<p>I am pre-med at Vanderbilt and I have gotten off to a rough start. I estimate that my first semester GPA will be between a 2.5 to 2.8. But some things to consider are that I took a very tough course load of 15 credits (macroeconomics, accelerated calculus II, biology sciences, general chemistry, and the complementary labs for chem and bio), I worked seven hours per week, and I was involved in extracurricular activities for roughly four hours per week. I am very disappointed in my performance. The main reason is that I managed my time very poorly, and it seemed that when I wasn't working or doing extracurricular activities, I was ALWAYS studying, and even then I couldn't get everything done. Does this ruin my chances of getting into the very top medical schools, or even disqualify me?</p>
<p>Chill90,
Nothing will automatically disqualify you unless you decide to commit felonies or something along those lines. I am a freshman at Vandy too and I didn't have a great start either, maybe a 3.4-3.5 and I managed several activities including research. I had so much trouble managing my time as well- too many video games and useless crap. So don't worry you're not alone. Your GPA isn't even that bad seeing how you have an incredible heavy courseload (do you have Buckles? Stubbs/Singleton?) If you ever want to study or talk about pre-med crap feel free to PM me.
PS. How about that gen chem final today? Kill me now...</p>
<p>I need we need a little perspective in this post:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>15 credits is not an "incredibly heavy courseload." It's about average.</p></li>
<li><p>Bio, gen chem, econ, and calc is a challenging schedule but again not insanely difficult.</p></li>
<li><p>Quit worrying about what the "very top" med schools will think and start worrying about what med schools will think. With a 2.5-2.8 you are well below the acceptable threshold and if you want to be a doctor you need to make drastic changes in your habits.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>
[quote]
It's about average.
[/quote]
I was about to wonder, isn't 18 or so pretty normal?</p>
<p>With labs, 16 to 18 semester hours at most schools would be common for a first year pre-med. 15 would be a bit "light". Heck it takes 12 most places to be a "full-time student".</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm guessing Vanderbilt wants students to average 15 hours a semester to graduate, but I'm sure 5 classes + 2 labs would be the average schedule for freshman/sophomore pre-meds.</p>
<p>Agree with ncg.</p>
<p>15 is pretty average, and if anything a bit light. But more importantly, just worry about getting into medical school, not a top one. Obviously your chances aren't ruined, just work harder next semester, and the next.</p>