<p>It's not like I didn't try hard or anything, I worked my butt off. But I guess it wasn't enough? My university is notorious for grade deflation and getting above a 3.3 is usually very very hard for science majors (especially freshman). That's not to say that there aren't a few who have done it. I just don't know what happened with me. I'm definitely going to try a lot harder sophomore year, but it's not like I'll end up graduation with a 3.8 or something.</p>
<p>-Is anyone else in a similar situation? Maybe you don't have a GPA as low as mine, but you are also sort of struggling?</p>
<p>-Are my chances at any medical school or graduate program completely done?</p>
<p>You still have some chance. Try to aim for a 3.75+ GPA for the rest of your years. Medical schools may forgive your first year if you really have a strong upward trend. There are always DO schools if your GPA/MCAT aren’t up to par.</p>
<p>Medical schools pay much more attention to the general trends of your grades, and freshmen grades alone won’t determine much about your potential medical school performance. As years go by, your grades become increasingly more important, up until the point that you apply to medical schools. You, being a freshman, can use your flaw to your advantage if you maintain outstanding GPA for the rest of your years (ideally you could bring it up to ~3.5). Do realize the amount of trouble you’re in by already starting off with a 2.5 (obviously you do otherwise you wouldn’t be here), but by no means does it put you out of the running.</p>
<p>Medical schools also realize that students, during the transition from HS -> college, must sink into the new environment - and that many don’t adapt successfully within their first year.</p>
This is overstating it a little, I think. In general higher GPA, even if downward trending, will trump lower GPA, even if upward trending. Trends can compensate for a small gap, but in general the actual GPA is more important.</p>
<p>I should have been clearer, that is essentially what I meant, sorry. Naturally, it would be better to do well than to do poorly as a freshman, but your overall and science GPA are more important.</p>
<p>However, I’ll play devil’s advocate here. If you keep the GPA constant, displaying an upward trend (learning from academic mistakes) would certainly be favorable and is representative of a potentially more successful medical student, as opposed to the opposite - medical schools would recognize this (and this is essentially the main point of it all, right?). While the overall GPA itself will determine whether or not your application will get serious looks, having an upward trend actually isn’t too much of a bad thing. Don’t panic if you have adjustment problems your first term at your school, so long as you make sure you perform consistently better in subsequent years.</p>
<p>^^The caveat is that this assumes equal averages, when, if I’m not mistaken, what’s being compared are a higher average with a downward trend and a lower average with an upward trend. It depends a little on the difference between the averages and the magnitudes of the trends, but in general the higher average would win out.</p>