Failing a Summer Course - Is There Still Hope?

[lilac_roses]

Hello all,
I have just received the devastating news that I have failed the calculus course I took this summer. I am a rising junior and merit scholar at a top 10 university. My first year at university went very well, resulting in a GPA of 3.9, but my academic troubles began my sophomore year. Due to mental health, I withdrew from my orgo 1 course in the fall. The next semester, I retook the orgo course and received a C-. My GPA at the end of the semester was 3.5. With the F in my calculus course, my GPA now stands at a 3.3. I made many foolish mistakes, my first mistake being that I chose to take math 111 instead of taking math 105 and math 106 without ever having taken calculus before. I had to learn all of the material that could've been split into two semesters in 6 weeks, and I paid dearly for it. Hindsight is 20/20, and I know that I bit off more than I could chew. The problem is, my school doesn't allow repeated courses to replace a D or F, so the hit to my GPA is permanent. I also cannot retake the orgo class because I received a C- and no repeats are permitted for grades C- or above.

I am unsure of what this means for my merit scholarship since I paid for the summer terms out of pocket. I am already on thin ice with the scholarship, considering I withdrew from a course and made a C-. I know that I must have a term GPA of 3.2 in the fall, but I am unaware of the stipulations of making below that over the summer. Needless to say, I am beyond worried about applying for medical school and successfully finishing undergrad. I am passionate about medicine in every sense, but these setbacks have left me feeling more inadequate than ever before. Is there any hope for me? What are the next steps I should take? Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

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[chemdoctor]

Yes there is still hope. Grade forgiveness is NOT used when applying to medical school through AMCAS or AACOMAS. People make mistakes just learn from them. I know it's rough right now but just hang in there dude.

You will HAVE to retake Orgo for med schools so if your school doesn't allow you to (try to fight it), then you need to take it somewhere else preferably at a four year institution. Get your mental health UNDER CONTROL. Do NOT keep taking classes.

Figure out the scholarship stuff and do better from now on. You could still very much so have a chance at medical schools. good luck

 

[SDeduN]

Hi! To add to what was said above, there’s always hope in general, regardless of how we may feel at times. Your story struck close to home, as I also failed Calculus in undergrad, when I had no need to take it, and did poorly in Orgo 1 and even genetics, by “biting off more than I could chew” in a semester. If medicine remains your aim, it might mean you take a year or more after graduation to get there but regroup, truly reflect on what went wrong, and grow from it.

Next semester tone down the course intensity/load if you have to, in order to ease you back into it motivationally. The semester after I was put on probation for these poor performances, I made my only Dean’s List and continued my upswing through to graduation and a few years post-bac (using a bio stats course for my “math” credit, retaking orgo 1, crushing orgo 2, biochem, etc). Now as a rising M2, I’m here to say you can do it! Learn from it now, stay strong & best of Luck!

 

[gyngyn]

Relatively few medical schools still require calculus.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Hello all,
I have just received the devastating news that I have failed the calculus course I took this summer. I am a rising junior and merit scholar at a top 10 university. My first year at university went very well, resulting in a GPA of 3.9, but my academic troubles began my sophomore year. Due to mental health, I withdrew from my orgo 1 course in the fall. The next semester, I retook the orgo course and received a C-. My GPA at the end of the semester was 3.5. With the F in my calculus course, my GPA now stands at a 3.3. I made many foolish mistakes, my first mistake being that I chose to take math 111 instead of taking math 105 and math 106 without ever having taken calculus before. I had to learn all of the material that could've been split into two semesters in 6 weeks, and I paid dearly for it. Hindsight is 20/20, and I know that I bit off more than I could chew. The problem is, my school doesn't allow repeated courses to replace a D or F, so the hit to my GPA is permanent. I also cannot retake the orgo class because I received a C- and no repeats are permitted for grades C- or above.

I am unsure of what this means for my merit scholarship since I paid for the summer terms out of pocket. I am already on thin ice with the scholarship, considering I withdrew from a course and made a C-. I know that I must have a term GPA of 3.2 in the fall, but I am unaware of the stipulations of making below that over the summer. Needless to say, I am beyond worried about applying for medical school and successfully finishing undergrad. I am passionate about medicine in every sense, but these setbacks have left me feeling more inadequate than ever before. Is there any hope for me? What are the next steps I should take? Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

The wise ad coms who post on this forum speak of the "Nike swoosh" GPA trend of a lot of undergraduates. They start off great as freshman, take a hit when they encounter Orgo 1 as first semester sophomores, and then recover over the next two years.

Some suggestions.

1. Don't take orgo 2 until you've learned/relearned the material from orgo 1 because you're risking a repeat performance particularly if the same professor teaches orgo 1 and orgo 2. That being said, orgo 1 at many top tier schools is much more theoretical while orgo 2 is more application driven and focused on using reaction mechanisms you learned in orgo 1 to synthesize compounds. There tends to be less stereochemistry, which gives people trouble, in orgo 2.

2. Most medical schools don't require calculus at all and will allow you to substitute statistics. Perhaps give yourself a break and take an intro stats class next instead of repeating calculus. You should go to your state medicals' websites and check on whether they require calculus and how many semesters of statistics they'll require.

3. Cut back on extracurriculars, volunteering, etc. next semester and focus on academics.

4. You may have to take a postbacc year or two to raise your science GPA. Bryn Mawr has a good one.

 

[Robin-jay]

I also cannot retake the orgo class because I received a C- and no repeats are permitted for grades C- or above.

I've heard this too. What schools are still abiding by this policy? I don't understand the point of this.

 

[chemdoctor]

I've heard this too. What schools are still abiding by this policy? I don't understand the point of this.

It's interesting because surely they would be cognizant of the fact that med schools requires a "C" or better in most prerequisites!!!