I’m an undergrad student who just finished their freshman year. I’m planning on pre-med, but ended up earning a 3.2 GPA (cumulative) for the year, with even that mostly being because of easy classes than because of “real” classes like chem and bio.
To be honest, through high school, I was always one of those kids who didn’t really have to try to do well at everything. I wasn’t used to working hard and didn’t adjust to doing that this past year, and have just barely gotten to the point where I can be honest with myself and say that I’m the problem. I really do believe that I can do well and improve my GPA from this point forward, but I’m worried that this one year will be what messes up the plan I had laid out for myself.
I went to UT Dallas because I was planning on using of my full scholarship to finish up my basics before moving to a bigger school, since I knew that I most likely wouldn’t be getting a scholarship to the next school. I still want to transfer after my second year, but I’m not sure if I should stay at UTD for the next year or transfer to another school for this year.
My parents have been pointing out that our local college (UT El Paso) is an easier school, and that since my dad is a popular doctor in the area, he knows a lot of people that can help me get access to internships, research, and shadowing. And these are all true. I don’t have a problem with challenging myself for the next year - remember that I was planning on going to a higher level college after basics in the first place - but at the same time, UTD doesn’t have a name like Stanford or Rice to counterract it being harder to do well there, and sounds like it’s at the same level as UTEP when you hear it.
Also, I’d be able to retake and replace my poor grades at UTD, but can only retake them at UTEP, and I know that transferring twice doesn’t look good. I could also just go to UTEP from now onwards, but I don’t know if I’m willing to abandon the transfer goal that I had from the beginning.
Any advice? I’m completely stuck.
How do they know this? Maybe its true, but I suspect there is going to be just as much competition for good grades in both schools. You aren’t the only premed 
It’s good that you’ve accepted responsibility, but what concrete steps are you taking to avoid a repeat? I can’t tell you how many posts I’ve seen over the years from kids that say “I effed up”, promising to buckle down and work hard and asking (much like you) whether they’ll be ok if they get that A avg they plan from here on out. Then you see their posts a year later, that turnaround just didn’t happen they way they hoped.
Rather than a generic explanation (didn’t work hard) I suggest you build a list of specific things that you didn’t do. For example put off doing a homework assignment until the morning of the day it was due, went out with friends on Thu instead of studying, etc. The more specific examples you come up with the better, because then you can spend time thinking of how you’ll do things different when you encounter a similar situation this year.
As for retaking, wouldn’t bother. You can check to see, but many schools in calculating your gpa will not replace a repeated class unless you actually failed the class. Furthermore an upward trend, should it really occur, will be quite evident by the time you apply to med school senior year and colleges are going to take your more recent work as indicative of your ability and work ethic.
This is what I mean, the two schools get about the same recognition when the difficulty is really different. For example, the average SAT at UT Dallas is between 1725 and 2055, and UTEP’s is between 1215 and 1545. UTEP has a 99.8% acceptance rate, and UT Dallas has a 58.6%. But people who aren’t from around this area would never know that, and I’m wondering whether the extra hassle is worth getting the same recognition in the end, you know?
I did a lot of the things you mentioned. I was used to getting a great grade no matter how late I worked on something, and when it didn’t work here, I always did it again, because in my head, it worked all those times before and would work again. I wasn’t used to reading my textbooks and almost never did, always thinking I could ace exams with an hour of cramming beforehand like I used to. I was a good talker and an ever better writer and tended to sound “right” even when I didn’t work to actually be “right.” Needless to say, these things didn’t work out in college.
And thanks for the advice on retaking, but again the major problem I’m having is with transferring due to what I mentioned earlier. Do you have any advice on that?
For public universities, the average SAT at admission is often meaningless by the end of freshman year because so many students have dropped out by then. Not to mention of course that pre-med students are pretty much the same across the board - they will be among the smartest and hardest working at any campus.
There is no point in transferring now if you are planning to transfer again at the end of your sophomore year. You will have less time to make the connections that will get you good LORs. And you will be creating a second academic transcript that you will have to request every time you need one for the rest of your life.
Since you are otherwise happy at your current U, stay put for another year. Use the counseling and advising services there to get help mastering the study skills you need. If your dad wants to help you find shadowing opportunities, let him work his larger professional network to hook you up in your current location, or alternately set you up for vacation period shadowing in our home town.