OK So I failed 5 courses out of 7 in freshman year...

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northbiker

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In my freshman year I failed 5 courses and two of them were repeats from the last semester. I got financially challenged due to simultaneous suguries of my parents. I wasn't able to perform very well by holding a full time job and managed to only pass 2 of my courses with C & B average.....

two of the courses I failed were Calculus for Sciences and Bio-Genetics...... and they were both repeats from the first semester...

I later transfered to a university in my city and currently pulling 3.73 GPA in second year of the new university in Life Sciences.

I have couple of 90's and 85+ with mostly 80+


Practice MCAT Result I got from my university last week

Physical Science 11
Bio- 10
Verbal Reasoning - 9
but Never wrote the essay part


HOW COMPETITIVE AM I ????????? (just based on the information provided)

Thank you for visiting my thread !!!!
 
What's your GPA? Obviously, it's not 3.73 with all those failures.
 
You have to combine the GPAs based on credits from your old school and your new school to give you your overall GPA. That will determine how competitive you are.
 
proclivity said:
GPAs usually do not transfer to new universities.
Click to expand...

Some forums have a smilie where the guy is banging his head into a wall. I wonder if the mods could make that one available?

AMCAS requires that you submit information on all college courses you took, so it doesn't matter what his new school considers his GPA to be. His AMCAS GPA will be a combination of the two GPA's.
 
Like many others had said, your later success does not make your previous failures go away. However, if you continue to get good grades, and just do a good job explaining yourself, I'm pretty sure you'll be competitive at most schools.

Because there is such a large descrepancy, I'm fairly sure schools will give you a chance to explain yourself, or just give you the benefit of a doubt.

p.s. Improve that MCAT.
 
you know that you dont have to take the MCAT for nursing school right?
 
bigman43 said:
you know that you dont have to take the MCAT for nursing school right?
Click to expand...

A "C" or less in pre-reqs pretty much excludes him from nursing school (BSN) down here..Things have gotten that competitive!

To the OP, failing a course twice will take some explaining..Just keep up the good grades, and demonstrate the ability to excel with a heavy course load.
 
bigman43 said:
you know that you dont have to take the MCAT for nursing school right?
Click to expand...

hahaha, that is so damn mean.

OP don't get discouraged, but just don't make a single mistake from here on out! Get that GPA up up up
 
why is offensive to want to go into nursing?! Does the OP want to apply to an MD program? you only need Mcats for MD or DO. for nursing, you just need to take NCLEX. i wasnt trying to be mean, but someone of the OP's caliber definitely has the will and potential to get into the best county college nursing program in the country!

just keep up all your hard work and no matter what, get above D and if you pull off a C you are a shoe in. keep your hopes up!
 
First of all I like to thank everyone for their opinions......
.
.
.
.
Yes the GPA provided was from the second university....

Accroding to my calculation I won't be able to get my GPA above 3.7 even if I get 90's here on out because of those failed courses....

Calculations with respect to OMSAS I currently have 2.88 GPA


One of the semester I failed was in the summer I know this is stupid but some Medical Schools don't calculate their marks in overall calculation but considers them credit earned... Will this help since I won't be calculating my summer marks for Med Schools ?????????????
 
I am not sure any school that does that. However, DO schools do replace the old grade in a class if you repeat it.
 
You're starting to look like a competitive DO candidate, but you might want to get some more coursework in to pull that 2.88 up before you even consider applying. As mentioned before, DO schools will do some grade replacement with retakes for GPA calculations but the grades will still show up on your application. (re-take and nail those F's and you'll be in business)

I would get some more courses under my belt, make sure to study your ass off for the MCAT and do better than your practice. Then make sure you cover your bases when applying. Apply broadly and make sure you properly explain the early grades and that they won't happen again.
 
northbiker said:
First of all I like to thank everyone for their opinions......
.
.
.
.
Yes the GPA provided was from the second university....

Accroding to my calculation I won't be able to get my GPA above 3.7 even if I get 90's here on out because of those failed courses....

Calculations with respect to OMSAS I currently have 2.88 GPA


One of the semester I failed was in the summer I know this is stupid but some Medical Schools don't calculate their marks in overall calculation but considers them credit earned... Will this help since I won't be calculating my summer marks for Med Schools ?????????????
Click to expand...

What do you mean you won't be calculating summer courses? As far as I know, when reporting grades, if you took the class, you list it. Whether you took it here or there, 10 days ago or 10 years ago. No way around your grades; just focus on the future. If you keep getting A's and get over a 3.0, get a good score on the MCAT, you might have a shot somewhere.

As others have said, retake the classes and get A's, and you could have a much better shot at DO.
 
TheRealMD said:
Wow, never on SDN have I seen someone so thoughtless in their comments. 😱
Click to expand...

I am so offended. I have tried for two whole days to be thoughtless in my comments.
 
inaminute said:
I am so offended. I have tried for two whole days to be thoughtless in my comments.
Click to expand...

I have a thoughtless joke: What did your girlfriend say when you asked her how good you were in bed?
---"ill tell you inaminute"

hahahahhahahahahahaha
 
northbiker said:
First of all I like to thank everyone for their opinions......
.
.
.
.
Yes the GPA provided was from the second university....

Accroding to my calculation I won't be able to get my GPA above 3.7 even if I get 90's here on out because of those failed courses....

Calculations with respect to OMSAS I currently have 2.88 GPA


One of the semester I failed was in the summer I know this is stupid but some Medical Schools don't calculate their marks in overall calculation but considers them credit earned... Will this help since I won't be calculating my summer marks for Med Schools ?????????????
Click to expand...

Ah hah, you're Canadian, that makes a difference. Yes, some Ontario schools don't count summer grades (U of O, for example). Also, since they look at the wGPA, the farther you get from that bad year, the less it will count.

However, for AMCAS and American schools, everything counts, and (officially) all grades carry the same weight, regardless of which year they are from.
 
bigman43 said:
I have a thoughtless joke: What did your girlfriend say when you asked her how good you were in bed?
---"ill tell you inaminute"

hahahahhahahahahahaha
Click to expand...


Well. That would be SOOOO funny. If I were a boy.
 
inaminute ---> :beat: <---me

🙁
 
northbiker said:
In my freshman year I failed 5 courses and two of them were repeats from the last semester. I got financially challenged due to simultaneous suguries of my parents. I wasn't able to perform very well by holding a full time job and managed to only pass 2 of my courses with C & B average.....

two of the courses I failed were Calculus for Sciences and Bio-Genetics...... and they were both repeats from the first semester...

I later transfered to a university in my city and currently pulling 3.73 GPA in second year of the new university in Life Sciences.

I have couple of 90's and 85+ with mostly 80+


Practice MCAT Result I got from my university last week

Physical Science 11
Bio- 10
Verbal Reasoning - 9
but Never wrote the essay part


HOW COMPETITIVE AM I ????????? (just based on the information provided)

Thank you for visiting my thread !!!!
Click to expand...

i worked a lot as well (38-45 hours a week + full load of school) but flunking 5/7 courses will raise eyebrows. what you need to do is have a contingency plan to show massive improvement and a step towards a positive change in your app content. god luck.
 
Is it true that GPA requirement is little lower for international applicants

that might help a little if true.....

doesn't Med Schools drop your worst year ?????
 
northbiker said:
Is it true that GPA requirement is little lower for international applicants
Click to expand...

No. If anything the opposite is true.

that might help a little if true.....
Click to expand...

But it isn't.

doesn't Med Schools drop your worst year ?????
Click to expand...

No. Even Ontario schools don't do that. They just give less weight to grades from your earlier years in college.
 
Uh - you are reaching for air when you made the statement that AMCAS doesn't count summer grades. They surely do, and I'm not sure who filled your head with this hopeful thought, but it is most definitely wrong. Summer is just as real as fall, but it's on speed, which in my opinion, makes learning org or gen chem 2 or whatever other hard pre-req you insert in here even more challenging.
 
KeyzerSoze said:
No. Even Ontario schools don't do that. They just give less weight to grades from your earlier years in college.
Click to expand...

The only time they give less weight to grades from earlier years in college is if you have MUCH stronger grades at the end. And I really wouldn't advocate anyone slack off during the beginning since they are much easier then!
 
glamqueen said:
Uh - you are reaching for air when you made the statement that AMCAS doesn't count summer grades. They surely do, and I'm not sure who filled your head with this hopeful thought, but it is most definitely wrong. Summer is just as real as fall, but it's on speed, which in my opinion, makes learning org or gen chem 2 or whatever other hard pre-req you insert in here even more challenging.
Click to expand...

He got the idea because in Ontario some schools don't count summer grades.
 
TheRealMD said:
The only time they give less weight to grades from earlier years in college is if you have MUCH stronger grades at the end. And I really wouldn't advocate anyone slack off during the beginning since they are much easier then!
Click to expand...

Yes, that's true. I was referring to Ontario schools, which actually use a formula to get a weighted GPA. I believe that it's something like [(1st year GPA) + 2*(2nd year GPA) + 3*(3rd year GPA)] / 6, if they are looking at 3 years of grades.

AMCAS doesn't do that.
 
well I was just trying to find a way to have my failures overlooked somehow but that isn't happening....

I actually just need one signature from my professor on my petition to have those courses withdrawn from my transcript but she is being a bitch saying I never attended any of her class, even though I explanied my situation througly to her but she is ignorant....
 
KeyzerSoze said:
Some forums have a smilie where the guy is banging his head into a wall. I wonder if the mods could make that one available?

AMCAS requires that you submit information on all college courses you took, so it doesn't matter what his new school considers his GPA to be. His AMCAS GPA will be a combination of the two GPA's.
Click to expand...



I stand corrected..........that sad thing, i filled out the AMCAS for 2007.


somebody wasn't paying attention.
 
northbiker said:
Is it true that GPA requirement is little lower for international applicants

that might help a little if true.....

doesn't Med Schools drop your worst year ?????
Click to expand...

No no no. Med schools tend to get concerned about the bad years, not drop them. You have to count those F's, and you have to count summer classes. And any class you retook is counted both times unless you are applying DO. Bottom line is that you may need to extend your undergrad, or do some form of postbac work, to get your numbers more in line with US schools to give yourself a shot. And your MCAT hasn't been taken yet so no one can give you any "what are my chances?" advice anyhow. Many of us consider "assuming" you will get a certain grade a cardinal sin around here -- you have a zero on the MCAT until you actually take the MCAT. While practice scores are nice, until you have taken multiple full length practice tests, you are simply going to be guessing in terms of how you will do. And even then you won't know how you will perform under the weight of the real thing.

In terms of explaining away your F's, I would suggest that saying you weren't able to both work and handle your classes is not really a great excuse to use. Med school is a lot more work, and adcoms are looking for folks who don't buckle under the pressure. Parts of med school can be the equivalent workload of a full time job plus undergrad classes. So I'm not sure saying you took on more than you could handle will fly. The dramatic improvement will help you, but I expect you will need to spend some additional semesters remediating your GPA to make yourself competitive for US allo schools. Good luck.
 
based on your academic performance, you should try DO schools since you have 5 failed courses. But that's not to say that you are not competitive enough for allo schools. If you have other strength other than numbers, you still have a shot just like everybody else.
 
well I have done approx 200 hours of volunteer work and hoping to reach 1000 hours
 
northbiker said:
well I have done approx 200 hours of volunteer work and hoping to reach 1000 hours
Click to expand...

Sometimes applicants got the wrong idea that number of volunteering plays a huge role. But when it comes to applying to med schools, quality is more important than quantity. What exactly is your volunteering? Is it something janitoria, office help or direct-patient-contact volunteer? You should be doing something where humanism lies underneath.
 
My understanding is the the OP is Canadian. With a low GPA from multiple failures, in addition to them being Canadian, would making getting into medical school here VERY difficult, would it not?
 
Zolar Czakl said:
My understanding is the the OP is Canadian. With a low GPA from multiple failures, in addition to them being Canadian, would making getting into medical school here VERY difficult, would it not?
Click to expand...


other then my 5 failures I have a strong academic record and a upward trend in my undergrad degree....... by the time I finish my degree I hoping to have 3.4+ GPA, would that be enough for Dental Schools if I gotten strong DAT results ?????
 
northbiker said:
other then my 5 failures I have a strong academic record and a upward trend in my undergrad degree....... by the time I finish my degree I hoping to have 3.4+ GPA, would that be enough for Dental Schools if I gotten strong DAT results ?????
Click to expand...

It would be enough for medical school if you had a strong MCAT and good EC's and rec's
 
northbiker said:
In my freshman year I failed 5 courses and two of them were repeats from the last semester. I got financially challenged due to simultaneous suguries of my parents. I wasn't able to perform very well by holding a full time job and managed to only pass 2 of my courses with C & B average.....

two of the courses I failed were Calculus for Sciences and Bio-Genetics...... and they were both repeats from the first semester...

I later transfered to a university in my city and currently pulling 3.73 GPA in second year of the new university in Life Sciences.

I have couple of 90's and 85+ with mostly 80+


Practice MCAT Result I got from my university last week

Physical Science 11
Bio- 10
Verbal Reasoning - 9
but Never wrote the essay part


HOW COMPETITIVE AM I ????????? (just based on the information provided)

Thank you for visiting my thread !!!!
Click to expand...

Well, let's see:

I can only speak from my own experience. I passed out and got a public intoxication first weekend of freshman year. I failed gen chem 2 freshman year, and got a couple of Cs and Ds. I had to drop Calc 2 twice because I was failing, was asked to leave the pre-med program, and was on academic probation with a 1.3 GPA at the end of freshman year. I switched majors, took some summer courses, and graduated on time (2003). My GPA was an upward trend, but not an overnight turnaround and my cum GPA was 2.6. I did a short post-bacc with good but not great grades, bringing my cum GPA to 2.9. My MCAT was a slightly above average 30. My ECs were (are) pretty solid, and I was able to get interviews and waitlisted the last 2 cycles. I didn't get accepted, but a school isn't going to waste an interview slot nor an interviewer's time on someone who they wouldn't seriously consider in the first place.

Bottom line is, learn from your mistakes, don't fall victim to hubris, bust your balls, square yourself away and don't apply until you are ready. There is hope, and adcoms will look to see if you learned from your transgressions, provided that, maturity and wisdom separate you from them.
 
next summer I am going to write my MCAT and hopefully nail it like I nail my girlfriends best friend......
 
northbiker said:
next summer I am going to write my MCAT and hopefully nail it like I nail my girlfriends best friend......
Click to expand...

Actually, someone at the AAMC writes your MCAT. You just answer it.
 
KeyzerSoze said:
Actually, someone at the AAMC writes your MCAT. You just answer it.
Click to expand...

:laugh: I always want to say this to people. Who started this phrase that they "write" their MCAT? You take the MCAT. You sit for the MCAT. You do not write the MCAT.
 
doinmybest5840 said:
:laugh: I always want to say this to people. Who started this phrase that they "write" their MCAT? You take the MCAT. You sit for the MCAT. You do not write the MCAT.
Click to expand...

I've noticed only people from Canada say it, so it must be a Canadian thing...
 
northbiker said:
other then my 5 failures I have a strong academic record and a upward trend in my undergrad degree....... by the time I finish my degree I hoping to have 3.4+ GPA, would that be enough for Dental Schools if I gotten strong DAT results ?????
Click to expand...

You realize you have absolutely no chance at a Canadian medical or dental school, unless you also happen to be an Olympic medalist, war hero, mayor of a metropolitan city, or recipient of the Order of Canada. If you are applying to the States, they have much higher standards for international applicants. If you were to apply as is, most schools won't even look at your application. Its harsh, but thats reality.

The way I see it, you have several options available to you.
1. Do a post-bacc to raise your undergraduate GPA to something more reasonable.
2. Take a Masters program. The graduate level education might put some distance from your freshmen undergraduate education, and show that you've matured.
3. Look at DO schools and the Caribbean. You'll still end up a doctor.

Good luck. You have a long road ahead.
 
I didn't realize that the OP was Canadian. That does make things a little more tricky. IIRC, DOs are currently limited to primary care in Canada.

If you want to return to Canada to practice, you might seriously want to consider a Carib MD program (if you are unsure about primary care)
 
Depakote said:
I didn't realize that the OP was Canadian. That does make things a little more tricky. IIRC, DOs are currently limited to primary care in Canada.

If you want to return to Canada to practice, you might seriously want to consider a Carib MD program (if you are unsure about primary care)
Click to expand...

For some reason he didn't bother saying it directly, but he kind of gave himself away by mentioning OMSAS and using such quaint terminology as "summer marks" and "write my MCAT".

As far as I know, some Ontario med schools don't count summer grades, and all schools weight your GPA to make the earlier years less important. The problem is that their GPA cut offs tend to be so high that it probably won't help him.

If he'd like to have a good chance at a Canadian medical school, the OP might consider learning French, becoming an Aboriginal, and moving to a rural area.
 
i would switch majors if i were you....failing your freshman year is pretty pretty pretty bad. life sceinces? is that like a humanitarian major, if they see that you cant handle basic undergraduate science classes,what makes you think that theyll think you can handle med school classes
 
well I have a physics exam on Aug.4th in which I am likely going to get a 80+ and that would help me bring my GPA from 2.88 to 2.98. I know I'm gettin a 80+ in that course cuz I am holding the exam in my hand from last year and this professor never changes his exams. But to be in the safe side I will still study all the materials.
 
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