NCAA D1 sport = :(

[Stirbar]

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Hey everyone,

My situation is a bit of a strange one and I am wondering how badly it will be perceived by upper-tier medical schools.

I am on the verge of completing my sophomore year of college. Until now, my GPA has been a 4.0. However, this semester I joined a NCAA Division I sport as a walk-on and drastically underestimated the time commitment. I spend 25+ hours a week at practice and competitions (it is a year-round sport, not seasonal). I am currently being considered for an All-American award, if that factors into your judgment. Currently, I'm enrolled in 19 hours of credit, two of which are labs, and am concerned about my grades. Specifically, there is a great disparity in my overall performance - I have high A's in 13 of those hours. Two classes, namely honors Orgo II (second semester of organic) and molecular biology, are killing me. I have not had enough time to put in the work necessary to perform on par in those courses. I don't find any of the material particularly challenging, it is just overwhelming when there is so much of it and so little time. Also, please take into account that I have a part time job (~15 hours a week) that I need to maintain to pay for college.

Seeing as finals are coming up, this will be my only chance to make a drastic improvement. Here is the situation - it is likely that I will make a C in orgo (possibly a B if I absolutely slaughter the final) and a B in molecular biology. This will lower my GPA to around 3.82 +/- .02 points depending what sort of B I get. By application time, if I am able to get all A's in my courses, I will be up to a maximum of 3.93 or so (I attend a public ivy). I have taken playing a sport into consideration and decided to take fewer credit hours next semester to give myself more room to work (and sleep!).

My main question is: will having a C on my transcript (potentially even two) knock me out of the running for a high-ranked medical school even if my overall GPA is greater than their median accepted GPA? I know many other factors play in the admissions game, but, for the sake of your analysis, please assume that all other criteria (LOR, group membership, research) are up to par/competitive.

I'd appreciate any input you have to offer. Thanks for reading!

 

[hiyaman]

Hey everyone,

My situation is a bit of a strange one and I am wondering how badly it will be perceived by upper-tier medical schools.

I am on the verge of completing my sophomore year of college. Until now, my GPA has been a 4.0. However, this semester I joined a NCAA Division I sport as a walk-on and drastically underestimated the time commitment. I spend 25+ hours a week at practice and competitions (it is a year-round sport, not seasonal). I am currently being considered for an All-American award, if that factors into your judgment. Currently, I'm enrolled in 19 hours of credit, two of which are labs, and am concerned about my grades. Specifically, there is a great disparity in my overall performance - I have high A's in 13 of those hours. Two classes, namely honors Orgo II (second semester of organic) and molecular biology, are killing me. I have not had enough time to put in the work necessary to perform on par in those courses. I don't find any of the material particularly challenging, it is just overwhelming when there is so much of it and so little time. Also, please take into account that I have a part time job (~15 hours a week) that I need to maintain to pay for college.

Seeing as finals are coming up, this will be my only chance to make a drastic improvement. Here is the situation - it is likely that I will make a C in orgo (possibly a B if I absolutely slaughter the final) and a B in molecular biology. This will lower my GPA to around 3.82 +/- .02 points depending what sort of B I get. By application time, if I am able to get all A's in my courses, I will be up to a maximum of 3.93 or so (I attend a public ivy). I have taken playing a sport into consideration and decided to take fewer credit hours next semester to give myself more room to work (and sleep!).

My main question is: will having a C on my transcript (potentially even two) knock me out of the running for a high-ranked medical school even if my overall GPA is greater than their median accepted GPA? I know many other factors play in the admissions game, but, for the sake of your analysis, please assume that all other criteria (LOR, group membership, research) are up to par/competitive.

I'd appreciate any input you have to offer. Thanks for reading!

I don't think so, I think schools look at your cumulative/science GPA first and then maybe look at how it breaks down. I can't imagine how getting only two C's would knock you out if you have a 3.9 by graduation. I mean no one is perfect and people make mistakes. I'm sure you'll be fine as long as you make adjustments to compensate for athletics.

 

[BadHorse]

...I attend a public ivy...

This is where I stopped reading.

You seem like a nice kid, but your post smacks of naivete. Go back to lurking for a while. No, a C won't kill your application.

 

[sdsoccer]

deleted

 

[gravitywave]

D1 athlete + 19 credits + two labs + honors orgo + mol bio = 3.5gpa this semester? you're doing pretty well, i'd say.

take 15 credits per semester and you'll be fine. stop trying to do everything at once. all-american will be a nice gold star on your AMCAS but it won't make up for sub-par grades.

 

[Stirbar]

This is where I stopped reading.

You seem like a nice kid, but your post smacks of naivete. Go back to lurking for a while. No, a C won't kill your application.

I posted that to avoid questions asking about the selectivity of the institution I attend. Some think that just because it isn't Harvard or Yale that it isn't on a very high standard of difficulty (at least that's what some of the people who post on here make me feel is their perception). That was just meant to give a broad range of good schools while allowing me to retain my anonymity, not serve as a pompous way of building myself up. I apologize if you saw it as such.

I don't think I'll go back to passively reading the forum. That was a bit unnecessary on your part. I appreciate your input, nonetheless.

 

[aSagacious]

This is where I stopped reading. You seem like a nice kid, but your post smacks of naivete. Go back to lurking for a while.

I don't think I'll go back to passively reading the forum. That was a bit unnecessary on your part.

 

[tlaloc87]

Not sure what advice you want. You're a sophomore. You're not at the point of selecting where to apply, so don't worry about what your GPA will be when apps roll around. A lot can change in a year.

Do your best. Quit worrying about months/years from now.

 

[NewEngland21]

will having a C on my transcript (potentially even two) knock me out of the running for a high-ranked medical school!

You mean a REAL Ivy?

And it was kind of unnecessary for the entire explanation, since this was your concern and question. One which has been asked and asked all the time so a simple search could have sufficed.

 

[BadHorse]

I posted that to avoid questions asking about the selectivity of the institution I attend. Some think that just because it isn't Harvard or Yale that it isn't on a very high standard of difficulty (at least that's what some of the people who post on here make me feel is their perception). That was just meant to give a broad range of good schools while allowing me to retain my anonymity, not serve as a pompous way of building myself up. I apologize if you saw it as such.

I don't think I'll go back to passively reading the forum. That was a bit unnecessary on your part. I appreciate your input, nonetheless.

I understand where you're coming from, just haven't heard anyone say public ivy since junior year of high school.

The naivete was more with regard to:
1) the things you think are important for your resume, group memberships? You should know adcoms don't care what clubs you're in.
2) the general sense that you're restricting yourself to very selective medical schools when you're way to early in the game to be thinking about that.
3) the final question you end up asking, will a C kill my chances, a topic that comes up so often with uninformed pre-meds on this forum that it's become a joke in itself. That's the real reason I was suggesting you lurk a little more, because anyone who stuck around for long enough to get even a cursory lay of the land would realize that this is a ridiculous question.

Sorry if I come off harsh, I do think you're on track and that you'll do great given your level of motivation and the whole all-star thing is awesome, just think you could stand to use the search function and lurk for a bit more.

 

[LizzyM]

The first thing we look at is gpa.

The second is MCAT (or maybe that the other way around).

Next we look at how you did is some major weed-out courses. O-chem and physics are two biggies. Even if you have an OK MCAT (which you don't know yet) and an OK gpa, if you did piss poor on those courses that everyone takes and that break many pre-meds, that is going to hurt you.

Will being All-American in a sport and having worked 15 hr/wk make up for the fact that you got a C in orgo? If your MCAT is >37, then yes, it will make up for it. If your MCAT is <27 it won't. In between, hard to tell.

 

[rxnfiend]

I understand where you're coming from, just haven't heard anyone say public ivy since junior year of high school.

The naivete was more with regard to:
1) the things you think are important for your resume, group memberships? You should know adcoms don't care what clubs you're in.
2) the general sense that you're restricting yourself to very selective medical schools when you're way to early in the game to be thinking about that.
3) the final question you end up asking, will a C kill my chances, a topic that comes up so often with uninformed pre-meds on this forum that it's become a joke in itself. That's the real reason I was suggesting you lurk a little more, because anyone who stuck around for long enough to get even a cursory lay of the land would realize that this is a ridiculous question.

Sorry if I come off harsh, I do think you're on track and that you'll do great given your level of motivation and the whole all-star thing is awesome, just think you could stand to use the search function and lurk for a bit more.

Honestly, in all of your posts over the last week or so you are the one with an extreme air of arrogance and quite an attitude. Before telling others how they should behave, maybe you should be the change you wish to see in others. I would calm down before you develop a reputation you do not want.

 

[BadHorse]

Honestly, in all of your posts over the last week or so you are the one with an extreme air of arrogance and quite an attitude. Before telling others how they should behave, maybe you should be the change you wish to see in others. I would calm down before you develop a reputation you do not want.

The internet is, evidently, serious business.

 

[NewEngland21]

Honestly, in all of your posts over the last week or so you are the one with an extreme air of arrogance and quite an attitude. Before telling others how they should behave, maybe you should be the change you wish to see in others. I would calm down before you develop a reputation you do not want.

I think it's funny that you are quoting Gandhi to a user that has Gandhi in his/her status...

IRONIC???

 

[Nebulus]

You seem like a nice kid, but your post smacks of naivete. Go back to lurking for a while. No, a C won't kill your application.

This, very much. You're honestly worried about 2 C's? Come back when you have an entire year's worth of C's.

 

[Seven of Nine]

Hey everyone,
Seeing as finals are coming up, this will be my only chance to make a drastic improvement. Here is the situation - it is likely that I will make a C in orgo (possibly a B if I absolutely slaughter the final) and a B in molecular biology. This will lower my GPA to around 3.82 +/- .02 points depending what sort of B I get. By application time, if I am able to get all A's in my courses, I will be up to a maximum of 3.93 or so (I attend a public ivy). I have taken playing a sport into consideration and decided to take fewer credit hours next semester to give myself more room to work (and sleep!).

ok, stirbar. this is crunch time for you. you need to batten down the hatches and focus every spare minute on studying for those tests. "slaughter" the final, as you say. this matters. do everything you can to get those Bs.

what i've read so far is actually a hypothetical situation- you haven't earned the Cs just yet. in a way, your explanation reminds me of when i'm looking at my grades before a test and think "i need to get ____ to get an A." i think by asking these questions now, before you get a C, any positive "you'll bounce back/you're an athlete, that's redeemable" answer you are looking for or are hoping to hear is only to ease off on the pressure under which you're currently. you do not want any reason to ease off consciously or subconsciously at the moment... it's crunch time!

if this is paralyzing stressful for you, go do a workout to unwind and the hit the library. get extra help from tutors or your professor. explain your circumstances, they might be a little more helpful. does your athletic center have test banks or any other secret perks for varsity athletes? aim for high yield/studying smart. go balls-to-the-wall studying and see if you can get those grades. report back here after finals, and we all will go from there, whether or not that means re-strategizing your application around Cs.

 

[RedWheelbarrow]

Well done, aSagacious. I really wish I could "like" this post.

 

[TurtleHop]

I think it's funny that you are quoting Gandhi to a user that has Gandhi in his/her status...

IRONIC???

I thought it was a Michael Jackson (Man in the Mirror) quote.

 

[NewEngland21]

Well done, aSagacious. I really wish I could "like" this post.

This isn't Facebook

I thought it was a Michael Jackson (Man in the Mirror) quote.

No

 

[Mahliah]

Two c's? Oh noes!

 

[gettheleadout]

This, very much. You're honestly worried about 2 C's? Come back when you have an entire year's worth of C's.

Two c's? Oh noes!

Two C's isn't exactly something to relax about...Especially when one of them is in a class heavily considered by adcoms. Please refer to LizzyM's post above.

 

[BadHorse]

Two C's isn't exactly something to relax about...Especially when one of them is in a class heavily considered by adcoms. Please refer to LizzyM's post above.

Starting to agree with this, and anything from LizzyM, as always, should be taken as gospel and carefully considered. Probably should have finished reading the post before dispensing advice.

Also, I agree that you shouldn't be looking for someone to tell you that it's okay to get a C. Kill the finals, do everything in your power to get Bs. If, in the end, you can't manage it, it's not the end of the world, but cross that bridge when you come to it.