So I just finished my first year of college and adjusting to college has been extremely difficult for me. I received terrible grades the past 2 semesters. My worst grade first semester was in Calculus I where I got a C+. I ended up retaking the class though and thankfully got an A. This last semester though I took general biology and ended up with a C in the class.
I was originally pre-med at the start of the year, but after my first semester grades I thought of switching to pre-dentistry. But now I don't even think that I can get into a dental school without paying obscene amounts of money. My family is not financially stable at all and the only reason I was able to come to college was because I got a full-ride scholarship. Should I forget about Dental School? Here are the classes I took, the grades I received, and my GPA.
Semester 1:
General Chemistry: B-
General Chemistry Lab: B
Second Year Spanish: A
Honors Literary Course: B
Calculus I: C+
Band: A
Semester 2:
Public and Oral Communications: A
Research Methods: A
Exploring Informatics and Computer Science: A
Intro to Sociology: A
General Biology: C
Calculus I: A (for my university if you retake a class they record both grades but average the two course grades for GPA and so I technically got a B+ in the class)
Cum GPA: 3.37
Sorry this post is so long, I’m just really stressed out after receiving that grade in biology. We only had 3 grades, the first exam, midterm, and final. I took the first test and did alright, but did not feel prepared for the midterm and he told us we could choose not to take it and replace our final for the midterm grade instead. I did that and ended up getting an F on the final. Should I try to retake the biology course and just move on, or should I forget about a career in medicine completely? Any tips are appreciated, thanks in advance.
Some things you need to know—
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dental school admissions are just as competitive as medical school admissions. (Also pre-reqs for dental school are similar to those needed for med school, but not identical–so be sure you you have your pre-reqs covered for whichever you decide on.)
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allopathic (MD) medical schools do not permit grade replacement so both your grades in Calc will be included in your GPA/sGPA calculations. The same will be true if you retake bio–both grades will be included. OTOH, osteopathic (DO) medical schools do permit retakes and only count the newest grade. Would you be willing to consider DO schools?
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Most college science classes have only 2 or 3 major tests in term–which is different from high school and requires a different approach to studying. HINT: cramming does NOT work.
While not off to an ideal start, it's too soon to give up on med/dental school, but……
you need to start earning As. Lots of As, especially in your science classes. If you can't do that next year, then maybe it's time to start thinking about alternate careers.
That F on your second bio mid-term and the final is very worrisome. It suggests you got behind in the material and never caught up. It also suggests that you're not prepared to move forward with higher level bio classes. Because of this, I would recommend you retake Bio.
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So I have some questions:
1) what's your major? Because so far your coursework is kind of all over the place.
2) will you be able to graduate in 4 years if you continue to do retakes of science/math classes? (You mentioned finances are an issue so it's critical that you are able to finish a degree before your aid--which typically is limited to 8 semesters--runs out.)
3) what kinds of help did you seek out when you were having problems in calc and bio? Tutoring? Study groups? Office hours? Outside resources (Khan Academy/other textbooks/etc)? Honestly how many hours did you put into studying/preparing for classes and exams each week?
4) why didn't you take the second half of gen chem in the spring? Both med and dental school require 2 semesters.
5) did you take bio lab? what was your grade in lab?
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Not trying to pile on but you need to understand that a med school app will break down your course grades into a cumulative GPA or cGPA, a science (bio,chem,math,physics) GPA or sGPA, and an all other GPA (non science courses) or AO GPA, with cGPA and sGPA being very, very important. So although you finished first year with cGPA of 3.37, your sGPA is 2.8ish which is not competitive for med school and probably not dental as well. You also need to realize that all grades earned will be used in calculating GPAs and retaking one bio course and getting an A will not have much impact on cGPA or sGPA. I also noted that besides bio, chem grades are B, B-, not bad, but not great. Retaking a course that you earned a passing grade might be considered poor judgment whereas taking more advanced science courses and doing well (aka getting As) would be viewed more favorably by med schools. Are sciences not your thing or did you like many other freshman just have difficulty adjusting to realities of college? I don’t need an answer. It’s something you have to figure out with help of counselors, tutors, etc.
If it gives you some glimmer of hope, S ended first year of college with GPAs below 3.2 and is currently a resident. I would note however that his cGPA and sGPAs were virtually identical at that point whereas there is a big disparity between your cGPA and sGPA. You should realize that every grade below an A (especially if in science) from here on will make it increasingly difficult, eventually impossible, for you to get into any US med (and probably dental) school. You’ll probably have to hold off applying until after you graduate so that you can take as many courses as possible, earning As along the way. As mentioned above you may want to consider DO option. It’s not over but you’ve got quite a hill to climb. Good luck
Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. I am a biology major and the reason my classes seem kind of random are because I wanted to get my gen ed and college of arts and sciences requirements so I could just focus on science courses after my freshman year. I should be able to graduate within 4 years. I am willing to take summer classes too if need be. For my university, general chemistry is crammed into one semester and then the next level is organic chemistry I. I am taking a biology lab next semester. As far as my work ethic, I realize that the reason why I did so badly in those classes was because I was not engaged as I should have been in the class and did not have a consistent study group. When I retook calculus I spent about 5 hours a week studying and up to 8-10 hours the week before an exam. Again thanks for the info!
If your gen chem and bio classes were a full year’s worth of credit, then that B- and C puts an even bigger dent in your sGPA because each probably worth ~8 credits. Your sGPA is not looking very good right now. If I calculated it correctly, it’s around 2.65–which will take a long time to recover from. This makes it even more critical that your science coursework from here on out be As.
You should not plan on applying to med or dental school until after graduation so you have time to improve your sGPA.
Do not give up yet, but you need to plan for the worst. A bio major(UG) is not very marketable in the current employment environment. You may want to explore some thing else that you are good at, maybe information technology as a minor. IT is not CS, but it is equally employable and require less math.
I say don’t give up. If you improve enough to get into med or dental school, you’ll be glad in the future that you kept trying. If it doesn’t work out, there’s always other programs like nursing or physicians assistant you could look into.