<p>tarkman, I did not, just my S did. I think the only area I could offer him some help is in math and physics before he entered college but not after he went OOS to college. I think he MAY still think I am better than him at physics (which may not be true) even though he got A’s for both physics I and II. (He took physics for the engineers only though, not the most challenging one for the aspiring physicists.)</p>
<p>Hey guys, so i just finished my first quarter of college, and i did not do very well at all, and I am just curious if i have already killed my chances at getting into med school. My scores are listed below, and i know they are really not that impressive, but assuming that i am able to pick it up and end up with an average gpa of 3.8 and science gpa of 3.7 by the time i apply for med schools, will these grades really hurt me?</p>
<p>Chem 2A (1st our of 3 in a series) C
Math 17 A (1st our of 3 in a series) C+
Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior: A-
Sociology: A-</p>
<p>I am slightly freaked out, and i know i just started college and everything, but how much will this hurt me? again assuming that i start doing really well, for the rest of my time at school. Thanks!</p>
<p>Short of flunking out, it would be difficult for your first semester grades to put you out of the running for medical school. Obviously better grades would be preferred, but many people struggle in their first experience with college work. The questions are why you had so much trouble- lack of preparation (were you in over your head, needed to take prequisites first), study habits not up to college level, too many distractions? etc.</p>
<p>The important thing is to get help, address, frankly, your weaknesses, and make a realistic plan to improve. If you find yourself in trouble early next semester, then take a long look at your plans, life, etc. Maybe you need time off, maybe you need easier courses, maybe medicine and science are not for you.</p>
<p>OK, and yeah i know this really is much less than spectacular, and i studied extremely hard for all my exams, but i didn’t study smart. The material itself was not what did me in, but ill just have to learn from this, i just got extremely nervous that already I’m screwed. And yes, a realistic plan is definitely what i need.</p>
<p>I had always done well in high school classes and everything, and i have never gotten a C before, so i don’t know what what it is, but ill figure it out, i just wanted to be sure that in case i was able to pick it up, and get a grasp of this college thing, that i would still be a competitive applicant.
Thank you for easing my mind!</p>
<p>I, too, received a C in the initial chem series in my first quarter and wanted some additional insight. Honestly, I had never studied for any one class harder in my life. I did homework problems multiple times, did the readings, went to MANY office hours on a weekly basis. The final just killed me. If I were forced to identify something I did wrong in my study habits I would say I couldn’t effectively develop the “intuition” I needed to do well on exams.</p>
<p>Im concerned for my future performance in this series. How can I go about obtaining an intuition for problems and approaching them successfully and what can I do over this winter break that would help me do this? Thanks~</p>
<p>This is a tough problem. It seems you already did the most important things: sought the regular help included as part of the course, did the work, and gave a good effort. If that was not enough, the next steps, and I would do ALL of them</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Look at your preparation. Did you have all the background needed for the course? In this case, the proper high school courses in chemistry and math? Did you do well in them? Or should you have taken more basic courses first to get ready for the chemistry course you found so difficult? If you enter a course without the preparation, particularly something with cumulative knowledge like chemistry, it can be almost impossible to catch up if you are behind. You did not really understand week 1 so you will be totally lost by week 3.</p></li>
<li><p>Use whatever your college offers for general study help and adjustment to college level work. This is beyond office hours for the course. The depth of these services varies widely by college, but many have offices specifically designed to help students who are struggling.</p></li>
<li><p>Line up a tutor. Again, how you do this depends on the college, but most places there are students available who have truly mastered the material and can help you. The cost varies, but usually you have to pay something. These are typically undergrads, so they cannot charge a lot.</p></li>
<li><p>Form study groups. This can be a life saver for efficiency. When you hit a snag, instead of spending hours figuring out something on your own, sometimes your study partners will know the answer immediately, and at times you can reciprocate.</p></li>
<li><p>Were you overloaded? Look at how many courses, and of what difficulty, you took. Do you need a lighter schedule? Courses closer to your level?</p></li>
<li><p>Consider lightening up on science courses, even if this means not completing all the premed requirements before graduation. A huge proportion of medical students apply after graduation.</p></li>
<li><p>Look at where you stand academically compared to your classmates. Were you high, low, or typical in terms of high school academic achievement compared to others at your college? If you were average or higher, look at what proportion of students from your college successfully navigate the premed curriculum. If you are below average, then look long and hard at whether medical school is realistic. The answers here you can get from premed advisers. At some colleges at the top of the academic pecking order, like Princeton, the average undergrad can reasonably expect to succeed in premed studies, assuming their minds run toward math and science. As you move down the selectivity ladder, then successful premeds are drawn from progressively higher reaches of the student body. So if you are an under grad at Yale, and you were 80% ile of Yale undergrads coming in, then question “Do I have the academic ability to make it to medical school?” Is answered “Are you kidding? Of course”. If you were 30% ile at a place where only top students make it to medical school, then the answer is “maybe, but the odds may be against you.”</p></li>
</ol>
<p>One bad semester, particularly first semester, hardly knocks you out of medicine as a career, but you do need to think through the nature of the problem.</p>
<p>to add a little more to point #1: you have to realize that many of the kids in Frosh Chem took AP Chem in high school and aced it with a 4/5. But, they are retaking the course for the “easy” A. Since a Frosh chem course is capped at, say, ~25% As, most kids walking in w/o AP Chem are already behind on the FIRST day, and will have to bust their behind to even catch up. Ditto Calc, only this time it’s Calc BC which they aced, (not AB which many high schools offer). Or Bio. Or Physics. Unfortunately, not many colleges offer Intro to Chem, or something similar, so its sink or swim with the premed sharks.</p>
<p>Basically, if you don’t have a really solid science background in HS, it’s little/no social life for you until you can catch up. Otherwise, those A’s are for the other guy.</p>
<p>Wow, thank you very much afan. You pretty much nailed #1, I only had a year of chem in high school, but my teacher wasn’t really demanding so I consider myself starting chemistry this past quarter from SCRATCH. It was kind of disheartening when the professor would take a poll of who had seen a particular equation or this or that before and the majority of the students would raise their hands. It is a general chem course so for all intents and purposes you CAN learn the material for the first time, but obviously those who had AP chem did better because it was their second exposure. </p>
<p>I was part of a group tutoring session that met once a week for an hour. That helped, so I’ll most likely do that again next quarter. </p>
<p>When I talked with the professor about my issue with catching up to everyone else he claimed the next course in the series will have most of everyone starting on the same level, so I think I could compete then since no one will really have an “edge”.</p>
<p>sid3000,</p>
<p>I was very much like you when I started premed, it was many yrs ago…I skipped senior yr in HS, and only had honors chem, no calc under my belt when I went to college…I was competing against seniors who had 4-5’s on their chem and calc APs, and I had no clue as to how crazy this was going to be…I applied my usual HS techniques, and would up with a strong B.but I had no idea about extra material, and study groups…and this was at probably on of the most competitive premed programs in the country.</p>
<p>I think that “study groups” are the best idea…however, you have to take it another step., it’s not just helping out on questions…watch the movie “Paper Chase”. It’s about cutthroat law school students. They started a “study group” …but a lot of information sharing, like a law firm/ coprporate mentality…your group should be devoted to everyone ( ie, everybody has the we’re-al-in-the-same-boat mentality) getting the A. The trick is to find folks like this, but that is what networking is about, you have to learn this in college, that’sy your job. Find out who is smart, willing to start a group, and is willing to see that having a group is infinitely better than going it alone. Whe I first started, I had nothing academic to offer, but as we all got better, I definitely was an integral part of the group. See my other posts to see what my experiences were. Those group tutoring sessions are ok, but not what you need. Get into a smart, “in the know”, savvy group and it will help. It did for me. Naturally, we all got in by october the year we applied. I went from the B in intro chem to the 3d ighest org grade. Not boasting, but this is to illustrate the point that it’s out there, you just have to want it real bad.</p>
<p>Study groups can be dangerous. In my experience, they always devolve into conversation (which is not necessarily bad but if you really need to get work done, and you do, may not be the most efficient way of studying). This is not to say all study groups are bad; I’ve been in my share of them, for one reason or another. But be aware of the potential for problems.</p>
<p>Id hate to hijack this thread, but I hope the OP finds some of the info you guys are giving out here useful. </p>
<p>About the study groups…I hazard to become a part of one because my college mindset thusfar (thanks to chemistry), is to see other premeds as the “enemy” -.- The majority of them in my class year were enrolled in this chem course, which was 1200 students split into 3 lectures. Naturally, as a competitor, I found myself having an antagonistic attitude towards these people, especially those in my discussion who would openly shout out answers knowingly crushing the will of those still thinking about the problem. Also, I find many of them annoying.
I do not have many contacts to other premeds that will be taking the next course in the series; the premed friends that I did have unfortunately became the “weeds” of the “weeder” courses unexpectedly and have now moved on to some humanities thing. You can imagine my position as I try to push forward.
How can I “find out who is smart” and communicate with them to form a study group if I do not have many contacts that would know such things? And if they are smart why would they need a study group anyway? It seems as if such a concept would only be for my benefit.</p>
<p>I really only formed study groups with friends/people I knew, not random people or the annoying people. Moreover, being “smart” as you put it does not preclude someone from being part of a group. Most of the time, I agreed to such groups because teaching other people the material forces you to really internalize it yourself.</p>
<p>GoldShadow’s right, when I teach someone material I tend to learn and understand it even better myself. It’s a way to solidify knowledge while helping out a friend, who will probably return the favor at some point. Chances are, a person who’s “smart” will not know everything. Many people are better at a particular subject over another, and sometimes it’s helpful to have several people’s input on answers to questions. I used to study alone all through high school because I focused better, with the exception of having my mom or friends quiz me occasionally. Now, I try to mix it up between reading the book alone and then going over the information in a group. The strategy has worked thus far. </p>
<p>Of course, the tricky part is actually finding a group that won’t distract you and will benefit everyone. Try asking around in your classes to see if anyone would be interested, and maybe ask some upperclassmen for opinions on a particular class or if they have any of their old notes/exams that may be of use. I had one class fall term that the only way to really pass was to acquire back exams that were floating around (and the professor was well aware of this - he encouraged looking at them and posted some himself). I intended to study only in a small group with a couple friends, but that quickly evolved into a group of about 8. For one exam we managed to compile over 10 back exams between all of us, and most of us did extremely well overall in the course. I would have definitely not received an A had I chosen to study alone, even though when the group started I only knew 2 other members (we joined up with some other students studying for the same subject in the same place as us). </p>
<p>You can consider the other students in your class “the enemy” because you’re all competing for that A, but facing the battle alone is not always the best option. Get an army and tackle the course together, and you all just may well succeed.</p>