Very very very concerned

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WBB97

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Hi everyone. I am currently a freshman at a top ten college, and I just got my grades back for the spring semester. I ended up with a C in calc 2, a B+ in chemistry, and a B in chemlab. Currently my GPA is a 3.14. I calculated my cumulative GPA and I would need to get all A's until the end of my junior year in order to get a 3.71...I did some google searching and it seemed like a lot of the mid-upper level med schools had an average GPA of around 3.8. How badly is one bad semester going to ruin my chances? Is there a way I can make up for a mediocre GPA? I am actually very concerned please help!
Also, for the summer I am planning on shadowing a physician and volunteering at a nonprofit clinic that serves uninsured patients. Am I doing enough? Is there anything else I could do over the summer that would look really good on a medschool app? Thank you!

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Hi everyone. I am currently a freshman at a top ten college, and I just got my grades back for the spring semester. I ended up with a C in calc 2, a B+ in chemistry, and a B in chemlab. Currently my GPA is a 3.14. I calculated my cumulative GPA and I would need to get all A's until the end of my junior year in order to get a 3.71...I did some google searching and it seemed like a lot of the mid-upper level med schools had an average GPA of around 3.8. How badly is one bad semester going to ruin my chances? Is there a way I can make up for a mediocre GPA? I am actually very concerned please help!
Also, for the summer I am planning on shadowing a physician and volunteering at a nonprofit clinic that serves uninsured patients. Am I doing enough? Is there anything else I could do over the summer that would look really good on a medschool app? Thank you!
Learn from your mistakes and take advantage of every opportunity to do better in your classes. What made you get the grades that you received? Was it because you didn't study hard enough? Did you not fully understand the material? If that's the case, then you have to make sure that you understand what's going on in class through whatever means necessary. I know for my Orgo II class this semester, my professor and my chemistry book didn't do a good job at explaining the concepts. Then I ordered a book called "Organic Chemistry as a Second Language" and watched videos on YouTube about certain reactions. This made the lectures and the book more understandable. I ended up having a 100 average going into the final (still waiting on my final grade for the semester) because I made it my mission to understand the material in a way that suits my learning style. Go to the tutoring center, go to the professor's office hours, watch Khan Academy videos on YouTube, etc. Also, another piece of advice I have: make studying fun for yourself. You're interested in medicine, so find ways to link whatever you're learning to a medical topic that you're interested in. The info is more likely to stick and you'll be enjoying it at the same time.
In terms of your EC's: you're doing the right things. Maybe throw a few research experiences in there in the future (whenever you're ready), and apply to as many things as possible even if you think you can't get in. You never know. I applied to a program at my college where I landed an 8-week long internship at the CDC researching parasites. Don't ever sell yourself short.
Keep shadowing, and throughout the semester (if you have time), volunteer at a local hospital. Make sure that the hospital actually allows you to visit patients and observe doctors. I volunteer at a local Children's hospital every week (3 hours a week), and you get to work directly with the patients (no office work). They also have a policy where if you stick with the program for a year, you get to shadow. So, look for these opportunities. Find conferences on a medical or public health subject that you're interested in just as an extra boost to show that you know that medicine is a lifelong learning experience.
More advice: BE A WELL-ROUNDED PERSON and take some classes in things like Medical Anthropology, Sociology, Public Health, etc. You'll not only have to have the science background to be a doctor. You have to understand community health problems, advocacy, health policy, how to deal with patients who come from different medical ethnographies, etc. Medical schools want well-rounded applicants who are willing to think outside the box and apply a variety of perspectives at multiple levels of healthcare.
I wish you luck! I just finished up my junior year in college, and I'm applying to med schools right now. So, if you have any more questions, let me know! ☺️
 
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