Need to pull my GPA up

[coucouloulou]

Hi everyone,
So my freshman overall GPA is 3.37 and my sGPA is 3.1...
I just finished my first semester of sophomore year and it should be somewhere around 3.5/3.5. My GPA goal is 3.7/3.7 and to get that I pretty much need As everywhere.

What techniques do you use to manage that? I'm in Biomedical sci. I have a 27h per week job and volunteering and I'm taking 6 courses per semester (18 credits).
I'm not sure of what I'm doing wrong but I usually start out pretty well (90s on the first series of midterms) and then everything basically drops to the 70s...
Any tips? Thanks!

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[Goro]

Go visit your school's education or learning center for help in study techniques, time, mgt, etc.

 

[HomeSkool]

Sounds like there may be some burnout going on there if your grades are constantly dropping off late in the semester. You may need to pare back some of your non-academic activities if that's what it takes to get the grades you need. Even if that results in a five-year undergrad experience or a gap year, either of those options is preferable to getting rejected for sub-par academic performance.

To answer your question: I made sure I never overloaded myself (never did now than 16 credits in a semester), and I balanced my course load so I never got crushed with too many upper-level courses at once. I had a 3.42 cGPA after freshman year and graduated with a 3.81.

 

[coucouloulou]

Sounds like there may be some burnout going on there if your grades are constantly dropping off late in the semester. You may need to pare back some of your non-academic activities if that's what it takes to get the grades you need. Even if that results in a five-year undergrad experience or a gap year, either of those options is preferable to getting rejected for sub-par academic performance.

To answer your question: I made sure I never overloaded myself (never did now than 16 credits in a semester), and I balanced my course load so I never got crushed with too many upper-level courses at once. I had a 3.42 cGPA after freshman year and graduated with a 3.81.

I'll go ask about time mgmt etc, thanks!

The reason why my freshman GPA is this low is because I took a 3rd year bio course in first year (I could because of HS credits) and I ended up getting a C and it took up a lot of my time which also lowered the other grades. Does that make it more "forgivable" by med schools?

 

[HomeSkool]

I'll go ask about time mgmt etc, thanks!

The reason why my freshman GPA is this low is because I took a 3rd year bio course in first year (I could because of HS credits) and I ended up getting a C and it took up a lot of my time which also lowered the other grades. Does that make it more "forgivable" by med schools?

A C is very forgivable, especially if you have an upward GPA trend thereafter. DO NOT retake that course.

And the lesson is: just because you can, it doesn't mean you should.

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

A C is very forgivable, especially if you have an upward GPA trend thereafter. DO NOT retake that course.

And the lesson is: just because you can, it doesn't mean you should.

Is there a harm in retaking a course and getting an A? Does it come off as GPA padding?

 

[HomeSkool]

Is there a harm in retaking a course and getting an A? Does it come off as GPA padding?

Retaking it probably won't hurt you if you get an A, but anything less than that will hurt. If you get an A, adcoms will say, "Well yeah, we expected no less." If you don't, they'll say, "What's wrong with this person?" Sensible alternative: take a different course instead; an A will help your GPA, but anything else will do you less harm because the expectation of an A isn't there like it would be on a retake. So retaking a course has no more ability to help than taking an unrelated course, but it does have considerably now ability to harm. It's just not with the risk.

 

[workaholic181]

Hi everyone,
So my freshman overall GPA is 3.37 and my sGPA is 3.1...
I just finished my first semester of sophomore year and it should be somewhere around 3.5/3.5. My GPA goal is 3.7/3.7 and to get that I pretty much need As everywhere.

What techniques do you use to manage that? I'm in Biomedical sci. I have a 27h per week job and volunteering and I'm taking 6 courses per semester (18 credits).
I'm not sure of what I'm doing wrong but I usually start out pretty well (90s on the first series of midterms) and then everything basically drops to the 70s...
Any tips? Thanks!

Your freshman GPA is obviously not great but far from devastating OP. You’re gonna be fine if you keep this work up.

Do you need this job? Grades come first if not.