<p>I should win an award for the most unmotivated ironic undergraduate.</p>
<p>I failed a required intro math course, twice, and failed another GE filler my 2nd semester. My final calculated GPA for my freshman year is 2.0... at least I'm not on probation.</p>
<p>I'm a Biology major. I want to become a pharmacist, maybe even med school. Silly, right?</p>
<p>I hate math... I love science. I haven't taken a single science course because every single prerequisite is that intro math course. I honestly have no words to express how sad I am. I started off math with an A+, then flunked my 3rd exam and final and received a D+.</p>
<p>Do I still have a shot of getting into the medical field? I can't think of any other career I want to be in besides medical. My advisors tell me to change my major and that just demotivates me even more. I know that I can pass the hard science courses for my major, I know it deep down... everybody I have gone to just makes the situation worse for me by telling me I can't do it.</p>
<p>OP, keep your head up. I’ve been having the bad-GPA blues as well, and am also a freshman, so what do I know… but I’ll try to help. Granted, I know very little about medicine, but it’d definitely be worthwhile evaluating your study strategies. How did you flunk that exam? Can you ask to see your exam booklet? If you were consistently doing well then did a terrible job on just the third exam, something must have been up, and you should really avoid it. It’s also impossible to change the past. Yes, you got a 2.0, and yes, that is a setback. </p>
<p>I’d say that at this point, don’t worry about getting into a prestigious med school, though. Focus on getting into <em>a</em> med school. That’s more important anyways; what matters in the end is where you do your residency and what not. To get into MS, you should strive to get more than a B average. Also, start studying for MCAT. </p>
<p>Is there really nothing else that interests you, though? You’ll need to work quite hard to become a physician. Make sure you’re up for that.</p>
<p>Also, if you want a friend to talk to about this, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>I failed Exam 3 because both my grandparents died at the same time in a car accident and of course, I couldn’t, wouldn’t focus on anything other than that. So I failed it and missed a couple homework assignments, and got a 69% on my final (2/3 of it was exam 3). So yes it is my fault I failed and I acknowledge that.</p>
<p>Medicine has always been the field I’ve been looking at since first grade. To change that would be a major wipeout of my entire life. The hard work, the dedication, the amount of time needed to get through medical school is the reason I strive for it. I need challenging, hard work to motivate me. I am more likely to fail an easy, filler class than I am to fail a hard course. So when I am constantly reminded that I am behind in college and behind in declaring my major and the reason being because I can’t pass my GE’s, I feel like complete ****. It’s always been like that for me since middle/high. I get worked up when teachers won’t clear me to take a honors/AP.</p>
<p>Anyways I am feeling a bit better now. I just needed to vent because I felt like I couldn’t tell anybody about it, since everybody thinks I’m so smart.</p>
<p>If you really failed this last time due to a family crisis, maybe you should try one more time (if they will let you). Or could you take the course this summer somewhere else (college near your home or a community college)? Gotta see if your current school would accept the credit, of course. Really, your only other choice is to change majors if it is a pre-req for courses in your preferred major.</p>
<p>Hmmm. There’s a lot of math in chemistry. You’ve had your mulligan year(frosh). It’s time to buckle down, get better grades and pass math. BTW your first goal is to get into college. When you start doing well in college then you can dream of going into the medical field.</p>
<p>If you are allowed to take the math a third time get a tutor. Most colleges have tutoring centers, and also take advantage of every opportunity for help - discussion sessions, office hours, etc.</p>
<p>Your situation of failing classes after a death in the family raises the suggestion to GET HELP when something awful like that happens. See your advisor before you fail the final, and get a medical leave for the semester. </p>
<p>Don’t worry about grad school, worry about passing that math class.</p>
<p>Some schools let you retake classes and knock the old grade off of your GPA! Also, sometimes if you get bad profs you can do poorly-this happens all the time!</p>
<p>Lastly, you can always do a short mastres program (like a year) in biology or something else and that will make you look really great compared to other med school applicants with only bachelors degrees.</p>
<p>Don’t give up-you have so many different choices right now! And you can come back from a 2.0!</p>
<p>How is your eyesight? I ask because my son failed calculus twice at college and then got glasses. Amazing difference. This is a time of life that lots of people need glasses for the first time. Assuming that’s all good, take a breath, but it’s time to focus and get a tutor and get the prerequisites behind you. But you will need the math in the sciences, particularly physics.</p>
<p>Yeah OP, what quilll said is certainly true. Without some amount of math, you will find your chemistry and physics courses to be a bit difficult. Although it seems as though you do have the ability to do fine in math. You mentioned that you were doing an excellent job before that family crisis.</p>
<p>I’d also suggest getting a tutor. I feel like this is a good way to make sure that you’re staying on top of things in school.</p>
<p>One last thing, next time something really serious happens in your personal life (loss of a loved one, break up with a SO), don’t let yourself slip up like this again. Get better at compartmentalizing. When the going gets hard, channel your sadness into focusing even harder on your work. </p>
<p>If all else fails though, speak up. If for some reason you just CAN’T do your school work, let your professors know! Even if they can’t exempt you/give you an extension for it, you’ll at least feel better having talked to them-- makes things seem more personal. But this should be a last resort; you should really be trying your best to do your work regardless. Also, you should think about going to therapy in the future. I think it’s a good way to sort out your feelings and figure out how to deal with hardship, so when things like this come up, you’ll be better prepared.</p>
<p>You can do it, OP! We all have faith in you.</p>
<p>I’m going to suggest you visit the career center for some help. Yes, strangers on the Internet can be encouraging, which is probably what you want right now, but your advisors at your university know what it takes to pursue that medical degree. They know which of their students have moved on to successful placements in medical programs of all kinds. They know what kinds of benchmarks those successful students have hit. You’re not where they need you to be to have a good chance of success. In many ways, they are trying to do you a kindness. Reconsider now as switching paths later can add time to and increase the cost of your degree. </p>
<p>So, I am saying visit the career center and explore other options. You may not have considered other career paths because you have no idea what else might be out there. Go look. Do some interest inventories. See what happens.</p>