grinder2018 Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Recently did my first semester at UBC and failed math. My pre req courses were good marks for the first semester, but not the best; however, I am not too worried on that because I will improve. (Not worried for Pre Req Courses) (Worried for Math and that Fail yes) Do Med Schools look at your transcript and see your F "Fail" as a big NO NO, regardless of the EC's you have done or the improvement of what is yet to come. Or do they look at your transcript and OMIT the first year courses and not look at the FAIL so harshly. (UBC and other med schools drop the lowest average year. For me it would be first year hopefully) I do know that one of the areas of admission is about self improvement through grades etc. If I show that I did ALOT better the second time around (Like Getting an A the second time) then would it be possible for me to still have a shot at med school? Let me know about any suggestions etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aletheist Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 You just failed a course and you're not too worried? You need to be worried and fix whatever is wrong immediately. Different schools have different policies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeuroPreMed Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 For the most part, I agree with alethiest. You do need to be concerned. A failure is a 0 towards your GPA. and even with 4.0s (assuming) in every other course this term (assuming 5), that only gives you a 3.2. A 0 hurts. And it hurts a lot. I'm not sure which math you took, however, should you be required to take that specific math course again, I highly suggest you put in a little more effort, or you find a tutor. Don't play a failed course off as if it's Just a B+ that only dropped your GPA 0.14. Schools don't just look at a failure and go "oh no that's fine". I don't know any school that would do that, let alone med school. If it is in your worst year, then fine, not a big deal if it gets dropped. But that doesn't mean they'll just be like well who cares. They may ask about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grinder2018 Posted December 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Thank you guys for your responses Yes I am very worried. I just want to get that across. I just wanted you to expand on the part where you mentioned "they may ask about it" If I have an explanation where it is suitable enough for my reasons would they reconsider me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yesmedyes Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 Thank you guys for your responses Yes I am very worried. I just want to get that across. I just wanted you to expand on the part where you mentioned "they may ask about it" If I have an explanation where it is suitable enough for my reasons would they reconsider me? Depends on the schools you are applying to. 1. some schools might not look at your first year grades, eg- Ottawa if you apply after 4th year, Dalhousie 2. some schools might drop your lowest grades, eg- UofT if you take a full course load 3. some schools provide you with an opportunity to explain any discrepancies in your academic record, eg- UofT For them to reconsider you, you need to first pass the minimum requirements for gpa/mcat and then if they had a section where you could explain your academic record, they will look at that section to see if that reason justifies anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Organomegaly Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 OMG!! You FAIL a university math course - and you're still thinking about medical school? You should seriously be considering if university, or even college, is something you should be doing. Getting into medical school is hard - and I would be worried if you were getting low 80s in courses. Failing courses? Why someone hasn't been honest with you on this board is beyond me. But quite frankly, anyone that fails freshman calculus is not very bright - and probably doesn't have what it takes to be a nurse's aide, let alone a physician. Sorry for the rant - but it needed to be said. Wow, that was extremely offensive. A fail is indeed worrisome, but it depends why you failed. Did you try your best and still not do well? Or did you have serious issues in your life? WIth the latter, all sorts of improvements are possible...you just need to really want it and be realistic. Even getting an A- in every course won't make you very competitive at some schools. And at other schools, getting an A in every course can be slightly below average GPA. Just to put the grades issue into perspective: serious work needs to be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruhh Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 OMG!! You FAIL a university math course - and you're still thinking about medical school? You should seriously be considering if university, or even college, is something you should be doing. Getting into medical school is hard - and I would be worried if you were getting low 80s in courses. Failing courses? Why someone hasn't been honest with you on this board is beyond me. But quite frankly, anyone that fails freshman calculus is not very bright - and probably doesn't have what it takes to be a nurse's aide, let alone a physician. Sorry for the rant - but it needed to be said. lol with that kind of mindset I think you should drop out and do something that doesn't have to do with people, let alone becoming a doctor. You don't even know the person, you have no idea what is happening in their life and you blatantly call them "not bright"? People make mistakes, it doesn't mean they are dumb. I had a D+ in one of my courses in first year. I was told by some lovely people on Premed101 that I still have a chance despite my personal disbelief of whether I have a shot. I pulled myself together and brought my GPA up to ~3.9. Am I dumb because I got a D+ in one of my courses? who are you to dictate who is smart or not. Also, what has not been said so far that is so crucial is the fact that a single bad mark will have no effect in many schools around Canada. Western, Queens, Ottawa, UBC, Manitoba, Calgary, Alberta ALL have weighing formulae for GPA calculation that will compensate fora couple of bad grades. Most of these schools will DROP your worst year(s) as long as you had full courseload. Do better from now and just ignore the haters, especially the ones on premed101. Of course, a fail will still be looked upon unfavourably as they will still "see" it on the transcript, and some schools do place emphasis on performance on certain courses (Calgary and UBC) but most do not care much as to what a single grade is, but rather your weighted GPA. Do good on the MCAT, maintain a ~3.85 wGPA, and be involved with EC. You'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sigmund Freud Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 OMG!! You FAIL a university math course - and you're still thinking about medical school? You should seriously be considering if university, or even college, is something you should be doing. Getting into medical school is hard - and I would be worried if you were getting low 80s in courses. Failing courses? Why someone hasn't been honest with you on this board is beyond me. But quite frankly, anyone that fails freshman calculus is not very bright - and probably doesn't have what it takes to be a nurse's aide, let alone a physician. Sorry for the rant - but it needed to be said. A classic example of the fundamental attribution error. You do not know their whole situation and instead make the 'not very bright' mistake of omitting situational factors and placing disproportionate emphasis on their internal characteristics to explain their outcome (i.e. saying they didn't pass because they're not very bright). I agree with most of what has been said so far. I'd also point out that an upward trend in GPA will probably help too, not just because it gets you a higher GPA, but also because some schools may look at this as a "redemption", proving to them that you can adapt and handle the workload. (Note this is more for schools that have more ambiguous admissions policies, such as Calgary with their Global Assessment of Academic Merit scoring section). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprite Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 OMG!! You FAIL a university math course - and you're still thinking about medical school? You should seriously be considering if university, or even college, is something you should be doing. Getting into medical school is hard - and I would be worried if you were getting low 80s in courses. Failing courses? Why someone hasn't been honest with you on this board is beyond me. But quite frankly, anyone that fails freshman calculus is not very bright - and probably doesn't have what it takes to be a nurse's aide, let alone a physician. Sorry for the rant - but it needed to be said. How does this guy still have an account on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ameltingbanana Posted December 20, 2014 Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 Thank you guys for your responses Yes I am very worried. I just want to get that across. I just wanted you to expand on the part where you mentioned "they may ask about it" If I have an explanation where it is suitable enough for my reasons would they reconsider me? Definitely be concerned about it, and make sure this doesn't become a trend. Try and address what caused you to fail this course, so it doesn't affect subsequent courses. One bad mark definitely does NOT knock you out of the running for medical school - as others have mentioned, there's lots of GPA weighting schemes and non-GPA related evaluations that medical schools use.I've definitely had some less than stellar marks throughout university. Keep your marks up, figure out what was missing in this course, apply that knowledge to future courses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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