I just completed my freshman year at Drexel. I am a biology/pre-med 5 year 3 co-op student. I did not do so well during my first year. My first term I got a C in biology, B+ in math 101, D+ in chem 101. I took other courses and I got A’s, but they do not carry as much weight. My final GPA was a 2.55. For the winter term I retook Chem 101 and I got an A-, I got a B+ in Biology and A- in Math 102. My final GPA was now a 3.32. Just as I thought things were getting better during my spring term I got a B+ in biology, C- in Chem 102, and C- in math 239. My final GPA for my freshman year is now a 3.02. As a pre-med student I was told that I must not get C- in any of my courses, especially the core courses.That means I will probably have to retake math and chem once again. However, retakes look very bad. I am very happy as a biology student and I really want to go to med school. I am willing to take on 20 credits this fall term, which could include chem 102 again, chem 103, bio, and math. I passed chem lab with a 98 percent, so I will not have to retake it. What should I do and is there still a chance?
I would focus in the short term on improving your GPA. Taking 20 credits at once is not the way to increase your GPA. If you want any chance at medical school at this point you will need A’s. For other purposes A’s and B’s may be fine. However, piling on too many credits is just going to make it that much harder to get top grades. You should IMHO cut back to at most 15 credits per semester.
I know that premed classes are tough. I have heard many stories about courses where the class average on tests is in the 50% to 60% range. However, this is done for a reason – most of the students who start off as premed will not make it to medical school. The sooner that they realize this the better. I think that you should think about alternatives to medical school.
OP
Have you look into PA or PT school as well? If you want still stay in the medical field. I think med school is out of the question for you, unless you drastically turned around with ALL As in the Science requirements. Your sGPA is the biggest problem, with your current trend, you cannot be considered by DO schools, let alone MD schools.
@artloversplus PT and PA schools are very competitive as well. As of now I don’t think the OP has a competitive GPA for those programs.
- medical schools will not accept courses with grades below C as fulfilling admission requirements. You must retake any that you earned a C- or lower in.
However, do NOT retake any class what you earned a C or better. Doing so looks like you’re fluffing your GPA and adcomms really, really don’t like that. It’s better to take a higher level course and ace the harder class. Upward trends in GPAs are good things.
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Neither AMCAS nor AACOMAS allows grade replacement. Both your original C-/D+ grades and your new grades will be included in GPA calculations.
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Your first job right now is to improve your GPA. Without a stronger GPA, no EC is going to get you accepted into med school. Drop any ECs your are involved with until your GPA has improved, then and only then gradually add a few ECs.
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100% agree with @DadTwoGirls that overloading is a recipe for more poor quality grades. Take fewer credits and put 110% of your effort into getting As in those classes.
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make an appointment with the learning center at your college to get some help with study skills and time management. Make arrangements to receive tutoring in chemistry & math since those areas seem to be causing you the most difficulty.
I am an Drexel alum–and one thing you need to think about is whether a trimester system works for you. I found going from a semester-based system to a trimester-based system a difficult adjustment. 10 weeks go by much more quickly than 15 weeks do. Trimesters make it harder to be successful if you take a little longer to grasp concepts, or are not good at getting long term assignments done the instant they are assigned. Excellent time management skills are critical for trimester-based colleges.
- med school is not completely out of reach. Yet. However, you’ve dug yourself into a deep, deep hole and it will take time, effort, and much improved grades to get out of this hole. You should not plan on applying to med school until after graduation because you’ll need the extra time to improve your GPA. You may need to do a gpa-enhancing post-bacc or SMP after graduation. You should also explore other healthcare professions: podiatry, optometry, PA, nursing, surgical technologist, anesthesia assistant, etc. These careers have a lower GPA/academic bar for admission than does med school.
Based on what you said, it looks like chem 101/102 are the top weed-out pre-med classes at Drexel, followed by bio (101/102?) then math. There is an obvious pattern here with your grades in those hard weed-out classes - that you scored really low (C or D) in your first try. This would be the impression by med school AdComs - this student can’t get A in first try, how can we be sure he/she can survive med school classes? does he/she need to take med school classes twice in order to pass them?
Drexel pre-med (the grading, classmate’s caliber…) maybe too competitive for you, transfer to easier/cheaper schools might be a better option.
IMHO
It is too late to transfer, the damage is done and switch to another school to get As is not going to impress the med schools. I’d stick with Drexel, if you cannot get all A or A+ in retries, you may have to go with plan B.
BTW, A- is not good enough and if you still want to take the med school route, you need all As from now on. PA and PT have less GPA requirements, although still competitive, but you have a chance.
Do not take 20 credits. That’s a recipe for disaster
Find other ways to dilute your poor grades. Perhaps take some non-premed BCPM courses over summers that you can ace and help your GPA.