<p>hey guys! </p>
<p>I just finished my first semester at Williams and i'm freaking out! i'm a pre-med hopeful, so i took bio and chem. My grades for those classes are not going to be too good. i have no idea what i got in bio, but i'm praying for a c in chemistry. i think my gpa is going to be, at the lowest, a 2.75. </p>
<p>That's obviously not good at all! do i still stand a chance for med school? how important are freshman year fall grades? Please help guys, Im so nervous!</p>
<p>Don’t worry–it’s over now and you can’t change those grades. Frosh fall grades are the most likely to be forgiven if you raise your science GPA in your upperclass years. (The 100-level classes have the nastiest curves, anyway.) Who were your profs? Were you in 151?</p>
<p>What you need to think about now is whether you’re up to taking organic chemistry next semester. It’ll be harder (but very different) than general chem. If Prof. Richardson is teaching it again, he’ll regularly work with you one-on-one in his office if you’re struggling and are willing to work hard. You should also see an upperclass tutor who can both (1) help you learn the material and (2) help you strategize to earn high grades on the exams. I’m not a tutor but I can give you the names of some great, reliable people. </p>
<p>You can also hold off on the chem classes until your sophomore spring to take a break and re-evaluate your academic and graduate/professional plans. It’s not too late to change your schedule for this spring–you have through the February add-drop period. The downside of this is that if you study abroad junior year you will be left with little flexibility in choosing your upperclass pre-med curriculum. </p>
<p>If your grades are really, really bad (which I doubt–the Deans would have notified you by now), you can retake the classes over the summer at another school or later in a post-bac program. </p>
<p>You were smart enough to get into Williams; you are without a doubt smart enough to get into medical school as long as you are proactive and diligent in managing your academic career. (I must emphasize this condition.)</p>
<p>Also make sure you have somewhat of a backup plan in case the sciences don’t work out (i.e. a non-science major). Take multiple classes this spring and next year in other departments you might realistically like–this will pad and protect your overall GPA regardless of whether you remain pre-med. </p>
<p>Send me a PM if you want to chat about this on Facebook or something. I’m a pre-med junior and a chem major. Hang in there!</p>
<p>i was in 153 with professor goh! and i have her next semester! thanks so much! i feel so much better.</p>
<p>I’m a first year Chemistry major. That grade isn’t bad at all. Your first semester isn’t about making a 4.0, because frankly putting the pressure to get a 3.5+ is unnecessary. The first semester is about dealing with the transition between high school and college, and 4 years from now, not a single graduate school/employer is going to care what you got your first semester. You should be setting up a proper balance between quality of life and school work. I ended on 3.3 because of weed out classes, but I plan to get back next semester and hit the books hard again (while having a good time.) Eventually with time these classes will still be hard, but you will learn how to deal with them. These may be the best 4 years of your life, so why have unnecessary worries and make unnecessary sacrifices. I suggest you don’t even think about what is going to happen this summer or even next year. Just take things one step at a time and do the best you can at each step. This will GUARANTEE success.</p>
<p>OP:</p>
<p>I wrote about this in the past. Williams is very risky for those who want to pursue graduate school. People here may throw the statistics that x% go to top Med, Law, MBA, etc., but in my view there is a lot of survival bias in those statistics. In my view, Williams is a “we weed out people” kind of place. I also believe that Williams is the kind of place that do allow students to “fall through the cracks”, although they say before you enroll that they help you out not to “fall through the cracks”, as many LAC not named Williams do.</p>
<p>Op,</p>
<p>Freshman year is a transitioning period and the two courses you mentioned are very demanding in addition to weekly 3-hour labs for Biology and 4 hours for Chemistry. What were your other two courses?</p>
<p>Many premed students are advised to take both Biology and Chemistry 151 during their first year. Although you had to take a placement test to place into 153, did you discuss taking Biology and Advanced Chemistry with your advisor?</p>
<p>Since Professor Goh is also teaching Introduction to Organic Chemistry, I believe you should talk to her about your preparation for this course. You should try to email her as soon as possible and set up a meeting during Winter Study.</p>
<p>This was one semester and even though you do not feel good about your grades, as you move forward, make sure you take advantage of professors office hours and tutoring services that Williams provide.</p>
<p>That’s not true, ARobot. If Williams lets students fall through the cracks, then where are the failing grades? I don’t see any. You’re literally talking about a few professors who I personally know help struggling pre-med students. Sure, there are curves forced onto a group of students that probably would be getting A’s at most other schools, but professors will always recognize a pre-med student who genuinely works hard and who appropriately reaches out for help. It’s just an observable fact in a small program. Many students drop the pre-med track along the way, but this trend is perfectly natural (with regard to the students’ interests) and isn’t a provable indication that there are weed-out mechanisms at work. </p>
<p>Do the career counselors forcefully dissuade students with low GPAs from applying to medical schools? Of course…this is isn’t fairytale land. But unless these couple of students are completely irresponsible, they are still left with better back-up career options than the tropical medical degrees they’d be getting if they had slightly higher GPAs at Big State U. </p>
<p>And regardless, it’s just paranoid to assume that the invisible bureaucratic interests of the College are behind every bad grade. </p>
<p>You really have a beef with Williams. What do you expect the OP to do? Transfer?</p>
<p>ARobot, if you are 53 years old as your profile indicates, your experience at Williams in the early 1980’s has little or no relevance for students attending the college now. The professors and administrators who have caused you a lifetime of grief are not likely still at Williams.
If OTOH you lied about your age on your profile and earned your poor grades at Williams more recently, 1) you are clearly in a tiny minority, and 2) incessant griping on an anonymous internet forum is not constructive for Williams or productive for you. If you really have something to express, take it up with the college and work to effect the change you believe is necessary. But most importantly, you really need to get some help for yourself. Whether this resentment is a few years or a few decades old, it is clearly just eating you up. This kind of bitterness is terrible for your physical, mental and emotional health - perhaps some counseling will help you to move on with your life.</p>
<p>@ARobot: I strongly disagree that Williams allows students to “fall through the cracks”. Far from it! </p>
<p>@OP: I would encourage you to take advantage of the Math and Science Resource Center (MSRC)—it was, and should still be—a great place to work, destress, get help and help others. You can also take advantage of the Peer Tutor program, as well. Enjoy Winter Study, and take some time to relax!</p>
<p>My official gpa is 2.83! Knowing that, what do you guys suggest I aim for to try and ge in better shape for med school? </p>
<p>I should also add that part of the reason why my grades suffered is because I struggle with panic disorder. For most of my tests, I would have panic attacks during them. I was wondering if anyone knows anything about how Williams accommodates severe test taking anxiety? Like, would there be any way for me to get extra time?</p>
<p>And thanks a lot for the replies you already made!</p>
<p>@miyami711: Williams does accommodate (definitely, if documented, and even if not, arrangements can still be made). Please go see JF or whoever else may now be in charge at the Office of Academic Resources.</p>