Hey everyone,
I attend an Ivy and am currently split between pursuing finance/CS or pre med. My first term I may have been over ambitious and took all weed out courses (Intro Psych, intro Econ, and an evolutionary bio class that is not a pre-req for med schools). I got an A minus in Psych, an A in econ, but I got a B minus in Bio (the median grade was a B plus). my advisor tells me that the bio pre reqs are much harder than the class I took. Will the B minus kill my med school ambitions (a top med school?) ? Should I choose to pursue econ instead? I’m at 3.44 rn, and have a 3.1 Science GPA and I don’t want to hurt my GPA further. Can someone give me advice?
You’ve only completed one semester of classes; it’s far soon to abandon your pre med ambitions if that is what you truly want to do. You have another 7 semesters to improve your GPA/sGPA.
The only way you’ll know if pre-med bio is harder than the class you’ve already taken is to enroll and see for yourself. If midway through the semester you find yourself completely out of your depth, you can always drop the class to protect your GPA.
I would suggest, however, that if you choose to continue down the pre-med path that you change your study approach for your science classes. Your current approach is clearly not working well for you. You need to step up your game, try harder, study more efficiently and seek out additional resources to help you achieve the As you’ll need to apply to med school. Go to your college’s academic support center and get tutoring. Go your prof’s and TA’s office hours. Join a study group. Do extra problem sets. Make flash cards. Seek out additional resources and study guides. Find a better study routine.
RE: top med schools. Getting an acceptance to any med school is an achievement, and one that over 60% of applicants each year fail to achieve.
Don’t get fixated on “top schools”–because TBH where you complete your residency is far, far more important than where you go to med school. And you can get to prestigious residencies from any med school–if you’re good enough. Top med students go to top residencies. (And conversely if you’re in the middle or bottom of your class at a top program–you’re going to end up at a less competitive and less prestigious residency program. Medicine is very much a meritocracy.)
Lastly, med school admission–especially to top programs-- is about far more than your GPA and MCAT score. Successful candidates at top schools have that “something extra” going to for them besides the expected strong GPAs & MCAT scores: extraordinary achievements in research, extraordinary service to their fellow man, extraordinary ECs.
Hmm, the only Ivy that Fall term ended is Dartmouth, which runs on quarter system. Not sure if Intro Psych can be counted as a weed-out since Psych is generally viewed as an easy major. With the bio class median grade being B+ and you got B-, your bio background/studying skill seems weaker than your classmates.
No need to “drop” the pre-med dream right now since this is only your first college term. How strong is your science background in Bio, Chem and Physics? If not strong, consider non-science major and carefully take ONLY 1 pre-med science class each term. Come back to re-visit this pre-med decision in 2 years to see how you perform in all the pre-med courses. Dartmouth Bio courses seem to be on the harder side, but you don’t need to be a Bio major for pre-med. You just need to ace the pre-med bio course + lab. If your science background is not strong. MCAT will be another big hurdle since it is science-heavy (orgo, biochem…).