I'm a second year student at the University of Toronto. I did horrible in my first year and finished with a GPA of 2.52. A D- in Calculus, C+ Physics and C in Psychology did me in. I was doing really well during the year in Physics. I was confident of finishing the course with an A but I got 19% on my final exam having the biggest brain freeze of my life. So it's not that I did not understand it, I just became incredibly stupid during the 3 hours that mattered the most all year. This year I decided to really shape up and finished first semester with a 4.0 in all my half year courses and I'm hoping to finish the whole year with a 3.7-3.8. Basically, the difference between first year and second year was better time management skills, studying smart and being able to study what I really was interested in. Also, first year lit a fire under my ass and made my drive 10x stronger.
The thing is, I really want to go to one of the top schools in the states but I think I'm at a disadvantage being Canadian. I wanted to be an ideal student for medical school but those Cs and D really does my GPA in. If I do keep up this trend after 2nd year (which I think is unlikely) I can only be able to pull my GPA up to the 3.5-3.6 area. Should I retake those courses?
The thing is, I really want to go to one of the top schools in the states but I think I'm at a disadvantage being Canadian. I wanted to be an ideal student for medical school but those Cs and D really does my GPA in. If I do keep up this trend after 2nd year (which I think is unlikely) I can only be able to pull my GPA up to the 3.5-3.6 area. Should I retake those courses?