Should I continue with pre med

[vandypremed0213]

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(I want to start out by saying I’d really appreciate if you have any condescending remarks to keep it to yourself. I fully understand how poorly I’m doing. Thanks!)

I just finished my sophomore year as a pre med student. I’ve gotten a C- and a C in the the two semesters of gen chem (retook the first semester and got another C-) and a C and C+ in intro to biology. I’m a URM and I go to a top 15 school which is a highly competitive school for pre med. Even if I were to do extremely well in the rest of my pre med classes and took a lot more science classes to boost my BCPM gpa, do I have any chance applying to MD schools? Would the fact that I’m a URM and go to a competitive school make much of a difference or should I just cut my losses? (Also I’m aware many schools don’t accept a C-. However, a lot of the schools I was looking at don’t state their minimum grade requirement for the class. Should I just email them all about it?)

(Also I do plan on majoring and bio so taking a lot more science classes if that makes any difference)

 

[HomeSkool]

(I want to start out by saying I’d really appreciate if you have any condescending remarks to keep it to yourself. I fully understand how poorly I’m doing. Thanks!)

I just finished my sophomore year as a pre med student. I’ve gotten a C- and a C in the the two semesters of gen chem (retook the first semester and got another C-) and a C and C+ in intro to biology. I’m African and I go to Vanderbilt which is a highly competitive for pre med. Even if I were to do extremely well in the rest of my pre med classes and took a lot more science classes to boost my BCPM gpa, do I have any chance applying to MD schools? Would the fact that I’m a URM and go to a competitive school make much of a difference or should I just cut my losses? (Also I’m aware many schools don’t accept a C-. However, a lot of the schools I was looking at don’t state their minimum grade requirement for the class. Should I just email them all about it?)

1. If you want better advice, provide your cGPA and sGPA so we can determine the level to which you can improve your GPA and be competitive.
2. Get to your campus learning center and/or academic advisement office. With repeated C-level grades in science courses, they may be able to help you analyze and correct deficits in your learning processes.
3. You need to retake the C-. With suboptimal credentials, you need to cast a very wide net. That means making sure you're eligible for as many schools as possible.
4. Discard the notion that MD > DO, and plan to apply to both.
5. As I've said elsewhere, the internet is not a safe space. By posting online, you run the risk of encountering hostility and condescension. You have neither the ability nor the right to dictate others' behavior, but you retain those rights in yourself. Don't tell others to be nice to you, figure out how to handle yourself when they're not.

 

[vandypremed0213]

1. If you want better advice, provide your cGPA and sGPA so we can determine the level to which you can improve your GPA and be competitive.
2. Get to your campus learning center and/or academic advisement office. With repeated C-level grades in science courses, they may be able to help you analyze and correct deficits in your learning processes.
3. You need to retake the C-. With suboptimal credentials, you need to cast a very wide net. That means making sure you're eligible for as many schools as possible.
4. Discard the notion that MD > DO, and plan to apply to both.
5. As I've said elsewhere, the internet is not a safe space. By posting online, you run the risk of encountering hostility and condescension. You have neither the ability nor the right to dictate others' behavior, but you retain those rights in yourself. Don't tell others to be nice to you, figure out how to handle yourself when they're not.

Thank you for the advice! (Also I know the internet isn’t a safe space. It’s not that it hurts my feelings or whatever. I’m just looking for helpful advice/criticism rather than rude comments). My gpa is 3.01 my sGPA is a 2.4

 

[HomeSkool]

My gpa is 3.01 my sGPA is a 2.4

If you do very well during the remainder of undergrad, you could probably get your cGPA up to 3.4-3.5. (Your sGPA could increase more or less than that depending on how science-heavy your remaining coursework is.) Together with a good MCAT score, that would make you competitive for most, if not all, DO schools, as well as many MD schools.

(Also I know the internet isn’t a safe space. It’s not that it hurts my feelings or whatever. I’m just looking for helpful advice/criticism rather than rude comments).

Just wanted to make sure. We do get some snowflakes in here.

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

I really think your first point of action is to determine why you are getting low grades. From my experience tutoring freshmen in college, the main reason for this might be lack of a strong high school education which leads to the following skills that aren't well developed:

-Ability to critically think about mathematical equations. I once had a student who was taking Gen Chem 1 for the third time. Turns out he had a really difficult time with simple equation manipulation such as getting mass from density, which made it very hard to understand the equations in thermodynamics because thermodynamics is a lot about manipulating equations.

-Ability to read critically. This one is very important, especially for bio classes. It helps to read each page and draw conclusions from it and relate it to why it was important to what you read before.

-Ability to apply material to new situations. This very much comes with practice. But the key is to understand and comprehend material first before trying to apply it.

Overall, the main two reasons why freshmen and sophomores struggle is either due to lack of discipline (poor time
management, laziness, procrastination) or weak background in math, science, and comprehension. It's up to you to figure out what's dragging you down. It's important to put your pride away and take a step back. Don't feel ashamed if you have to crack open some textbooks from high school.

 

[ERDOC555]

Thank you for the advice! (Also I know the internet isn’t a safe space. It’s not that it hurts my feelings or whatever. I’m just looking for helpful advice/criticism rather than rude comments). My gpa is 3.01 my sGPA is a 2.4

I would definitely look into other options. A 2.4 science GPA is terrifying for medical schools as it shows that you aren't excelling at even the most basic level when it comes to science classes. It will make people question if you will be able to survive in medical school with significantly harder and more time consuming classes. Not to mention many top schools are notorious for grade inflation, which would compound the issue if they see your GPA.

That being said, COULD you continue with pre-med and maybe get DO or low tier MD (if you improved yourself)? Maybe/probably. But the real question here, as seen in the title is SHOULD you? And based on the limited information you've provided, I don't think it's a good idea.

 

[Spectar]

Get A's junior + senior year, take a gap year (so that you can apply with all your As and max GPA), work on ECs, kill the mcat, etc. You should be fine.

 

[mk04447]

I've written the same thing to many folks over the years. Reinvent yourself. Sorry to say, but undergrad isn't hard, he'll, medical shcool isn't hard, you must however learn to amass large amounts of information quickly. My guess is you aren't trying, not an insult, just a fact. Time to study 24-7, time to learn to triage, time to put your money where your mouth is. Any other comments are fluff, you want to do medicine, do it.

 

[Spectar]

I've written the same thing to many folks over the years. Reinvent yourself. Sorry to say, but undergrad isn't hard....

Try telling that to the pre-meds at Johnny Hop

 

[mk04447]

Try telling that to the pre-meds at Johnny Hop

I'm positive I would. Grew up in DC and know a lot of folks who went to those schools, I'm pretty sure baleen and GLUT4 is the same there.

 

[deleted480308]

Try telling that to the pre-meds at Johnny Hop

It’s still not hard. Line up a JH premed and I’ll tell them....

OP, you have to fix the problem and “I’ll just start getting As won’t cut it”. No one cares whst school you go to if you can’t get over 3.0 in science classes. Find the problem and fix it because most 2.4 students don’t make the jump to getting all As

 

[de Ribas]

(I want to start out by saying I’d really appreciate if you have any condescending remarks to keep it to yourself. I fully understand how poorly I’m doing. Thanks!)

I just finished my sophomore year as a pre med student. I’ve gotten a C- and a C in the the two semesters of gen chem (retook the first semester and got another C-) and a C and C+ in intro to biology. I’m a URM and I go to a top 15 school which is a highly competitive school for pre med. Even if I were to do extremely well in the rest of my pre med classes and took a lot more science classes to boost my BCPM gpa, do I have any chance applying to MD schools? Would the fact that I’m a URM and go to a competitive school make much of a difference or should I just cut my losses? (Also I’m aware many schools don’t accept a C-. However, a lot of the schools I was looking at don’t state their minimum grade requirement for the class. Should I just email them all about it?)

(Also I do plan on majoring and bio so taking a lot more science classes if that makes any difference)

You have plenty of great advice here already.

Shortly. For now you primary focus is GPA repair for which you have time. Use your school resources and tutoring hours to understand where you face challenges and for the last 2-3 years try to bring your GPA to about 3.4-3.5. It is possible.

 

[vandypremed0213]

Just wanna say you guys have all been super honest and constructive so far. Thank you so much, it’s very helpful!

 

[workaholic181]

URM and good undergrad school can help an already solid app but you're clearly not on pace for that so do not bank on those things saving you.

You can absolutely turn it around. It's been done before. But you have very little room for error going forward, as in you need to pretty much ace the rest of your classes.

Getting a C- in two retakes of gen chem 1 is odd OP.. again you can turn it around but only you can decide if it's worth it. I also got off to a slow start and turned it around but having such little room for mistakes is stressful. Just an FYI. It's your call.