<p>I want to become a doctor, and I've just started my first semester in college. I just had my first exam in chemistry, and I didn't do well on it even though I studied for it. A majority didn't do very well, because I only know two out of many, who scoreds a's and the rest b's and lower. I understand why I didn't do that well, and I will do better from here on out... but it will be probably be pretty hard for me to get an A in the class. The exam counts twenty percent of my grade, and I still have an opportunity to get the grade changed if I do better on the final than that grade. My question really boils down to this, if I don't get an A in the class and get an a- or b+, will prestigious med schools look down upon me for not having a 4.0? I was really upset about this grade, and hope that I will be able to get an A in the class because I will put forth the effort and studying... any advice?</p>
<p>Oh, boy, talk about lacking any sense of proportion...</p>
<p>From Harvard</a> Medical School: Admissions FAQs :</p>
<p>
[quote]
What are the average GPA and MCAT scores of entering students? Is there a minimum that I need to be above?
For the 2005 entering class, the average scores are given below. Please keep in mind that the scores of the students selected for admission included a broad range of scores that includes scores reflective of national averages.</p>
<h1>average GPA: 3.76
[/quote]
</h1>
<p>You can see that even at the most prestigious medical schools in the US, having a GPA that is somewhat less than 4.0 isn't a problem. If you look at less selective medical schools and do the math, you'll realize that it's entirely possible to get in even with one or two C's on your transcripts.</p>
<p>Now, whether or not you can still get an A or A- for the semester depends on the class - no one here can tell you that. If I were you, I'd treat this as a valuable lesson. You seem to be on the right track. You just need to have a more realistic view of medical school admissions.</p>
<p>I have learned a lesson... not to think that studying the practice test for a long time would guarantee me an a on the real test. I also need to get used to taking computerized tests... I hate them because I could have made higher on the test... if it wasn't for some stupid mistakes.</p>
<p>Ouch, yeah, that's an important lesson to learn (and one that many of my fellow classmates and friends still don't get).</p>
<p>If teachers made their exams exactly like past/practice exams, it'd be too easy. Always remember that a practice/past exam is a good guideline, but never expect the actual test to be very similar or even of the same difficulty. Even in upper level sciences, I still hear people complain about how "the test was nothing like the practice exam" or "I could do everything on the practice exam, why was the real one so much harder?", even though we've all experienced it a number of times by now.</p>
<p>I actually never did practice questions in college. I read the textbook to gain background and figured that with the proper knowledge, I'd be able to solve any question on the test. </p>
<p>Of course, there are plenty of people who are successful while doing practice problems/tests. The problem is that too many memorize how to do the questions instead of really understanding the material. So, when the real test questions are different from the practice ones, they don't know how to adjust.</p>
<p>Hm. I only did practice tests in college. I never actually got to the point where I was very good with the practice test or understood the questions very well.</p>
<p>It didn't work out so well (C's in organic chemistry).</p>
<p>yea, it was my fault for thinking the practice test would be like the real test... I hope I can recover and get an a though...</p>
<p>This is college, keep in mind that unpredictable things can happen. I got a C on my first writing paper, and 2 B's after that. I thought I would get a B+ maximum in that class. Turned out I got an A because of my well written final paper.</p>
<p>Same thing with statistics. Three B+'s on exams, I expected a B or at most an A- because the final was hard. I got an A as well.</p>
<p>The opposite can also happen. I have had friends who rolled tests, and ended up not studying for the final which brought their grades down a letter.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that Chemistry usually is one of the easiest classes. Whatever you did preparing for this test, you will need to do tons more for some others in pre-med curriculum.</p>