Hello all,
I am slated to graduate in Spring 2011. I am taking Organic Chemistry Fall 2009-Spring 2010, and Physics my last year of school- Fall 2010 thru Spring 2011.
I have not taken the MCAT yet- I plan on taking it in spring 2011 and then applying by June. Hopefully, I would like to donate my time to working at an americorps red cross clinic that year.
I got my associates degree concurrently when I graduated from high school, so I am technically graduating a year early.
Ok, so here's the deal: Spring semester (2009) didn't go so well. I got a B in Biology II and a C+ in general chemistry (fall 2008: A- in chem1 and bio1). What happened was that I missed key assignments because I was busy running for a student body officer position (which I won). It wasn't necessarily b/c I didn't understand the material- I did well on all my exams. This dropped my cumulative GPA to a 3.36.
When I was sixteen and starting on my associates degree (basically just generals), I also got a C in a Chemistry 100 course (it was an online prep course for college chemistry- worst decision I ever made).
That C+ this spring really put me into a tailspin 🙁. I have always been the straight A student (I was most likely to succeed in High School and Jr. High School). I am planning on being a biology major with a minor in chemistry, so I did some GPA "What-If analysis" and If I get straight A's from this point forward, I can bump my cGPA and sGPA to about a 3.5-3.7. I dont figure this will be a problem, considering I am planning on only taking ~12 credit hours a semester (3 classes) for the next two years.
My questions:
1) I am not in a real hurry to graduate early, so would it be prudent of me to just graduate the regular 4 years (sp. 2012) to boost my GPA (PRO)? FYI I am taking out about $5500 a year in student loans, so adding another year brings my debt total for all 4 years to ~$24,000 (CON)
2) I am going to study like hell for the MCAT. Like HELL. You know when you talk to your friends about overzealous pre med students who act like little pricks when they are studying? Thats me 😎. My study plan includes about 60 practice tests, and I am going to start studying this summer. My goal is to hit 37-40 (as high as I can!). Will a high MCAT outweigh a poor gpa (taking into consideration the fact that I might not hit every single A from here to graduation. But by god I am going to try).
3) Will that ugly C online chemistry prep course be counted in my sGPA?
4) Finally, considering everything above, what are my chances? 😕
I appreciate all your comments!
P.S.
kind of an opinion question, just for fun- If you could not be a doctor for any reason (MD/DO), what would you do and why? 😀
I am slated to graduate in Spring 2011. I am taking Organic Chemistry Fall 2009-Spring 2010, and Physics my last year of school- Fall 2010 thru Spring 2011.
I have not taken the MCAT yet- I plan on taking it in spring 2011 and then applying by June. Hopefully, I would like to donate my time to working at an americorps red cross clinic that year.
I got my associates degree concurrently when I graduated from high school, so I am technically graduating a year early.
Ok, so here's the deal: Spring semester (2009) didn't go so well. I got a B in Biology II and a C+ in general chemistry (fall 2008: A- in chem1 and bio1). What happened was that I missed key assignments because I was busy running for a student body officer position (which I won). It wasn't necessarily b/c I didn't understand the material- I did well on all my exams. This dropped my cumulative GPA to a 3.36.
When I was sixteen and starting on my associates degree (basically just generals), I also got a C in a Chemistry 100 course (it was an online prep course for college chemistry- worst decision I ever made).
That C+ this spring really put me into a tailspin 🙁. I have always been the straight A student (I was most likely to succeed in High School and Jr. High School). I am planning on being a biology major with a minor in chemistry, so I did some GPA "What-If analysis" and If I get straight A's from this point forward, I can bump my cGPA and sGPA to about a 3.5-3.7. I dont figure this will be a problem, considering I am planning on only taking ~12 credit hours a semester (3 classes) for the next two years.
My questions:
1) I am not in a real hurry to graduate early, so would it be prudent of me to just graduate the regular 4 years (sp. 2012) to boost my GPA (PRO)? FYI I am taking out about $5500 a year in student loans, so adding another year brings my debt total for all 4 years to ~$24,000 (CON)
2) I am going to study like hell for the MCAT. Like HELL. You know when you talk to your friends about overzealous pre med students who act like little pricks when they are studying? Thats me 😎. My study plan includes about 60 practice tests, and I am going to start studying this summer. My goal is to hit 37-40 (as high as I can!). Will a high MCAT outweigh a poor gpa (taking into consideration the fact that I might not hit every single A from here to graduation. But by god I am going to try).
3) Will that ugly C online chemistry prep course be counted in my sGPA?
4) Finally, considering everything above, what are my chances? 😕
I appreciate all your comments!
P.S.
kind of an opinion question, just for fun- If you could not be a doctor for any reason (MD/DO), what would you do and why? 😀
