Rough first year of undergrad

[DoctorEngineer]

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First time posting on SDN, so I'm not sure if this is in the right place or not. But I'll get to it anyway: Basically, I've had a rough first year of undergrad. I go to a small, rigorous engineering school where I will major in mechanical engineering with a minor in biomedical engineering. It's been a rough transition, and I've had to withdraw from one class already and I'm barely pulling a 3.0 for this first year. With my plans to go into either med school or dental school (I'm undecided as of yet), this scares me a lot, considering I'm well shy of the average 3.7 accepted into most med schools. I know it's pretty early in the game, and I'm fairly confident I could pull myself together, now that I'm used to the school. But still, I'm worried that this unimpressive year might send red flags to the admissions committee. What are the chances that this could ruin my application? Will the withdrawal also look poor on my application? What are some thoughts on my choices of major/minor, and is there anything else I can do to make my application more compelling?

 

[Skydive Fox]

You're still a few years off, but keep in mind you've got 1/3 (or 1/4 if you take gap year) of your GPA points accumulated for your transcript you sent while applying to MD or DMD/DDS schools. Certainly all hope is not lost, but figure out where you went wrong in terms studying and adjust accordingly... Choice of major is unique, but not entirely unheard of. Maybe consider a switch if it's too intense for you? Aside from that, to boost up your application I would recommend getting in 100+ hours of shadowing, some work experience, and volunteer experience (clinical and/or non-clinical).

 

[WedgeDawg]

Moving to pre-allo

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

Protect GPA at all cost. If you have no intention of wanting to become an engineer, and struggling with major-based coursework, then my advice would be to switch majors, no shame in playing the long-game

 

[AlphaBeta<3]

First time posting on SDN, so I'm not sure if this is in the right place or not. But I'll get to it anyway: Basically, I've had a rough first year of undergrad. I go to a small, rigorous engineering school where I will major in mechanical engineering with a minor in biomedical engineering. It's been a rough transition, and I've had to withdraw from one class already and I'm barely pulling a 3.0 for this first year. With my plans to go into either med school or dental school (I'm undecided as of yet), this scares me a lot, considering I'm well shy of the average 3.7 accepted into most med schools. I know it's pretty early in the game, and I'm fairly confident I could pull myself together, now that I'm used to the school. But still, I'm worried that this unimpressive year might send red flags to the admissions committee. What are the chances that this could ruin my application? Will the withdrawal also look poor on my application? What are some thoughts on my choices of major/minor, and is there anything else I can do to make my application more compelling?

if your cGPA is 3.0 and it's only the first year you're in school, you're perfectly fine. I'm not sure why you're doing mechanical engineering though...is it a backup or something? But anyway, don't worry. You have 3 years and 6 semesters left to do well. They like upward trends, and they understand if people do poorly their first year as long as they improve it down the line.

 

[Turkishking]

GPA matters the most. Switch your major, or step up your game.

 

[Cookiess]

You'll be fine as long as you do well during the rest of your undergraduate career and and finish with an upward trend in your science GPA and overall GPA. If you plan on going to medical school or dental school either way, I would consider switching to a different major (not sure if you might be able to do a non-engineering major since you go to an engineering school). As you're already aware, having a strong GPA is important. The combo of the mechanical engineering major and biomedical engineering minor would be tough so consider whether you'd want to continue vs. switching.

To make your application more compelling, one thing I would recommend doing is finding an activity you are passionate about and investing your time in that activity. Show depth by continuing with that activity through an extended period of time and stepping into a leadership position in that activity.

 

[drcon]

I'm not going to sugar coat it, if you don't make some serious changes you will not become a doctor.