QUOTED: Grades

[NotAProgDirector]

I have no experience with this, will look to other's input.

i have been in school since 1999. and for a total of 7 semesters of those years-i have resigns (4 semesters) and F grades (3 semesters-due to not resigning in time-in which i never stepped foot on campus). i am now in a four-year school and i'm not sure what program i can enter. i have a 2-year degree in science and want stay in the pre-medical science programs. i would like to transfer to pharmacy school, but i'm afraid my past will haunt me in this. i have good grades now and have had that for the past 3 years. will any medical programs ever accept me or am i at a dead end and should look into another degree completely? also, the past errors have unfortunately been in the required courses for any pre-med programs, chem 102, calc I, phy 108 and soc. i have completed these courses now with passing grades, but i know schools look at these and calculate them in.

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[L0st]

I feel just that I'm in a dump just at you are. Except, I am a 3rd year college student and I'm on dismissal for the 2nd time. And right now, I'm really L0st and scared.

 

[Instatewaiter]

The 2 above situation are going to depend on a few things: First how bad are your grades? What is your cumulative GPA and what is your science GPA?

Second, what caused these poor marks? Do you think you can overcome what ever it was that was making you perform poorly?

My advice is to retake any course that you got a C- or below in.
Next thing you need to do is to improve the GPA. This entails taking lots of courses- probably more credits than the nl student to bring up your GPA. So you are going to be taking undergrad courses for a few extra years.

Once you have your GPA to a manageable level (above a 3.0) and have taken the MCAT with a solid score (preferably above a 30) consider a Special Masters Program. These are graduatel level program where you take the first year medical curriculum to prove you belong. Many of these programs have you take classes w/ the medical students and your grades are determined by how you do in comparision. These are hard programs but if you do well it will prove that you are ready for medical school.

 

[L0st]

My first year wasn't so great to start off. I did pass all my classes, but B's & C's don't really cut it. And I didn't know anything about college nor had any help. The Counselors don't really help much, they just give you the 4-year plan & off you go. So with the mentality of "get in get out", i CLEP out of classes that I could, placement tests to go to advance courses...etc. Not knowing that for the information I know for some of these classes they would have been easy A's. So by Sophomore year, I had nothing but upper division/harder bio classes to take ( I was done with all my core by my freshmen year) I plummet from there, since sophomore year, things went downhill, from C's to not passing. & I've hit the 45 hours limit to retake/replace grades. Now it's hard to sit out a year , but I've still gone to school somewhere & going to summer school at this moment as well.

Also, it doesn't help when I have problems with my parents. We're asian...& I hope you've heard stereotypes on us about school. So yea, the don't know that I'm dismissed, but it makes no diff. B/c when I WAS in school (away from home), to them, they still thought that I am not going to school, nor trying. And now, I'm taking summer classes & they think it is because I dont go to school during the semester & save it to come back to the local community college to do so.

But your post ^^^has given me some hope & maybe not a total lost, just up to me of what & how hard I work for it now. I'm bout to head out to find some volunteer work in medical places or pharmacies. Wish me luck!

 

[Isoprop]

i have been in school since 1999. and for a total of 7 semesters of those years-i have resigns (4 semesters) and F grades (3 semesters-due to not resigning in time-in which i never stepped foot on campus). i am now in a four-year school and i'm not sure what program i can enter. i have a 2-year degree in science and want stay in the pre-medical science programs. i would like to transfer to pharmacy school, but i'm afraid my past will haunt me in this. i have good grades now and have had that for the past 3 years. will any medical programs ever accept me or am i at a dead end and should look into another degree completely? also, the past errors have unfortunately been in the required courses for any pre-med programs, chem 102, calc I, phy 108 and soc. i have completed these courses now with passing grades, but i know schools look at these and calculate them in.

if you are looking into pharmacy schools, there is a school, university of southern nevada, that offers gpa forgiveness for courses over 5 years ago. the catch is that they require all your prereqs done in the past 5 years (they basically ignore classes and grades over 5 years old).

sort of echoing instatewaiter, you (both) should check the post-bacc forum if you scroll down on the front page. there are very useful stickies in that forum that will help you find more information on SMPs and postbaccs. there is also a thread on people with low gpa's who have gotten into medical school.

and one more thing, i personally know a person who was academically dismissed THREE times with a cum. GPA < 2.0 after 3-4 years of college. she brought up her GPA with straight A's to over 3.0 (took about 3 years), and is applying for pharm school this year. IT CAN BE DONE. the key is to learn from your mistakes and failures, take responsibility for them, and develop the right attitude, skills, and resources necessary to succeed.

good luck to both of you.