HELP: Current UC Berkeley student losing all hope, confidence of becoming a doctor - what do I do :(

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hi CC community,</p>

<p>I'm currently a sophomore at Cal and am struggling to find any type of success here. All I ever dream of is becoming a doctor but my experiences here have been nothing but demoralizing. My GPA is a 3.157 and my science GPA is around a 3.0. I'm involved in a few ec's (hospital volunteering, prehealth club, mentorship program), but other than that, I have faced constant rejection from every thing and everyone. I applied to several research projects, premed fraternities, clinic service, jobs, and more and received rejection after rejection, most likely my GPA being the big turn off. My grades are just awful compared to my peers who put in less work than I do in studying and I've tried every study technique/practice imaginable. I'm debating majoring in Public Health or Integrative Biology.</p>

<p>I know Cal has this rep for deflating GPA, but that fact still won't help me that much when applying for med school. Each semester, I feel that this aspiration is becoming less and less of a reality and turning into something harder and harder to obtain. I've considered transferring, but I feel that I already have too much invested in Cal and don't believe it will look good to med schools. </p>

<p>Don't even know what to ask since I know what I have to do: improve GPA & do well on the MCAT...but do things just get harder from here? Do I start reconsidering my career options?</p>

<p>Any stories, advice, strategies help. I am very close to giving up. Thank you</p>

2

<p>Curious…what were your high school stats? GPA? Test scores?</p>

<p>"My grades are just awful compared to my peers "</p>

<p>Then Cal’s grading system isn’t the issue because your peers have higher GPAs. </p>

<p>If anything, you need to back away from all those ECs. They’re worthless if you don’t have the GPA. They won’t make up for a low GPA. </p>

<p>Either you’re not studying correctly or the material is truly too difficult for you. Have you asked your peers how they study?</p>

3

<p>Putting in a lot of effort and not getting the results you wish for is very frustrating. I wonder now, what kind of anxieties you are bringing to studying, test taking , and so on. There are many possible explanations for your struggles- the material is too hard, an undiagnosed learning issue, poor study skills, and possibly fears and anxieties.
However, you are not alone in your struggles. Many students start out as pre-med but don’t gain acceptance or don’t perform well in the pre-requisites. This can be very upsetting. The reality though, is that is it OK to decide you will not be a doctor and there are many other satisfying careers to choose from.
My suggestion would be to see someone at the counseling center and also the career center- which can do some personality tests to see what careers might fit you as well. Having other possibilities you are interested in may the some of the pressure off. It is possible that you could be happier and perform better at something else.
Are you overloaded? Maybe dropping some EC’s or taking a lighter class load can help. Are you sleep deprived from over studying? How is your diet? Are you up all night eating junk food to stay awake? All these things can affect your performance.
In the end, you may pursue medicine, or you may decide on another course. This may not be a “failure” but the way to discover what your best occupation is. You might look back on this as a good thing one day.</p>

4

<p>

That’s my vote, especially when I see someone say

The solution to that issue is to talk to peers, tutors, and professors about your approach and their approach and learn a new approach to the material.</p>

5

<p>What is your major? Is it truly premed? Also, stop ALL extracurricular activities until you have a stellar semester. Then add the ECs one by one. </p>

6

<p>For many smart kids there is not a need to study well in HS, when you hit that place where you must study well, efficiently & effectively, it’s scary and takes a bit of time to figure out what works for you. That may be where you are now. You likely have the intelligence, the capability, to learn & succeed at Cal, but you have to learn what works for you.</p>

<p>Hope is not lost as to med school, but you would need all four years of education to show an improved GPA. Do whatever you need to do in order to give yourself a better chance- what I mean by that is take the minimum number of full time units, take IB not MCB for your major, etc. </p>

<p>You MUST figure out how YOU need to study. You got into Berkeley, you are smart, you can do this. Try tutoring, try whatever guidance you can find.</p>

<p>Have you taken an summer classes, perhaps having just one class to focus on would help you find your method of effective studying?</p>

<p>You can raise your GPA, maybe .1-.2 a year, so you could get it up above 3.5 by the time you graduate if you start now by doing well.</p>

<p>Don’t give up. But pursue whatever options you are offered in order to find your best study habits. It is about quality not quantity. DD had a roommate who studied constantly, flash cards on the cereal box, etc. DD got better marks with less study because DD figured out sooner what worked for her. Find your best study style!</p>

<p>Are you a CA resident? Are you URM? If you are a CA resident, you better do quite well on the MCAT to have any hope of instate admissions, otherwise look to private schools across the country.</p>

<p>If your GPA is really strong the last two years, some schools will weight that heavier.</p>

7

<p>Even if you’re studying for a longer amount of time than your peers, this doesn’t mean you’re putting in more work. I found that going to the SLC study groups is a huge help, so if you haven’t tried it yet, you really need to. And try taking the minimum amount of units until you bring your gpa up (and take biochem–mcb102 over the summer). </p>

<p>Your ECs really don’t sound like they take up that much time, so I wouldn’t advise to drop them, but you know better than I do–just a side note, I didn’t get into a bench research until the end of my sophomore year so you still have time for that. </p>

<p>If you really want to go to med school, there’s no reason to give it all up now. You get so many second chances.</p>

8

<p>Oh, and my DD did not do any research until after she graduated undergrad so don’t panic, you have time, you just need to find the right way to study.</p>

9

<p>You’ve definitely created difficulty for yourself and your goal. If it helps my S (born/raised in CA) also grew up aspiring to be an MD. At the end of high school he ended up with an AP/ Honors weighted GPA in excess of 4.6. In college he had typical freshman issues such as wanting to fit in, professors who were more demanding than his high school teachers, etc. By the end of his first year he had dug himself a hole as to his MD aspirations ending his freshman year with an overall/science GPAs of under 3.20. It was quite a shock to him. Fortunately he stopped digging. Last year he graduated from med school and is currently a MD intern in CA. So there is some hope, but… </p>

<p>Look at what you have to do in the short term. I agree with others posts above. First stop worrying about your peer’s performance. Only your performance (e.g., GPAs, MCAT) is what will initially matter big time to med school admissions. You should consider talking to your academic advisors, seeking out tutors, and backing off your pursuit of ECs. C’mon you’re at Berkeley. Surely you can find the help you need to help you improve. Your focus should be academics. From an academic viewpoint view it like the scales of justice. On one side you’ve already put 3 semesters of stones on one side ending up with a 3.157/3.0 GPA. You’re going to have to put a lot of stones on the other side of the scales to bring your GPAs (overall/science) to competitive levels. Hopefully your current semester will allow you to do so. An upward trend would be viewed by med schools as a positive thing. </p>

<p>Don’t go insane worrying that another misstep in one or two courses at Cal will be the end. It definitely wouldn’t be good as it just adds more stones to the wrong side of the scale. During the grading period of his third year that S took MCAT, he earned straight As in every course (all upper division bio). He also rocked his MCAT. The grading period immediately following he was so burned out from MCAT/all bio, he had a couple of hiccups in two courses. He still got 3 out of state med school acceptances.</p>

<p>In all likelihood you’ll probably have to take a gap year as you probably won’t be able to raise your GPAs high enough by the end of your third year as even if you earn straight As until then you may not have completed enough courses (stones) to offset your first 3 semesters at Cal. And assuming you raise your GPAs to competitive levels by the time you graduate, I’ll go out on a limb and guess they probably will not be high enough for a CA med school. You’ll probably have to apply and go to an out of state school. You may even have to consider additional educational opportunities (e.g., Master’s degree) before applying to med school.</p>

<p>Do not let my post create worry that you always wanted to go to a CA med school and now all is lost. All US med schools are good, period. And as to your choice of majors, med schools do not care. Major in something that interests you.</p>

<p>If you don’t get your GPAs to MD school competiveness, a DO school may provide an alternative to help you fulfill your dream. Good luck.</p>

10

<p>Hi all,
Thank you for the advice and support. Just to give some background for those asking: I did well in HS. I got around a 4.5 GPA and a decent score in the SATs (2040). I am not a URM.
I’m trying to find new ways to improve by attending tutoring sessions, study groups, etc. The work I’ve put in has not paid off yet, so I’m just constantly trying new things. But my peers are doing basically the same thing, which is the most frustrating feeling.
I know for a fact that being a doctor is what I want, but am not turning my head away from other possible careers.
I am just hoping that things will start to turn around asap.
I’ve basically accepted the fact that I will be doing OOS med school IF I get in anywhere else, but only time will tell. </p>

11

<p>@Mrucb1994
Be positive and optimistic. You sound like a great student and great that you are so resourceful. Have patience and take a breath!! Don’t be so hard on yourself and stress yourself out so much. Go talk to your advisor if you feel you need to talk to someone. There will be a place for you in medicine. It’s challenging, because its something that is worth it. Keep doing all that you are doing and have confidence in yourself, because it sounds that you deserve that</p>

12

<p>The best thing I did to turn my grades around at Cal was to stop feeling sorry for myself. I too did really well in high school and then felt completely inadequate when I wasn’t doing better than most here. When I learned to be optimistic and began studying with others and taking advantage of the resources I started feeling and doing a lot better.
You’re hoping that things will start to turn around, but it sounds like you need to be more active about it.</p>

13

<p>In regard to rejectios, you are not the only one. Have to be much more persistant in this area.
Do not know much about grades. Berkeley is themost represented UG in D’s Medical School class. Apparently, graduates from Berkeley are getting where they want to be. I would not blame school for grades. I would look into any help that is availalble at every UG, I am sure Berkeley is not the exception.</p>

14

<p><a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/2012seniors.stm”>https://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/2012seniors.stm&lt;/a&gt; lists some stats of Berkeley students applying to medical school.</p>