Thoughts on Transferring, help please!!!

[Emax]

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pp

 

[theseeker4]

Hello all,
I am debating on transferring schools already after my first semester. I attend Maryville College, a small liberal-arts school in Tennessee. I plan on attending medical school, but after my first semester I am feeling very unsure of my future. The professors talk about our "great" acceptance rate into medical school, being around 65%...apparently. After my first semester I currently have a 2.9 gpa after 14 hours; chemistry kicked my butt, receiving a c- in it. I play a varsity sport and play a large role in leadership at the school, having received a volunteering scholarship they only offer to 15 incoming freshmen, and volunteer 10 hours a week.........WHAT I am wondering is if I should transfer, in order to receive a higher gpa. I worked my butt off and all I have to show for it is a 2.9, while my friends (who are taking the same pre med classes I am, and I am starter than) are getting high grades at the state schools, calling the classes "easy." Should I consider leaving these ec's at my school, in order to to receive a much higher gpa somewhere else? PLEASE HELP.

If you want to get into medical school, and really believe you had too little time to get good grades, you either need to drop the EC's that are preventing you from getting the grades, or transfer. No one will care, in reviewing your application, that your EC's took a lot of time, or the classes at your school are harder. They will care that your GPA is below a B average, and you got low grades in pre-reqs.

If medical school is your goal, do what you need to do to get in. That means get A's, in as many classes as you can, especially the EC's. As it is, you will probably have to re-take chem, since I think a C is the lowest many medical schools will accept.

If you really like your school, take a long, hard look to make sure you really put in everything you could to get good grades and maintain your sanity at the same time. If you look at your study habits and decide you just didn't know how much time college classes would take, and believe you could do better next semester at the same school, you can give it a shot if the school is worth the risk of further damaging your GPA. Many students bring high-school habits to college, and end up with low grades because they think what worked in high school will work in college. Look at your habits to see if that was the case for you. If this is the case, transferring to an easier school won't necessarily help you one bit, since college classes are more difficult than high school, and a huge wake-up call for many smart high school students.

Bottom line, there is not a med school in the country that will treat your EC's as justification for a sub-B GPA. The choice as to whether it is worth it is up to you.

 

[Emax]

p

 

[lenny8462]

It sounds to me that there is serious grade deflation going on in your school.... it doesn't seem the most pre-med friendly. I have to wonder though, why do you think you'll get all A's next semester?

 

[Emax]

Apparently every class I've got next semester has a lot easier teachers. Since I had some of the hardest ones this semester. It truly was a "weed-out" semester in having less than half the students finish the classes, but I'm sure that's typical anyways. I am going to retake chemistry this summer.

 

[fzwarrior]

Transfer to a community college for next semester if you are unsure about where you are at. This will give you time (a couple years if necessary) to research other colleges and save some money while you're at it.

 

[varsityblue]

If you want to get into medical school, and really believe you had too little time to get good grades, you either need to drop the EC's that are preventing you from getting the grades, or transfer. No one will care, in reviewing your application, that your EC's took a lot of time, or the classes at your school are harder. They will care that your GPA is below a B average, and you got low grades in pre-reqs.

If medical school is your goal, do what you need to do to get in. That means get A's, in as many classes as you can, especially the EC's. As it is, you will probably have to re-take chem, since I think a C is the lowest many medical schools will accept.

If you really like your school, take a long, hard look to make sure you really put in everything you could to get good grades and maintain your sanity at the same time. If you look at your study habits and decide you just didn't know how much time college classes would take, and believe you could do better next semester at the same school, you can give it a shot if the school is worth the risk of further damaging your GPA. Many students bring high-school habits to college, and end up with low grades because they think what worked in high school will work in college. Look at your habits to see if that was the case for you. If this is the case, transferring to an easier school won't necessarily help you one bit, since college classes are more difficult than high school, and a huge wake-up call for many smart high school students.

Bottom line, there is not a med school in the country that will treat your EC's as justification for a sub-B GPA. The choice as to whether it is worth it is up to you.

This is excellent advice. I strongly discourage you applying to transfer because you think you'll do better elsewhere. Simply drop those activities which are taking time from your studies, park your butt in the library, and get as much help as you need from your profs and peers. I'd give yourself two months to bring your grades up in the next semester before you do ANY EC's on an even part-time basis or attend ANY parties. Your GPA is the second most important criterion for winning admission to a top school and you better be sure it's as high as it possibly can be.

 

[Emax]

I totally agree also. But, the only reason I'm at this particular school is because I received the volunteering scholarship. If I did not receive this in the first place, I wouldn't be at this school because I could not afford it. I am applying to the SMDEP this summer also. Hopefully my grades don't affect my application THAT much

 

[Emax]

I actually received the 11th highest grade in all 85 students and received a B. I was just wondering if this was statistically correct, since the class was curved. There were only two legit A's and 4 A-'s. does this sound right?

 

[tenndoc]

I worked my butt off and all I have to show for it is a 2.9, while my friends (who are taking the same pre med classes I am, and I am starter than) are getting high grades at the state schools, calling the classes "easy." .

maybe you aren't as smart as you thought you were. sorry but this rubbed me the wrong way. give your friends credit

 

[Danlee07]

I actually received the 11th highest grade in all 85 students and received a B. I was just wondering if this was statistically correct, since the class was curved. There were only two legit A's and 4 A-'s. does this sound right?

The number of As sounds weird, but your grade seems reasonable. That's about 6% As (A and A-). On a standard curve, typically, the top 10% of students receive A or A- which means 8 or 9 students should have received A or A-. You would fall in the B+ or B borderline, but it seems pretty harsh...