Are my chances for med school gone?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>I'm a freshman at UCLA and did horrible my first quarter. I did summer school and got a B, B in Sociology and English. In my first actual quarter, I took math, chemistry, and music and got: D+, Withdraw, and N/A yet, respectively.</p>

<p>I can retake the math class and get an A, which will recalculate into my GPA. However, the D+ will still appear on my transcript.</p>

<p>Should I give up on Med school? I feel like they're going to highly look down upon this grade. I've never gotten such a low grade. I've been a straight A student my whole life...</p>

2

<p>I don’t think things are “over” for you. It’s sometimes easier to improve a quarter than a semester…since quarters are worth less.</p>

<p>What happened?</p>

<p>And…just as importantly…will your parents still pay for you to go to UCLA? If you’re on FA, your grades may affect that. You have to have “satisfactory progress”.</p>

<p>Hopefully others can answer this…what does AMCAS do when you have a D+ for a QUARTER grad in Calculus…but then you retake it as a semester class and get an A…do you get a better average? If so, then maybe this student needs to retake over the summer at a school where it’s offered as a semester.</p>

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<p>Here’s the AMCAS grade conversion guide for calculating GPA</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/students/download/181676/data/amcas_grade_conversion_guide.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/students/download/181676/data/amcas_grade_conversion_guide.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>AMCAS has chart where all quarter grades first get converted to their semester equivalents then added to GPA calculations. A 4.0 credit quarter class would only count as 2.7 credits when converted to it semester equivalent. So taking the course over as semester class and getting an A would slightly offset the poor original grade in a quarter class.</p>

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<p>To the OP: college is time of huge adjustments. What worked in high school doesn’t always work in college. And for you it obviously isn’t. You need to do some hard reckoning and figure why you’re struggling.</p>

<p>Did you have poor high school preparation in science & math? Would remedial coursework help?</p>

<p>Do you have poor study habits? Have you sought out help with the chemistry and calculus? Have you conscientiously kept up with your assignments–readings and problem sets? Have you gone to office hours? Recitation every week? Tutoring? Worked with a study group? Sought study skills help?</p>

<p>Do you have other issues that may be affecting how well you’re doing in your academics? Too many hours dedicated to other things, including but not limited to social activities (partying, fraternities/sororities, bf/gf), working (on or off campus), gaming or other distractions, commuting? Do have anxiety? Family issues you’re dealing with?</p>

<p>Or maybe you’re not just a science & math person? There’s no shame in that. Not everyone is cut out to be doctor or scientist. Maybe your true skills lie elsewhere.</p>

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<p>Well… in the class I had a 97% average on the homework (10 assignments over the quarter) so it’s not like I didn’t grasp the concepts. I went to many office hours, spent hours studying for the final, and did a few study groups. I’m planning to request for a copy of my exam, because I find it hard to believe I got a 50/100. I remember feeling confident after taking it (as in I should have gotten at least a B on the exam).</p>

<p>I admit that I DON’T have a legitimate excuse for why I would get a D+ in calculus. If anything, I’ve been struggling with the transition from high school to college. Studying at UCLA is a lot different… I really don’t know what it is though: Am I studying wrong or can I just not understand the concept at all?? It is SO frustrating to me… I’ve been feeling depressed in the past few days.</p>

<p>I’ve always thought I’m a math/science oriented person. On the SAT I, I only missed 1 on the math section.</p>

<p>What are other options than med school if I decide not to pursue it? I’m majoring in psychobiology by the way…</p>

<p>Thank you all for your responses.</p>

5

<p>Oh and I withdrew from my chem class because I switched my major from chemistry to psychobiology. The chem class was not needed for my new major, and also I wasn’t doing as well in it (the teacher was HORRIBLE, got a 3/10 on ratings).</p>

<p>How lenient are medical schools when they look at freshman year grades?</p>

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<p>SAT I doesn’t test beyond the algebra 2 level IIRC so it’s not much of an indicator of how much of a math person you are. </p>

<p>I see from your other posts you got 3 on your AP Calc AB exam–that tells me you have serious deficiencies in your grasp of concepts and your ability to apply concepts to novel problems.</p>

<p>Maybe your over-estimating your abilities and skills. Over-confidence can be killer…</p>

<p>Homework in college classes counts for next to nothing in your final grade. Unlike high school. Probably 85-90% of your grade is dependent upon exam results. So more importantly—what did your quiz grades look like? Exam grades?</p>

<p>HINT: unlike high school is NOT enough just to do the assigned few homework problems. You need to work extra problems until you can do them in your sleep. So that on the exam you don’t get hung up trying to figure out how to do a unfamiliar problem–you just dive and start trying stuff. </p>

<p>HINT 2: graders on math exams give partial credit for trying various approaches even if you don’t correctly solve the problem. (As D1, who has a math degree said, if just keep throwing stuff at the problem, something eventually has to stick…)</p>

<p>~~~~~~~</p>

<p>Alternative jobs with a psychobio degree --audiology, SLP and communicative disorders specialist, educational testing specialist (all require at least a Masters; audiology now requires a doctorate–AudD), school counselor (requires state certification–usually needs a Masters), lab tech, patient advocate, some public health positions, clinical social worker (requires a MSW).</p>

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<p>Freshman grades get included in GPA calculation just like senior grades. They don’t get discounted. However, it’s rumored that some schools will look leniently at freshman grades IF (and it’s a BIG IF) all the rest of your grades are strong… But those freshman grades are always going to be there.</p>

<p>You need to understand that the first round of cuts made by med schools are done by a computer program using a rubric based upon your sGPA, cGPA and MCAT score. A human being doesn’t even set eyes on your application until it gets past that.</p>

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<p>Chem may not be needed by your new major, but it’s still required by medical schools…</p>

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<p>@WayOutWestMom thank your for your input. I don’t think I can handle med school at this point… </p>

<p>If I retake the math class and do really well in it, I know that both the old and new grades will appear on my final transcript. On the upside, my GPA will be recalculated with the new grade. How will grad schools see this? I REALLY feel like I messed it up for myself for the rest of my whole college career… I haven’t been smiling this whole day and I’ve just been depressed. And I don’t feel like I can do it the 2nd time around… :(</p>

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<p>Grad schools have a very different criteria for admission than do med schools or undergrad. </p>

<p>Research-based programs looks at you grades in your upper level major/core courses/major GPA, research experience and whether it fits in with their programmatic goals, and your LORs. GREs count, but are used more as screener to weed out unsuitable candidates.</p>

<p>Professional type grad program (like audiology, MSW, school psychologist) all have different and very specific expectations. And all of them expect different things–once you’re closer to knowing what you want to do, then you can worry about those.</p>

<p>And if makes you feel any better…I took calculus 1 three time and got a C every time. Got a D+ in Calc 2. Math just isn’t my thing. I started out to be a research chemist–and never made it. But I do have a career I love and for which I’m well suited. (And I married a PhD in theoretical condensed matter physics and let him do all the math homework with the kids…)</p>

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<p>Here’s the deal.</p>

<p>For your sanity’s sake, and for your future’s sake, you need to get over this one bad grade. No one is perfect, and expecting perfection out of yourself is just going to drive you to become both crazy and depressed. </p>

<p>Figure out what went wrong. Analyze it enough that you can set up a strategy to improve next quarter. </p>

<p>After that, let it go. There’s no reason to let this one hurdle determine your future. It happened. You got a bad grade. You didn’t study as diligently or as smartly as you should have. You messed up. Even though it feels like it is, it isn’t the end of the world. I promise!</p>

<p>The thing is, the road to medical school is a tough one. If it were easy, more people would probably do it and more people would probably be successful at it. The journey to med school isn’t rainbows, bunnies, incredible experiences, butterflies, and A+s. It’s a lot of hard work and hard classes on top of the trials and tribulations of growing up and life in general. You just happened to run into some academic challenges first quarter.</p>

<p>You’ll figure it out sooner or later–life moves on.</p>

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<p>*I admit that I DON’T have a legitimate excuse for why I would get a D+ in calculus. If anything, I’ve been struggling with the transition from high school to college. Studying at UCLA is a lot different… I really don’t know what it is though: Am I studying wrong or can I just not understand the concept at all?? It is SO frustrating to me… I’ve been feeling depressed in the past few days.</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>High school can be very different. Sometimes HS teachers only test on what’s been presented in class…while college profs will test on stuff that’s in the book, but not presented.</p>

<p>Can you clarify…</p>

<p>For this quarter…you will end up with how many credits and what grades. I’m not talking about your summer credits, just your fall credits.</p>

<p>It sounds like all you have for this quarter is a D+ and you’re still waiting for your music grade. </p>

<p>So, you have 7 credits this quarter? Is that right? If you’re on financial aid, you might have a problem.</p>

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<p>How are you going to take the MCAT without taking chemistry, which is a prerequisite for Organic…</p>

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<p>@WayOutWestMom I’ve always enjoyed other math courses (algebra, geometry, etc.), but I know calculus definitely isn’t my thing. I know the 3 on the AB exam is definitely an indicator of that… It was really hard telling my parents about my grade, because now they don’t think I’m studying at school and I feel like they’re doubting me… Anyways I’m glad that post-grad programs look for different things.</p>

<p>@kristin5792 thank you so much for the encouragement. I really just need to figure out what is the best way to study. This is definitely a learning experience for me.</p>

<p>@mom2collegekids For my fall quarter, I completed 10 units:
Music History (5) - N/A yet. I’m expecting it to be in the B range.
Math (4) - D+
Chem (now 0) - W
Fiat Lux Elective (1) - Pass</p>

<p>I’m not on financial aid, so I’m okay.</p>

<p>I’m switching chem courses (going from the 20/30 series to the 14 series which is easier) because psychobiology (my new major) is a life science and does not need the 20/30 series. So I will still be taking chem.</p>

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<p>OK, basically my main question is: If I do REALLY well from now on to bring my GPA up with A’s and B’s, can I redeem myself from this D+? Then I can explain to post-grad that I learned from my mistakes and I now show what I’m capable of?</p>

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<p>*I’m switching chem courses (going from the 20/30 series to the 14 series which is easier) because psychobiology (my new major) is a life science and does not need the 20/30 series. *</p>

<p>It may not matter what your new major requires…it’s what the MED schools require. And as a UC med school applicant, you’re going to be competing with your peers that will have the harder Chem classes.</p>

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<p>While perhaps true, the vast majority of UC premeds take the science series for life science majors, which at UCLA is Chem 14. The thousands of UC bio majors is the “competition.” </p>

<p>There is no reason to take Chem for Chem/Eng majors (unless one loves chem or is a chem/eng major). OTOH, my Chem major friends all say that the Chem series has a higher curve and is less competitive – all the premed gunners are in the 14 series. :)</p>

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<p>^Exactly! The 14 series is known to be slightly easier than the chem/eng majors (20/30 series). And I know that the chem 14 series counts for the pre-med requisites, so I’ll be taking that.</p>

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<p>Okay I found out my music history grade. I got an A!!! So I’m not on academic probation. My transcript is:</p>

<p>Chem - W
Math - D+
Music - A</p>