I am a freshman at GWU and I’m having an extremely hard time adjusting because of being homesick, alone, etc. I am currently taking intro Bio, general chemistry, stress management, and psych. I am failing chemistry, and I have a D in psych (I can definitely bring this up to an A because of how the class is structured). I got injured here at college so I’m on crutches, I have been studying a lot, but not so much effectively which is what I realize. In chemistry there is no way that I can bring my grade up to an A, and I’d be pushing for C+. I would literally have to get a 100% on everything else. GW has a freshman forgiveness policy, so should I purposely fail the class to take it next semester (chemistry). It’s too late to drop it, and it’s going to be detrimental to my GPA. The freshman forgiveness policy allows you to take a class over if you receive a D, and then it let’s you replace it.
How will this affect my financial aid if I fail chemistry? I have a presidential scholarship, federal aid, and loans.
I am on a pre med track which is why I am worried about the C. I did excellent in high school, I’m just having trouble here. It’s too late to drop and add classes, and I only have 12 credits so I can’t use a W, or I won’t get financial aid.
I’m a pre-med at a diff college, but applying for transfer to GWU so I’ve done some research here and there. I don’t think you should be incredibly stressed out, Pre-Med is tough and it doesn’t get any easier. However, you’re still learning especially as a freshmen. The best thing to med schools is to see that you’ve improved, so next sem. improve your GPA and try your best to maintain better grades. i would also suggest retaking Chem if you get a C or D, but DO NOT retake >2 classes in your pre med track or adcoms could look at it unfavorably. You should call the fin aid office because you may be able to drop the class since you ATTEMPTED 12 credits and not have it affect your fin. aid (personal experience as well, a W is also better than failing) You should call them about the scholarship and see if it affects your fin aid. Also please don’t try to purposefully fail the class, maybe go to the professor and see what you can do to improve.
And definitely try finding ways to improve your grades, pre med is hard but it’s attainable for those who never give up despite the worst grades and toughest classes.
@colormepinkk Sorry to hear about your situation: I can definitely relate to first-semester adjustment problems (and I took very similar classes to you). My advice to you is to talk to your advisor (and/or the pre-med advisor). If this first semester of classes isn’t deterring you from continuing your pursuit of med school (it did for me) then you need to make sure to keep your GPA in focus.
I’m not sure what the advisor will tell you regarding intentionally failing chem or not, but you definitely need to figure-out what’s preventing you from getting better grades all around. If you think it’s stress from being homesick and alone, then you need to remedy those (I suggest joining the premed group/frat and anything else that seems appealing). If you don’t have something driving you and reminding you of why you’re pursuing med school, then you’ll fail. It’s very important to find and keep that focus.
Again, I know what you’re going through, and you can get through it. Talk to the pre-med advisor ASAP and maybe even the Mental Health Services (202-994-5300). Feel free to message me if you need anything else.
On top of what everybody else said… GW has possibly the nation’s most forgiving freshman forgiveness policy. You can have a class whipped off your transcript completely, retake the course later, and have it retroactively put back on your transcript on the semester you originally took the class. If you need to use this, then go for it and use it
@colormepinkk As cliche’ as this may sound…hang in there and don’t give up. I know a fair number of students who have used that policy, so don’t feel like you’re some under-performing student at George Washington. Secondly, I hate to say it but it’s going to be tough. People make the mistake of assuming that because George Washington is ranked second tier to Georgetown it isn’t as tough. George Washington is a still a high ranked school, with a number of undergraduate and graduate programs ranked very high on USNews & Business. As you can imagine the academics here are designed to provide robust and intensive preparation. I can relate to how you feel because I transferred into George Washington from community college. At community college I didn’t even try and I ended up getting into U.Va and George Washington. When I told my counselor I was going to George Washington she nodded her head very seriously and said “tough school,” but I digress. The path to graduate school is honestly incredibly fierce, especially at competitive schools such as Georgetown, U.Va and George Washington. And that kind of competition and pressure you have to realize scares a lot students. So you’ve certainly got some courage and respect for taking that path. You have to remember George Washington is a private university for highly motivated and qualified students. I’ve met a lot of students here studying for law, business and med school that want to go to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc… Also you have to realize that you’re a freshman and this is probably your first year away from home. It took me two years to develop decent studying habits. In those two years I learned how to simply turn town friends and acquaintances who would side track me too much- sidetrack as in losing valuable time and procrastinating too much because you’re hanging out with them for too long. Also college is simply another level than high school; it’s much easier said than done but really don’t get discouraged. Don’t take what you hear from your peers about their grades and accomplishments for granted either because people here can be full of themselves too. You don’t know how well other people are actually doing and they don’t know how well you’re doing either and that’s not their business. Keep trying and have some faith.