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- Nov 24, 2020
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Hello,
I am a second-year undergrad at a liberal arts school that requires students to work a minimum of 10hrs/wk as a part of their financial aid. I have contributed to 400hrs. of research during a summer internship; 200-some hours for two different research projects--one of which I wrote two successful research proposals for (one earned a DOI and is citable); earned a little bit of shadowing experience (15hrs.); and currently 3.89GPA and no MCAT.
My concern is that I am about to close off a semester with a "below par" final performance. I am set with a B for a course titled "GSTR 310 Understandings of Christianity" and probably a B in "BIO 441: Cell and Molec Biology," a junior or senior level course I probably should've held off on.
These B's obviously do not look good for premeds, and certainly not for a pre-professional student seeking an MD/Ph.D. (particularly MSTP) program.
The reason behind a seemingly lackadaisical performance, however, is due to my independently designed research project, which added about 20hrs/wk on my plate in addition to 10hrs/wk for another research project. This has been a research-intensive semester for me.
Will this semester, with two B's in a semester, look horrible on a transcript applying to MSTP's as competitive as they are? Should I consider retaking a class and performing better in a later semester to replace B for A?
All responses are very much appreciated!
- worried premed
I am a second-year undergrad at a liberal arts school that requires students to work a minimum of 10hrs/wk as a part of their financial aid. I have contributed to 400hrs. of research during a summer internship; 200-some hours for two different research projects--one of which I wrote two successful research proposals for (one earned a DOI and is citable); earned a little bit of shadowing experience (15hrs.); and currently 3.89GPA and no MCAT.
My concern is that I am about to close off a semester with a "below par" final performance. I am set with a B for a course titled "GSTR 310 Understandings of Christianity" and probably a B in "BIO 441: Cell and Molec Biology," a junior or senior level course I probably should've held off on.
These B's obviously do not look good for premeds, and certainly not for a pre-professional student seeking an MD/Ph.D. (particularly MSTP) program.
The reason behind a seemingly lackadaisical performance, however, is due to my independently designed research project, which added about 20hrs/wk on my plate in addition to 10hrs/wk for another research project. This has been a research-intensive semester for me.
Will this semester, with two B's in a semester, look horrible on a transcript applying to MSTP's as competitive as they are? Should I consider retaking a class and performing better in a later semester to replace B for A?
All responses are very much appreciated!
- worried premed
