<p>I'm a second semester freshman. Last semester I pulled off a 3.7 taking a reasonable courseload. This semester (assuming I rock my finals), my cumulative GPA will drop to a 3.25-3.3. I'm not completely upset with myself, this semester I took a very difficult courseload with the hardest professors in the respective fields. I'm taking seventeen hours of courses ranked 7/10 on a scale of difficulty. Three exams and a 7-page essay is usually a good week for me. Last semester I was able to get by with the same study habits from high school. This semester, not so much. </p>
<p>Any suggestions for the future? My advisor pushes me to take the hardest professors for each course, is it really necessary though?</p>
<p>I’d scarcely call a 3.3 completely messing up a semester.</p>
<p>It’s a drop from a 3.7 to a 3.3 cumulative. This semester I’m looking at a 3.0</p>
<p>you’re a freshman with 75% of your courses still to go (I guess only 67% if you’re looking to go straight out), so chill out. Identify what went wrong and fix it, but no one here can tell you how to do that. We are completely unfamiliar with you and your courses.</p>
<p>I’m basically taking a freshman pre-med courseload (changed from business to pre-med sophomore year) and am looking at 3.4-3.5 and sometimes I feel like I might be screwed if that’s how it ends up.</p>
<p>But when really use logic and perspective, then it really doesn’t seem bad at all, even if I had around a 3.0 like you might. The way I’ve looked at it is when I’m getting straight A’s later on, I can tell the medical schools I learned from mistakes and really matured as a person throughout my college years, moreso than someone who’s had excellent grades his entire life and never really needed to try very hard in college. </p>
<p>Also, my mom’s a nurse and works with a doctor who was a high school dropout. The way I look at it is that’s it not how you start, it’s how you finish. I would imagine that, if the admissions directors are truly looking for the best future doctors, then they will think this way, too.</p>