Need Advice!

[amasif786786]

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Hello SDN,

I am looking for some guidance about what to do. I am a sophomore with a triple major in Biology, Neuroscience, and Ethics. I have a 3.3 GPA, 3.0scGPA. I saw that I just got a C- in orgo II. I was wondering if I took Biochem in the next fall and did well. Should I still retake Orgo II? I have gotten C's in Orgo I, Genetics, Orgo II, and Calc II. I am unsure what to retake, and there are a lot of reasons why I struggled in these courses. Mainly being not studying properly, and external factors such as COVID family pressure, and mental health issues. I really have unhelpful premed advisors that said I couldn't make it into medical school after I got my first C. I am very confused what to do because I wanted to take my MCAT in the next spring and apply in the summer of junior year. I am from NJ and was planning to do instate med, and then DO's(which I prefer. Any Advice?

 

[ParaMagic1]

First off... Why the triple major? Not Adcoms, but from my understanding major doesn't play that much of a role. If the combination of majors is too difficult I would suggest sticking to one and crushing it.

I would highly recommend talking to an academic counselor at school that can provide you with tips/tricks on how to study appropriately. I understand home life and current pandemic can be stressful but you have to realize life pretty much always will be, there will be no magic fix once you get into medical school.

You can get into medical schools with a couple C's... However probably not if all of your grades are C's.

 

[amasif786786]

First off... Why the triple major? Not Adcoms, but from my understanding major doesn't play that much of a role. If the combination of majors is too difficult I would suggest sticking to one and crushing it.

I would highly recommend talking to an academic counselor at school that can provide you with tips/tricks on how to study appropriately. I understand home life and current pandemic can be stressful but you have to realize life pretty much always will be, there will be no magic fix once you get into medical school.

You can get into medical schools with a couple C's... However probably not if all of your grades are C's.

Thank You for your response, the triple major is integrated as a program at my undergraduate school. Do you recommend me to retake any classes? Gap Year?

 

[DO2015CA]

You need to fix your studying first. You are a sophomore so the gpa will be easy to repair if you learn what you need to study. Fix that so you are pulling As in your science classes then worry about the mcat. It’s best to never take the mcat too early

 

[amasif786786]

Do you recommend me to take the C minus in orgo 2? What classes should I retake?

 

[StudentDoctorNeuro]

Do you recommend me to take the C minus in orgo 2? What classes should I retake?

Hey man. First rule, don't listen to premed advisors, they don't know **** tbh. As someone posted above you can get into med school with a couple of C's as long as they're not all C's. (I got into med school this year with 3 C's).

But you're going to have to work very hard from here on out, you don't have much room for error anymore. I got those C's my sophomore year then I had two years of very strong upward trend in GPA (nothing less than a 3.8 per semester). Even so I got rejected my first time, so I applied again but this time I did a 1 year masters program (MBS) and did very well, got a 3.9 GPA at a med school. I also did well on the MCAT (508), which you're gonna have to do as well.

Most med schools have a minimum of a "C" required for their prequisite courses. I recommend emailing which schools you want to go and doing research if they have that requirement. I'm from NJ and all med schools here require a minimum of a C in a prereq.

Edit: Just saw you're from NJ fam. Btw I also got C's in Orgo I, II and Genetics lol.

 

[amasif786786]

Hey man. First rule, don't listen to premed advisors, they don't know **** tbh. As someone posted above you can get into med school with a couple of C's as long as they're not all C's. (I got into med school this year with 3 C's).

But you're going to have to work very hard from here on out, you don't have much room for error anymore. I got those C's my sophomore year then I had two years of very strong upward trend in GPA (nothing less than a 3.8 per semester). Even so I got rejected my first time, so I applied again but this time I did a 1 year masters program (MBS) and did very well, got a 3.9 GPA at a med school. I also did well on the MCAT (508), which you're gonna have to do as well.

Most med schools have a minimum of a "C" required for their prequisite courses. I recommend emailing which schools you want to go and doing research if they have that requirement. I'm from NJ and all med schools here require a minimum of a C in a prereq.

Edit: Just saw you're from NJ fam. Btw I also got C's in Orgo I, II and Genetics lol.

Thank You for the Encouragement its refreshing to hear. From hearing your feedback, im leaning toward taking biochem next semester, and then orgo spring of my junior year. And then focus my senior year on mcat prep, research, and LOR. I have looked into getting a MBS specifically Rowan or Rutgers. I am a undergrad at Syracuse rn.

 

[StudentDoctorNeuro]

Thank You for the Encouragement its refreshing to hear. From hearing your feedback, im leaning toward taking biochem next semester, and then orgo spring of my junior year. And then focus my senior year on mcat prep, research, and LOR. I have looked into getting a MBS specifically Rowan or Rutgers. I am a undergrad at Syracuse rn.

Nice good luck. Msg me if you need any help. I went to Rutgers NB and did the MBS at RWJ, matriculating at Rowan SOM.

 

[Goro]

Hello SDN,

I am looking for some guidance about what to do. I am a sophomore with a triple major in Biology, Neuroscience, and Ethics. I have a 3.3 GPA, 3.0scGPA. I saw that I just got a C- in orgo II. I was wondering if I took Biochem in the next fall and did well. Should I still retake Orgo II? I have gotten C's in Orgo I, Genetics, Orgo II, and Calc II. I am unsure what to retake, and there are a lot of reasons why I struggled in these courses. Mainly being not studying properly, and external factors such as COVID family pressure, and mental health issues. I really have unhelpful premed advisors that said I couldn't make it into medical school after I got my first C. I am very confused what to do because I wanted to take my MCAT in the next spring and apply in the summer of junior year. I am from NJ and was planning to do instate med, and then DO's(which I prefer. Any Advice?

Most schools require a C or better in pre-reqs, so yes, you'll need to retake. For the sake of doing well on MCAT, it's also worth it.

 

[Damson]

"I really have unhelpful premed advisors that said I couldn't make it into medical school after I got my first C."

Wow.
As @LizzyM would say, "the path to medical school is strewn with the festering bodies of premeds who listened to their premed advisors."
All you really need is look through old threads on sdn, start a thread on the premed section (which you've already done) or confidential consult, or private-message an advisor on here. They'll point you in the right direction
But take the info you get on sdn with a grain of salt. Especially those from premeds and medical students, take them with two grains of salt.
Fact-check the advice you get is what I'm saying.

- retake orgo 2. C- won't be accepted
- raise gpa, ace higher-level science courses and toss in some fluff science classes
- you can already start preparing for the mcat this summer. but only take it once ready

 

[amasif786786]

Thank You! I really appreciate this!

 

[amasif786786]

Most schools require a C or better in pre-reqs, so yes, you'll need to retake. For the sake of doing well on MCAT, it's also worth it.

Sounds solid I plan on retaking Orgo II in the next spring and have lessened the load to focus on doing well for biochem in the fall.