, it would be more cost effective to be able to apply at the traditional time after junior year. If you need to take a smaller class load to get perfect grades, then do so.

These are my suggestions. If you can set your mind to achieving this, there is indeed hope for you. Without a good GPA, the extracurriculars and MCAT won't matter.

This is true, and an excellent point. Never lose sight of your number 1 priority, which is to resuscitate your GPA. That said, make sure you don't completely lose sight of these other requirements for med school application as well- it would be a shame if you managed to get your GPA up to being competitive only to get no love because your ECs or MCAT are mediocre.

Take advantage of your winters and summers to get ECs in; do whatever you can during the semester, but like Mobius says, your GPA is your number 1 priority.