What switch in your head turned on and what about your mentality changed?
People who had low freshman GPAs, how did you turn it around in sophomore+ year?
- Thread starter timothyiv
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2012
- Messages
- 1,921
- Reaction score
- 2,166
I'll bite and share my experience.
I walked out of high school with an ego the size of the state I live in. I breezed through, graduated top 10 without ever cracking a book, and expected to roll through college in the same manner. clearly it didn't go that way or I wouldn't be posting here lol
I went through my first couple years with awful grades and i can recall my exact moment of clarity while pulling an all nighter the night before my physics 2 final. if I was ever going to be a doctor I'd have to man up and get to work, just sucks it took so long to reach that point.
I was immature and had to realize I may never be able to accomplish my goals in life before the light turned on and I got my act together. first 60 credits were around a 2.58 GPA, last 120 have been around a 3.65, literally an overnight change. also spent an extra year doing retakes to get some grades up.
bottom line is the past cannot be changed, but we can learn from it for the future, and I'm now a stronger student because of my early struggles. I just hope some adcom out there, whether MD or DO, sees my potential and believes in me. anxiety I live with every day until I receive that acceptance letter. realize your future literally depends on it and you'll begin to do better. good luck!
I walked out of high school with an ego the size of the state I live in. I breezed through, graduated top 10 without ever cracking a book, and expected to roll through college in the same manner. clearly it didn't go that way or I wouldn't be posting here lol
I went through my first couple years with awful grades and i can recall my exact moment of clarity while pulling an all nighter the night before my physics 2 final. if I was ever going to be a doctor I'd have to man up and get to work, just sucks it took so long to reach that point.
I was immature and had to realize I may never be able to accomplish my goals in life before the light turned on and I got my act together. first 60 credits were around a 2.58 GPA, last 120 have been around a 3.65, literally an overnight change. also spent an extra year doing retakes to get some grades up.
bottom line is the past cannot be changed, but we can learn from it for the future, and I'm now a stronger student because of my early struggles. I just hope some adcom out there, whether MD or DO, sees my potential and believes in me. anxiety I live with every day until I receive that acceptance letter. realize your future literally depends on it and you'll begin to do better. good luck!
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2013
- Messages
- 1,323
- Reaction score
- 1,566
I got B's in all of my science classes freshman year because I just didn't study with the proper sense of urgency and determination. I didn't study as hard as I could have, especially in general chemistry where I just did the minimum homework problems and thought that was enough.
My exam scores sort of acted as my lesson and I pretty much overhauled my studying approach. It took until junior year to finally get it down, but basically for my science courses I start studying 8-10 days in advance. If it's a problem-solving class like physics or organic chemistry, I go through every practice problem and exam that I have at my disposal and do them multiple times so that I'm going in to the exam with as much practice as possible. If it's a biology class, I read through the textbook and powerpoint slides and usually I'll review the material with a friend so that we each cover each other's bases.
It basically comes down to a) setting aside enough time to study and b) reviewing every resource and problem available to you. If you've worked every single Ochem or physics problem that you can get your hands on, then you WILL do well on the exam. It's not easy, and often times the week or 10 days leading up to the exams can be pretty frustrating, but it pays off in the end.
My exam scores sort of acted as my lesson and I pretty much overhauled my studying approach. It took until junior year to finally get it down, but basically for my science courses I start studying 8-10 days in advance. If it's a problem-solving class like physics or organic chemistry, I go through every practice problem and exam that I have at my disposal and do them multiple times so that I'm going in to the exam with as much practice as possible. If it's a biology class, I read through the textbook and powerpoint slides and usually I'll review the material with a friend so that we each cover each other's bases.
It basically comes down to a) setting aside enough time to study and b) reviewing every resource and problem available to you. If you've worked every single Ochem or physics problem that you can get your hands on, then you WILL do well on the exam. It's not easy, and often times the week or 10 days leading up to the exams can be pretty frustrating, but it pays off in the end.
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2012
- Messages
- 336
- Reaction score
- 107
I didn't have a "low" freshman GPA, but it was my lowest semester of undergrad. I finished first semester with a 3.5, which really scared me. I thought, if I can't even get A's in freshman classes, I will never make it (dramatic, I know, but it's what I thought lol). Freshman year I studied A LOT, but just did it the wrong way. Note-cards for everything. 100% rote memorization for everything. It didn't work. I memorized a bunch, but understood nothing.
Huge turnaround sophomore year. I took A&P, Physics, and Orgo all at the same time. I studied every day for about 5-6ish hours, but never studied the night before tests. I still did a bunch of note-cards, but I read a lot more. Orgo was the first text book I actually read cover to cover. I watched a lot of youtube videos to get concepts down. Went to my profs for more help. I made sure I understood everything, and it made all the difference! I got a 4.0 both semesters my sophomore year, and ended up graduating with a 3.89!
Good luck!
Huge turnaround sophomore year. I took A&P, Physics, and Orgo all at the same time. I studied every day for about 5-6ish hours, but never studied the night before tests. I still did a bunch of note-cards, but I read a lot more. Orgo was the first text book I actually read cover to cover. I watched a lot of youtube videos to get concepts down. Went to my profs for more help. I made sure I understood everything, and it made all the difference! I got a 4.0 both semesters my sophomore year, and ended up graduating with a 3.89!
Good luck!
Last edited:
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2011
- Messages
- 260
- Reaction score
- 127
I had a 1.85 GPA for my sophomore year. I took an extra year to finish college, but my GPA throughout my last three years was a 3.99, which included all the med school prerequisites other than biology. I still have a low GPA, but at this point I can't really bring it up much further since I've taken so many credits. I did get 5 MD interviews and 7 DO interviews this cycle - so some schools do take upward trends into consideration! I learned to study smarter (such as studying immediately after class and regularly reviewing the material repeatedly) and took advantage of tutoring services and study groups, which seemed to help.
I think I had a 2.6 first semester, 2.3 second semester. I remember getting my grades back after second semester and being totally shocked. Here are some potential reasons: my high school was decent but not all that competitive. I was able to graduate top 20 in a class of 800+ without a ton of effort. I ended up going to a very competitive university in a competitive major. I was simply not expecting the difficulty, at all. Also, I was more concerned with getting into college and less with what I was going to do after it (the premed thing didn't start for me until after college). I think I still had some lingering senioritis from high school.
Anyway, once I decided I wanted to do something after college (back then it was grad school), it became much easier to do well. My GPA the last 3 years averaged 3.7-3.8.
Anyway, once I decided I wanted to do something after college (back then it was grad school), it became much easier to do well. My GPA the last 3 years averaged 3.7-3.8.
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2013
- Messages
- 411
- Reaction score
- 366
I had a 2.8 my first semester I believe by cramming for a lot of the exams. Wasted a lot of time hanging out with the new friends all day/night long I made, and it was just overall a exciting time! Partied a lot 😛 Second semester, started learning how to manage time properly. I started doing homework/studying in between classes. I did not stop hanging out but did not waste as much time as my first semester. I still did fun stuff and partying but mostly during the weekends. One of the best things that I learned for myself was that I got really good grades on the tests by studying for them a little by little. I would start studying for an exam two weeks early, like go one lecture/day or something like that. That helped me tremendously and was able to graduate with a 3.7+
I apologize. I initially posted in wrong thread.
A reality check (i.e., the recognition that I was in hole and needed to stop digging) along with simple math. I realized that when I took the weight of my freshman year’s courses ending with slightly above a 3.1 GPA, I needed to do well in pretty much every future course if I was to have a chance. I also recognized that factoring in the next two years of courses was probably not going to be enough to move my GPA to a competitive level. I also realized that I may not ace every course in the upcoming two years, so I planned not to apply to med school after my third year of college, but wait until I completed four years of college, thereby gaining the full weight of three years of college courses to add and hopefully elevate my GPA to a competitive level. I’m not saying Harvard level, any med school level. It didn’t hurt that I did well on MCAT. I am currently a resident at an MD program.
S
Served
.
Last edited by a moderator:
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2014
- Messages
- 771
- Reaction score
- 479
discipline.
I stopped chasing skanks and started reading books.
I stopped chasing skanks and started reading books.
