<p>I pledged a fraternity this semester, i had no plans on pledging at all but it happened because the morals and ideas of the fraternity appealed to me, and still do.
The downside is that my grades suffered because of the pledge process.
I am currently hoping to get into pharmacy school, and my cumulative gpa is now a 3.08. Granted I only had a 3.19 prior to this semester, and recently got diagnosed for adhd. Which I still need begin treatment for.
I have 3 more semesters to boost my gpa, although the classes ahead will be extremely difficult.</p>
<p>Getting into pharmacy school with a 3.0 is not unheard of, it just means you have to be stronger in other areas. The best way to make up for a lower GPA is to do very well on the PCAT. If you show improvement through the next few semesters that will also help.</p>
<p>Do you have a specific question? There isn’t really one in your post.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Edit: Whether your grades suffered in pre-req classes is also important. If you got lower grades in non-pre-req classes, it probably won’t affect you as much. However, if they were pharmacy pre-req classes then that be more detrimental in the long run.</p>
<p>my question is that if i ever made it to an interview, would it be wise to say that i did poorly because i pledged a fraternity.</p>
<p>This is just my opinion, but making excuses no matter what they are never come across well. Go in with the hand that you have and accentuate your strengths and don’t make excuses for your weak areas.</p>
<p>I would agree with GA2012MOM. Everyone has things in their life that take up time, but you have to be able to balance it all and still succeed academically. If you make the excuse that pledging interfered with your studies, they will probably question your ability to succeed in a pharmD program. The best thing you can do now is show an upward trend in your grades, do as well on the PCAT as you can and improve any other weak areas in your application that you might have (volunteering, pharmacy experience, knowledge of the field, leadership, etc.).</p>
<p>my question is that if i ever made it to an interview, would it be wise to say that i did poorly because i pledged a fraternity.</p>
<p>No…for a couple of reasons…</p>
<p>1) you had lowish grades before you pledged, so that wouldn’t be true.</p>
<p>2) it just suggests that you didn’t have the discernment to eliminate distactions from your priorities.</p>
<p>please let me reiterate that I was recently diagnosed with adhd, and this was not a bs diagnosis either. i took 14 different tests. So yes eliminate distractions has always been a problem for me. And none of you know what i’ve been through this past semester, that is not an excuse, it’s a fact!</p>
<p>gibson - Nobody meant to offend you or discredit being diagnosed with ADHD. I don’t think anyone was trying to insinuate that you did not have a hard time or that ADHD is not something to be taken seriously. </p>
<p>You asked if an admissions committee would take into account that pledging took up a lot of your time and energy into account when considering your grades, and the answer is that they will not consider it a reason to overlook a lower GPA. I am guessing it is the same thing with ADHD. That being said, the fact is that everyone is expected to perform to the same standards at job or in professional school regardless of any disabilities or diagnosis, so unfortunately for you that means you will have to work around it.</p>
<p>You are not the only person to have been in this situation – thousands of others contend with ADHD on a daily basis. I would consider yourself lucky (relatively) that it’s only ADHD, which is relatively common and moderately well-understood (as opposed to say, a seizure disorder that left you paralyzed on one side of your body at age 23 as just happened to a friend of mine). I know many people that have ADHD and still made it to med, pharm and PhD programs. The one common feature of them all though was that they never used ADHD as a crutch no matter how hard it was for them. That doesn’t mean it was easy, but they succeeded by prioritizing their time, taking advantage of disability services when they were available and finding ways to work around it if there was not. Maybe you could ask disability services at your school if they can get you in touch with other students with ADHD that have found effective study habits that work for them. Maybe your school’s alumni association could help you get in touch with someone that made it into professional school that could give you some advice and encouragement.</p>
<p>Good luck with everything! I hope things start looking up for you.</p>
<p>It may be a fact, but it has a good chance of coming across as an excuse. Reading the sob stories on CC/SDN over a few years, I feel myself become jaded about them, I can only imagine how adcoms feel. Everybody has some issue- depression, BF-GF break up, parents divorce, serious illness, etc., nearly everyone has a story and for the most part they sound lke an excuse.</p>
<p>Now, if you are diagnosed with ADD and you take some tutoring to learn new styles of studying and test taking and you thereafter have all As, well, yeah, you can tell that story as to why your grades went up dramatically. The reason an upward trend can be appealing is that it shows you may have had a problem, but now it is under control. </p>
<p>Chances are with ADD you would not qualify for any extra time or other accommodations. My DD has a learning disability and got extra time on HS exams (SAT/AP/etc), but no extra time in university/MCAT/etc. She gets no extra time in med school either.</p>
<p>DD’s GPA and MCAT would have been higher with extra time, but she is very successful in med school (though the Step 1 is scary to consider) and will be a great doctor. Her LD related study skills actually made the transition to MS1 easier for her than for her classmates, most of her friends had never been challenged like that and were not sure how to study properly in MS1, some flunked exams. </p>
<p>Address your ADD/ADHD and figure out how to make things work for you and you can be a successful medical student.</p>
<p>Med schools cannot afford to have people drop out, they need to keep every single spot full and paying, they want to see that you have the study skills and the stability and also have done your homework such that you understand what you are getting yourself into; they want to see that you will be a successful student.</p>
<p>please let me reiterate that I was recently diagnosed with adhd, and this was not a bs diagnosis either. i</p>
<p>Then the title of your thread should be “ADHD destroyed my GPA”…not pledging.</p>
<p>“Then the title of your thread should be “ADHD destroyed my GPA”…not pledging.”</p>
<p>Like i said, I was just recently diagnosed, and have lived the last 21 years without proper treatment.</p>
<p>^^^ 100% agree with somemom’s post</p>
<p>I wouldn’t discuss it from the context of pledging being the cause as that would sound like you are making excuses. Many people pledge and in some it affects their grades. I also think you need to analyze what caused the grades. Your pledge gpa is only slightly lower than your overall gpa so in all likelyhood it probably has more to do with the ADHD than the pledging. Certainly the pledging didn’t help, but if you were only getting those grades before, it’s hard to put the blame on that.<br>
I would worry more about doing everything you can to finish up with good grades and if it comes up, you will be trending up and would be able to explain that with your ADHD diagnosis and what you did to overcome the problems associated with the disease.</p>
<p>Greek does not destroy anybody’s GPA. Insufficient time management skills do. Clear goal and operating on priority is a must. There are always going to be many opportunities outside of academics. Cannot lock yourself in a room studying all the time. Most are looking for some kind of activities to get away from challenging classes for sometime. It is absolute must to maintain pshychological health, diagnosis of not. The sooner one learns to mange time, the better. Those who were very busy in HS, participating in sports and other activities and still maintaining very high GPA, are better prepared for college. Do not drop fraternity if you feel good about your participation, learn to manage your time. Do not focus too much on your diagnosis, it is not helpful. Apparently, it has not helped so far…</p>
<p>You joined a fraternity and got distracted. It was a bad choice and you know now. What is done is done and you cannot build a time machine to go back (I wish I could).
Get your treatment for ADHD and focus solely on your studies now. It is a new beginning and there are plenty of pharmacy schools that may look at your improvement if you do significantly well. Cheer up and see the morning sun. I don’t think you should let that diagnosis get to you and blame your performance on it. Lifestyle is very important and the first step in getting back to your feet is by recognizing the fault as your own.</p>
<p>One should seek various activities. Greek provides an awesome opportunites, great experiences for growth. Some people might push themselves close to depression studying all the time…after certain amount it gets unproductive. Academics is clearly priority #1, no question about it. But it is important to have some life during 4 years at college also. Greek, job, internship, sport/working out, maybe unrelated minor, trip abroad, supporting group of friends…each person should have some kind of idea what it takes to succeed, yes, lifestyle is extremely important.</p>