My grades in sophomore year last year were utter crap, uber garbage. Here is the breakdown
First Semester
AP Biology-F
AP World History-B
Honors English-D(I took Summer school and got an A, but idk if that replaces that D)
Spanish 2- C
Algebra 2-C
PE-B
Second Semester
(My counselor forced me to drop AP Bio and made me take Environmental Science, which the teacher was garbage)
Environmental Science-D
AP World History-B
Honors English-C
Spanish 2-C
Algebra 2-C
PE-A
Now here are my junior grades as of today:
AP US History-B
Honors Pre-Cal-B
Spanish-C
Honors Chemistry-A
Digital Imaging-A
Honors English-B
Do I have a shot at any 4-year university or I’m pretty much dead meat? I plan to go to med school.
The best option for you would be attending community college and transferring to the college you are yearning for by excelling in the college.
Just wondering, did you choose to take AP Bio because you had an A in freshman year? I thought chemistry was a pre-requisite course for AP Bio.
I got an A in honors Biology freshmen year. But here is the problem attending a community college: Medical Schools look down upon people who transfer because they think the pre-med courses taken at a community college is not as “rigorous” as a 4-year university. Would UC Merced still accept me?
If your UC/CSU calculated GPA is under 3.0, then you are ineligible for UC admission as a frosh.
See http://www.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/gpa_calculator.asp for calculation.
Is your intended major a BCPM (biology, chemistry, physics, math) subject? If so, then you will be taking upper division BCPM courses for your major at the four year school after transfer, if you start at a CC.
Depending upon your UC GPA, test scores, essays and EC’s, it may be possible to get into UC Merced if you meet the a-g course requirements. If you do not retake AP Biology and AP Env Sci, your F and D will be used in the UC GPA calculation. Here is UC Merced’s Freshman profile:
GPA and test scores of middle 25%-75% students
High School GPA: 3.37 - 3.88
ACT Composite Score: 19 - 27
SAT Critical Reading: 450 - 580
SAT Mathematics: 470 - 620
Going to a CC if you plan to apply to Medical School will not be as detrimental to your chances as much as you think. There are many examples of applicants that took that route.
http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/medical-school-admissions-doctor/2012/02/13/how-medical-schools-view-community-college-credits
So medical schools don’t care if you go to a community college as long as you don’t take all your pre-meds at a CC?
Btw Envi Sci was a regular course. If I retake AP Bio this summer, will it replace the F? Honestly you guys, do I have a chance at Merced?
According to the link I posted, yes it is advised to take the majority of your pre-med courses at your 4 year university not at the CC but attending a CC should not hurt you when applying for Medical school.
Taking AP Biology in the summer before 12th grade would be replace the F in your UC GPA, but you still have to report both the F and the repeat grade on your application.
What is your UC GPA if you include the D and F now? Cannot make any judgement until you repeat the course and post your new UC GPA at the end of summer, along with test scores and EC’s. Your Junior year is not finished so a lot can happen between now and then. You are on the right track so continue to do well.
You need a minimum of 3.0 by the time you apply.
With a UC GPA of 3.0-3.39, it would still be a High Match but worth an application. Do your best then re-evaluate your situation next summer.
Since pre-med courses are mostly lower division BCPM courses, a BCPM major starting at CC will have to take some or all of those pre-med courses at CC in order to be ready for upper division courses in his/her major. But then such a pre-med will have those upper division BCPM courses at the four year school to show to medical schools.
A non-BCPM major pre-med may want to carefully plan when and where to take the BCPM pre-med courses so that at least some (or more advanced BCPM courses) are at the four year school after transfer.
(BCPM = biology, chemistry, physics, math)
@ucbalumnus, my major is Biochemistry. So what your saying is it’s ok to take most-if not all my pre-med lower BCPM courses at a CC because I’m going to take more advanced courses in that area anyway? Basically what I’m saying is that it’s ok for me to take all my general sciences at a CC and Med schools won’t care?
The medical schools (or some of them) may care, but:
a. You need to complete the lower division BCPM courses (which are most of the usual pre-med requirements) at CC in order to be ready for your upper division biochemistry major courses as soon as you transfer.
b. You will have plenty of upper division biochemistry courses at the four year school to show to medical schools.
You may want to post your question about starting at CC and transferring to a four year school as a junior biochemistry major on the pre-med forum section.
You’re lucky to be living in California where community colleges are of a decent academic quality.
Before you think about med school, you must retake the class where you got F/D and shore up strong foundational knowledge.
Ok. So as long as I do good in CC, and continue to do good at my UC, med schools won’t care?
Well, they’d prefer it if you started at a 4-year college, but if you get A"s in CC then take more advanced science classes a a 4-year university and do well there, too, no they won’t care. 