Hey guys, I am finishing my first year of community college. I am finishing with a 3.2 I passed a class with a C+ everything else were As and Bs. I am transferring to a private school called Drake University and I am double majoring in Neuroscience and the other degree choice is still pending. Does that C+ or my community college GPA affect my chance of getting into med school if I have a high GPA and do well on my MCAT? I will also do multiple extra-cirrucular activites and research. I am just nervous. The C+ was in Macroeconomics.
Can you retake the C+? I mean your CC GPA is on the lower side. You typically want a 3.7+ for medical school if you can swing it. Even if you’re transferring medical schools will still look at transcripts from all schools you have attended.
I could, but what if my 4-year degree is around that GPA? don’t med schools like to see a trend upward? Plus, those are general classes not any science classes I mean I passed anatomy and physiology with a 96%
While schools do like to see an upward trend, they’d still prefer to see that you have earned a high GPA your entire time in college. Since it won’t take away from your desire to pursue science classes, I’d suggest taking Macroeconomics again (since you want to pursue sciences, taking this class again won’t mess up your schedule). Anything you can do to improve your GPA will help.
Also, you should definitely pursue extracurriculars, research opportunities, and internships – anything that can add to your experience and set you apart will help a lot! Don’t be nervous. You should create a plan for yourself so that you can lay out all of your goals for your GPA, tests, EC’s, research, etc., and you can see how these goals align with med schools. Good luck!
Congratulations on Drake, it’s an excellent college.
What will matter most is your math, biology, physics, chemistry grades. Aim for A’s in those. Go to tutoring if you get any grade below A-.
Med schools (including DO) no longer replace grades, so, to dilute that C+ in your general GPA with two cc classes where you’re likely to get A 's, even if they don’t meet a graduation requirement. (obviously if they do meet a gen ed, even better.)
Thank you. I have not yet finished the class. I currently have a 77% I have one presentation and one exam left in the class. I am hoping to get it to a B- the class is very challenging, tough professor and I am also not very interested in the class. Those are few of the reasons my grade is not the best. I have taken 16 criminal justice classes and the rest are just general ed classes I decided to take. I took the 16 criminal justice classes in high school, so now I am finishing up my first year at cc. I will be attending Drake this upcoming fall. I am just nervous. I went to cc to see my likes and dislikes I just hope this won’t hurt me. I am planning to take my studying to very high level at Drake.
Criminal justice won’t help you much with med school, it’s a mostly vocational major.
What’s your major?
If those criminal justice classes you took in HS were actually college classes, they will be reported on your med school application and figured in your GPA.
I took them in High School because thats what I thought I wanted to do. I was pursuing my 2 years at a cc for liberal arts, but then I decided to transfer to Drake for Neuroscience and am double majoring but I don’t know what yet. I have not started my university studies yet. I just took this criminal justice classes and other general ed classes like marco, comp, finite math, history classes and the only science class I have taken is Anatomy and physiology which Ihave a 96% in.
I took those 16 credits for free through high school. Then only this year I have taken Macro, psychology, comp 1 & 2, history since 1877, anatomy and physiology, finite math, college experiance and minority group relations.
That’s all I had to transfer with to Drake. I am now wanting to go into the medical field. I start Drake this fall. So I have not yet started my science classes. I plan to double major, but I do not know in what as of now.
Were the criminal justice classes college courses or not?
Are you transferring in as a freshman or a sophomore? I don’t know much about this stuff, but three years to double major sounds really difficult to me (but I don’t know).
In addition, I don’t really know your goals, but if you still have an interest in criminal justice you should certainly continue to pursue it as you clearly have a strong background. That said, if you now realize that choosing that field was a mistake and are totally focused on going to medical school, then you should certainly only major in neuroscience. This will allow you to have more time to excel in your academics and focus your classes towards your sole major, and you will also have more time to participate in EC’s and medical related research/internships.
I am transferring in as a freshman basically. The thing is, the classes I took will transfer, but only two classes will transfer to my program. Neuroscience is 64 credits (roughly 2 years) and I will take another major that will take another two years. After that, I either plan to go to med school or PA school. I do not want to do anything further with criminal justice, that was just something I was interested awhile ago and I tried it out.
They were college credit courses through high school, so they are on my college transcript, but I did not have to pay for them because my high school paid for me.
Whether you had to pay for them or not isn’t the point. They will be part of your college transcripts for your med school application. You need to recalculate your GPA with all of them included.
That is with that included.
Do not double major. Pick one major and focus on getting As in every class. Why the focus on a double major?
The only way to have even a chance/possiblity of medical schools is to get As in your future college courses - especially the core science courses of Gen Biology I & 2, General Chem 1 & 2 , Organic Chemistry - etc… Focus on taking those courses and getting As.
What are your ACT or SAT scores?
I never took my ACT or SAT. I want to double major, because my program is only 2 years, I want the 4 years and to be more well-rounded. I have been thinking about PA school recently as well. My neuroscience program is only 64 credits I want another to equal 4 years. Then of course EC’s, research, volunteering and clinical hours on top of that.
You will have distribution requirements, premed pre-reqs, plus your major.
I agree you should dedicate the full four years to college, but it doesn’t mean your first two years will be one major and the next two years will be another major. You’ll be taking a variety of classes each semester, specializing progressively. You may find senior year that you’re done with premed pre-reqs and gen Eddie, and that by adding a couple more classes you can double major,but you could also choose to take a variety of classes that pertain to your personal or professional interests.