Should I give up?

[Squ1d]

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Hey guys,

So I'm new to SDN but I need advice. I'm a pre-med student who has been slacking off on that note a little bit. I am a freshman at a state university and I need some advice. I'm currently a physics major, I enjoy physics. However the classes are intensely math-based and my GPA can take a litte bit of a hit because of it. My first semester I took 15 hours, had a 3.073 gpa. This semester I took 19 hours and will probably get a 2.4. Roughly making my accumulative 2.7, I recognize its only my freshman year however I really want to go to allopathic med school.

Am I completely done? should I hang up and become an english major?

 

[edgarceballos]

Honestly, you can do whatever you set your mind to. If you believe you can change your grades around and shape up, then go ahead! Maybe consider retaking some of the courses you had low grades on. However, if you don't really like studying, then maybe the pre-medical path isn't for you bud. In the end, it really is up to you whether or not you think you want this life of books or a different one.

 

[tarheel1408]

One bad year isn't enough to derail your application. Now isn't the time to give up. That being said, it should be obvious that you need to make a significant change in your study habits, and this change needs to happen now. You can explain to med schools that you had a little trouble adjusting to the college workload, but you need to follow that up by saying that you identified your weaknesses and took discrete steps to turn them into strengths.

I'm going to restate this for emphasis: if you want to go to an allopathic school your academic life needs to undergo a radical change ASAP.

 

[kmp0410]

I agree with whats been said

But also, slow down. Why are you taking 19 credit hours as a freshmen?

 

[Fakhter]

no you shouldn't quit.....lick your wounds and move on because this is only the beginning of an incredibly grueling journey.

 

[Squ1d]

I agree with whats been said

But also, slow down. Why are you taking 19 credit hours as a freshmen?

I honestly think thats one of my biggest things I need to do...

I just feel so stretched thin. 19 hours is apparently too many.

 

[kmp0410]

I honestly think thats one of my biggest things I need to do...

I just feel so stretched thin. 19 hours is apparently too many.

Yes, I mean 15 hours is normal. Many people take 12 at times, and as long as you don't do it all the time then it won't matter.

Don't be in such a hurry.

 

[milski]

As a physics major, I will say: proceed with extreme caution. Once you move beyond the intro classes, physics will become much more coupled to math. If the intro classes were problematic, you need to make sure you can handle the math before digging yourself in a deeper hole. Your future physics classes will use calculus (a lot!), linear algebra and some group theory as tools. That means that the professor won't spend any time teaching you how to do the math - you're expected to have taken the right classes and know how to solve the math related part of the problems. You won't be able to get good grades unless you can handle that.

That does not mean that it's impossible - on the contrary, there are physics majors with great GPAs. To get there you need to buckle up and figure out the math. Don't rush, take a few more math classes, make sure that you have all the basics down, it will serve you really well later.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Why do you think English would be easy? Probably has more to do w your study habits than your major.

 

[scruggs92]

Hey guys,

So I'm new to SDN but I need advice. I'm a pre-med student who has been slacking off on that note a little bit. I am a freshman at a state university and I need some advice. I'm currently a physics major, I enjoy physics. However the classes are intensely math-based and my GPA can take a litte bit of a hit because of it. My first semester I took 15 hours, had a 3.073 gpa. This semester I took 19 hours and will probably get a 2.4. Roughly making my accumulative 2.7, I recognize its only my freshman year however I really want to go to allopathic med school.

Am I completely done? should I hang up and become an english major?

Would you consider going to a DO school? You could easily raise your GPA to a 3.3+ and do well on your MCAT to get into a DO school.

 

[yehhhboiii]

If you don't like the math, you should really reconsider physics. I noticed that numbers started disappearing from my equations and I was like wtf... The concepts only get harder (quantum mechanics makes no sense). Don't switch majors just because you think it's easier. That's a waste of your tuition dollars. Learn something that you care about and work hard.

 

[milski]

If you don't like the math, you should really reconsider physics. I noticed that numbers started disappearing from my equations and I was like wtf... The concepts only get harder (quantum mechanics makes no sense). Don't switch majors just because you think it's easier. That's a waste of your tuition dollars. Learn something that you care about and work hard.

Not only did the numbers go away but with them went the nicely cooked problems where everything cancels. Counting microstates in thermo or E&M fields for even simple setups quickly leads to page-wide answers inducing 😱.

On the bright side, you'll never complain about calculation heavy MCAT.

 

[yehhhboiii]

Not only did the numbers go away but with them went the nicely cooked problems where everything cancels. Counting microstates in thermo or E&M fields for even simple setups quickly leads to page-wide answers inducing 😱.

On the bright side, you'll never complain about calculation heavy MCAT.

I remember solving equations for harmonic oscillators and hydrogen like ions where equations like this made sense to me:

Now I can barely handle simple two digit multiplication in my head.

 

[milski]

I remember solving equations for harmonic oscillators and hydrogen like ions where equations like this made sense to me:

Now I can barely handle simple two digit multiplication in my head.

One more class and I'm done with this crud! 😀 (not counting the current quarter).