Will I do well at UC Davis to get into medical school?

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GeromeUCD

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I have a deep passion for becoming a doctor. It is my greatest dream and I will work as hard as I have to in order to become one.

I will be majoring in biological sciences at UC Davis, and I know that Biology has one of the lowest average GPA's of all majors. I am very interested and perform best in math and science. In high school, I had perfect grades in math and science (A's)

I think it's important that I describe my academic history to give you a perspective. I went to a school that is among the top 10% of California public schools. I then graduated with a 4.2 GPA within the top 10 of my class of 300. I had taken AP classes in math, science, and english and got good scores on my AP exams especially in math (Calculus) and science (Bio) and I took other honors math and science courses.

This summer I had enrolled in an english class at a local community college and I also feared that I wouldn't do well, but I ended up getting near 100% in the class that would transfer to UCD. I always have this fear of failing when starting new classes in school.

I have been condemned by many of my teachers as one of the hardest working students they have had and I will work equally as hard if not harder at UC Davis. I just hope that my hard work will be enough to get me into medical school. I want to travel the world and provide help to those who need help most when I am a doctor.
Do you think I will perform well? I hope to get a 3.8+ GPA in college. Do you have any advice?

Thank you
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Do not underestimate the rigor at UCD. It definitely threw me for a whirlwind in upper division classes. That being said, I have a lot of classmates that get straight A's if they put in the work. Make sure to take Ochem with Eskandari and if he isn't teaching then take Nasiri. Physics isn't too hard. Bio is ok too. I felt like ochem was the most difficult at Davis. Your first two years will be cut out for you with bio, gen chem, physics, and ochem, but the beauty with Biological Sciences is that you can really hand select your upper div classes (and therefore, protect your GPA).

Upper div is pretty flexible and you have several classes to pick from to satisfy each upper div field (you take one class in micro, ecology, evolution, plant, neuro but within each department they give you 3-4 classes that would satisfy the requirement) and then you pick 3 electives. All of the professors are really great, and definitely take Immunology with Torres during 3rd or 4th year (he's also the immunology professor at the medical school). Get involved with the student run clinics, do research, and join a lot of clubs during your 4 years here. I hear working in the Coho (coffee house) is fun and they have a big social life (parties etc).

Getting a 3.8+ will be hard at any of the UC's but if you really put the time and study efficiently you can do it. Also, how your high school was will have no bearing on how well you do at Davis. There are a lot of students that came from schools like yours (who like to think they should be at Berkeley) but end up not doing well in Davis. In my biochem class some of the highest grades in the class were transfer students from community colleges. And even though most science classes are curved, it only really helps students to pass the class, not to ace. If you really want to be safe, make sure you are scoring a B+ at minimum, and safely 90% on your exams (raw score) in order to actually get an A in the class. That has been my experience.
 
They've condemned you for working hard? What did you score on SAT verbal?

EDIT: Unless many of your teachers were dicks.
 
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GeromeUCD said:
I have a deep passion for becoming a doctor. It is my greatest dream and I will work as hard as I have to in order to become one.

I will be majoring in biological sciences at UC Davis, and I know that Biology has one of the lowest average GPA's of all majors. I am very interested and perform best in math and science. In high school, I had perfect grades in math and science (A's)

I think it's important that I describe my academic history to give you a perspective. I went to a school that is among the top 10% of California public schools. I then graduated with a 4.2 GPA within the top 10 of my class of 300. I had taken AP classes in math, science, and english and got good scores on my AP exams especially in math (Calculus) and science (Bio) and I took other honors math and science courses.

This summer I had enrolled in an english class at a local community college and I also feared that I wouldn't do well, but I ended up getting near 100% in the class that would transfer to UCD. I always have this fear of failing when starting new classes in school.

I have been condemned by many of my teachers as one of the hardest working students they have had and I will work equally as hard if not harder at UC Davis. I just hope that my hard work will be enough to get me into medical school. I want to travel the world and provide help to those who need help most when I am a doctor.
Do you think I will perform well? I hope to get a 3.8+ GPA in college. Do you have any advice?

Thank you
Click to expand...

Past performance is the best predictor of future success. You should do fine. Keep your chin up, work your butt off, and vigorously pursue extracurricular opportunities to demonstrate your dedication to medicine.

Now that you're about to head to college, I'll be the first to tell you here: as a fellow adult, no one cares what your high school GPA was, its rank, or how many AP classes you've taken. That's really great for you, but it's best to keep your mouth shut about stuff like that unless asked--especially as an incoming freshman. Don't take this too hard. I'm not insulting you; I'm just giving some advice.

When you win your first Nobel prize, graduate as the top student at HMS, or cure leukemia, then you can humble brag all you want.

In the meantime, scour this forum for ideas on extracurriculars, research, and the best classes to take as an undergrad.

Welcome to SDN!
 
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Thank you for the advice everyone.

By the way, I wasn't trying to be flamboyant about my grades, I just thought it would help as a predictor for my chance of success.
 
Why are you asking us???? Only you can answer this question.


GeromeUCD said:
ld transfer to UCD. I always have this fear of failing when starting new classes in school.

I have been condemned by many of my teachers as one of the hardest working students they have had and I will work equally as hard if not harder at UC Davis. I just hope that my hard work will be enough to get me into medical school. I want to travel the world and provide help to those who need help most when I am a doctor.
Do you think I will perform well?

Thank you
Click to expand...
 
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Reactions: 1 user
nm06003 said:
Do not underestimate the rigor at UCD. It definitely threw me for a whirlwind in upper division classes. That being said, I have a lot of classmates that get straight A's if they put in the work. Make sure to take Ochem with Eskandari and if he isn't teaching then take Nasiri. Physics isn't too hard. Bio is ok too. I felt like ochem was the most difficult at Davis. Your first two years will be cut out for you with bio, gen chem, physics, and ochem, but the beauty with Biological Sciences is that you can really hand select your upper div classes (and therefore, protect your GPA).

Upper div is pretty flexible and you have several classes to pick from to satisfy each upper div field (you take one class in micro, ecology, evolution, plant, neuro but within each department they give you 3-4 classes that would satisfy the requirement) and then you pick 3 electives. All of the professors are really great, and definitely take Immunology with Torres during 3rd or 4th year (he's also the immunology professor at the medical school). Get involved with the student run clinics, do research, and join a lot of clubs during your 4 years here. I hear working in the Coho (coffee house) is fun and they have a big social life (parties etc).

Getting a 3.8+ will be hard at any of the UC's but if you really put the time and study efficiently you can do it. Also, how your high school was will have no bearing on how well you do at Davis. There are a lot of students that came from schools like yours (who like to think they should be at Berkeley) but end up not doing well in Davis. In my biochem class some of the highest grades in the class were transfer students from community colleges. And even though most science classes are curved, it only really helps students to pass the class, not to ace. If you really want to be safe, make sure you are scoring a B+ at minimum, and safely 90% on your exams (raw score) in order to actually get an A in the class. That has been my experience.
Click to expand...
+1. The rigor of UCD pre-med curriculum.
 
I think its great that you took AP Biology in high school. The first time I took Biology was at a UC in a lecture hall with over 800 people.. ya that sucked. I feel like the previous exposure in AP classes will give you a huge head start just because you can start tying concepts together on a college level while others are still trying to memorize what an endoplasmic reticulum is. Same goes for Chem and Physics (if you took the AP versions).
 
How important is the professor you take at UC Davis? I'm take Luli for math 21A, Gulacar for Chem 2a, and I'm taking 2 other classes.

I wanted Kouba and Toupadakis. They're full and have waitlist. Should I just keep what I have or take the risk getting on the waitlist and dropping the classes I'm in.
 
Ok now you're getting off topic. Ask your peers and your upperclassmen. How many of us do you think went to UCD?
 
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How much more difficult was college for you than high school?

Which school did you attend?

Are UC colleges more difficult?
 
GeromeUCD said:
How much more difficult was college for you than high school?

Which school did you attend?

Are UC colleges more difficult?
Click to expand...

Depends where you went to high school (expensive college prep private school vs public school), how many AP classes you took, etc..

UC colleges have grade deflation going on in all the lower level courses (chem, physics, biology, calculus) because many classes only allow the top 10% to get an A. Expect 300+ student classes with averages in high 60s low 70s for midterms. A lot of the premeds you meet in the dorms will change their path by the end of first year.
 
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Top 10% high school in California?
Sounds like LACES.. LACES is the best public highschool in the U.S. and perhaps in the world as well.
 
@GeromeUCD

What happened in high school is absolutely meaningless because so many things change in the transition from high school to college. I met someone at UCR who got into Hopkins BS/MD program and the declined to go to UCR so they could set curves.... he is getting average now. If you work hard, understand the material in depth and are able to relate and apply the concepts you are learning there shouldn't be any reason you don't do well.

The grade deflation at UC's is real especially in Lower Division classes. there are 200-300 students in each of my lower divisions and the majority of the class gets a C. The professors don't care who you are and wont adjust your grade because you tried hard, its a public research institution and for many of the professors, teaching comes second to their research. Just go to office hours and stay on top of the work.

Best of luck!
 
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@GeromeUCD

Just adding to what djsbaseball2014 said, high school is not always an accurate predictor of how well you'll do. For the most part, people who work hard in high school will do just fine in college; on the flip side, there are those who will completely defy expectations. I have a friend who was a rock star student in high school who barely graduated college, and another who got into a high-tier UC by sheer "luck," graduated with top honors, and is now attending a top-10 medical school. It all boils down to how well you adjust to college and how you cope with being a small fish in a big pond.
 
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@Lost in Translation haha you are telling me, when i first met him, he offered me a shot of Vodka, now i wouldn't normally be opposed to this if it were a weekend but it was 1PM on a Tuesday... his new found freedom got the best of him :p
 
djsbaseball2014 said:
@Lost in Translation haha you are telling me, when i first met him, he offered me a shot of Vodka, now i wouldn't normally be opposed to this if it were a weekend but it was 1PM on a Tuesday... his new found freedom got the best of him :p
Click to expand...

Naw... the real MVPs are the students who can party every day and still get a 4.0. (ok not EVERY day but still)
 
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