restoreme Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 Hey Guys, I am in a BIG dilemma that I hope some of you can offer valuable insight into from your past / present experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muchdutch Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 3.56 gpa is fine. What's wrong with a B+? They don't just accept people who have 4.0's and your case is lost if you don't have that. As long as your other grades even things out, no worries. From what I hear, you can even fail a course or two (or three!) and still be accepted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
007 Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 A B+ is not the end of the world. I am not one to recommend having less than a full course load for a year. I think it limits you more than one or two low marks over the course of your degree. I do not think 7 courses next semester is a good idea. All of this is just my opinion though. I didn't actually sit down to figure out which schools you would/wouldn't be eligible for with each option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMmd Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 i wish i could drop a course now... paris hilton is smarter than the prof:eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 A B+ isn't that bad. Look at your other marks, are they good? I know how much it sucks to have one mark drop your gpa (it happened to me 1st year!). Right now I just got a B on this major midterm I had, all my other marks have been High 80s or low 90s, so it was dissapointing that the one mark would really drop my gpa... but, it won't be the end of the world. I'm going to do my best to pull it up, but I know it won't be the end of the world if I don't get an A in that class. Also, if you don't end up with a full course load, you won't be able to count your year at a few schools. Oh and a 7 course semester... I find it time consuming as it is with 5, I can't imagine 2 more. It's a lot of work, and your marks might suffer if you do that. And ONE OTHER THING, (third time editing this post!) a 3.58 gpa isn't THAT bad, you can definitely bring it up during your undergrad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addy Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 I don't think you should drop the course. 7 courses would be overwhelming, and probably wouldn't lend itself to really high marks. As for the marks, most med schools ask if there are any additional factors...You can then explain your second year marks (esp first semester) were low due to an episode of depression. If you showed improvement afterward, to me that would demonstrate your ability to deal with challenges and stress!! (oh, and a B+ really is not a bad mark...I don't know why so many people drop...I didn't even consider dropping courses with B's/B+'s yet so many people on this forum seem to think those are horrible marks!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurfette Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 Are you even allowed to drop courses this stage in the year? I've taken 6 courses in a semester a couple times and I've taken 7 courses one semester if you include the lab courses (I think it should be included cuz it was more work than a regular course). I think 6 is okay if all the courses are ones you enjoy and it's a well-balanced courseload (eg. some easy, some hard, some memorizing ones, some thinking ones, etc.). But 7 is a killer unless you are VERY MUCH on top of your game. And you will burn out very easily. Not a good idea if you're still fighting your depression. I would take the B+ or the part-time. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBCGuy Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 I can't imagine that you could drop it now. I am not sure what school you are at but I know that I have only 7 days of class left. I shouldn't say that. You can drop it now but I know in the case of UBC (and I would imagine most schools) you get an F on your transcript. Anyhow it sounds like you are doing good everything considered. Please remember that there is alot more to becomming a great doctor than books. Best of luck with everything! UBCGuy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
restoreme Posted November 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 Thanks for the advice.. does anyone else want to add more? I can possibly drop it - however, I would need to petition to remove it from my transcript. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooter Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 Hey, You sound a lot like me!! My second year was TOUGH- not just B+ tough but C's and even a D maybe... Also I think I was only taking 4 courses- which actually is a full time student! If your school considers you a full time student then you are.... that being said many schools want the last 2 or 3 to have 5 courses per semester... I did 5 years in total so for a lot of the schools I applied to they didn't even use my 2nd year marks and those that did, all but one used a weighted scale. My advice is to check all the "in-province" schools that you can apply to and a few others that you are interested in and see what they say. If you are thinking about doing 7 courses to make up for a couple of bad marks... not really worth it cause you definately/probably won't get as great of a mark... and not to mention as much out of hte course. Think about doing an extra year of undergrad and taking some interesting courses that are out of your program- if you're in science consider some philosophy and psychology courses. This will not only make you look more well rounded, it will give you more courses to average out your grades over, probably help in the verbal reasoning section of hte mcat, and be less stressful and increase your chances of success. And you can make sure you have all the prerequisits for all the schools, some want physics some want biochemistry. It takes a really strong person to acknowledge when they need help and especially strong person to go and get that help- when you need it and not wait for 5 -10 years. I think you deserve props for that:) Cheers and best of luck Scooter Dalhousie Class of 2010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daryn Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 Hey,You sound a lot like me!! My second year was TOUGH- not just B+ tough but C's and even a D maybe... Also I think I was only taking 4 courses- which actually is a full time student! If your school considers you a full time student then you are.... that being said many schools want the last 2 or 3 to have 5 courses per semester... I did 5 years in total so for a lot of the schools I applied to they didn't even use my 2nd year marks and those that did, all but one used a weighted scale. My advice is to check all the "in-province" schools that you can apply to and a few others that you are interested in and see what they say. If you are thinking about doing 7 courses to make up for a couple of bad marks... not really worth it cause you definately/probably won't get as great of a mark... and not to mention as much out of hte course. Think about doing an extra year of undergrad and taking some interesting courses that are out of your program- if you're in science consider some philosophy and psychology courses. This will not only make you look more well rounded, it will give you more courses to average out your grades over, probably help in the verbal reasoning section of hte mcat, and be less stressful and increase your chances of success. And you can make sure you have all the prerequisits for all the schools, some want physics some want biochemistry. It takes a really strong person to acknowledge when they need help and especially strong person to go and get that help- when you need it and not wait for 5 -10 years. I think you deserve props for that:) Cheers and best of luck Scooter Dalhousie Class of 2010 Scooter, I had a crappy second year too. If you don't mind sharing, how did you ever dig yourself out of that? I'm having a hard time making up for second year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
restoreme Posted November 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 Same here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malikar Posted November 26, 2006 Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 Hi, I am taking the equivalent to 7 courses/term (42 credits) and its hard. Don't do it. Unfortunately, in my program, that is how it is. At least everyone is in the same boat, so the Program Coordinators and the Assistant Dean can help level the grades if we do poorly on average. I hope they would do so, at least. Conversely, if you do poorly you can only hope to beg your profs to be merciful. I wouldn't count on it working every time. Having said all that, a B+ is still a respectable mark. Having one among all yours is a non-issue, as I've been led to understand. Cheers, Mal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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