I have a deep passion for becoming a doctor. It is my greatest dream and I will work as hard as I have to in order to become one.
I will be majoring in biological sciences at UC Davis, and I know that Biology has one of the lowest average GPA’s of all majors. I am very interested and perform best in math and science. In high school, I had perfect grades in math and science (A’s)
I think it’s important that I describe my academic history to give you a perspective. I went to a school that is among the top 10% of California public schools. I then graduated with a 4.2 GPA within the top 10 of my class of 300. I had taken AP classes in math, science, and english and got good scores on my AP exams especially in math (Calculus) and science (Bio) and I took other honors math and science courses.
This summer I had enrolled in an english class at a local community college and I also feared that I wouldn’t do well, but I ended up getting near 100% in the class that would transfer to UCD. I always have this fear of failing when starting new classes in school.
I have been condemned by many of my teachers as one of the hardest working students they have had and I will work equally as hard if not harder at UC Davis. I just hope that my hard work will be enough to get me into medical school. I want to travel the world and provide help to those who need help most when I am a doctor.
Do you think I will perform well? I hope to get a 3.8+ GPA in college. Do you have any advice?
Thank you
You absolutely can do it. Pay attention in class, take good notes, go to your professors when you need help, make sure you do and understand all assignments, make sure to study every day, and reach out for help in general as soon as you find yourself struggling. From your academic history, I’m guessing you already do a good chunk of those things, if not all of them. That in and of itself gives you a leg up over a lot of other incoming freshmen.
My other advice to you is to switch majors if you start to dislike your current major. You can go to medical school with any major, so long as you complete medical school prereqs. So if it turns out biological sciences isn’t all it’s cracked up to be as a major, there’s absolutely no shame or consequence (at least as far as med school goes) in switching to something you’re more interested in. In fact, taking classes you’re genuinely interested in will generally help your GPA more than taking classes solely because you’re required to, with little to no actual interest in them.
Obviously, if you decide to switch you do need to look at logistics like how long it will take to graduate if you switch. But GPA-wise, you don’t generally want to stick around in a major you dislike for any longer than you need to.
Right! Thank you. How would you recommend I deal with not getting the professors I want?
This quarter I’m stuck with left overs, because I’m a freshman! So I have the professors that people usually try to avoid. Does the professor always make a great difference in your success?
Your study habits and grades make a difference, along with those MCATs.
You need to prove yourself in all of your classes.
So, you plan to avoid “non-preferred” professors throughout your 4 years at Davis???
This does not bode well if you hope to gain entry to med school. Is that what you plan on doing in med school, avoiding what you don’t or can’t handle?
My DD just graduated in June from Davis. She received a degree in Biological Sciences, NPB. She and her friends had to take classes they didn’t like, but they had to perform well. A number of her friends couldn’t handle the coursework and grades in BiSci, and changed majors.
On graduation day, she graduated with 1000 peers, most of whom are hoping to get into med school. Each year will be the same. That’s just at one UC. Avoiding a prof means you are trying to play the system. It can and will backfire.
^ to be fair, if there are several sections it’s smart to take classes from the better rated professors.
A 3.8 in college is an incredibly high bar. To give you perspective, med schools want 3.6+ and that’s a high bar. How high is only clear once you’ve been in a class of formerly top 10% students and the average is 55%.
What will serve you best is your work ethics. Work hard, starting the first day with your syllabus. Go to office hours and ask questions about the readings or problem sets, right the first week, even if no one else does.
I always recommend using Rate My Professors. It can make such a difference in how one feels about a subject to have a professor who is skilled at teaching. Avoiding bad professors is just common sense. That being said, unfortunately for most students, there will be times when they have to hold their nose and sign up with the lousy teacher just to keep on schedule with their studies. Take advantage of tutoring sessions, and get through it as best you can.
You need to work on getting over this.
Even it a medical career doesn’t happen, there are MANY, MANY other professionally satisfying career paths that can enable you* “to travel the world and provide help to those who need help most”.*
When things in life don’t turn out as planned, you ALWAYS have choices. The default is not doom.
The fear of failure as you start college is perfectly normal. If only your senior self could come back in time and tell you it will be ok! You probably felt the same way when you started high school, and you did great! Your track record shows you are well-equipped with the intelligence and work ethic needed to get through college successfully. The other freshmen you meet will likely feel the same way you do. Your abilities and confidence will grow with each course you take. Maybe one day you will find yourself mentoring incoming freshmen to ease their way into college life.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/21/opinion/sunday/conquering-the-freshman-fear-of-failure.html?_r=0
Wake up every day and work hard.
Learn to make time to relax and distress.
Take it one day at a time.
Thank you everyone. Very helpful information and it means a lot to me. :>