<p>Hey, im a freshman in college and just finished my first semester. I took my humanities together and did reasonably terrible. F in history, D in english, C in music app, and C in Philosophy. 1.25 GPA...med school done for?</p>
<p>Yikes... I wouldn't say it is over but I would say you have no more room for error. As my favorite boxer Floyd Mayweather said... "Step your game up" from here on out. Luckily for you it is your first semester. If you really do well (meaning no worse than a 3.3 but should aim at no less than a 3.5 with that first semester) Adcoms can see that you had a transition semester (spin it that way on your personal statements) and see your growth as college went on. But I would not be having any more grades worse than Bs on your transcripts from here on out. You are also lucky that those courses are not Science/Math courses, but it is still not a good start to your collegiate career. Also, some colleges have weighted GPAs, meaning your Junior Year GPA is 3x your Freshman years GPA, Sophomore year GPA is 2x your Freshman GPA but this is not the case with ALL med schools.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Also, some colleges have weighted GPAs, meaning your Junior Year GPA is 3x your Freshman years GPA, Sophomore year GPA is 2x your Freshman GPA but this is not the case with ALL med schools.
[/quote]
That is the first time I have ever heard this. Which medical schools do this?</p>
<p>Not sure what MichEngGrad is talking about, swimcatsmom. I can't tell if they're refering to colleges (in which case, I have never heard of this) or to medical schools (in which case, they're mistaken since AMCAS has a standardized way of calculating GPAs).</p>
<p>shades... You are correct that the AMCAS does calculate your GPA, however many med schools also request your transcripts and they can do whatever they wish with them. I read specifically from 3 med schools online while researching where I want to apply to that they look at academic trends of improvement and recalculate your GPA in a weighted format that I described above. If I remember correctly UC San Fran was one of these schools. I will be looking at med schools again soon as I want to finalize my choices of where to apply so if I stumble across this information again I will post which schools do this.</p>
<p>I would be interested to hear which schools do this as I have never heard of it and none of the medical students posting on CC have ever said this. I don't see anything on the UC San Fran site about this. They say they do not even ask for transcripts until after they accept or waitlist you.</p>
<p>None of the 20-something med schools I applied to asked for my transcripts before an acceptance. I do think reviewers look at trends (they supposedly spend 30-45 minutes per application and AMCAS does break down GPA's by year) but I personally don't know of a med school that quantitatively weights GPA's by year.</p>
<p>None of the schools to which I applied asked for separate transcripts. I had to send my final transcript to the school I was attending after graduation, but like NCG said, that came after the acceptance.</p>
<p>The University of Washington Medical School (ranked #1 in primary care) calculates GPA this way.</p>
<p>Huh - you are right. </p>
<p>From their web site</p>
<p>
[quote]
*
What is a weighted GPA?</p>
<pre><code>The undergraduate GPA is weighted to give credit to applicants whose records show improvement as they progress through their undergraduate studies. Only the first three years are included in this calculation as most applicants have just begun their senior year. The weighted GPA is calculated on a standard 4-point scale with 4.00 representing an A average.
</code></pre>
<p>CUM. FRESHMAN GPA X 1 =A .......... A+B+C
CUM. SOPHOMORE GPA X 2 =B .......... 6 ..........=WEIGHTED GPA<br>
CUM. JUNIOR GPA X 3 =C
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Should have had my daughter take organic freshman year ;)</p>
<p>thanks for the input MichEngGrad, ill be sure and retake a few of those and burn mainly A's for the next part of my college career and also crush my MCAT</p>