Signs that you should drop premed

[Pinkswan]

Hi everyone,

I am currently a sophomore about to finish my fall semester. Last year, my cGPA ended up as 2.6, partly due to adjusting and partly due to losing focus 2nd semester. This year I've been working harder and on my study habits. I feel that I have improved but can still improve my habits better. As the semester comes to an end, I am not 100% sure about securing an A- or A in all my classes. I just wanted to get an idea of what GPA would be a sign that maybe premed is not for me by the end of this semester and next semester. If you guys don't mind, maybe also share where your GPA stood during the first and second semester of your sophomore year (or if you're a sophomore now where it currently stands) and whether you continued/are continuing premed?

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[de Ribas]

Hi everyone,

I am currently a sophomore about to finish my fall semester. Last year, my cGPA ended up as 2.6, partly due to adjusting and partly due to losing focus 2nd semester. This year I've been working harder and on my study habits. I feel that I have improved but can still improve my habits better. As the semester comes to an end, I am not 100% sure about securing an A- or A in all my classes. I just wanted to get an idea of what GPA would be a sign that maybe premed is not for me by the end of this semester and next semester. If you guys don't mind, maybe also share where your GPA stood during the first and second semester of your sophomore year (or if you're a sophomore now where it currently stands) and whether you continued/are continuing premed?

GPA might be a reflection of someone's motivation and work ethic. There are numerous students currently in medicine who had terrible first year or two. They learned from their experiences and turned it around. You have at least 2 more years ahead of you where you have a chance to turn things around.
If medicine is right for you, only you can decide.

 

[SLU Student]

There isn't really a cutoff this early in the game that indicates pre-med isn't for you. Also, since you just finished freshman year, you barely have any credits under your belt, so your GPA can still change drastically. Even if you end up with a 3.0 at the end of sophomore year, two years of 4.0 grades can bring it to a 3.5, putting you in striking distance for many medical schools (paired with a good MCAT, of course).

The bottom line is that it's too early to decide right now. If you have a 2.6 at the end of junior year, that's when you should start looking at other options. Even then, some finish undergrad with <3.0 but do a post-bac to bring it up and are now medical students.

 

[Goro]

Hi everyone,

I am currently a sophomore about to finish my fall semester. Last year, my cGPA ended up as 2.6, partly due to adjusting and partly due to losing focus 2nd semester. This year I've been working harder and on my study habits. I feel that I have improved but can still improve my habits better. As the semester comes to an end, I am not 100% sure about securing an A- or A in all my classes. I just wanted to get an idea of what GPA would be a sign that maybe premed is not for me by the end of this semester and next semester. If you guys don't mind, maybe also share where your GPA stood during the first and second semester of your sophomore year (or if you're a sophomore now where it currently stands) and whether you continued/are continuing premed?

Anything < 3.1

 

[holdthemayo]

Hi everyone,

I am currently a sophomore about to finish my fall semester. Last year, my cGPA ended up as 2.6, partly due to adjusting and partly due to losing focus 2nd semester. This year I've been working harder and on my study habits. I feel that I have improved but can still improve my habits better. As the semester comes to an end, I am not 100% sure about securing an A- or A in all my classes. I just wanted to get an idea of what GPA would be a sign that maybe premed is not for me by the end of this semester and next semester. If you guys don't mind, maybe also share where your GPA stood during the first and second semester of your sophomore year (or if you're a sophomore now where it currently stands) and whether you continued/are continuing premed?

It sounds like you identified the problem as one of work ethic/effort. You can recover from that. I would start to get concerned if you are really giving it your all and were still getting the 2.6. It sounds like you aren't expecting that to be the case.

You aren't 100% sure about getting an A/A- in every class. That's ok. An occasional B or rare C won't sink you chances, but you should be trending upward if you are really putting in the work. If not, seek out your school's office of academic success to work on study habits.

 

[Robin-jay]

If you don't care about patients.

 

[deleted812153]

If you don't care about patients.

There are entire specialties for people who don't care about patients

 

[de Ribas]

There are entire specialties for people who don't care about patients

Never knew I would hear that from Donald J. Trump

 

[stickgirl390]

Never knew I would hear that from Donald J. Trump

He doesn’t have patience with patients. Or is it patients with patience...

 

[workaholic181]

Hi everyone,

I am currently a sophomore about to finish my fall semester. Last year, my cGPA ended up as 2.6, partly due to adjusting and partly due to losing focus 2nd semester. This year I've been working harder and on my study habits. I feel that I have improved but can still improve my habits better. As the semester comes to an end, I am not 100% sure about securing an A- or A in all my classes. I just wanted to get an idea of what GPA would be a sign that maybe premed is not for me by the end of this semester and next semester. If you guys don't mind, maybe also share where your GPA stood during the first and second semester of your sophomore year (or if you're a sophomore now where it currently stands) and whether you continued/are continuing premed?

I dont remember the exact numbers but mine wasnt great early on.

The biggest thing for me deciding I wanted to do this, and what I tell my friends that are kind of in the nether zone of one foot in trying to get into med school and one foot out, is do you really want to make these sacrifices? Getting into med school is taxing because med school is even mroe taxing. If you're finding it hard to devote the time to do well in these courses, then maybe this isnt for you. It is absolutely not an indictment on your intelligence or character. Some of the smartest and best people I know were pre med but it just didnt fit them and now they do other stuff.