D just finished first semester at Cornell:
she said chem was tough as she didn’t take ap chem in high school and hadn’t taken chem since soph year.
anyhow, the gross acceptance rate for cornel is 75% with a 3.4 or better. I think she’s about a 3.3 right now but
a) her science gpa seems low and
b) none of us have attended or looked at med school so we have no idea if she’s on track or just had a disqualifying semester.
thanks!
Rule #1 Take a deep breath.
Rule #2 Adult beverages PRN.
This is going to be a very long, complicated and meandering journey. If you start getting upset now about the fixable little stuff, mom, you will completely insane by the time your daughter gets to the actual admission process.
There are no physicians anywhere in either my or my husband’s families. It was all new to me too. But I’ve been down this path twice now. I’m an old hand at this. (D1 graduated from med school and is now a physician in her 3rd year of residency. D2 is 4th year med student who will graduate in May.)
RE: your d’s sGPA is 3.5. That’s within the low-but-acceptable range for med school consideration. And she still has LOTS of BCMP courses to take yet. There’s plenty of time for her to improve her sGPA. And even more time if she is willing to delay applying to med school until after she graduated from college. (Which, btw, is incredibly common nowadays with 60% or more applicants taking 1-2 gap years between college before med school. A gap year or two has become more or less expected for most applicants.)
RE: Is she on track? This falls into the “too soon to say” category. Your d has just barely begun her journey. She’s only taken 3 of the 11 required science pre-reqs and is a minimum of 2.5-3.5 years away from applying. She will be better able to judge her competitiveness for med school after she has taken Ochem and biochem (both of which tend to be pre-med weeders at most schools, including at Cornell).
There are very few things that students do that cannot be recovered from, in terms of gaining a med school admission, other than selling drugs, committing a physical assault/intentionally injuring another person, or academic dishonesty.
A 2.0 semester or failed class? Recoverable. These do not disqualify a student from med school. (If it were, D1 wouldn’t be a doctor…)
D1 once said that getting a med school admission is more about who wants it the most and who is willing to work the hardest to get there than it is about intelligence or innate academic ability. I think there’s a lot of truth in that statement.
My advice to mom--step back and let your daughter lead in this journey. Don't give advice unless she asks for it. Don't micromanage. Don't hover or helicopter. This is her life and her journey, not yours. Your job is to watch and cheer her on.
My advice for the D--Doing well academically in college requires a different set of skills than does doing well academically in high school. You need to step up your game and find more efficient and effective methods for studying. Considering taking a study skills seminar/class at the academic support center. Do extra problem sets. In fact, do way more problem sets than you think you need to do. Form study groups with other students in your class. Go to office hours if have any questions about the material you're covering in class. Get tutoring if you need it. (There's free tutoring available at the academic support center.)
I wish your D success!The calculator I used puts D’s sGPA at 3.23, which is low, premed wise. Agreeing with @WayOutWestMom, where does D want to go from here. If still med school, what is D willing to do to get there. Understand your D’s first semester “premed” stumble is not fatal to her med school chances. D still has time to raise GPAs, prep/do well on MCAT, participate in meaningful ECs, have a college life…If it helps, S finished first year with GPAs below 3.2, he an MD. Yes he did have to wait until end of senior year to apply, take a gap year, but he always wanted to become a MD and this is what he needed to do, There’s a saying that pops up about getting into med school, “it’s not a sprint, but a marathon.”
“anyhow, the gross acceptance rate for cornel is 75% with a 3.4 or better”
if this has something to do with Cornell’s getting their students into med school accepatnce rate, be very wary of such numbers as they can be manipulated.
Good luck to D and to you.
thanks @WayOutWestMom , I think Jugulator20 is correct, her sGPA seems to be 3.23 so if you thought 3.5 was in the low to acceptable range, a 3.23 is probably out of range.On your helicopter concerns, D is a strong, independent young woman and makes her own decisions. However, as I mentioned, neither she nor us have any idea what this ride will be like. or what she’ll do at the end of her college journey if she’s not admitted (I’m guessing the majority of applicants are not admitted). So your feedback and experience are valued.
thanks to you too @Jugulator20 , she still wants to pursue med school. I think it’s important to let her know (or more likely get her to ask her advisor) that her sGPA needs to improve.
and congrats to both of you on your kid’s med school admissions!
That is a very solid outcome for the first semester of college. I would venture to say that she did better in chem than a lot of kids. She (and a lot of her classmates) probably made it thru high school without ever getting a B-, so it can feel like a shock to get one now. But she really is doing fine.
I’m very impressed with her grade in the writing seminar. She can learn the science and math, but writing has to be developed. I think she’s way ahead.
Her sGPA is 3.23 ( I did recheck and that’s correct) which is low for a pre-med, but it’s not a disastrously low GPA and she still has plenty of time to recover. Like @Jugulator20’s son, D1’s freshman year GPA/sGPA was around 3.2. She made it into med school, despite struggling her first two years in college.
Admission committees do take GPA trends into account when they make decisions about who to interview.
The AAMC is a wonderful resource for data on allopathic medical school admissions:
https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/
For osteopathic medical school data, AACOM is the place to go–
http://www.aacom.org/reports-programs-initiatives/aacom-reports/applicants
You’re right, the majority of those who apply to medical school do not get accepted. About 60% are rejected everywhere they apply. And many more never even apply. (There are no firm data, but estimates are that somewhere around 2/3rds to 3/4ths of all freshmen premeds never actually apply to med school.)
As I said, it’s a very long journey and your D has barely even begun.
BTW, a 3.23 sGPA is not out of range for osteopathic medical schools.