Escapade Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 Hi there. I am currently in my first year of pre-med. I had taken a year off since highschool, and am still getting into the swing of things. I've been struggling with certain subjects that I found were easy in highschool, and I am concerned with how heavy of a weight is based on the first year pre-med marks. My average at the moment is (ick!) roughly 78-80% . The thing is, I have 90s in some subjects, and am struggling in others (barely 70s), and have others inbetween. I've been getting the worst marks of my life (some assignments, I ace and some I get really low), and it is starting to make me anxious. I find that lately, I am too busy worrying and am not able to fully focus on the tasks I have at hand. I heard that it gets better as you go. Is this true? Is this a normal feeling that I am going through? Are first year grades usually lower than second year? Any advice or comments are appreciated!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurfette Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 Many people find that as they start to get a hang of how university works and a better understanding of their own studying style, they improve. Therefore, yes...many people do improve after a bad first-year. Keep it up! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madz25 Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 This topic has also been discussed several times before. It may be useful to browse through old threads. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkles Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 I'm in the exact same position as you!!!! I know how frustrating it is. My grades aren't even at 80's!!!! Just keep plugging away and have a rocking second semester!! That's what I"m going to do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uofthopeful07 Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 also remember that all your 90s can be brought down by a 70 something. you've got to be the jack of all trades to have a competitive GPA. i would currently focus less on obtaining hte 90s you were used to in high school, and focus more on working everything up to a decent level. this obviously means working on your weaknesses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkles Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 also remember that all your 90s can be brought down by a 70 something. you've got to be the jack of all trades to have a competitive GPA. i would currently focus less on obtaining hte 90s you were used to in high school, and focus more on working everything up to a decent level. this obviously means working on your weaknesses. Good advice. I would have tried to maintain my highest grades first and foremost!! Then I would have worried about the others. Perhaps this is where I have gone wrong! I always work on my best subjects first and then my weak ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBCGuy Posted November 25, 2006 Report Share Posted November 25, 2006 One important thing to remember is the calculation of GPA from the letter grades you would get in a course. No matter where you are in the range of an "A" for instance it is still an "A". If you and your friend both get "straight As" in a hypothetical world it makes no difference to medical schools that calculate your GPA based on that letter grade whether your friend was at the very top of the letter range and you were 0.01% above the bottom end of the range. You would both be consider equals in terms of academics. The point that I am trying to make is that it is much better to try and get As in ALL of your subject than get a 99% in one class and a C- in another. An 80 average is pretty darn good considering everything. You aren't in highschool, that is the past. While it is sometimes a difficult pill to swallow, things aren't what they used to be. Let me use my entering science class at UBC as an example. The CUT-OFF average to get into science at UBC last year was 89%. That means that every student here is ultimately the best of the best from their highschools, everyone here were the 'Brains' in highschool, and definately everyone is used to getting 90+ on everything. How then do you explain class averages of mid 60s to mid 70s in most of my courses, composed of these same students? How do you explain a 40% failure rate on the organic chemistry midterm I took 3 weeks ago? You explain it by understanding that university is so very far removed from the majority of highschools if not all. That being said it is not impossible to be extremely academically successful. There are certainly people with averages in the high 80s and even a very few in the mid 90s. It is not impossible to maintain your highschool "success", it just takes different measures to achieve. Lastly you need to consider that academics aren't everything. When it comes to medical school admission marks are (in my humble opinion) part of the key that opens the door to an interview. A medical school isn't going to accept Mr. 98% over Mr. 83%whovolunteeredtwiceaweekanddidresearchandisanavidrockclimberandisgenuineandwellspoken. Of course not. They would end up in many cases with textbook brilliant but terribly antisocial physicians. Good luck with everything, if you follow the dream and don't sweat the little stuff you will be great. UBCGuy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted November 25, 2006 Report Share Posted November 25, 2006 Mr. 98% over Mr. 83%whovolunteeredtwiceaweekanddidresearchandisanav idrockclimberandisgenuineandwellspoken ahaha that was awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.