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[smhmd]

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[Blanky]

I don't think you should stress too much about whether you are competitive for MD over DO and instead focus on ending your undergrad strong. If I was in your position I would not continue to take all of these science classes stacked up because you are not performing well in them. A couple possible reasons likely either lack of time management in study or missing assignments for easy points. Also the possibility that you aren't an efficient study.
Work on your time management, begin preparing for exams from day 1! when you are finished with the first exam immediately start studying for exam two and you will find you don't get overwhelmed. If learning/ study method is the issue you should see if your school has a learning center.
If I was in your position I would switch to a "lighter" major and take one, maybe two science courses at a time and fill in with your new major courses. Something like Psychology, Economics (More math might not be ideal for you) or history is pretty cool. Then you can just grab the Bio minor.

 

[smhmd]

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[Blanky]

Thanks for the advice! I was looking into psychology but I personally don't think that my major is hurting my chances as my non science GPA is a 3.7. I should've clarified that my bio major is a human bio major that mixes bio courses with psych, anthro and sociology. I did have trouble with stacking classes, and I think time management was a big problem as well. Do you know of the most efficient way of studying for Orgo?

That sounds like a super cool major. The reason I was saying psych was because you are doing well at them so better to take more of those classes and then pepper in the hard sciences.
For Orgo I would always read the David Klein books before the lecture for that subject and that resulted in the subject feeling pretty easy. Highly recommend!

 

[TheRealCookieMonster]

Med school is only getting more competitive. It is a very expensive time consuming process. And there are very few paid positions outside of a university looking to hire someone with a bio degree. You've been warned.

 

[Blanky]

Med school is only getting more competitive. It is a very expensive time consuming process. And there are very few paid positions outside of a university looking to hire someone with a bio degree. You've been warned.

Zero useful information with a negative tone. Why even post something like that when people come here for constructive criticism.

 

[btuck]

There are very few paid positions outside of a university looking to hire someone with a bio degree. You've been warned.

Disagree. If you can sell yourself, any company will hire you. Bio degrees are definitely sought out after for business jobs, but if you want any job, your major factors very little into the hiring process if you present yourself correctly.

 

[smhmd]

That sounds like a super cool major. The reason I was saying psych was because you are doing well at them so better to take more of those classes and then pepper in the hard sciences.
For Orgo I would always read the David Klein books before the lecture for that subject and that resulted in the subject feeling pretty easy. Highly recommend!

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[smhmd]

Disagree. If you can sell yourself, any company will hire you. Bio degrees are definitely sought out after for business jobs, but if you want any job, your major factors very little into the hiring process if you present yourself correctly.

True

 

[TheRealCookieMonster]

The purpose of pointing out the bio degree was more to give a reminder that bio degree = expensive. While Safeway and Victoria's Secret will certainly still hire you, they don't really pay what your degree was worth. But there are lots of factors here so maybe it's not a concern. I'll keep the real talk to minimum...

 

[smhmd]

The purpose of pointing out the bio degree was more to give a reminder that bio degree = expensive. While Safeway and Victoria's Secret will certainly still hire you, they don't really pay what your degree was worth. But there are lots of factors here so maybe it's not a concern. I'll keep the real talk to minimum...

And I'm well aware of this lol there are only a couple of undergrad degrees that can make you a good living, and usually bio isn't one of them.

 

[TheRealCookieMonster]

Zero useful information with a negative tone. Why even post something like that when people come here for constructive criticism.

Cars run on fairy dust and your dreams will always come true if you try hard. My perspective is different than yours... relax.

 

[BillDugRomans]

Thanks for the advice! I was looking into psychology but I personally don't think that my major is hurting my chances as my non science GPA is a 3.7. I should've clarified that my bio major is a human bio major that mixes bio courses with psych, anthro and sociology. I did have trouble with stacking classes, and I think time management was a big problem as well. Do you know of the most efficient way of studying for Orgo?

Just a quick note about my experience with studying and time management, I found that my initial study sessions in challenging courses took much longer than anticipated due to figuring out different study practices, getting familiar with the logic behind the concepts, learning how to prof operates, etc. Once I got my studying down it was easier to do shorter sessions and still find benefit. If you are struggling with doing well in tougher courses and have issues with time management as well, I second taking a lighter courseload and focusing on really knocking that out of the park. Once you have an understanding of what it'll take for you to achieve your desired level of academic success, it's easier to add things to your schedule.

 

[theKingLT]

All your undergrad science classes come down to a combination of 2 things, understanding concepts and memorizing facts. You need to figure out what's not working for you and address it because classes only get harder moving forward and you need damn near straight A's from here on out. If it's more conceptual problems look into tutoring or going to office hours more. If it's memorization that's killing you try anki or some other flashcard program. Remember gpa comes before all else. You can worry about the mcat and EC's after you get your grades figured out

 

[Blanky]

I think you will find my perspective to be cut throat and non-friendly. This is irrelevant here and what would be the point to come on here and say "get ready for a suck life!" Instead say something like "Listen, life is about to judo chop you in the throat! get it together because X, Y, and Z!!!" That's called criticism....that's constructive.

 

[TheRealCookieMonster]

I think you will find my perspective to be cut throat and non-friendly. This is irrelevant here and what would be the point to come on here and say "get ready for a suck life!" Instead say something like "Listen, life is about to judo chop you in the throat! get it together because X, Y, and Z!!!" That's called criticism....that's constructive.

If you say so

 

[Blanky]

I found that for different classes, different approaches helped
Biology courses I could do flashcards/ Anki and memorize some terms and smoke through (I hate doing this)
Chemistry always came easy but you can watch youtube for concepts and do a couple practice probs.
Orgo came easily as well (as "easy" as orgo can be?) because I read all the David Klein subjects before I went to that lecture.
Physics was basically useless lectures and then lots of practice math before an exam.

 

[Blanky]

If you say so

<3
Didn't mean to be confrontational brotha

 

[theKingLT]

I found that for different classes, different approaches helped
Biology courses I could do flashcards/ Anki and memorize some terms and smoke through (I hate doing this)
Chemistry always came easy but you can watch youtube for concepts and do a couple practice probs.
Orgo came easily as well (as "easy" as orgo can be?) because I read all the David Klein subjects before I went to that lecture.
Physics was basically useless lectures and then lots of practice math before an exam.

I'm going to add on a crazy strategy for biochem that worked wonders for the Class and mcat. I placed sticky notes of each step of the various pathways I had to memorize throughout my house. For instance walking from my front door to my bedroom I would pass each step of glycolysis. Walking back it was each step of gluconeogenesis. Each time you walk that path you have to recite each step and check your answer with the post it note. It helps to memorize the pathways as a whole process. If done correctly you can accurately connect the feed in points of various pathways to physical routes in your house and build a literal map of all the metabolism that you have to know for biochem/mcat

 

[smhmd]

Interesting. Thank you everyone! Anyone know people who had a bit of a rocky start and ended up getting accepted ? IK upward trend is key

 

[BillDugRomans]

Interesting. Thank you everyone! Anyone know people who had a bit of a rocky start and ended up getting accepted ? IK upward trend is key

I'm hoping to be one, first semester had like a 2.7 and senior year I had a 4.0 so I hope that factors in lol

 

[theKingLT]

Interesting. Thank you everyone! Anyone know people who had a bit of a rocky start and ended up getting accepted ? IK upward trend is key

It happens all the time. Like you said upward trend is key. If you can't get your gpa up enough before graduation you may need a post bacc or SMP but with time and persistence you can get there. Your most recent academic work is always the heaviest weighted (with the exception of masters programs)

 

[Blanky]

Tons of people on the forum. In fact many finished their degrees with low GPAs and took years of classes and reinvented themselves and got in. You can do a quick search. The only thing is this insane thing called "premed" is not easy and full of burning hoops you must jump through for a long long time. The odds are in none of our favors and for someone who has done poorly and now has a hole to dig out of has it that much worse. So for every victory story you read you must realize that 500 others failed to dig out of that hole. Don't take this as defeat but as fuel to push forward and understand that it may take you 1-2 extra years to build that GPA and then get the clinical and volunteering in that you need to be competitive.

 

[Goro]

Hi,
I was wondering if I can get some tips and advice on how to put myself in a better situation to get into medical school. So far I haven't doing that great. I got 3 Cs in a row (Gen Chem 1 & 2 and Pre-calc). I got an A- in my Chem lab course and a B+ in Bio 1 (Should've had an A here). Got a B- in another math course that counts in the BCPM section. I currently have a 3.3 overall gpa and a 2.6 BCPM. I have Bio 2, Physics 1 and 2, Orgo and Orgo labs 1 and 2, and calc left to complete, with a couple of other bio courses as well, since I am a Bio major. I was wondering if you guys/gals have any advice on how to improve and do good in these courses. IK practice and studying is key, but is there anything in specific (especially for orgo)? I was also wondering if I have a ghost of a chance for MD schools anymore since its so competitive and I'm 2 years in and have already messed up big time. I have been working on getting some volunteering (clinical and non) over the summer, some shadowing and will try to get some research done. I will try to get an upward trend going. Any help would be appreciated.

Seek out your school's learning or education center for help.

IF you have test taking anxiety issues, those can (and need to be) fixed.

 

[RNthenDoc]

Interesting. Thank you everyone! Anyone know people who had a bit of a rocky start and ended up getting accepted ? IK upward trend is key

I got some poor grades early on in my premed studies that were very disappointing, but wound up with 5 acceptances. You NEED to get A’s, though.

A mediocre MCAT can be retaken, but GPA repair is loooong and costly.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Interesting. Thank you everyone! Anyone know people who had a bit of a rocky start and ended up getting accepted ? IK upward trend is key

Applying now, but I actually started off great (4.0 freshman year) and then immediately nose dived into the ****ter. Took a few years off (left with a 3.1) to grow up and do cool stuff, then went back with focus and kicked ass. Not saying you need to take off, I’m just saying it’s possible to reinvent yourself and kill it.

 

[trobinsonmd]

Hi,
I was wondering if I can get some tips and advice on how to put myself in a better situation to get into medical school. So far I haven't doing that great. I got 3 Cs in a row (Gen Chem 1 & 2 and Pre-calc). I got an A- in my Chem lab course and a B+ in Bio 1 (Should've had an A here). Got a B- in another math course that counts in the BCPM section. I currently have a 3.3 overall gpa and a 2.6 BCPM. I have Bio 2, Physics 1 and 2, Orgo and Orgo labs 1 and 2, and calc left to complete, with a couple of other bio courses as well, since I am a Bio major. I was wondering if you guys/gals have any advice on how to improve and do good in these courses. IK practice and studying is key, but is there anything in specific (especially for orgo)? I was also wondering if I have a ghost of a chance for MD schools anymore since its so competitive and I'm 2 years in and have already messed up big time. I have been working on getting some volunteering (clinical and non) over the summer, some shadowing and will try to get some research done. I will try to get an upward trend going. Any help would be appreciated.

Not the best start, but also not the end of the world. If your school has public health or something of the like, and you are a rising third year, I would recommend switching into it. Med schools won't know you were ever a bio major, and you will get to take the necessary pre-reqs without risking your BCPM taking any more unnecessary upper div bio classes. I graduated undergrad with public health and it put me in a good position come application season... probably the best decision I made as a UG... If I were you, I would not worry so much about your current GPA... the classes that you have taken are over, and they are not in your control anymore. Focus on where you want to be in two years. Focus on what is working for you and what is not working for you, and how to make the adjustments needed to fix your grades. No one can tell you what you need to do, different things work for different people, so you will have to see what works for you. Try to go to your school's advising office to see if they have any study methods that you can try out

 

[smhmd]

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