STUPID

[aye]

hello all. i'm new here and i would like some advice on something that i did that was very stupid. i just finished my sophomore year of college and i survived taking 2 semesters of calc based physics and orgranic chemistry. the stupid part is that i took them together! (i am a biochem major) i spent all my time tryin to survive physics so the rest of my classes slipped. i got a C for the first semester of physics and a B on the second. the orgo was reversed and i got a B first semster and a C second semester. my gpa going into sophomore year was a 3.77. now that joint dropped to a 3.16. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> this kinda sucks. now what? i'm very bummed out. any advice??? i'm also thinking of going to pharmacy skool, if i don't get into med skool. any info about pharmacy skool?

btw, if you pass thru a burger king, look out for me cuz i'll be there since i won't be able to make med skool!!!

oh yeah, one more thing... i've been reading other posts where people who didn't do so hot in undergrad raised their grade up by taking post bacc classes. what is a post-bacc? thanks

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[Bikini Princess]

You're going to let a couple C's stop you from the profession of your dreams??

If you get a 3.8 for the next two years, you're fine. Get a 3.9, you're excellent. Now you know how to take science classes. And above all, scrounge up those old tests. They are invaluable.

When you get to med school, there's going to be things which make your experience now seem like coconut farming.

As an ER resident, imagine being confronted by a furious emergency room doctor in front of all the observing med students, during a shift which you voluntarily took for someone else. Imagine an old nurse spreading lies about you through the teaching hospital. Imagine having a debt of $170,000 and having to work five years at a hospital 7,000 miles from your nearest friend. Imagine receiving reprimands for patients who you never saw. Imagine failing the USMLE part 1.

Now, imagine getting a C in physics. : )

 

[analu]

hi aye,

Look, what's done is done. You've got two more years of school to go...just make a concerted effort STARTING FROM NOW to really do well in your upper division science courses. A lot of people have made the same mistake of taking challenging courses back-to-back (me included)...and I don't think adcoms cut people that much slack for the effort (it IS somewhat of a numbers game in the beginning). But all is NOT lost!

You are LUCKY that you have the ability to raise your gpa by finishing your ugrad career strongly! I, on the other hand, had a sub-3.0 gpa AFTER I got my bachelors, and I calculated that I needed to get straight A's in 77 more credits to get my gpa above 3.0! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> In other words, since you're only halfway thru your ugrad, finishing strong will get you into the 3.5+ gpa range, which will make you a very competitive medical school applicant. Moreover, adcoms do look favorably upon an applicant whose grades show an upward trend.

Post-bacc, or post-baccalaureate courses are just that...courses that some students take after they obtain their bachelor's degree, in order to show adcoms that they are more serious about school and can still post A's and B's (this I had to do, as I received my BA 11 years ago). Also, some schools have a formal post-bacc program (usually very expensive), typically one year, where students take basic science courses (sometimes with medical students). When the year is up, the post-bacc program awards a certificate (sometimes a Master's degree), and with this in hand, applicants can become more competitive in the application process. Having said this, you are NOT THERE YET!

Promise yourself to do well in your future classes (esp. Biology/Chemistry/Physics/Math), kick butt on the MCAT next year, get some solid EC's under your belt (such as volunteer work, medical/clinical experience, and anything else which makes you UNIQUE), and I'm sure you'll do fine. Clinical experience is important (like shadowing a doc, volunteering in a clinic) because in may help you sort out your personal reasons for wanting the privilege of a career in medicine (definitely important for medical school interviews). During this time, make an effort to find out about healthcare and working with patients to see if it truly is right for you.

Lastly, if you really want a career in medicine, NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAM! To paraphrase Abraham Maslow, if you set out to be anything LESS than you are truly capable of, you'll be miserable for the rest of your life.

 

[The Philosopher]

POSTBAC STUFF

Aye,

After you graduate and if you still haven't gotten into medical school (if you applied your junior year), and you look through your academic record to evaluate what you need to change, many people's GPA's in the sciences are too low or people just feel that they need to do better in the sciences.

There are several ways to do this.

1)If you've already got a BS degree (but your science GPA is too low), you can go to Grad SChool and get an MS in Biology or some other science. IF you kick butt in that program, then great! BUT...the only prob is that the GPA in grad programs is totally separate from the AMCAS undergrad GPA...and med school consider the AMCAS undergrad GPA more than the AMCAS grad GPA. Well...that's wrong. I don't know if they consider it MORE, per say. I guess if you improve, then that's outstanding. Nevermind. I'm wrong. The only prob with a Grad GPA is that it doesn't get incorporated into your undergrad GPA.

So....a lot of people to postbac programs (I can get a list of these schools, if you want, but they include georgetown, ucsf, temple, upenn, mcp, boston, etc.). These are just like..10-12 upper level science courses that you take at the school and the good thing is that they are put into your undergrad GPA. The program is also geared towards getting you into medical school (unlike grad programs) and these programs are also affiliated, more often than not, with their medical schools or other medical schools. Namely, 4-5 programs boast an 80-90% acceptance rate into med school for people who complete them.

3)A third way to boost your Undergrad GPA is by simply not graduating and taking more upper level sciences, or by graduating and taking "non-degree" courses.

Frankly, I think option 2 is the best. The programs are structured and disciplined and hey....an 85% acceptance rate sounds good.

BUT...the point is to IMPROVE. If it were me, I would rather do (2) because of all these various reasons, but the most important aspect of anything are your grades. As long as you get good grades, any of the above options are fine.

 

[aye]

thanks for the responses... you gave me some hope. to answer the question, i really do like biochem. i like organic chem and all those mechanisms... i would've enjoyed it more if physics weren't there in the back of my mind :wink: anyway, i'm not 100% on being a doctor. i mean, i love the sciences especially chem and i love helping and interacting w/ people, so i figured i'll become a doctor. pharmacy skool is also an option since it deals w/ chemistry but the downside is less people interaction.

for example, (i'm gonna sound like a nerd here but..)i like how you use chemistry to find out that you produce too much digestive acid which causes heartburn and you use Tums (which is essentially a base) to neutralize it. i like that kinda stuff... knowing how the body works and using chemistry to help the body when it's in trouble. i think that's pharmacology. sorry for the NERD-ness

 

[Bikini Princess]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by analu:
•
me ke aloha pumehana•••••n den analu
u goin to UH SM? Not! i heard the program is junk, even with PBL. i guess that's why they'd accept you.

i hope you like going back to high school.
ahui hou -bikini

 

[analu]

Bikini princess, yes I am, and I consider myself most fortunate that they honored me with a spot in this year's class.

 

[hassan148]

I was reading what you had to say about you not being 100% sure about being a doctor, I will say this think long and hard if this is the right path for you because my friends in medcial school ask themselves all the time my did I want to became a doctor.

 

[relatively prime]

Oh my lord... I did the same thing! Upper divisin o-chem and calc-based physics... along with intro to CS and linear algebra... yuck yuck yuck! Just try to bring uo your gpa next year