<p>I’ve a friend who goes to ECU( East Carolina University). He’s a freshman and his major is Biology. But after getting the results of his first exam, he decided to change his major.He selected elementary education to be his major.
His GPA after the exam was 2.16 and this frustrated him real bad. He wanted to become a doctor but now he thinks he can never reach that goal.
Do you think he should continue with Biology? Is GPA 2.16 too low for med school?</p>
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<p>Yes, but he has 3.5 more years to bring it up.</p>
<p>How hard is it to maintain a 3.5 in college?</p>
<p>That depends on the person, but remember that other medical school prereqs, namely organic, can be extremely difficult for even the brightest people. </p>
<p>He should at least continue throughout the year, and then re-assess what he wants to do with his life. He can also always retake the class if he decides that he really wants to go to medical school. </p>
<p>Another question is, of course, how much he actually <em>studied</em> for the exam…did he lock himself in his room studying for a week and achieve that result? Then med school is probably not for him. But if he simply didn’t study, or studied for only a short period of time, then he needs to form better study habits and medical school could be a viable option.</p>
<p>Also, remember that 50% of people who go into college pre-med never even take the MCAT (at least, that’s what I’ve heard on CC and studentdoc.net).</p>
<p>If after getting a bad grade on one exam, he was so discouraged that he changed his major to elementary education, he is not committed enough to medicine, so does not have what it takes to succeed in that field, which requires working hard to rise to tough challenges.</p>
<p>I never knew that premed students don’t have to give the MCAT.
All I know that if you have a certain SAT score, you will be accepted at combined or accelerated programs where you can waive the MCAT and graduate earlier.</p>
<p>I am dying to get in the MD in 7 program at ECU. The program will waive the MCAT if I can make a 1300 on SAT(CR+Maths) and then maintain 3.5 GPA in my freshman, sophomore and junior years.I have heard from many people that MCAT is really difficult and 90% of the people fail.When they fail, they have to go to medical schools in the carribean.SOme even said that it takes 1 or 2 years for most of the students to pass this exam.
I love Biology and I am good at it.I made a 5 in my AP bio Test.But I am not doing good at SAT. I made 1050 (CR+Maths) in the Dec SAT.
My high school GPA is 3.8.
Can you give me more information about colleges or premed programs where students don’t have to take the MCAT and where SAT requirement is not much high?</p>
<p>Can you give me more information about colleges or premed programs where students don’t have to take the MCAT and where SAT requirement is not much high? </p>
<p>There are none. All require incredible stats : GPA, rank, SAT, and medically related EC’s.</p>
<p>Considering some of the doctors I’ve encountered over the years, I’d venture to say that a 2.16 GPA is probably not too low for a med school somewhere. 
Medical doctors really run the gamut in terms of smarts and expertise–just like any other profession. The truly excellent, smart, and outstanding ones are out there, but the majority are just run-of-the-mill and very average. I think he should stick with the program.</p>
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<p>Agreed, but the fact remains that, except in an extraordinary circumstance, you cannot get into medical school with a 2.16 GPA in this country.</p>
<p>digbaji, I didn’t mean that students don’t have to take the MCAT. I meant that out of the people who originally intend to go to medical school, only 50% end up taking the MCAT. The other 50% choose another career path.</p>
<p>audiophile: That’s exactly why I said " . . . that a 2.16 GPA is probably not too low for a med school somewhere." The key word here is “somewhere.” I agree with you, though, that he does have 3.5 years to bring up the GPA.</p>
<p>My point, really, is that you don’t have to be brilliant, or even much above average, to become a run-of-the-mill medical doctor. It takes tenacity more than smarts. Think about the type who work in the 24 hour emergency care clinics in the local strip malls (those to whom we fondly refer around here as a “doc in the box”). These are vastly different from some of the brilliant folks at major teaching hospitals–those who are also doing cutting edge research-- and saving lives. So, again, they sure run the gamut.</p>
<p>How low can your gpa be to get into med school?</p>