not looking good....

[doctosan]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I am a pre-med Biology major, planning to get a minor in Chemistry (it is just one more class). Currently I am taking:

Organic Chemistry II
Physics (non calc) I
Ecology
Precalculus

Precalculus and Ecology are doing fine, Organic Chem is manageable, but Physics is kicking my butt....

GPA: around 2.5....

My friend suggested I take Physics 2, Microbiology, and Calculus at a community college next semester, to boost my GPA up as well as save some money. Also next semester is the last semester for which this option is available, since after that all of the courses will not be available at community colleges. I told him that medical schools will take it negatively if I decide to go to a community college one semester after starting at a university (I took a course at the same college the summer before freshman year, as well as last summer, though last summer was for review purposes) . He then suggested that I take Microbio at the univ. but take Physics and Calculus at the community college, but I repeated the same...I don't want them to think I am taking the easy route....not that the community college here is steriotypically easier, I will just have the benefit of s better student to faculty ratio as well as tutoring services for free

Biology classes were fine, it was just Chemistry and Genetics that killed me.... though I did retake them and do better....

The good: I am working as a lab technician at a top university, whose medical school is among the top 25

Medical interests: Cardiology, Dermatology, Otolaryngology.

Any suggestions?

PS - I refuse to leave the country for medical school

 

[p30doc]

How many credits is that 2.5 based on? You need to figure out what you are doing wrong in terms of studying/learning and start knocking out A's to raise that GPA up to a minimum of a 3.0. Try not to keep digging yourself into a deeper hole, the earlier you can nip this in the butt the better.

 

[doctosan]

I have between 70 and 80 credits, about 40 or so to go to get my BS with minor in Chem

 

[zenlike]

You seem to be interested in some pretty competitive of specialties. You will be competing with the best of the best of students.

 

[doctosan]

I realize this, hence I am trying to do something while I still have a chance..

 

[p30doc]

I have between 70 and 80 credits, about 40 or so to go to get my BS with minor in Chem

Ok well I had less than 3.0 but greater than a 2.5 in ~160 credits. I then did ~70 credits post-bacc of nearly 4.0 work and brought my overall gpa above a 3.0. I have several DO acceptances at this point. So like I said, figure out what you are doing wrong and start getting A's. If you can do that will you will be able to go to a US medical school.

 

[doctosan]

Should I remain in my university, go to a community college for a semester and continue at my university, or do the split plan (microbio @ university, physics and calc at community college)?

I am planning on adding some more social sciences/humanities courses in the remaining semesters to boost my gpa, as well as load up on them in the summer. Another option I was considering was getting a BA in Psychology (my school does not offer a BS), which may delay me a semester, possibly two, but I sense my gpa for the psychology courses won't drop below 3.0, based on experience with previous psychology classes. A BA in chemistry is also possibly, but will of course be more difficult (requires PChem and Inorganic Chem, as well as another elective)

 

[Lolo1982]

I've had admissions people tell me directly that community college classes aren't regarded very highly. They know that it's much easier to pull a 4.0 at a CC. If you wanted to take things outside your major/non-hard science at cc to save money, I don't think that would matter, but you need to show you can take the harder classes at university level.

 

[davis749]

I've had admissions people tell me directly that community college classes aren't regarded very highly. They know that it's much easier to pull a 4.0 at a CC. If you wanted to take things outside your major/non-hard science at cc to save money, I don't think that would matter, but you need to show you can take the harder classes at university level.

+1

Speaking from my experience, I took two intro. bio classes at a CC my senior year of high school to get ahead. I cannot stress how poor of a decision this was. I am attending now attending a 4 year private university, and the curriculum is beyond comparison. By taking courses at a CC, you will be getting what you pay for. If you don't think you can swing calc, physics, and microbio at your university, then maybe try taking some of them intensive over the summer. I had a friend take a three week calc crash course and do great.

You also mentioned doing liberal arts classes to raise your GPA. While this does raise your cumulative GPA, it's not going to touch your BCPM GPA. Taking underwater basket weaving may seem like a great decision for numbers, but at the end of the day, any ADCOM is going to want to know why you took the course, and an answer better than "to raise my GPA" is going to be necessary. Best of luck!

 

[Powdermonkey]

I graduated from a public UG and went back to a local CC once I was out to take my last couple of pre-reqs that werent in my engineering curriculum. My GPA wasnt super high (3.25ish), but all the pre-reqs I took at the CC i did well in. And I got in. 🙂. So its not a huge thing. You should really look at HOW you are studying though, as well as the quality of studying and figure out what you are doing wrong. Not studying enough? Focusing too much on the details and not getting the big picture? Not focusing enough on the details? Go talk to some advisors or your profs and see if you can come up with a new way to study for classes to bring those grades up. It wont be easy, but neither is med school.

Good luck 🙂

 

[zenlike]

Speaking from my experience, I took two intro. bio classes at a CC my senior year of high school to get ahead. I cannot stress how poor of a decision this was. I am attending now attending a 4 year private university, and the curriculum is beyond comparison. By taking courses at a CC, you will be getting what you pay for.

My only background in bio is the two semesters of Gen Bio I took at a community college. I managed to get a 14 on the bio section of the MCAT. The tuition was next to nothing and I was working full time so the night classes were great for my situation.

 

[EricH]

I've had admissions people tell me directly that community college classes aren't regarded very highly. They know that it's much easier to pull a 4.0 at a CC. If you wanted to take things outside your major/non-hard science at cc to save money, I don't think that would matter, but you need to show you can take the harder classes at university level.

+1, How would you view this if you were on tha admissions committee?