<p>So im a sophomore and i just wrapped up my fall semester. I found out today that i got a B- in organic, so my GPa for this semester is probably going be around a 3.3-3.4. My overall gpa to this point is around a 3.55-3.6 with a science gpa around 3.5-3.4. I know that i need to do better, and I know it may sound like im just freaking out for no reason. But with the my overall gpa right now, would i be competitive?</p>
<p>actually if you count math as part of the science gpa, im probably in the 3.4-3.45 range</p>
<p>Is this organic chem I? </p>
<p>Did you feel that you didn’t really know the material or do you think your school heavily weeds with this class?</p>
<p>Can you clarify?</p>
<p>Was this your first semester in college? </p>
<p>Do you have soph standing because of AP credits?</p>
<p>If your overall’s 3.5-3.6, you’d probably get in somewhere (based on AAMC numbers) but not everywhere (or even most places). If it dips much lower, you’ll have to work a lot harder to bring it up to make yourself more competitive–so don’t let that happen. Rather than freaking out about how competitive you are NOW, focus your energy on doing your best, on studying smart (not hard), and on doing other meaningful things that will supplement your numbers. </p>
<p>Since you’re “just” a sophomore, you have another year and a half before you really have to start worrying about this stuff. Relish in that! Trust me you’ll have plenty of time to be stressed out about numbers attached to your file in the future :)</p>
<p>I’m not sure this student is a second year student. He was taking AP exams last May. I think he’s a sophomore by AP credits, not by school year. </p>
<p>I think he’s only completed one semester of college.</p>
<p>If so, then he’s got time to get his GPA up.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this was the problem, but sometimes when kids come in with a lot of AP credits, they “dive into” some very hard classes just because they can. They overload their first semester with classes that they really aren’t ready for.</p>
<p>no, im actually a sophomore by years (ive taken classes at my school for a semester and a half)</p>
<p>yes this was organic 1. It was a difficult class because i had the chair of the chemistry department. with that said, i really thought and felt i learned a lot, more so than what i received in the class.</p>
<p>and i really really really tried hard this semester, i really busted my butt to do really well, but i guess crap happens. </p>
<p>i just hope that theres still more time that i can get my gpa higher </p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Look at it this way. </p>
<p>If you’re going to get a B- in a class, might as well be a class you worked your butt off for. Getting a B- in a tough class like organic chemistry (which was likely unlike any other science class you’ve taken, especially if it was taught by a challenging professor) doesn’t show that you were lazy or that you slacked off or that you just didn’t get the material. It’s showing that you took a HARD class and that despite your best efforts, you didn’t come out on top. That’s not to say your efforts were lackluster or that you could’ve done something more. It’s just that for probably the first time in your life, there was too much material to learn and not enough time to learn it; your classmates were major competitors for you; your professor was challenging and didn’t hand out As like candy; exams required you to think, synthesize, apply rather than just regurgitate information and solve equations. It’s a huge “lesson” premeds need to learn–that you can’t always be the best at all things academic, and that in spite of all that–getting grades you weren’t expecting, not being the best, etc–you can still have an incredible college experience and still be a really competitive applicant for medical schools.</p>
<p>Part of college is learning how to think. Part of being a successful premed is learning how to think well, think critically, and hopefully learn how to start thinking like a physician. If your organic chemistry class was taught well, those are the things you should have learned, whether you realize it now or not.</p>
<p>thank you for the advice!</p>
<p>idk, i just need reassurance from someone else that i havent been weeded out or my chances have been “cut”.</p>
<p>Nobody gets everywhere, even 4.0 with high MCAT do not get everywhere they apply. Do not worry, when time comes, apply to good number and you will get somewhere.</p>
<p>Why do you have posts about taking AP exams this last May?</p>
<p>You posted this in April 2010</p>
<p>* my online practice homework for the AP isnt taking the answers. </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Did you graduate early last year and then take the AP exams? And, how have you been going to your college for a “semester and a half”? Did you mean “a year and a half”?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>TTCR. The OP already knows that they need to up their GPA. This is not a deal breaker. During my daughter’s med school interviews only one school asked her to explain a less than stellar (!) grade that she had received in a pre-med course. D’s response was that the lowly grade had been incredibly hard earned and that she had learned as much in that class as in any that she had taken. The professor was notoriously challenging. D gave some specifics. The interviewer said “Excellent response.” and moved on. </p>
<p>This is not directed at the OP and is somewhat off-topic but I am beginning to believe that for some students the whole “weeder course” thing is about perseverance as much as it is about aptitude. Though it is a given that not everyone who is on the pre-med track should be there, my thought is that the majority students who start the pre-med requirements were highly successful high school students. They are not used to being anywhere but the top of the pile. They arrive at college, young whippersnappers that they are, expecting to rock it as they have in the past. It is rattling to get an average or below average grade when you have given your best effort, especially so in something that is part of the science GPA equation. </p>
<p>I wonder how many students walk away from pre-med early on because they don’t receive the grades that they have been accustomed to though they still would have been credible med school applicants down the road. I suppose that even if that is the reason some change gears (I have a spouse who did and ended up as…dare I say it…A LAWYER. ;)) it is a perfectly acceptable part of the weeding out process. If your ego can’t handle some bruising you shouldn’t be thinking medical school in the first place.</p>
<p>Elleneast: I totally agree, and a class like the one your D took is what “inspired” my post. The big ballbuster at my school is honors organic chemistry (a course I took and absolutely loved–the personal attention (only 20 brave souls my year) from a phenomenal professor really can’t be beat!).</p>
<p>The director of the honors college likes to include this in his spiel to prospective honors college students: “Now, if you really want to challenge yourself and work harder than you’ve ever worked, take honors organic chemistry. Geez, when you finish that class, you don’t deserve a grade–you deserve a metal!” Always gets a chuckle out of me :)</p>
<p>elleneast, I very much like your post, especially the paragraph about “the whole ‘weeder course’ thing is about perseverance as much as it is about aptitude…”</p>
<p>When DS just started college, this aspect of his premed life really concerned me (even when he was maintaining a pretty high GPA at that time) – as he had never had any setback before college and I knew the road ahead would be tough for him as the competition would be high among these students who had always been star students, and teacher’s favorites in their whole lives before college.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, isn’t this aspect of life also true for a typical MS1 student?! As it is said, there are always bottom 50 percent of students, no matter how smart the pool of the students are.</p>
<p>mcat2, I’ve been visiting schools for interviews and I ALWAYS make it a point to ask about the competitive nature of the students. Are all these kids gunners? Are your classmates helpful? Do you think it’s competitive? </p>
<p>The resounding answers have been no, yes, no–and I’ve been at big state schools, elite private schools, and small private schools. It seems like everyone’s finally relaxed a little bit by the time they get to medical school (and the fact that there’s no GPA–everything’s pass/fail) and really are interested in seeing their classmates succeed. At least of the ones I’ve looked at, medical school’s designed so that you both pass and learn a ton, so there’s really no point in competing for top grades. I’ve heard lots of stories about students sharing cadavers (before practicals), posting notes (from lectures), lending books (during open resource exams), and working together. It really seems like “grade grubbing” is a thing for undergrads. Boy, am I looking forward to the academic environment of medical school. I’ve been competing all my life and I’m definitely ready for that to be a thing of the past!</p>
<p>Now, competing for attention and affection from profs/docs, etc…that might be a whole other story :)</p>
<p>What percent of medical schools are pass/fail? I graduated from med school in 1988 and this was quite uncommon. However, the environment in medical school was much more conducive to cooperative learning despite the realization of rankings to aid residency admissions.</p>
<p>* I’ve been visiting schools for interviews and I ALWAYS make it a point to ask about the competitive nature of the students. Are all these kids gunners? Are your classmates helpful? Do you think it’s competitive?*</p>
<p>Kristin…To whom do you ask these questions? To those who are conducting the interviews? When you visit the med school?</p>
<p>Emory: I browsed through the entire MSAR (yes, the whole freakin thing) and did not notice one school that used A-F grading during the preclinical years. All were pass/fail or a slight modification (like, honors/pass/fail). I wasn’t specifically looking for grading scale though, so there’s a chance that a few still use traditional grading and I just overlooked them.</p>
<p>Mom2: I typically ask the tour guides and occasionally follow up with the interviewers. So I might ask the tour guides (who have always been students) the questions I wrote about and pay pretty close attention to the answers. Then, when the interviewer says “Any questions?” I might ask “I’ve noticed that the environment seems pretty cooperative around here, and the students who showed me around said it was definitely the case with the students. Do you notice that with your colleagues too?” It’s been a really well-received question; one interviewer even said “wow, great question!”</p>
<p>There are very few schools that use A/B/C/D/F grading system these days. A solid % of schools (probably 40-50%) use P/F grading for the first two years while others use P/F/high pass/honors grading (which are basically surrogates for A/B/D/F). </p>
<p>I’ll be honest: I don’t really think P/F does anything. I know it was all the rage when I was applying for medical school. I attend a P/F school and my classmates and I still work pretty damn hard (reflected in our 235+ average USMLE score). In the end, you can’t coast through the first two years because you have to take the USMLE just like everyone else. P/F grading benefits you if you plan to be in the bottom 50% of students. But, if you are a good but not superior student like me (I’m in roughly the 75th percentile at my school), you’re not good enough to get AOA but I would still rather have liked to have a “high pass” or “honors” for my first two years instead of just a “pass.”</p>
<p>Of course, your performance in the first two years don’t matter much anyhow except if you’re applying for pathology.</p>
<p>At one of the interviews, DS was asked his impression about his interview at other schools. When DS said the interviewer/students at some school appear to claim that their learning environment is more cooperative and non-competitive, the interviewer made a comment like this: “Do not believe in this non-sense. This is just for advertisement. In order to be a top medical school, they have to be competitive. Otherwise they will not be able to maintain their top medical school status for long.”</p>
<p>I really hope the learning environment at many medical schools is like what kristin said though, but I have no idea about what it is like.</p>