Packed interview schedule causing grades to suffer

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nychila

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Do fall term (Sept-Dec) grades matter at all (assuming that it is kept above 3.0, but that is still a significant drop from my 3.6)? Having almost 10 interviews packed within a short period will surely cause one's grades to suffer... I was hoping that I can still attend all or most of these interviews to maximize my chances at a preferred school.
 
nychila said:
Do fall term (Sept-Dec) grades matter at all (assuming that it is kept above 3.0, but that is still a significant drop from my 3.6)? Having almost 10 interviews packed within a short period will surely cause one's grades to suffer... I was hoping that I can still attend all or most of these interviews to maximize my chances at a preferred school.
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first world problems
 
With 10 interviews, you will likely get in somewhere which renders all your future grades negligible unless you failed.
 
nychila said:
Do fall term (Sept-Dec) grades matter at all (assuming that it is kept above 3.0, but that is still a significant drop from my 3.6)? Having almost 10 interviews packed within a short period will surely cause one's grades to suffer... I was hoping that I can still attend all or most of these interviews to maximize my chances at a preferred school.
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Let's look at it this way. You are applying and have sent in your grades already. Schools will judge you based on the previous grades and will base their acceptance off those grades.

If you get rejected, your new grades do not matter since they didn't want you there.

If you get accepted, they based their decision on your previous grades and not on the current semester.

You will have to send them your new grades after an acceptance to show that you will finish your degree (something that you kind of stated in the application when filling out the expected graduation date) and they want to check to make sure it is true. If you have really poor grades, they can rescind the acceptance but I have never heard of that happening to someone. Just make sure you pass your classes so you can graduate.
 
If you don't have an acceptance by the end of December,some schools that haven't made up their minds ask you to send in your grades for fall.

I have this problem too and my professors have been very accommodating. They have all gone out of their way to accommodate my interviews.

You have to go talk to them and just be apologetic about missing their class. Most are really interested in knowing where you are interviewing and if they know people at the school give you an idea about the research environments in those schools.

I go to school where if you put in the work, it isn't difficult to get an A so I am still doing well on tests and that makes the professors more sympathetic to me never being in class or lab. They pretty much are waving parts of the class for me. Go talk to your professors, I'm sure they've dealt with this before.

There are lots of risks to getting poor grades. If you don't have an acceptance by december, you may need to send your grades in if the school asks. If you have a 3.6 now, you could fall below a 3.5 and depending on your school, risk not graduating with honors. There are people who have as many interviews as you do and still don't get in and so on....

Until you have that acceptance in your hand, don't shoot yourself in the foot by getting poor grades. Play it safe, do what you can to get good grades.
 
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AnthonyBourdain said:
If you don't have an acceptance by the end of December,some schools that haven't made up their minds ask you to send in your grades for fall.

I have this problem too and my professors have been very accommodating. They have all gone out of their way to accommodate my interviews.

You have to go talk to them and just be apologetic about missing their class. Most are really interested in knowing where you are interviewing and if they know people at the school give you an idea about the research environments in those schools.

I go to school where if you put in the work, it isn't difficult to get an A so I am still doing well on tests and that makes the professors more sympathetic to me never being in class or lab. They pretty much are waving parts of the class for me. Go talk to your professors, I'm sure they've dealt with this before.

There are lots of risks to getting poor grades. If you don't have an acceptance by december, you may need to send your grades in if the school asks. If you have a 3.6 now, you could fall below a 3.5 and depending on your school, risk not graduating with honors. There are people who have as many interviews as you do and still don't get in and so on....

Until you have that acceptance in your hand, don't shoot yourself in the foot by getting poor grades. Play it safe, do what you can to get good grades.
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O lord plz no...
 
sliceofbread136 said:
O lord plz no...
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👍

haha, unless you don't have very many credits (which wouldn't make sense if you are going to graduate) then your GPA will not go down much. I think if I were to get a 2.0 right now, my GPA would drop from a 3.72 to a 3.68. Conversely, if I were to get a 4.0, my GPA would raise to a 3.74.
 
My grades are suffering right now too. I'm aiming for B- or above for all my classes. I don't think that'd be that hard...
 
5lippy said:
My grades are suffering right now too. I'm aiming for B- or above for all my classes. I don't think that'd be that hard...
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That's how I feel about all of my classes.... I kind of feel guilty then I remember it doesn't really matter.
 
So would getting a 3.0 GPA this semester matter after 3 years of 3.6 GPA, or can we just aim for anything higher than a B- if I am confident that I will get accepted somewhere? I guess it might matter for the relatively few schools that ask to see fall semester transcripts before making a decision...

I'm trying hard to keep up, but it's just impossible to study as much as my previous semesters. I feel like dropping that much in GPA and if I don't get in any school this year, my chances of admissions next year will be very low.
 
Aced my first three exams this semester despite interviews. If I can do it, you can do it! It's all about time management. Lecture capture also helps if your school has that option.
 
nychila said:
Do fall term (Sept-Dec) grades matter at all (assuming that it is kept above 3.0, but that is still a significant drop from my 3.6)? Having almost 10 interviews packed within a short period will surely cause one's grades to suffer... I was hoping that I can still attend all or most of these interviews to maximize my chances at a preferred school.
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Oh you poor thing, how do you manage?!?!?!?
seriously though, nice framing the "I have 10 interviews!" boast into an SDN post, so typical on this board
 
I am a little worried too - I just dropped a workshop-based writing course because it looks like I would probably go over the maximum number of absences allowed this term. But there are worse problems in the world. If I had ten interviews I would probably withdraw from any I didn't feel that excited about. Because seriously, who can afford to fly to ten interviews?
 
rachelkj said:
I am a little worried too - I just dropped a workshop-based writing course because it looks like I would probably go over the maximum number of absences allowed this term. But there are worse problems in the world. If I had ten interviews I would probably withdraw from any I didn't feel that excited about. Because seriously, who can afford to fly to ten interviews?
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Megabus my friend! Some of my trip costs are under 25 dollars for transportation. So far I have only had to fly to one of the six I have bought tickets for
 
Supisak said:
Oh you poor thing, how do you manage?!?!?!?
seriously though, nice framing the "I have 10 interviews!" boast into an SDN post, so typical on this board
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I appreciate your comment, but that's really not what I meant. I'm sincerely asking for advice here, on whether grades during the application year matter? There's very little support from my professors, and missing certain classes will definitely be difficult to catch up as the material piles up - I'm not very bright, so I have to work very hard. I am very worried that getting a lower GPA, which I consider to be inevitable unless I don't sleep, will impact my chances of admissions this year.
 
Just do your best! You'll be fine. You're in a great situation with 10 interviews so don't stress! 🙂
 
Have medical school's ever rescinded accepted students for poor senior year grades like undergraduate colleges do once in a while?
 
PreMedOrDead said:
School dependent, but for the majority, no.
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So dropping 0.5 in GPA in senior year (application year) should be fine... Unless you don't get in anywhere, then it's game over for the next application cycle.
 
nychila said:
So dropping 0.5 in GPA in senior year (application year) should be fine... Unless you don't get in anywhere, then it's game over for the next application cycle.
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Dropping 0.5 in GPA would not happen. Well, I guess I should say it is so unlikely to ever happen. I just did the math. If you had a 3.8 with 100 credits and then did 20 credits and earned a 1.2, that would come to 404 credits/120 hours = 3.37. Not even a 0.5 credit drop and you would be close to a D average during the semester.

Is that likely to happen? Probably not.

Would that qualify taking away an acceptance? Well, a D average would probably qualify for that since that means you probably failed a bunch of classes and would not graduate.
 
BABSstudent said:
Dropping 0.5 in GPA would not happen. Well, I guess I should say it is so unlikely to ever happen. I just did the math. If you had a 3.8 with 100 credits and then did 20 credits and earned a 1.2, that would come to 404 credits/120 hours = 3.37. Not even a 0.5 credit drop and you would be close to a D average during the semester.

Is that likely to happen? Probably not.

Would that qualify taking away an acceptance? Well, a D average would probably qualify for that since that means you probably failed a bunch of classes and would not graduate.
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To clarify, what I meant was the application year's GPA would be 0.5 lower than previous years' average (so overall GPA would drop by 1.2). Admissions observe academic trends, so that's what's worrying me for this application cycle and the next.
 
Im kind of in the same boat, I've been having to miss tons of class and my professors havent been very understanding especially about exam make ups. In my opinion though if you manage your time right (study in hotels, airports, schedule interviews after exams if possible) then getting at least all B's is very very do able. Like other posters mentioned, your in a good spot with 10 Interviews so youlll be fine.
 
wizedw said:
Megabus my friend! Some of my trip costs are under 25 dollars for transportation. So far I have only had to fly to one of the six I have bought tickets for
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Good if you are in the east coast, and if I could line up multiple east coast interviews in one week that would be an option. But I live in Oregon and so there are only two schools in reasonable bussing distance.
 
Wishing you the best. I'm sure your state acceptance will come in soon.

I apply next cycle.
 
How often are acceptances rescinded due to grades? A few times a year or maybe once a year or every few years about?
 
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