Should I give up the dream?

[TheGuy2000]

fellow SDN'ers
Grades just got back to me today, and I think the dream might be dead. C in Bio and C- in second semester orgo. I've got a whopping 2.9 now. I'll be a senior next year, and am wondering if I should just give it up. I'll be doing a fifth year that's a given, but I'm wondering if I'm already dead. SDN'ers I need help 🙁

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[DoctorFunk]

If it really is your dream, I would finish out your senior year very strong and then attend a post-bac program to bump up your grades. I think the upward trend in grades could help you out (assuming your ECs are strong).

Oh, and really nail the MCAT.

 

[cather]

No, never give up. There are ways to get around the gpa, it just might take
more years to get to med school. You might want to repeat the courses and also evaluate exactly why you think you got the grades you did. Did you have trouble studying for the courses? Did you spend enough time on the courses or were you distracted with other things? You need to answer and find out why you got the grades you did so when you take other courses, you will do better.

 

[jlee9531]

post-bacc (get 4.0)
think about a masters program and do well in it.
rock the mcat. (double digits in each section is a must)
during this time strengthen up the rest of your application
- volunteering etc...
- research etc...

 

[celticmists18]

NEVER SAY DIE! I was in a situation very similar to yours. Spring quarter before my last year (I was on the 3 year plan) I got a B- in ochem lab and a C+ in ochem. I continued with my original plan of graduating and applying during my year off (no post-bac course or anything) and I got 6 interviews and had an acceptance by mid-october. Just finish strong and you should be fine!

fellow SDN'ers
Grades just got back to me today, and I think the dream might be dead. C in Bio and C- in second semester orgo. I've got a whopping 2.9 now. I'll be a senior next year, and am wondering if I should just give it up. I'll be doing a fifth year that's a given, but I'm wondering if I'm already dead. SDN'ers I need help 🙁

 

[Alexander99]

Let's put it this way: are there really any goals that can't be reached if you give it everything you've got?

The key is giving it everything you've got. I'm sure your C performances aren't close to your full potential. Go out there and do it man.

Part of it is figuring out what's keep you down. Is it too much partying, too much internet, too many girls (though girls would be the last thing I'd give up.) Once you've figured out what the problem is, solve it. It's that simple.

 

[jlee9531]

NEVER SAY DIE! I was in a situation very similar to yours. Spring quarter before my last year (I was on the 3 year plan) I got a B- in ochem lab and a C+ in ochem. I continued with my original plan of graduating and applying during my year off (no post-bac course or anything) and I got 6 interviews and had an acceptance by mid-october. Just finish strong and you should be fine!

so you applied with a sub 3.0 gpa like this guy has?

 

[TheGuy2000]

Thanks for the support fellas 🙂 I was curious too about celtic, and about your stats and where you applied. I need all the love I can get before I drown my sorrows in whiskey later tonight, then time for MCAT! 😀

 

[celticmists18]

so you applied with a sub 3.0 gpa like this guy has?

no. perhaps I should have been clearer in illustrating that a dip in grades can be counteracted by an upward trend during the last year.

 

[Amicus]

On the other hand, maybe there are good reasons for your lack of performance. If you dont enjoy school on some level medicine might not be for you. I you have been making C's every semester and every semester you promise yourself all A's next time, you may have a problem. Maturity is not always not giving up. It can also be having the courage to take a good look at your goals and if it is what you really want.

 

[josephgoro]

fellow SDN'ers
Grades just got back to me today, and I think the dream might be dead. C in Bio and C- in second semester orgo. I've got a whopping 2.9 now. I'll be a senior next year, and am wondering if I should just give it up. I'll be doing a fifth year that's a given, but I'm wondering if I'm already dead. SDN'ers I need help 🙁

you need to get your act together. if you can, retake orgo ii -- and try to get at least a B. since you have two more years, with a balanced schedule you can manage to pull a 3.2, which is adequate for some schools.

you absolutely must do well on the mcat, if anything at least to show to ad coms that you're just lazy or unmotivated, and not incompetent. you may want to play that up with other aspects of your application (not explicitly), and may want to particularly focus on your letters of rec. try to not resemble the typical applicant who doesn't get accepted by bottom tier schools, and you'll probably get in somewhere allopathic.

most important: don't do anything "half-assed." if you have a dream, commit yourself to it, and you'll succeed

 

[bearpaw]

uhhh, if i were you i'd give up.

you CAN get into med school. but it will be MUCH HARDER for you to do than for the average person. You spent 4 years...well, you're still 4 years (At least) away from getting in.

If i were you, i'd go either to the carribean, a DO school, or dental school. You still have a good shot at the carribean and dental school.

a US allopathic school is goign to be very difficult for you to get into. pulling up that gpa of yours is going to be pretty hard. odds are, you're not a good student, so you're not going to be getting great grades in post bacc either. even if you get all A's, you're still looking at a 3.2 at most. And that 3 years from now.

 

[TheGuy2000]

a US allopathic school is goign to be very difficult for you to get into. pulling up that gpa of yours is going to be pretty hard. odds are, you're not a good student, so you're not going to be getting great grades in post bacc either. even if you get all A's, you're still looking at a 3.2 at most. And that 3 years from now.[/QUOTE]

Fuk you buddy, just go away trool, I'm not a good student, come on, I'm at one of the three top LAC's in the country, I was a national merit finalist, shut up. Can someone ban this go or tell him to stop flaming, it's one thing to give advice but jeez... come on

 

[beambright]

If you are struggling now you might want to figure out if you think you would be at the bottom of the med school class and maybe eventually flunk out...
getting in is hard but no one wants to go into a field they constantly are
swimming upstream to stay in. If you don't think med school is really going to be the best choice for you consider another related field....maybe optometry or dentistry. I really think optometry is a great field especially with all the aging baby boomers. Just be sure not to miss the application dates....apply early and that way, IF you don't do well on MCATs it gives you a great backup plan. You have to take an optometry entrance test also but I am sure it can't be as hard as MCATs.

 

[bearpaw]

a US allopathic school is goign to be very difficult for you to get into. pulling up that gpa of yours is going to be pretty hard. odds are, you're not a good student, so you're not going to be getting great grades in post bacc either. even if you get all A's, you're still looking at a 3.2 at most. And that 3 years from now.

Fuk you buddy, just go away trool, I'm not a good student, come on, I'm at one of the three top LAC's in the country, I was a national merit finalist, shut up. Can someone ban this go or tell him to stop flaming, it's one thing to give advice but jeez... come on[/QUOTE]

ok, try and get in. see what happens. i went to amherst for a year too, playboy. did you go there? amherst is hard, i know. but its not the school's fault you have a sub 3.0. its because you don't work hard enough, just like 99% of people who do poorly in college. if you go to MIT and you have a 2.9, you're not working as hard as the next guy. plain and simple. you might be smarter than the state school kid, but if he has a 4.0, he's working harder than his peers, perhaps you should have considered doing the same.

i know all about LAC's.

but now, i want you to try. i want you to waste 10 years and still not get in. so here goes:

"never ever give up. even if everyone says its impossible, if you stay true to your heart, anything can happen. YOU WILL GET IN if YOU BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. "

see where that will get you. pm me when you get in...you'll be on sdn for quite some time, won't you?

 

[trauma_junky]

I'm taking a 4-6 year break from trying to apply due to family and finacial issues, and after dealing with a ton of adcoms, to determine if I want to apply again. Very emotional roller coaster!

But never give up if you feel it is your calling. Good grades and MCAT scores do not make a good doctor, remember that.

 

[bruinrab]

It can be done, if you want it enough. I graduated from college with a 3.0, sub 3.0 science gpa (as a bio/english major), although there was an upward trend (dean's list final semester, missed dean's list by 0.02 the semester before that). I had 30+ MCATs (double digits across the board), plus a good amount of extra-curriculars, volunteering, research, and leadership experience. I pulled myself together academically, did a one year MS (only got a ~3.2, mostly because my mother was in a major car accident halfway through the first semester, and I got sick from that added stress -- school alone I could handle, but I'm very close to my mother so my mind wasn't always on school for the rest of that semester). I'm going to med school two years after graduating from college with that admittedly pathetic 3.0.

 

[DD214_DOC]

If you're still in school, I would probably just delay graduating and take some more courses. As a senior, you would have priority over registering.

There's always Ross and SGU. Have you considered retaking some classes and applying to DO schools? AACOMAS will replace retakes, as opposed to averaging them like AMCAS.

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

Fuk you buddy, just go away trool, I'm not a good student, come on, I'm at one of the three top LAC's in the country, I was a national merit finalist, shut up. Can someone ban this go or tell him to stop flaming, it's one thing to give advice but jeez... come on

What the heck? You ask if you should give up, someone honestly tells you that you should, and then you go off on them? Who's the troll here? Why even ask the question knowing that someone's going to tell you what you don't want to hear?

 

[Yobot]

What the heck? You ask if you should give up, someone honestly tells you that you should, and then you go off on them? Who's the troll here? Why even ask the question knowing that someone's going to tell you what you don't want to hear?

I'm guessing this individual wanted every single person to pat him on the back.

 

[Skialta]

I believe almost anyone who really wants to become a physician can acheive it if they are committed. Really medical school is not about how smart you are but how much are you willing to suffer, believe me most of my classmates would agree with this. If you are committed it will happen.

MS1.9

 

[Solaar]

fellow SDN'ers
Grades just got back to me today, and I think the dream might be dead. C in Bio and C- in second semester orgo. I've got a whopping 2.9 now. I'll be a senior next year, and am wondering if I should just give it up. I'll be doing a fifth year that's a given, but I'm wondering if I'm already dead. SDN'ers I need help 🙁

Guy2000, check ur PM's

 

[Alexander99]

I believe almost anyone who really wants to become a physician can acheive it if they are committed. Really medical school is not about how smart you are but how much are you willing to suffer, believe me most of my classmates would agree with this. If you are committed it will happen.

MS1.9

I'm with you on that one. Competitiveness as a med school applicant is directly related to your pain tolerance. The more pain you can take, the better of a candidate you can be.

All those weeknight parties I missed out on? Yeah, I'd consider that a pain. The good news is, I didn't drop out of premed like a lot of the people going to those parties did.

 

[TTSD]

You shouldn't ask us whether you want to give up the dream. A 2.9 is not the end of the world by any far stretch of the imagination for a US allopathic school, nor any far reach for a good foreign medical school. It's all about what YOU want to do NOW. There are many ways to improve it, and you still have one more year in school.

The question you should be asking yourself is this:
1) Why did you get the grades you did.
2) How do you think you're going to correct whatever deficiency you've noticed that landed you those grades.
3) How am I going to rape the MCATs

The biggest concern I have is this, you're a 4th year student in classes that a lot of pre-meds take their freshman and sophomore year. Most frosh-sophs do bad in those classes not because it's conceptually difficult but many of us are still coming off of our "we didn't have to try for our 4.0's in high school" mentality and want to play in college. What's your excuse?

I doubt it's your mental abilities, as you recently bragged about being a national merit finalist. Was it not enough time studying, too much senioritis? Perhaps there are other circumstances in your life? A family member dying, multiple jobs to pay the bills?

If it's the former. Get your act together. If it's the latter, get your act together. As Machiavelli said, there's fortune and skills. Fortune is fickle, but one who's skilled and PREPARED can overcome most of what fortune throws at them. And don't think I'm just quoting platitudes, this is first hand information as most of the old-timers here will testify, I have my ****-cycle pretty much attuned to finals. When all heaven and hell breaks loose on me.

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

uhhh, if i were you i'd give up.

you CAN get into med school. but it will be MUCH HARDER for you to do than for the average person. You spent 4 years...well, you're still 4 years (At least) away from getting in.

If i were you, i'd go either to the carribean, a DO school, or dental school. You still have a good shot at the carribean and dental school.

a US allopathic school is goign to be very difficult for you to get into. pulling up that gpa of yours is going to be pretty hard. odds are, you're not a good student, so you're not going to be getting great grades in post bacc either. even if you get all A's, you're still looking at a 3.2 at most. And that 3 years from now.

I think this is a little uncalled for. Shouldn't he take the MCAT first before he gives up all hope and switches career plans? Aren't there people on these forums that didn't do so hot in ugrad but retook classes, got a master's degree, and did a post-bacc (Georgetown SMP, Boston University-Master's in Health Science, UPenn, etc) and eventually got admitted to a US allopathetic school? In fact...I can cite a prolific poster here who didn't do so hot in his ugrad at Johns Hopkins but retook classes (and raped the classes the 2nd time around), did an MPH at Berkeley, and the post-bacc at Georgetown. He's now attending Case Western ...a GREAT med school and he received plenty of interviews as well. I won't name names but I'm sure lots of posters know who I'm talking about. Why tell this guy that he has to give up all hope now? For all you know, he could kick his ass in gear (retake classes and get a 4.0 in post-bacc) and rock the MCATs.

I agree, it will take a few more years of committment and effort on his part. I also agree that he should have a realistic outlook on the med school admissions process and probably choose med schools that aren't as selective as Harvard, Wash U, Johns Hopkins, etc. But to tell him that he's blown his shot at getting into a single US allopathic school is somewhat inaccurate...is it not? Other people have been in this guy's shoes and have been admitted to US allopathic schools...probably not Harvard or Hopkins...but they have been admitted.

To the OP: Just finish off your ugrad career strong. Take a reasonable couseload for the rest of your semesters and try to pull off at least a 3.6 in your remaining semesters. This should boost your GPA above the 3.0 mark. You might also want to look into post-bacc programs specifically designed for folks in your shoes (folks who didn't do as well as they would've liked to in ugrad). Georgetown has a program called SMP which has a high placement rate...I recommend it. Also, STUDY REALLY FOCKING HARD for the MCATs. To reiterate the above posters, you'll need double digits on all sections. I wish you the best of luck! You can do it man...just believe in yourself.

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

I have two points to make. If you don't want to hear it, fine.

1. If you're going to be miserable putting in the time to pull a near-4.0 for the next three years, then you definately should reconsider careers. In medical school you'll have to study HARDER, interns have to study, residents have to study, even attendings have to study. It never ends, ever. So if you don't like this sort of thing, then you should make an effort to find the work that you love rather than the career you fell in love with.

2. Many attendings who have made it into their specialty are telling pre-meds to choose another field - even if the pre-med is a fantastic candidate. They're saying that if they had to do it over again, they'd choose a different career. Even fantastically qualified physicians aren't ecstatic with their job! In other words, the "light at the end of the tunnel" is a fallacy in this field.

Now, whether I agree with them or not isn't the issue. I'm just telling you what I've seen and heard. Call it hearsay, and you'd be right. But please think hard upon this before making yourself miserable to pursue a red herring.

 

[celticmists18]

I have two points to make. If you don't want to hear it, fine.

1. If you're going to be miserable putting in the time to pull a near-4.0 for the next three years, then you definately should reconsider careers. In medical school you'll have to study HARDER, interns have to study, residents have to study, even attendings have to study. It never ends, ever. So if you don't like this sort of thing, then you should make an effort to find the work that you love rather than the career you fell in love with.

2. Many attendings who have made it into their specialty are telling pre-meds to choose another field - even if the pre-med is a fantastic candidate. They're saying that if they had to do it over again, they'd choose a different career. Even fantastically qualified physicians aren't ecstatic with their job! In other words, the "light at the end of the tunnel" is a fallacy in this field.

Now, whether I agree with them or not isn't the issue. I'm just telling you what I've seen and heard. Call it hearsay, and you'd be right. But please think hard upon this before making yourself miserable to pursue a red herring.

are you going to med school?

 

[sendwich]

I believe almost anyone who really wants to become a physician can acheive it if they are committed. Really medical school is not about how smart you are but how much are you willing to suffer, believe me most of my classmates would agree with this. If you are committed it will happen.

thanks...that's really reassuring 🙂

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

Absolutely. I'm not down on the profession at all. But you're right that my earlier post is totally one-sided. I'll try to correct that now.

Medicine can be rewarding in ways other professions cannot. Very few professions deal with relieving pain and suffering, detective-like problem solving, and communicating with people. You get to meet a huge variety of people, both patients and other healthcare providers.

While there are many problems in the profession, if it fits your personality like a glove, and you know you'll love doing it despite these disadvantages, then you SHOULD NOT GIVE UP YOUR DREAM UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE.