<p>Hey guys!
I was wondering if 4 B's during my freshmen year of college will keep me from getting into Hopkins med. I made a B in Cal 1, Bio 1, Bio 2, and Gen. Chem 2. I understand that I need to add more science classes to dilute my gpa and I am willing to do that. I hope to make all A's and end with a gpa of 3.9. Can you give me feed back if this is do-able? Also, I am a double major. Thanks!</p>
<p>Why are you a double major? Might that cause you to be overwhelmed and possibly negatively impact your GPA?</p>
<p>It’s one thing to take some classes in another major for interest, etc, but by adding a second major, that often means that you are req’d to take a couple classes that are either too hard or just take too much of your time and impact your other classes.</p>
<p>Med schools don’t care if you double major…you don’t get any “bonus points” for doing so. What are your 2 majors and which one do you like best?</p>
<p>why are you aiming specifically for one med school.</p>
<p>its stupid to aim for one medical school. most applicants aim for top 20 or top 10 med schools, few just aim for 1 school.</p>
<p>I’m a double major because of my interests. I can’t pick between the two majors as they both flow very well together. I am a neuroscience and philosophy major. I am not looking for bonus points…I simply wanted to explore my interests during undergrad. I don’t think it will negatively impact my gpa…the philosophy department at my school is fairly relaxed… </p>
<p>Secondly, I’m not aiming for 1 medical school…top 10 or top 20 would be wonderful… the reason I asked about Hopkins is because I would prefer it because of the location and other personal reasons. Either way, do I still have a shot at the top 10 or top 20 as far as gpa is concerned? Thanks again!</p>
<p>Yes, your chances are not shot at any medical school. However, I might question how many credits and what kind of schedules you are taking. That many B’s can be a poor predictor of your chances at getting all A’s in the future when you start taking upper level sciences.</p>
<p>The problem that I see is that philosophy doesn’t add any science GPA points to dilute those B’s. </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, I think that Philosophy courses can help develop critical thinking skills and deductive logic…but you don’t have to major in it to get those benefits. </p>
<p>Frankly, upper division philosophy courses often require a ton of reading and writing…which could cause impact your grades junior and senior year. And, if you’re planning on applying the summer before senior year, that could make senior year very difficult while coordinating med school interviews.</p>
<p>Since you’re only a frosh, I imagine that the only philosophy courses you’ve taken so far are courses like: Intro to Phil, Deductive Logic, and maybe Critical Thinking or Ethics.</p>
<p>I took a full load both semesters…18 credit hours. </p>
<p>Yes, I understand philosophy doesn’t go into my science gpa, but I’m also minoring in chemistry…it fits in well with the neuroscience program here at my school… as far as diluting my science gpa, I have reviewed my 4 year plan to add in more biology classes like cell biology, molecular genetics, etc. If all goes as planned I should end with a 3.9 overall and a 3.81 science gpa. I thoroughly enjoy reading and writing…so I don’t think that philosophy would be too bad…in fact it may be a ‘break’ from all of the sciences. If it gets too problematic then I may drop philosophy as a major based on your advice! Thank you all SO much for the useful responses.</p>
<p>fwiw:</p>
<p>My D is also a Neuro major and wanted to double in Phil, which is outstanding at her school. Since it would require an overloaded schedule (neuro alone has ~20 required courses), I told her she was foolish. Just take a minor and protect the gpa, while still having some fun outside of class. She can always read Niestche et al at her “leisure.” But if you can pull a 3.9, go for it.</p>