Screwed up first college semester !!!?? Chances at top 20 med school

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Adapting to Cornell was really hard for me. I got destroyed my first semester and ended up with a 2.69 gpa which included a C+ in sociology a C+ in gen chem 1 and a B- in bio. Now I'm a sophomore and after getting my stuff together for the past year or do ( 4.0 in my second and third semester including A in gen chem 2 and orgo), my gpa is 3.5. I've taken two upper level bio courses and have gotten As. My question is, will my screw up on my first semester get me back in the end?

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Relax, you'll be fine.just keep doing well.happy holidays
 
It is too early for you to even be thinking of top 20, focus on figuring out what went wrong and reevaluate your studies. Figuring out med school stuff is much later down the line.
 
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It is too early for you to even be thinking of top 20, focus on figuring out what went wrong and reevaluate your studies. Figuring out med school stuff is much later down the line.

This. Also, yes it would probably be a good idea to retake your C+ in Gen Chem I if you have time on the side. Don't go out of your way to do it. Honestly if you keep your grades up from here on out, it won't be a huge deal since you would have shown that you overcame whatever caused your 1st semester problems in the first place.
 
Top 30 is unlikely. You still have a shot at med school. Just don't screw up anymore.
 
Top 30 is unlikely. You still have a shot at med school. Just don't screw up anymore.

Says who, exactly? He screwed up in his very first semester. If he keeps his grades up for the rest of his time in college, he's still in the running for Top 20s on the grade front. Grades are just a starting point for top schools and you definitely don't need to have been perfect.
 
Top 30 is unlikely. You still have a shot at med school. Just don't screw up anymore.
If OP was applying with a 3.5 this would be true. They have at least three more semesters ahead of them, and if they keep up the work they have been doing the past two semesters, they most certainly do have a chance at top schools. Not sure why you would think that isn't the case......
 
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OP. It's good to be worried about this, but as SN12357 has said, grades are only the surface. So long as you bring the GPA up to a 3.75 level or just do very well from here on out, you are still in the running on the grade front. Grades and MCATs...they're just filters IMO.
 
No need to retake a C especially if it's the only one on your transcript. It's just a little blip that you should be able to recover from pretty easily.
 
take heart in the fact that any freshman's chances at any med school, regardless of first semester gpa, are quite low.
 
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If OP was applying with a 3.5 this would be true. They have at least three more semesters ahead of them, and if they keep up the work they have been doing the past two semesters, they most certainly do have a chance at top schools. Not sure why you would think that isn't the case......
He got a 2.69 his first semester. I know from my current application experience that top 30 schools already have too many 3.8+/35+ people to choose from.
 
He got a 2.69 his first semester. I know from my current application experience that top 30 schools already have too many 3.8+/35+ people to choose from.

And they choose from those people based on ECs. If the OP applies with a 3.7+, having kept up his turnaround, his rejection from Top 20s will be because either MCAT wasn't good enough or ECs weren't what they were looking for. Not because of grades.

I've been admitted to a Top 10 school and interviewed at several more with decisions pending. My grade screw-ups as a freshman and sophomore are clearly not relevant to them anymore. At some interviews I've had to provide an explanation, but often it isn't even mentioned.
 
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I've been admitted to a Top 10 school and interviewed at several more with decisions pending. My grade screw-ups as a freshman and sophomore are clearly not relevant to them anymore. At some interviews I've had to provide an explanation, but often it isn't even mentioned.
What did you do to cover up your screw ups?
 
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What did you do to cover up your screw ups?

Well, there's no covering up in MD admissions. I put to rest any worries about my mediocre performance those first two years by making straight As the last two years of college + straight As in a post-bacc. My MCAT is a balanced 35+.

I never fell on my face badly enough to truly wreck my GPA but my grades those first two years were absolutely not good enough for a to med school (mostly Bs). I maintain that the OP has no reason to worry about his grades if he maintains his current path.
 
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