<p>I'm a freshman at a top 10 liberal arts college, and as the semester comes to an end I am very worried about my grades. I've always been a straight-A student, but my high school was pretty sub-par and I just had some trouble settling into college life in the first few weeks. Unfortunately, this is going to show in my grades - I failed all of my first tests, and only now am I pulling it together. It looks like I'm going to end up with either a 3.0 (4 B's) or a 3.25 (3 B's and an A in English) for the first semester. Now, I know I can bring my GPA up in the next couple of years, but is this first semester going to be a serious detriment when it comes time for me to go through the med school application process?</p>
<p>Sorry if I come off as silly or annoying, this has just been nagging at me for the past couple of days.</p>
<p>Not the end of the world; there will be at least 5 more semesters on your transcript before you apply to med school, and strong performance in those will certainly offset a rough first semester. </p>
<p>Pay attention to what happened this semester that led to grades you’re unhappy with, and think about ways to improve them for future semesters. Study earlier? Prepare for lectures? Put together a study group? Go to office hours? Take your own notes? Redo problem sets? Lots of ideas. There’s probably an office on campus somewhere that can help you analyze your study skills and improve them; ask at your library if you can’t figure out where said office might be. Protip: librarians know the answers to EVERYTHING.</p>
<p>I agree with Kristin5792 - Don’t give up. ESPECIALLY if you get the 3.25. But, know it will be a lot of hard work coming if you want to be competitive.</p>
<p>Freshman year is hard for many. The terrific news is that you’re already figuring out what works and how to do better. Keep that up and you should be fine.</p>