Doing bad. Really. Really. REALLY BAD. Can I still go to med school? (need advice)

Pre-Med & Medical School High School Student Topics
1

<p>Basically, my freshman year of highschool I took honors english, honors world history, honors geometry, honors biology, gym, and spanish I. I got a D, D, D, C, B, C. (respectively) for pretty much both semesters. Including weighted grades and everything, my GPA ended up being a 1.8 out of 4 (honors/AP classes are 5 for an A)</p>

<p>This year (sophomore year) I am taking Regular English, Regular American Studies, Honors Algebra 2 Trig, Honors Chemistry, health, and Spanish 2. For first semester, I got a B, C, D, D, C, and D. (respectively). </p>

<p>I don't know what to do, but I REALLY need to pick up the pace, I know. 2nd semester starts in a few days, and I'm a sophomore, and from now on I am REALLY buckling down and am DEFINITELY going to do better. I am aiming for straight A's, taking the same classes still. If I can accomplish straight As second semester, and in junior year take:</p>

<p>AP Chem, Hon Physics, Hon Precalc, Regular English III, Gym, Psychology, and Spanish III, and do VERY well meaning all A's and maybe one or 2 B's max, it will definitely help me out. If I continue this pattern and do very well senior year, will I be able to get into an Ivy League school? This is TRULY a big deal for me, even though my past grades dont demonstrate it. Please help me out, I am new to these forums, and really really need advice. I will definitely be dedicating all my time to school now no matter what and will be doing well. I wanted to go to someplace like duke, or another school with a "name." Help? Advice? Anything I can do now or in the future to help me out? I'm willing to do anything, and I truly mean anything.</p>

2

<p>Probably not. I think you don't have much of a shot for any kind of big-name school.</p>

<p>Fortunately, for you, you can go to a lower level school for undergrad and still go on to med school. Your HS grades and EC's don't matter for med school. Get your act together and get into a college. Then perform well in college and you will have as good a shot as any for med schoool.</p>

3

<p>Oh man, this is really bad. So basically nothing I can do except do well eh? Will lots of AP and honors look good for med school? How about will it look good if I show that i've improved from before? What else can I do as of now? Also, what if I decide to go into computers and computer engineering? Would I have a better shot then of getting into MIT or Northwestern or Caltech or something?</p>

<p>PS: thanks for the advice :)</p>

4

<p>To be frank, you don't have a shot at any of those schools. Most students who get into Ivys or MIT didn't get a single C or D in their entire HS career. </p>

<p>But as I said, your HS grades aren't important for med school. You need good HS grades to get into some sort of college. But once in college, you have a clean slate. Only things that you do during college matter for med school. Many students end up going to med school from lesser name colleges.</p>

5

<p>What do you think the best college I can get to with my grades for med school? Keep in mind I'll be doing a lot better in school. What are some colleges I have a shot at which I can go to without leaving my family ashamed of me?</p>

6

<p>dude, as the people above said, where u go to undergrad doesnt really matter. You can go to your state school and as long as you get a high gpa in undergrad (and a high mcat score), you can get into med school. High school gpa doesnt matter an ounce once u are undergrad. </p>

<p>If you are looking to get into a prestigious college (or any notable college), you have no chance so I would stop thinking about that. Just concentrate on pulling through for the rest of high school and then work as hard as u can during undergrad.</p>

7

<p>Seriously, you should go to a 2 year premed college and transfer over to a good school, do very good in high school. Dont give up on your medical dream because the medical field needs more doctors.</p>

8

<p>and i am wondering how your school is allowing you to take AP chem during junior year when you have a D in honors chem???</p>

9

<p>If I may offer my own opinion, I agree with the previous poster. With such a disastrous (to be perfectly honest) GPA during your freshman and sophomore years, colleges will not be pleased because they basically will have only your junior year to see that you are even remotely prepared academically for their schools. Perhaps you shouldn't be taking so many honors classes if you are getting Cs and Ds. Many intelligent people will simply choose a subject to specialize in and then only take honors classes within that subject, be it math, science, or english or history. Be sure not to overstretch yourself, as it sounds like that could be the reason for your poor grades. So to wrap up, basically all of the prestigious schools and ivies are no-go for you, even if you get straight a's your junior year (which is very difficult). sorry to break it to you. You would be well-advised to aim for a less prestigious public university so you can start afresh in college and prepare for medical school. I'm not sure where you live, but to give you my own example in washington state, a person with your grades would not be applying to University of Washington or Whitman or Gonzaga. Rather, a person such as yourself would go for the somewhat less-prestigious Washington State University, Eastern Washington University, Central Western Washington, Western Wash. Univ., etc. I hope this helps and good luck this semester!</p>

10

<p>Thanks guys, I appreciate all the help, constructive critisizm, and helpful and fast replies. So, how does the medical field really work? "pre-med" and "undergrad" this is meaning that I go to a college to prepare for med school first, and THEN go to med school? </p>

<p>if this is true, then after the college years of preperation, when I go to the med school itself, do they look at your high school grades?</p>

11

<p>No medical schools never look at your high school GPA.</p>

12

<p>How does this sound: I get to a makeshift college for undergrad, where I get my bachelor degree in whatever (what are some things I should look into for my bachelor? anything to help me for med school?) and after that, when I get superior grades and GPA in college, I go to an AWESOME med school like duke or something. does this sound like a good plan or is there any flaw or chance of this not happening, since med school does not look at highschool GPA (can anyone else vouch for this? my dad said med schools DO look at it)</p>

<p>Thanks again guys, I love this forum. This is just what I needed...</p>

13

<p>My understanding is that prestigious med schools DO look at high school GPA. Wash U, for example, asks for GPA and rank.</p>

<p>Pre-med students are some of the most studious and academic students anywhere in the country, simply because admissions are so competitive. I agree with everyone else that you don't have a shot at any big-name undergraduate school: Stanford, Harvard, Duke, and MIT are completely out of the running unless you become an Olympic gold medalist, a politician's son, or a movie star.</p>

<p>So, get your game on. You need to buckle down, get straight-A's or close to it, take advanced classes, and get into a decent four-year school or transfer into a decent four-year school. There, you need to truly succeed academically. With a little luck you could get into one of those prestigious med schools.</p>

<p>Just keep in mind that some of the most academically distinguished students, who never had a B in their life and are at Harvard, Stanford, and Duke, will not get in to a prestigious med-school, no matter how hard they try. SO the odds are really against everyone.</p>

14

<p>So, basically I just have to focus and get good grades so I can go to a mediocre undergrad school. Now, to go to a prestegious MED school, I can do amazing in undergrad, do amazing on the MCATs, and I'm set? After getting into undergrad, I have just as good (or bad) of a shot as any other?</p>

<p>Also, what can I do to raise my SAT scores? I went through this book and some of an expensive SAT course (at <a href="http://www.collegeboard.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.collegeboard.com&lt;/a> ) it was an online course and it expired before i really got a chance to use it muhc.</p>

<p>Well, I just took one (i'm a sophomore) and didnt do too well...</p>

<p>writing: 500 (out of 800)
reading: 590 (out of 800)
Math: 630 (out of 800)</p>

<p>Total: 1720 (out of 2400)</p>

15

<p>Doing amazing in undergrad and doing amazing on the MCATs is a lot easier said than done. If I were you, I would stop thinking about how amazing you are going to do and instead do amazing for the rest of your high school career. There is no way you are going to get a 4.0 in college if you don't start working now. I think if you can get A's for the rest of your high school career, carry on that work ethic in college, and prepare thoroughly for the MCAT than you can get into whatever medical school you want to go to.</p>

16

<p>If you received Ds and Cs in honors 9th grade geometry and bio, how could your school have allowed you to take honors algebra and chemistry in 10th grade?? Isn't there a minium grade you must attain before moving on to the next honors level? It certainly makes one wonder how competitive your so-called "honors" classes at your school are.</p>

17

<p>You can take whatever classes you want as long as you meet the prerequizites, but if you're not doing well in the preceeding class then you have to sign a waver saying that you cant drop out.</p>

<p>And the main reason i'm doing so badly and did so badly is my homework. For example, in math, out of a cumalitive 168 homework points, I had less than 20.</p>

18

<p>
[quote]
My understanding is that prestigious med schools DO look at high school GPA. Wash U, for example, asks for GPA and rank.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>your understanding is very wrong. Past your sophomore year of college noone cares about anything u did before college and it would hurt u to even mention anything form HS unless it is something extremely amazing like writing a book or being a professional gymnist.</p>

19

<p>Well, maybe you should look at the Wash U supplement YOURSELF.
<a href="https://aladdin.wustl.edu/admissions/2006/suppapp.nsf/SuppAppworksheet?openform%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://aladdin.wustl.edu/admissions/2006/suppapp.nsf/SuppAppworksheet?openform&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>"Very wrong" indeed?</p>

20

<p>you really have to make up for your GPA. try working the best you can for the rest of your high school career and study hard for the MCATs. maybe then you'll get a decent shot.</p>