OUch! I have a bunch of C's in my undergrad degree!

[lolasmommy]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Okay... I was reading a post that some poor soul had posted about receiving a B- (or was it a C+) in Ochem 1 and was completely worried. This post will make him feel a whole lot better. Okay... I received a C in both O chem classes and B's in both labs... C's in both gen chem courses and a C in an ecology class. (ps... a C in physics I and II) I am a bio. major so chem. obviously was my weakest point but am I expected to defend every C Ive ever gotten? Im not going to make any excuses. Life has been hard and school was my last priority. I had to finish fast and get out. My gpa is a 3.0 and I intend to take postbac. courses to make be more competative. Please any advice anyone can offer (with or without sarcasm) will be appreciated.

 

[armybound]

They will probably come up, but not 1 by 1.. you should expect to have to explain why your undergrad grades were so bad.

 

[lolasmommy]

thanks...yah, I figured that.

 

[ringtail]

I got a couple C's in gen chem my freshman year. i enjoyed freedom from home way too much. in addition i got a couple more C's along the way but my last couple semesters have gotten straight A's. One thing I was told is they look for upward trends. They want to see improvement and/or lessons learned. So be ready to give reasons what was going on in your life, if there was anything. other than that, roll with it man and good luck.

 

[ChiDoc27]

"Well, Oh, That's the way it is
You gotta roll with the punches
That's the way it goes
You gotta bend when the wind blows
You live you learn
You crash and burn
It's hit or miss
And that's the way it is"

That's probably not too helpful, but it is a damn good song. Good luck with you're post bacc!

 

[HumidBeing]

It's going to be tough. A post bac can only pull it up so much. That will still be there, staring at you. But it's not impossible. Saying, "Rock the MCAT and your post bac classes," would be trite and easier said than done, but true. You could get some awesome community service and build your rep with the profs while getting those additional credits. Unfortunately, when you start low everything you do to make up for it becomes more critical.

It really is still possible, but you're going to have to impress them as being special in some way or ways, and that undergrad GPA will eliminate some possible choices.

You'll have one advantage when it comes to secondaries. You'll already have a theme for the Overcoming Hardship essays. The past is what you make of it. You've got to somehow turn it into an advantage.

 

[drizzt3117]

It's going to be tough. A post bac can only pull it up so much and won't affect your undergrad GPA. That will still be there, staring at you. But it's not impossible. Saying, "Rock the MCAT and your post bac classes," would be trite and easier said than done, but true. You could get some awesome community service and build your rep with the profs while getting those additional credits. Unfortunately, when you start low everything you do to make up for it becomes more critical.

It really is still possible, but you're going to have to impress them as being special in some way or ways, and that undergrad GPA will eliminate some of your choices.

You'll have one advantage when it comes to secondaries. You'll already have a theme for the Overcoming Hardship essays. The past is what you make of it. You've got to somehow turn it into an advantage.

Undergrad postbacs do improve your cumulative undergrad GPA.

 

[HumidBeing]

Ah, but it takes so much to move it so little when you start with a 3.0.

OP, BCMP GPA? Was it higher than the 3.0?

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Please be aware of the selection bias that permeates SDN.

 

[drizzt3117]

Ah, but it takes so much to move it so little when you start with a 3.0.

OP, BCMP GPA? Was it higher than the 3.0?

Well, I posted before that basically one year can raise your overall about 0.2 and your BCPM about 0.5-0.75 depending on how low it is, if you're able to maintain a 4.0 or close to it. That's not too bad. 3.2 is much better than 3.0, although SMP may still be necessary w/o a stellar MCAT.

 

[MossPoh]

A couple of tenths of a point is def. possible. I had a <2.5 by end of freshman year, 2.98 for about another year and by the end of my senior year I had almost a 3.2. I wasn't getting 4.0s during that time either. (I have about 160 credit hours now...so it is getting very hard)

 

[Law2Doc]

OP should worry less about actually moving the GPA significantly and more about creating a track record of straight A's for a couple of years. The GPA will inch up, but it's not that likely it will ever get into the high GPA range. Med schools are, first and foremost concerned that you can actually do the work -- someone who struggled for C's in college prereq courses is generally not deemed ready for the added intensity of med school. If OP can rack up a couple of years of A's in an informal/upper level postbac and thereafter do well on the MCAT, and also picks up decent ECs, some school someplace will take a look at her. Also bear in mind that DO reportedly lets you use retake grades instead of the original ones, so if you retake some of the C courses for A's, your GPA/BCPM will come up much faster for osteo.

 

[njbmd]

Okay... I was reading a post that some poor soul had posted about receiving a B- (or was it a C+) in Ochem 1 and was completely worried. This post will make him feel a whole lot better. Okay... I received a C in both O chem classes and B's in both labs... C's in both gen chem courses and a C in an ecology class. (ps... a C in physics I and II) I am a bio. major so chem. obviously was my weakest point but am I expected to defend every C Ive ever gotten? Im not going to make any excuses. Life has been hard and school was my last priority. I had to finish fast and get out. My gpa is a 3.0 and I intend to take postbac. courses to make be more competative. Please any advice anyone can offer (with or without sarcasm) will be appreciated.

Those "C" grades are not the end of the world unless you do not show an upward trend. Taking postbacc coursework is a wise decision but make sure that you have no grades less than B+ in your postbacc work even if you only take one course at at time.

You are likely not going to have to "defend" every grade of "C" that you have received as long as your most recent coursework is very strong. Concentrate on getting your study skills and your course management skills as strong as possible with your post bacc work. When you are nearing the competitive range (3.4-3.5) with your overall GPA (do a spreadsheet and calculate), make sure that your Medical College Admissions Test scores are competitive and you should be fine.

Now is a good time to request unofficial transcripts, keep them handy and keep calculating your GPA as you go along so that you know where you stand. Good luck!