Switching Schools?

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solitarius said:
Since you should be aiming for DO now, why even transfer to U of I? Go to some tier 4 or unranked school.
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You do bring up a good point. Unless you are looking at a top MD program, most DO programs and other MD programs probably won't even notice.
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solitarius said:
Since you should be aiming for DO now, why even transfer to U of I? Go to some tier 4 or unranked school.
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I'm not aiming for U of I, I doubt they'd even accept me. UIC/Loyola/Depaul maybe, not U of I.

And I'm not going aiming for DO yet, why should I? If I went to Depaul and got all A's, I could have 3.8 science GPA.
 
Of course you should aim high.

I'm just a) being realistic and b) setting a baseline.
 
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I think you should re-evelaute next quarter, not during the stress of finals and when you might have realized that you didn't do well all quarter. By the way, I go to Northwestern, so I know it's not as hard as UC, but I did also have a crap GPA my freshman year and am now not getting anything below B+'s.
 
If you have a sub-3.0 GPA, you need to seriously consider what kind of MCAT score you'll get. Yes, there is a chance that the MCAT score could be way better than your GPA, but you should realize that if your MCAT score isn't good, then even a 4.0 GPA performance at your new school won't save you, and schools will just attribute your grades to you going to an easy school.
 
TheBossDoctor said:
If you have a sub-3.0 GPA, you need to seriously consider what kind of MCAT score you'll get. Yes, there is a chance that the MCAT score could be way better than your GPA, but you should realize that if your MCAT score isn't good, then even a 4.0 GPA performance at your new school won't save you, and schools will just attribute your grades to you going to an easy school.
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Well, seeing what I'm learning compared to some of my friends, I can easily see that I will have an easier time studying for the MCAT. If anything, the classes at a school I transfer to will prepare me less, but I can always learn it on my own.
 
Come on, don't transfer. Don't let it be an option. Did you seriously spend that much money and work your ass off in high school so you can go to the same school that so many people DIDN'T work as hard to get into?

Also, I know the general opinion on SDN is that school does not play a factor, but come on.... Seriously? My cousin got a 16 on her ACT and got into a state school. There is no way in hell you can compare her education (and the grades she "works for") to our education and grades, especially yours. She gets A's and B's with the same work she put into high school (barely any unless necessary and in high school she got C's/D's/F's). No way in hell an A there is even comparable to a B-/C+ at U Chicago.

If you are seriously struggling to get above a 3.0, I feel you. But hard work will get you to the B+ at least.

Also, I have seen SO many people give up fairly quickly after taking the MCAT and realizing they probably didn't have a chance.
 
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CollegeGirl94 said:
Come on, don't transfer. Don't let it be an option. Did you seriously spend that much money and work your ass off in high school so you can go to the same school that so many people DIDN'T work as hard to get into?
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This is also how gamblers work. They are not able to see that continuing is a losing investment.
 
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HopelessGirl said:
But we've already won, that's why it's so hard to return the prize. :(
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I'm not sure that I call having below a 3.0 GPA and possibly not gaining admission to medical/professional/graduate programs of interest "winning."
 
knv2u said:
I'm not sure that I call having below a 3.0 GPA and possibly not gaining admission to medical/professional/graduate programs of interest "winning."
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I won that part of my educational life, not necessary the next. I can bring it up, definitely not as much as I could at another university, but I actually want to learn not memorize parts of a book and regurgitate it on exams.
 
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Is it possible to try to transfer to another good school that is perhaps not as grade deflationary as UChicago?
 
HopelessGirl said:
I won that part of my educational life, not necessary the next. I can bring it up, definitely not as much as I could at another university, but I actually want to learn not memorize parts of a book and regurgitate it on exams.
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But your grades are suggesting that you are doing exactly that. I would say that at the top or relatively higher ranked schools, and certainly the top 50 USNWR (probably even more than that), the emphasis will be on application rather than rote memorization. Most students who don't do well are trying to memorize things and are unable to apply them. And while Chicago may deflate, I don't think the deflation is of the magnitude of 1.0+ GPA points. It suggests to me, at least, that a good part of this is because of your study habits and performance and not all attributable to institutional grading policies. And these problems will exist regardless of where you go. If you go to another school with an emphasis on application, you will likely see similar grades. If you go to an easier school with less emphasis on application, don't be surprised if this isn't reflected in the MCAT.
 
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knv2u said:
But your grades are suggesting that you are doing exactly that. I would say that at the top or relatively higher ranked schools, and certainly the top 50 USNWR (probably even more than that), the emphasis will be on application rather than rote memorization. Most students who don't do well are trying to memorize things and are unable to apply them. And while Chicago may deflate, I don't think the deflation is of the magnitude of 1.0+ GPA points. It suggests to me, at least, that a good part of this is because of your study habits and performance and not all attributable to institutional grading policies. And these problems will exist regardless of where you go. If you go to another school with an emphasis on application, you will likely see similar grades. If you go to an easier school with less emphasis on application, don't be surprised if this isn't reflected in the MCAT.
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I completely understand, but I do my friends' homework and I see their exams. It doesn't take much more than reading their chapter to "tutor" them and for me to learn the material right then and there.

I will try to improve study habits next quarter. If I don't bring it up to a 3.0, I will start to look into transferring.
 
snowflakes said:
Is it possible to try to transfer to another good school that is perhaps not as grade deflationary as UChicago?
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Possibly U of I, but I can't speak for the science classes there as my friends are all in Business so that scares me. I'm pretty familiar with science classes in other schools in Chicago.
 
HopelessGirl said:
I completely understand, but I do my friends' homework and I see their exams. It doesn't take much more than reading their chapter to "tutor" them and for me to learn the material right then and there.

I will try to improve study habits next quarter. If I don't bring it up to a 3.0, I will start to look into transferring.
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But leaving Chicago doesn't necessarily mean going to Crap-ola U. Ease up of your science classes, bring up your GPA and start building a decent transfer application.
 
Transferring doesn't seem like a good option to me. The better choice would be working towards an improving trend. There is no workaround to putting in some major elbow grease in taking charge of your own education. It sounds corny, but you have to really be intense in committing to your classes.
Think about it, even if you somehow slip past ADCOMs without them noticing your transfer, how will you perform if you held the same "easy way out" attitude when you study for step1?
 
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knv2u said:
But leaving Chicago doesn't necessarily mean going to Crap-ola U. Ease up of your science classes, bring up your GPA and start building a decent transfer application.
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If OP can get his/her GPA up to 3.0, doesn't that show the ability of being able to actually "beat the curve" at UChicago?

If your GPA is significantly below 3.0 and you can bring it up so much in one quarter, don't transfer. With 12 classes next year, you can raise it even more. If you take a gap year like me, you still have senior year.

EDIT: Dean just sent us an email about students struggling with academics here for the first time in their lives. It's normal, overcome and move on. :) I wish you good luck on your finals.
 
CollegeGirl94 said:
If OP can get his/her GPA up to 3.0, doesn't that show the ability of being able to actually "beat the curve" at UChicago?
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Not necessarily. There is too much information lacking to make that assumption.
 
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If I can get it up to 3.0, this is with all As or A-s next quarter and better than I'm expecting this quarter, then I'll reconsider transferring. If I can get up my science GPA to 3.3, couldn't that be good enough? Even if it means having to do a SMP?
 
I'd say transfer. 3.3 is still sub-MD level and you'd be getting your butt handed to you during the application cycle by students with inflated with Ivy League grades (if we're still talking about "prestige" here).
 
samsunimomo said:
I'd say transfer. 3.3 is still sub-MD level and you'd be getting your butt handed to you during the application cycle by students with inflated with Ivy League grades (if we're still talking about "prestige" here).
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What about 3.5? The MD I am shooting for is a 3.6 average?
 
We wouldn't care. People transfer for all sorts of reasons. But you might be asked about it at interviews "So why did you go from Harvard to Kutztown State?"

HopelessGirl said:
How does it look to admissions if you switch from a top school to a pretty low rated school? My parents believe this would be viewed negatively.

But I'm honestly sick of my friends being able to take 4 Biology Classes, Orgo, and working full time and managing to get all A's. I know that going to an easier school might mean I will have a harsh awakening if I do go to medical school, but I need to get there first right? And right now I don't even have a B average.
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Goro said:
We wouldn't care. People transfer for all sorts of reasons. But you might be asked about it at interviews "So why did you go from Harvard to Kutztown State?"
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Why I went from a top university living on my own to a university down the block and living with my parents?
I would have no way to answer that question but, hey it was easier. :(

I think the only option is to work my butt off.
 
This is a good atttude. Go to your school's learning/education center for help with your learning style. medicial school will be a lot harder than what you're dealing with now, and so you need to master these skills now.

I think the only option is to work my butt off.[/quote]
 
If you can tell a good story about why you transferred when you eventually apply to med school (and saying "it was too hard at my first school so I went somewhere easier" will NOT go over well), and you really feel confident that making the change will bring your GPA up, I'd say go for it. Just make sure that you're not blamming your school for your own failings. My undergrad GPA was not as high as I wanted it to be (cGPA 3.41, sGPA 3.17) and I blamed my school. That was until I realized that my bad grades were because I didn't know how to study and I was lazy. I worked hard to fix those failings (and continue to work on it), and then did better in post-bac courses. If you don't fix whatever is causing your difficulty with your grades, you're going to continue to struggle, no matter where you are in school. It will be very important to address the underlying cause before medical school if you want to succeed there.
 
OP, it's your studying that is keeping you back. I go to another school known for grade deflation (though I don't think it's really true), and my best advice to do well is to stop reading the textbook. The time you spend doing that would be much better spent going to office hours or doing problems. I'm sure if you go to office hours you can find old exams which would give you much better practice. Chemistry exams are solely testing your problem solving skills, not your ability to memorize the textbook. I would try to find other people who are doing well and ask them what they do (not so-called "geniuses" but a normal person who has perfected the way to study for exams at your school).
 
Perhaps OP should spend less time on SDN complaining about grade deflation and more time actually studying for her classes
 
YoungestBrother said:
If you don't fix whatever is causing your difficulty with your grades, you're going to continue to struggle, no matter where you are in school. It will be very important to address the underlying cause before medical school if you want to succeed there.
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Exactly what I was going to say. By switching schools you're only solving the immediate problem (low grades now). If you can improve your study skills, you are solving the long-term problem (being able to succeed in medical school, which is going to be harder than your current undergrad, and definitely similarly focused on application rather than memorizing/fill-in-the-blank). Your college should have a learning center, so take advantage of that.
 
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hmockingbird said:
Exactly what I was going to say. By switching schools you're only solving the immediate problem (low grades now). If you can improve your study skills, you are solving the long-term problem (being able to succeed in medical school, which is going to be harder than your current undergrad, and definitely similarly focused on application rather than memorizing/fill-in-the-blank). Your college should have a learning center, so take advantage of that.
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I am planning on going to it ASAP, thanks!
 
If I could do that, I would have a very solid sGPA/cGPA. The only thing I'm scared of is that I can only do so well (Bs) even with lots of hard work.
lionWushi said:
Let's say OP gets A/A-s for every class from here on out until graduation, and she gets to play the upward trend card - is she still really limited to DO schools? I recall in the adcom thread that an upward trend will still benefit you very well. I'm getting the vibe from people in this thread that at this point only DOs are the only option.
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lionWushi said:
Let's say OP gets A/A-s for every class from here on out until graduation, and she gets to play the upward trend card - is she still really limited to DO schools? I recall in the adcom thread that an upward trend will still benefit you very well. I'm getting the vibe from people in this thread that at this point only DOs are the only option.
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I think she'll take some flack for the transfer from some schools.

I also think the DO option assumes she won't get all A's after the transfer.
 
solitarius said:
I think she'll take some flack for the transfer from some schools.

I also think the DO option assumes she won't get all A's after the transfer.
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I'm not transferring. If I did, I would have no problems getting all A's. I have problems getting A's here, not at an easier university.
 
HopelessGirl said:
I'm not transferring. If I did, I would have no problems getting all A's. I have problems getting A's here, not at an easier university.
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Good luck! Struggling through this period will prepare you well for medical school and your career as a physician. I'm sure you will do very well.
 
YoungestBrother said:
Good luck! Struggling through this period will prepare you well for medical school and your career as a physician. I'm sure you will do very well.
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Thank you! Hopefully tips from the academic center and living in the library will help me reach my full potential! And hopefully that full potential is above a B-. :D
 
I have some friends at U Chicago, yeah it's pretty bad out there. If you transfer, just make sure to get A's
 
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