Recovering from bad first semester (3.1 GPA)

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SarKovFFF

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Hello,
I am new to these forums so please bear with me as I write my first post on my situation. Before my spring semester, I wanted to determine my problem areas that plagued me my first semester and recover properly.

Here's my situation:
I took 14 credits my first semester and received a 3.1 GPA. I got like 2 As, 1 B, 2 Cs, and a W (the W is because I kept sleeping in for an early college writing class that requires my participation and attendance, ended up dropping it because I wasn't being effective). The Bs and Cs are in 2 science courses and 1 mathematics course. I believe I didn't manage my time well enough, always ran out of time on the exams, still don't have good study methods, didn't understand/study material sufficiently, concerned myself with frivolous and dumb things, and became very stressed out which compiled and destroyed my psyche mentality towards the end.

I studied hard for my mathematics final but didn't do very well on it. I got really depressed after I calculated what I would receive for the course, a C+. Afterwards, I basically forgot in a way or was in shock of this fact to study for my other finals and ended up staying up all night to study for the other two science finals, one after the other. Easy to say, I didn't do very well on those final exams because I only studied something like 12 hours up to the exam. Got a B in one science course and a C+ in the other.

I hope I am not coming across as a pitiful pre-med who just started college in the deep-end. I am just looking for help as to how I can bounce back from this semester from those who may have gone and went through similar situations. I believe I can come back from this semester even if I am unaware of the DAMAGE my first semester has caused for my med admissions 3 yrs. down the line. Any advice, tips, etc. would be very much appreciated and I wish you all a very good cycle for those applying!

P.S. I am a first-year at Washington University in St. Louis

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That's not that bad. Many matriculants do worse their first semester. Identify what the problem is and correct it, that simple.
 
"I kept sleeping in for an early college writing class"
That isn't acceptable
Get an alarm clock, get two if one doesn't work...
Anyways does your college have a free tutoring or student support center?
If yes, go live there next semester. That will help a lot if you use that resource.

Also a 3.1 doesn't doom you dude..
14 credits?

Maintain a 3.8 from here on out and you will end with a 3.7
 
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It's clear that whatever methods you are using aren't working for you. As the saying goes, "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Try other methods and see if those work better for you. I personally suggest making flashcards and doing practice problems. If you can get your hands on practice exams, those can especially helpful. Go over old HW or quiz problems if you have them. Also teaching others the material is another great way to reinforce the material.

You are only doomed if you don't change your habits! You've got plenty of time to fix your GPA.
 
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not a problem.
 
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Don't worry, one bad semester will not ruin your medical school chances. You just have to learn from all the mistakes that you made last semester and move forward. When it comes to having good study habits, you just have to make time to study and go over your coursework and be consistent with this (even when you reallllly don't want to). That's the only way you don't end up in a situation where you're stressed and cramming for an exam. You have so many more semesters to go and your chances of applying to med school with a high gpa are still high.
 
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Hello,
I am new to these forums so please bear with me as I write my first post on my situation. Before my spring semester, I wanted to determine my problem areas that plagued me my first semester and recover properly.

Here's my situation:
I took 14 credits my first semester and received a 3.1 GPA. I got like 2 As, 1 B, 2 Cs, and a W (the W is because I kept sleeping in for an early college writing class that requires my participation and attendance, ended up dropping it because I wasn't being effective). The Bs and Cs are in 2 science courses and 1 mathematics course. I believe I didn't manage my time well enough, always ran out of time on the exams, still don't have good study methods, didn't understand/study material sufficiently, concerned myself with frivolous and dumb things, and became very stressed out which compiled and destroyed my psyche mentality towards the end.

I studied hard for my mathematics final but didn't do very well on it. I got really depressed after I calculated what I would receive for the course, a C+. Afterwards, I basically forgot in a way or was in shock of this fact to study for my other finals and ended up staying up all night to study for the other two science finals, one after the other. Easy to say, I didn't do very well on those final exams because I only studied something like 12 hours up to the exam. Got a B in one science course and a C+ in the other.

I hope I am not coming across as a pitiful pre-med who just started college in the deep-end. I am just looking for help as to how I can bounce back from this semester from those who may have gone and went through similar situations. I believe I can come back from this semester even if I am unaware of the DAMAGE my first semester has caused for my med admissions 3 yrs. down the line. Any advice, tips, etc. would be very much appreciated and I wish you all a very good cycle for those applying!

P.S. I am a first-year at Washington University in St. Louis

Dude you have plenty of time. I'm sure the pre med classes at Wash U st Louis are very challenging and you're still getting acclimated. Learn from your past habits and crush this upcoming semester.

Good luck man.
 
WashU alum here.

B's were GenChem and Chem Lab I'm guessing? Those are tough classes, and B is median, so don't let that get to your head. Applicants out of WashU with a lower sGPA (think 3.4-3.5) still get in most of the time as long as they do alright on the MCAT.

Next semester is Chem II, Chem Lab II, Bio2960 all at once for most people though, and for that semester you need good study habits. Use google calendar to set yourself deadlines to do each problem set, practice exam, etc. Letting things pile up until you have to pull all nighters will really hurt you in time crunch exams like the prereqs!
 
You're fortunate in that a 3.1 is not difficult to improve since you've taken so few credits. And you're certainly no "pitiful pre-med"!

That being said, you need to take time to assess your study habits and make sure you're ready for the upcoming semester. Use the academic resource center to your advantage but don't be afraid to test the waters with other resources (Khan Academy, flash cards, rewriting notes, etc.) to see what works best for you. Don't forget about time management, either; it seems that you had some trouble with getting up for class and preparing for multiple finals.

Things become difficult if more bad grades factor into your GPA, sure. But if you build good study skills now, that shouldn't be a problem!
 
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Thought I'd add my two cents as a non-trad who had some trouble transitioning to college.

My first piece of advice. You need to figure out what is wrong and inhibiting your performance and you need to fix it ASAP, right now. If you don't work well in morning classes, rearrange your schedule. If you are working too much, budget and cut your hours, if you need to work on your study skills you better get on that now. Your GPA is fixable but you will have to work 2x as hard to fix a poor GPA than to get a decent one to begin with. It only gets harder the longer you get poor grades.

Time management is essential. Get an alarm clock, get a planner, use both of them. Block out time to study, even if you feel like you don't need to because if you are like me, you probably don't know it as well as you think you do walking out of lecture.

For the love of god go to class. You might be able to sneak by by not attending an art class or some gen ed requirements, hell maybe even gen chem... It will not be this way once you get to OCHEM or any higher level science and math classes. You are paying a crazy amount of money to get an education, unless you are on your death bed, get out of bed and go to school. You won't regret going, but you'll sure as hell regret skipping class.

B's aren't good grades. There I said it. In high school B's are okay. But in college that mentality will kill your shot at med school. Strive for A's every single time, even if you think it's impossible. Being satisfied with a B will leave you with a whole lot of regret once you look at average accepted GPAs to med schools as a junior with a sub 3.5 GPA

Use your classmates. Don't be a jerk and try and drag people down (looking at you cutthroat premeds). Find people with similar interests and goals and study productively together. Making friends with similar goals as you can help you establish a more reasonable expectation of what you social life will look like going through this process, and to keep your head in the game.

Go to office hours for professors. They aren't super scary. You might even get a mentor and a great LOR out of it.

Once you can get your GPA up above a 3.5 regularly get out there and start your E.Cs or you'll end up having to take a gap year. A good place to start is volunteering at a hospital.

This isn't the end of the world, and it's a good thing you are taking it seriously now as a freshman. You'll be okay. But you need to work hard and get your head together. Everything you do now matters.
 
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