My First C In College

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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astrife

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Well I'm a freshman 2nd semester. I made a 4.0 first semester mostly because I had already had the classes before in high school and I was running high with motivation. This semester I took botany and chem II as my sci courses. Well my motivation was completely sapped. I used to care so much about getting into medical school, and I still do, but I for the life of me couldn't drive myself to study the amount necessary to even maintain my B in botany. It was the hardest class I've ever taken, but I could've easily done it had I had the motivation and energy. This happens to me every spring semester. I am so thrilled for school first semester Ace all my classes, but the spring semester I lose it all and can barely even do my laundry much less study the necessary 2 hours a day to keep my grades up. There's something wrong with me because I know in a couple months I'm going to be planning full force how to bring myself back up from this and probably over planning what I'll do to rebound. I'm really screwed. Maybe I need some meds or something....
 
Wow, buddy. Just take a step back, re-read what you wrote, put your Rationality Cap back on, and keep plugging along.
 
Yeah I know... I'm just really really depressed... I just got out of a failed final not an hour ago...
 
Yeah, you're probably never getting into medical school now. My best advice is to stop looking at this website until you're actually accepted into med school. It will do you more harm than good. Do you value your sanity? If so, TURN OF YOUR COMPUTER, go for a jog, and then get back to studying.
 
You're fine, lots of people have rough freshman semesters. My first freshman semester at midterms I had an F in an anthropology class, and a D in calc. I brought those up, but still ended up with a C and B respectively. Now i'm applying to med school with a 3.9 cumm. and near 4.0 sci.

Just get back in there, you will be fine, just try and work hard. If you feel you might have depression problems or whatever, go talk to the school counselors if yall have them.

Good luck, keep on keepin on

PS:
The fact that this is your "first C in college" being a freshman doesn't really make much sense. You've been here barely a year...
 
I have 6-8 C's on my undergrad transcript.

I got 8 US-allo interviews, 5 of which I went to, and got 3 acceptances.

A C, especially in something like botany, won't kill you. It will just be a blip on the radar.

The more important thing to worry about is this slump you're in. Maybe you should take it easy this summer and rejuvenate. Be productive, get a part time research position or something, but chill for a while. Everyone has a limit, and everyone needs a break sometimes.
 
i know the feeling, i always seem to get worse grades in the spring than in the fall - i think its to do with just generally getting exhausted with the end of the whole school year, not just the spring semester itself.

take a break, relax, and try to approach your next final/class/semester with a fresh mind. you can still go to medical school. 😀
 
imagine going to a school on the quarter system. I'm unmotivated by week 2 of first quarter.

But, um, just forget the past and move on.
 
step 1: cut a hole in a box
 
So how did you do in your other classes? A C coupled with all As isn't going to kill your GPA at all. If you had a couple of Bs in there, too, you just have to step it up later. Also, I doubt schools care that much how you did in botany. Doing well in your chem classes is probably more important.

Anyway, just don't do it again. 🙂 Also, you're going to have 3 more spring terms, so you have to find some way to deal with the urge to slack. One easy way is to try to take most of the harder classes in the fall when you're motivated. Other than that, I think you just need to sit down and try to identify why you can't study at all in the spring and try to find ways to work around it.
 
eternalrage said:
I have 6-8 C's on my undergrad transcript.

I got 8 US-allo interviews, 5 of which I went to, and got 3 acceptances.
Click to expand...

eternalrage, you're my hero.

I think I have about 6 C's on my ugrad transcript as well. Downward trend, to boot. Of course this is when I was an engineering student.

To OP:
Don't stress out about it. It's the past. It can only hurt you as much as you let it. I suspect, though, the grade is the symptom and not the problem since you clearly believe you should have and could have done better.

Just because you have a plan that says you should go from point B to point C in time D with grade A doesn't mean you have to follow that plan. Take some time to find an activity you enjoy. Find out who you are as a person and gain some perspective on life. Take a look in the non-trad forum and see all the people with huge obstacles who are still pursuing medicine because they've learned that it's who they want to be and not what they want others to see them as.

Since you've suggested you do better in the fall, why not take an extra class in the fall and really focus on finding your academic limits. Make sure you're prepared to work hard to get into med school. This is really important.

Then, take it relatively easy in the spring. Don't put so much weight on your performance in the classes; focus on learning completely what's important in each subject. Learn to budget your time and make sure you have a healthy amount budgeted to free time for an activity you enjoy.
 
That's nothing I have a C in Chem I and II. I have to make A's in both physics and organic or I can kiss medschool goodbye. So I am going to be studying physics and organic chemistry all throughout the summer so I can get a good grade in the fall.
 
I'm a junior and I just earned my first C in college. I'm a biochemistry major and I took a one credit hour lab course and got a C. Other than that, I have about 1.5 years of independent research and other lab courses (and challenging biology lecture courses) that I aced. I have about a 3.8 GPA. Am I in trouble? Help! Please tell me! I'm about to apply for medical school.
 
a C worth 1 credit is hardly going to affect your gpa very much.
 
But they're still going to see the C on the transcript when they look at it. What will they think?
 
I got a C in ecology (how the heck did that happen?) and nobody allo or osteo asked about it. Just make sure you do well in the required classes.
 
pennybridge said:
step 1: cut a hole in a box
Click to expand...

Step 2: Put your junk in that box


Here's a little perspective. The Dean of Admissions at one of the schools at which I interviewed told me "4-point-0s are boring."

Stop freaking out about the C and realize that it's just going to make your application more colorful. Who wants to look at a column full of As, anyway? You should be able to make words with your grades, like "WAD" and "BED." Extra points if you can spell "DABBED."
 
Compared to what everyone else is saying.... I feel like I really have a reason to freak out. I have a 3.4 (applying this year) and I have... 3C's and 1D on my transcript. I had an upward trend going for a while, but this semester... I'll be lucky if I make all B's.

Isn't the semester before you apply to med school really really important?

I know I'm freaking out, and I don't know if it's appropriate or not. I'm taking the MCAT this summer....

Do some schools screen based just on GPA? I've heard stories about schools simply dropping applicants who don't make a 3.5 cutoff. Or do schools look at both MCAT and GPA?


Thanks.
 
eternalrage said:
I have 6-8 C's on my undergrad transcript.

I got 8 US-allo interviews, 5 of which I went to, and got 3 acceptances.
Click to expand...

you got 6-8 C's, but didn't you do hopkins bioengineering? that's notoriously the hardest bioengineering program out there. i don't know if i'd compare 6 Cs in a bioengineering major with 6Cs in something like a psychology major.

i'm not trying to bag on other majors, but i'm just wondering if your situation really applies to others.


and to the original poster, just don't lose sight of med school if that's what you really want to do. my first quarter, i got a 3.25 and was scared shtless. it was a huge wakeup call since i came in confident that i would get straight As. nothing motivates better than fear, so use that to study hard. you're obviously capable of getting good grades.
 
Every Spring? Seasonal Affective Disorder ...some call it winter depression...not diagnosing anything here, but lots of light helps me. Get as much sun as you can....you get light boxes for that. Lots of light and you'll feel like a different person. Light's a lot cheaper than Paxil or Zoloft anyways.
 
RELAX!!!!!! JEEZ, you have 1 C, and a very solid first semester. First year is hard on everyone, so be happy that it didn't hit you as hard as some people. I personally know some people that had to scrap their med school dreams because they had a 1.something gpa first year.
 
Even in my hardest classes the lowest grade I've gotten is a B. My only C and B- is from mid-difficulty classes which I didn't study for because I hated the teacher's face.
 
BeatrixKiddo said:
Even in my hardest classes the lowest grade I've gotten is a B. My only C and B- is from mid-difficulty classes which I didn't study for because I hated the teacher's face.
Click to expand...

You still have a C! :laugh:
 
You need to sit for 2hrs a day for a couple of months in front of 16 40watt lamps--that is one of the standard treatments for seasonal affective disorder. If that doesn't help--get laid.
 
so how many people had really rough freshman year but eventually ended up going to... let's say top 10 medical schools in the U.S.? I really want to know because I also had rough freshman year but I brough my GPA back up very high.
 
TheSky said:
But they're still going to see the C on the transcript when they look at it. What will they think?
Click to expand...

Can someone please respond to my question? Also, what if I were in the same situation but with a D? I haven't exactly found out that I got a C in that class, but I know my grade for one of the assignments and with that grade the highest I could possibly get in the class is a C. I haven't found out my other grades so I might just get a D. Then what would I do? Should I explain it somewhere? I have other challenging classes like Physical Chemistry and Biochemistry and Independent Research Lab that I aced. What would they say if they saw the C or the D? Do they even look that closely? (Please tell me, I am so freaking out and I am normally a decent student but this prof was just a *&*^*&^*.) Thanks for your replies!
 
TheSky said:
Can someone please respond to my question? Also, what if I were in the same situation but with a D? I haven't exactly found out that I got a C in that class, but I know my grade for one of the assignments and with that grade the highest I could possibly get in the class is a C. I haven't found out my other grades so I might just get a D. Then what would I do? Should I explain it somewhere? I have other challenging classes like Physical Chemistry and Biochemistry and Independent Research Lab that I aced. What would they say if they saw the C or the D? Do they even look that closely? (Please tell me, I am so freaking out and I am normally a decent student but this prof was just a *&*^*&^*.) Thanks for your replies!
Click to expand...

how did you get A's in Physical Chemistry and Biochemistry and get a D in other class? shouldn't it be the opposite?
 
luv2sd said:
how did you get A's in Physical Chemistry and Biochemistry and get a D in other class? shouldn't it be the opposite?
Click to expand...

The teacher in the lab *(&(*ing hated my guts. I'm not a terrible student as my other grades reflect. What do you think the admissions committee will think? The only other bad grades on my transcript are a B in first semester orgo and a B+ in another lab course. Other than that I've done decently everywhere else. How will that C or D look?
 
So how should I address the issue of the C or D? Do you think I even should? I am so scared...what will happen to me? I bet this has been answered somewhere already, but do they look at individual grades for non-pre-med courses such as this one?
 
your life is over.

On a side note, I always wonder what would happen to people like the op who don't know what falling and getting back up is all about.
 
Institute said:
your life is over.

On a side note, I always wonder what would happen to people like the op who don't know what falling and getting back up is all about.
Click to expand...

i thought you just lay prone on the ground until the life alert people get there?
 
I think that you need to learn to develop academic stamina. In other words, pay attention to what works for you in terms of being able to study for longer periods of time. Study 50 minutes, then take a 15 minute break. Don't ever study for more than 60 minutes straight (sounds silly but it works). Exercise daily, hang with your freinds, get some sun, etc, etc. If you have something that is draining your energy (e.g. a full-time job), reconsider it.

Since you burn out in the spring, try to think of ways to fix that problem.
 
astrife said:
Well I'm a freshman 2nd semester. I made a 4.0 first semester mostly because I had already had the classes before in high school and I was running high with motivation. This semester I took botany and chem II as my sci courses. Well my motivation was completely sapped. I used to care so much about getting into medical school, and I still do, but I for the life of me couldn't drive myself to study the amount necessary to even maintain my B in botany. It was the hardest class I've ever taken, but I could've easily done it had I had the motivation and energy. This happens to me every spring semester. I am so thrilled for school first semester Ace all my classes, but the spring semester I lose it all and can barely even do my laundry much less study the necessary 2 hours a day to keep my grades up. There's something wrong with me because I know in a couple months I'm going to be planning full force how to bring myself back up from this and probably over planning what I'll do to rebound. I'm really screwed. Maybe I need some meds or something....
Click to expand...

You should be out drinking and celebrating that C of yours! ...especially in FRESHMAN year.
 
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