Should I go all in or find a new dream?

[Doccubus]

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I will first give you a little bit of info on me,

I let personal issues affect my freshman year, but with re-taking some classes (best case scenario) I can get my GPA up to 3.87, but again that's with achieving all A's in classes I slacked off in. So I would have mostly A's with some A-'s thrown in there. I am currently in line with a volunteer program where I will be helping in outdoor recreational activities for youths and adults with disabilities and I volunteered in Thailand for the summer last year. Tomorrow I am talking to an advisor about research opportunities that I can get involved with at my school.

So I'm worried about keeping my GPA up with the major I chose, Computer Science. So I'm pondering changing majors... But I am also worried about my options if medicine doesn't work out. However, being a doctor and helping others has always been my dream. So a part of me is telling me to "put it all in". But I can't help but prepare for other scenarios as well...

So I am over the cusp of a Sophomore with 35 credits, I have to redo classes to get my GPA up to med-school standards, my only volunteer work thus far has been my summer in Thailand, no research yet, no shadowing, and I'm extremely worried about not getting into a high paying specialty because I will obviously be lugging around medical school debt and the fact that I am a woman has also made me very worried about my future salary and managing the debt load. I have a handful of specialties I am drawn to but I am in an odd love affair with rads, I love technology and helping ALL types of people and love working as a team with other physicians, but I know this is a small field and I'm worried about it being a male field and the possibility of me making it.

Am I right in worrying about these things? I sometimes feel like I'm in last place of the race, am I a lost cause or should I go all in for my dream?

 

[cheechootrain]

If you really want this, then go for it. There is no set path or one way to get into medical school. You just have to put yourself in the best position and hope for the best.

You can do this! You just need to surround yourself with the right people. Talk to premed advisors, doctors, any other premed students who aren't *******s and make friends.

And whatever you do, take everything with a grain of salt. Especially on these forums!!


Sidebar: Sweet avatar. The mustache looks so real.

 

[Doccubus]

Thank you so much, you're post was very motivating. I'm going through some crazy motions and I think that's just what I needed.....

I think my new mantra may have to me. "Put yourself in the best position and hope for the best."

🙂

 

[ShenanigansMD]

CS is a tough gig. If you're able to pull it off with good grades then you've more than proven yourself.

In the end, just weigh your interests.

 

[skiing]

everyone has tough times and your will and character will determine whether you're strong enough to push through it. Be stubborn. Be obstinate. You're only a freshman!! I know plenty of people who had 3.3s 3.4s in freshman year and got 4.0s every quarter their senior year. If you're not willing to be hard nosed and claw your way through self-doubt and disappointment, then someone who is will take your spot in med school.

I can't tell you how many times I've felt like quitting/dropping out. It's natural to question yourself and everyone does. I felt like quitting freshman year when I was at your stage. I felt like quitting again before the MCAT (studying sucked). I felt like quitting again after the MCAT (it didn't go well the first time). I questioned myself when I didn't do well in my major classes (my major gpa was 3.4). Right now I'm taking a few years off and thoughts of quitting have reared their ugly head again as research stagnates. I seirously considered becomign a dentist or real estate agent for a while. Then of course, most of the time I've always felt like continuing, believing that all good things are attained through trial and perseverance, and if things are good, then they must be hard to get, and believing that if I hit my head against a wall enough times that I'll get what I want, continuing because I believed in the work I do, and because I knew that most people feel the same way at least at some point of their career.

So I kept hitting my head against the wall assuming that if I tried hard enough, I would open doors for myself as long as I stuck to what I was doing. It's worked beyond my wildest expectations so far - I have invites at 5 of the top 10 schools plus 2 more top 20 schools and it's only september. I did not have stellar stats, but I found a way - I made a story for myself.

You don't have to have amazing intelligence to get into med school but you do have to be strategic and discipilned. Nobody has said you can't go to med school yet. Don't tell yourself that. Be willing to put up a fight.

 

[Freesia88]

If you really want this, then go for it. There is no set path or one way to get into medical school. You just have to put yourself in the best position and hope for the best.

You can do this! You just need to surround yourself with the right people. Talk to premed advisors, doctors, any other premed students who aren't *******s and make friends.

And whatever you do, take everything with a grain of salt. Especially on these forums!!


Sidebar: Sweet avatar. The mustache looks so real.

Hey! No train metaphor?????!!!! I WANT MY TRAIN METAPHOR!!!!!

😀

To the OP, you are by no means in the last place. You have what? Two more years of college to get back on track? (Take that Cheechoo!) Get the information you need to make yourself a better candidate (SDN is as good a place as any to start) and go for it. 🙂

 

[Moosepig]

Don't worry about the debt. Peds and FM can pay off the debt, or no one would do it.

I used to be in Chem E in case I didn't get in, but decided that Medicine is what I want so dearly that my backup plan should not potentially impede my main plan. You're only a sophomore, you've got plenty of time for grades and you can spin your freshman trials positively.

 

[luke587]

I got a 3.5 my freshman year, I'm doing all right (2 semesters left now)

 

[cheechootrain]

Hey! No train metaphor?????!!!! I WANT MY TRAIN METAPHOR!!!!!

😀

To the OP, you are by no means in the last place. You have what? Two more years of college to get back on track? (Take that Cheechoo!) Get the information you need to make yourself a better candidate (SDN is as good a place as any to start) and go for it. 🙂

Touché. Looks like you derailed my post.

 

[carramrod06]

I will first give you a little bit of info on me,

I let personal issues affect my freshman year, but with re-taking some classes (best case scenario) I can get my GPA up to 3.87, but again that's with achieving all A's in classes I slacked off in. So I would have mostly A's with some A-'s thrown in there. I am currently in line with a volunteer program where I will be helping in outdoor recreational activities for youths and adults with disabilities and I volunteered in Thailand for the summer last year. Tomorrow I am talking to an advisor about research opportunities that I can get involved with at my school.

So I'm worried about keeping my GPA up with the major I chose, Computer Science. So I'm pondering changing majors... But I am also worried about my options if medicine doesn't work out. However, being a doctor and helping others has always been my dream. So a part of me is telling me to "put it all in". But I can't help but prepare for other scenarios as well...

So I am over the cusp of a Sophomore with 35 credits, I have to redo classes to get my GPA up to med-school standards, my only volunteer work thus far has been my summer in Thailand, no research yet, no shadowing, and I'm extremely worried about not getting into a high paying specialty because I will obviously be lugging around medical school debt and the fact that I am a woman has also made me very worried about my future salary and managing the debt load. I have a handful of specialties I am drawn to but I am in an odd love affair with rads, I love technology and helping ALL types of people and love working as a team with other physicians, but I know this is a small field and I'm worried about it being a male field and the possibility of me making it.

Am I right in worrying about these things? I sometimes feel like I'm in last place of the race, am I a lost cause or should I go all in for my dream?

I have heard something along these lines when it comes to "bad" grades freshman and sophomore year. It's so common for students to have a bad semester freshman year or the "sophomore slump" that it is oftentimes a much less negative than most people think if you're able to pull it up down the road.

The next thing I would say is definitely focus on getting your grades up. Don't be overzealous. Start off LIGHT. Don't think "OMG I have to do [insert list of activities] in order to get into medical school". Instead, find your balance (maybe a lighter load of classes and having at most one other experience/extracurricular) and then add later as you find what works for you. Many of my extracurricular activities didn't come until the end of my sophomore sophomore and my junior year so really don't feel like you're behind.

It sounds like you have doubts about CS. Maybe take another class in a department you are also interested in (if you have the space if your schedule that is) and maybe you'll decide to switch majors.

I still think you're in a very viable position for getting into a good medical school. With careful planning and always considering that you can only do so much during the day, I think you'll be able to succeed.

 

[Freesia88]

Touché. Looks like you derailed my post.

You were chugging along quite well until you mentioned that SDN was not to be trusted... There is some valuable information on here that the OP could use.

🙂

 

[cheechootrain]

You were chugging along quite well until you mentioned that SDN was not to be trusted... There is some valuable information on here that the OP could use.

🙂

Oh, I do believe there are tons of information on SDN that can go on for miles. But some of the forums are very negative and sometimes not always right. So it's important to be safe and always be cautious when crossing onto this road. But nonetheless, still good place to get advice 🙂

 

[Freesia88]

Oh, I do believe there are tons of information on SDN that can go on for miles. But some of the forums are very negative and sometimes not always right. So it's important to be safe and always be cautious when crossing onto this road. But nonetheless, still good place to get advice 🙂

True, the negativity can hit you like a freight train if you do not have a thick skin, but eventually it becomes good old fun.

(I am all out of trainisms...I concede!)

 

[cheechootrain]

True, the negativity can hit you like a freight train if you do not have a thick skin, but eventually it becomes good old fun.

(I am all out of trainisms...I concede!)

Lol, good game.

 

[gimghoul]

Are you actually worried about a 3.high GPA as a first semester sophomore keeping you out of medical school? Really?

 

[Goobs]

Just thought I'd mention that md schools don't do score replacements if you retake a class, rather they average out your scores.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[Irish Football]

Don't give up on your dream.

 

[Ser Demetrius]

I will first give you a little bit of info on me,

I let personal issues affect my freshman year, but with re-taking some classes (best case scenario) I can get my GPA up to 3.87, but again that's with achieving all A's in classes I slacked off in. So I would have mostly A's with some A-'s thrown in there. I am currently in line with a volunteer program where I will be helping in outdoor recreational activities for youths and adults with disabilities and I volunteered in Thailand for the summer last year. Tomorrow I am talking to an advisor about research opportunities that I can get involved with at my school.

So I'm worried about keeping my GPA up with the major I chose, Computer Science. So I'm pondering changing majors... But I am also worried about my options if medicine doesn't work out. However, being a doctor and helping others has always been my dream. So a part of me is telling me to "put it all in". But I can't help but prepare for other scenarios as well...

So I am over the cusp of a Sophomore with 35 credits, I have to redo classes to get my GPA up to med-school standards, my only volunteer work thus far has been my summer in Thailand, no research yet, no shadowing, and I'm extremely worried about not getting into a high paying specialty because I will obviously be lugging around medical school debt and the fact that I am a woman has also made me very worried about my future salary and managing the debt load. I have a handful of specialties I am drawn to but I am in an odd love affair with rads, I love technology and helping ALL types of people and love working as a team with other physicians, but I know this is a small field and I'm worried about it being a male field and the possibility of me making it.

Am I right in worrying about these things? I sometimes feel like I'm in last place of the race, am I a lost cause or should I go all in for my dream?

how about you go with the flow and let your mcat decide

 

[487806]

Lol, good game.

Keep entertraining us! (*chirp* *chirp*)

 

[Doccubus]

Are you actually worried about a 3.high GPA as a first semester sophomore keeping you out of medical school? Really?

I'm worried about my GPA dropping when I finally get into my CS major classes. I had easy freshman classes.

 

[Doccubus]

Just thought I'd mention that md schools don't do score replacements if you retake a class, rather they average out your scores.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

If you're undergraduate school does replacements is your previous grade present on your transcripts? That might be really silly... Do you have a source for this? I believe you, ha, I would just like to take a longer look.
😳

 

[Doccubus]

everyone has tough times and your will and character will determine whether you're strong enough to push through it. Be stubborn. Be obstinate. You're only a freshman!! I know plenty of people who had 3.3s 3.4s in freshman year and got 4.0s every quarter their senior year. If you're not willing to be hard nosed and claw your way through self-doubt and disappointment, then someone who is will take your spot in med school.

I can't tell you how many times I've felt like quitting/dropping out. It's natural to question yourself and everyone does. I felt like quitting freshman year when I was at your stage. I felt like quitting again before the MCAT (studying sucked). I felt like quitting again after the MCAT (it didn't go well the first time). I questioned myself when I didn't do well in my major classes (my major gpa was 3.4). Right now I'm taking a few years off and thoughts of quitting have reared their ugly head again as research stagnates. I seirously considered becomign a dentist or real estate agent for a while. Then of course, most of the time I've always felt like continuing, believing that all good things are attained through trial and perseverance, and if things are good, then they must be hard to get, and believing that if I hit my head against a wall enough times that I'll get what I want, continuing because I believed in the work I do, and because I knew that most people feel the same way at least at some point of their career.

So I kept hitting my head against the wall assuming that if I tried hard enough, I would open doors for myself as long as I stuck to what I was doing. It's worked beyond my wildest expectations so far - I have invites at 5 of the top 10 schools plus 2 more top 20 schools and it's only september. I did not have stellar stats, but I found a way - I made a story for myself.

You don't have to have amazing intelligence to get into med school but you do have to be strategic and discipilned. Nobody has said you can't go to med school yet. Don't tell yourself that. Be willing to put up a fight.

That's really inspiring, do you mind if I ask what story you made for yourself?

I'm very interested 🙂

 

[h4v3n]

first of all why are you majoring in computer science if your objective is going to medical school? the required courses that you have to take have relatively little overlap with pre-reqs for med school. i dont think its a good idea to have CS as a 'back-up' plan, it really requires a lot of all-in work and dedication.

and yes the later major classes of CS such as operating systems, algorithms, and what not are not only going to be really tough but also highly time consuming. like all CS majors you'll definitely be pulling allnighters sitting in front a computer debugging lines and lines of code.

I think you should take a CS major course such as object oriented programming see how much you actually like CS and how well you do in it. You may actually really like it and decide to stick with CS, or you may really hate it. Theres few that fall in between. Either way you'll know whether its what youre looking for.

In general, CS and pre-med don't really mix too well.

 

[Goobs]

If you're undergraduate school does replacements is your previous grade present on your transcripts? That might be really silly... Do you have a source for this? I believe you, ha, I would just like to take a longer look.
😳

Unfortunately AMCAS doesn't really care what your school's policy is. If you wanted to look through the instructions for the AMCAS you can find them in detail here: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/182162/data/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf

I found the areas of interest for you though haha

"A course entry must be made for each completed attempt of a repeated
course, even if any mention of enrollment in the course has been removed
from the transcript. In order to comply with the needs of the medical
schools, AMCAS includes all attempts of repeated courses in GPA
calculations, even if they are not included in the school's GPA calculations.

If your school has an academic forgiveness policy and subsequently
replaces the original grade received with a special transcript symbol, the
original grade must be entered on your AMCAS application, regardless of
whether it appears on the official transcript. If the original grade is not
entered AMCAS will return your application to you to enter the original
grade, which may cause you to miss application deadlines and forfeit fees."

I can't find where it specifically states the formula for GPA calculations, but if you google AMCAS grade calculation for repeat classes, you get a bunch of links saying MD schools average the original grade and the repeat grade, while DO schools will replace your original grade with the new one.

I don't mean to be a buzz kill, in fact I think you should go for your dreams! I just didn't want you to retake all your classes only to be surprised during your application year when you find this information out.

 

[Doccubus]

Unfortunately AMCAS doesn't really care what your school's policy is. If you wanted to look through the instructions for the AMCAS you can find them in detail here: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/182162/data/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf

I found the areas of interest for you though haha

"A course entry must be made for each completed attempt of a repeated
course, even if any mention of enrollment in the course has been removed
from the transcript. In order to comply with the needs of the medical
schools, AMCAS includes all attempts of repeated courses in GPA
calculations, even if they are not included in the school's GPA calculations.

If your school has an academic forgiveness policy and subsequently
replaces the original grade received with a special transcript symbol, the
original grade must be entered on your AMCAS application, regardless of
whether it appears on the official transcript. If the original grade is not
entered AMCAS will return your application to you to enter the original
grade, which may cause you to miss application deadlines and forfeit fees."

I can't find where it specifically states the formula for GPA calculations, but if you google AMCAS grade calculation for repeat classes, you get a bunch of links saying MD schools average the original grade and the repeat grade, while DO schools will replace your original grade with the new one.

I don't mean to be a buzz kill, in fact I think you should go for your dreams! I just didn't want you to retake all your classes only to be surprised during your application year when you find this information out.

No definitely not! You are not a buzz kill at all, this is why I posted I wanted honest feedback and that is definitely a lot to take in and I might be looking at a new major here too. I really appreciate all of the honest feedback from everybody. A million thanks 🙂

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

While its true MD admissions doesn't do grade forgiveness, DO programs do. So there's always that option if your GPA would be too low without grade forgiveness.