PLEASE READ FULLY! ITS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME AND THE REST OF MY LIFE! Well, I used to go to school here in Houston (Spring Oaks Middle then Spring Woods High School - Home of Roger Clemens) I was a great student in Middle School, was on the National Junior Honor Society, Basketball team, A's, 2 B's (We had 8 subjects). Well then, I went to High School. In High School I made the basketball team and we only had 4 subjects a semester. I started off great and these were my classes: 1st:Multimedia 2nd:Biology 3rd:Lunch 4th:World Geography (Honors) My grades were A, A A (I was good at eating ), and A. Then it was second semester. 1st:English (Honors) 2nd: Algebra 3rd:Lunch 4th:Spanish In these classes my grades were B, C, A (Damn I was doing good in this class ) and C. Now I had begun what was going to be my worst fall ever in my long career of school. As you a can see, one of the classes that I was having trouble with was Algebra. I had a A-B average in my 8th grade year with Math so I was wondering why I was doing so poorly. I would've had a worse average had my basketball coach not have been teaching the class (I think he let me slip a couple of times) Anyways, my average slipped to a D, then an F, then back to a D, then back to a C. I was sinking slowly the gasping for breath then sinking once again. Then, all of a sudden, I moved to a NWstern suburb of Chicago. Straight up and left in April. Why? For those of you who didn't catch my articles about me moving to Saudi, my dad had started a business partnership there. Well, at the last moment the deal fell through and then my dad decided to move to the suburb of Chicago (Hoffman Estates) where my moms family lived. Anyways, I moved there and got admitted into school. Since I has block schedule in Houston (4-classes per semester) and they had 8-class semesters here, the school here (Conant) let me stay with my schedule. Now here's where my life turned upside DOWN. 1st:GYM 2nd: Algebra 3rd:Spanish 4th:English (Honors) Since I only had 4 classes they didn't let me have a lunch. I was out of school at 11:40 each day. My grades were as follows: A, F, D, B. I had really started to screw up my GPA and I wasn't happy, and besides me, my parents weren't happy. The year ended with me getting a D in Algebra and barely passing. I had no idea what in hell was going on because while they were already on the Quadratic formula here back in Houston we were just learning about Negatives and Positives. I was in a state of shock and just tried to keep up. As you can imagine this was even harder for me because I had NO idea whatsoever wheras in Houston I had some idea of what was going on. Anyways, at the end of the year, as finals were about to start, I'm called into my counselors office and he tells me that they're gonna average my 3rd quarter grades in Houston with the grades they had for me here (they didn't have enough grades for me here to give me a full 4th quarter) so they averaged them and I wouldn't have to take finals since what I learned in Houston might have been different. So, at first I rejoiced and watched as my peers loathed in agony going from class to class while I had my teachers sign my form to go home. But then, as report cards came in, I was furious. Here were my grades and GPA: GPA:2.8 Weighted:3.2 1st:GYM A 2nd: Algebra D 3rd:Spanish D 4th:English (Honors) C Since you had to have a B average (which I did have in Chicago) in Honors to stay in Honors, I got kicked out. I barely passed Spanish and Algebra. The Next year started....
In my Sophmore year I got my full schedule but started school 2 weeks late. Why? Because they said I needed shots and my physical before they would admit me into school. While we tried to make appointments, the school called everyday and asked why I wasn't at school.... WHAT?!? I told them its because they told me not to come back til I got these things done. Well when I finally got them done here was my schedule: 1st: Study Hall 2ndlane & Solid Geometry 3rd:Health Ed. 4th:Lunch 5thhysical Science 6th:Spanish III 7th:English 8th:Gym I was obviously depressed that I was out of Honors English but looked forward to the new year. But, I soon found out that the weeks that I had missed has cost me because I had tons of makeup to do in Geometry. I was pissed at the school and was really sick and tired of all this. I did what I could and was told to do but then 2 weeks after I was back, the progress reports came out: - F A - C D A A My Geometry teacher had put zeros for some assignments that she hadn't even given me to makeup or told me about and that were done while I wasn't there. When I went and complained to her, she said it was too late to redo them and that I would just have to get better. Turns out this teacher was a first-class beyaaaaaaatch. Now, I'm not one to diss teachers because I think they should get paid way more then they do because they educate us and make us all that we are. But this teacher sucked major arse. She would give out stuff without explaining it to do the night before, come back and grade it then give notes on that subject. And I'm not talking about teaching while writing notes on the board, just straight copy notes and learn. So I didn't learn anything in that class and my grades kept going down the gutter. Well, mid way through the semester, I decided that I was going to go down a level in Math. I went to my counselor to ask him to put me in one of the lower math classes because this class was too fast for me and that I did not know where they were at because of my missed days. Guess what he says..."Well, I think that you'll do better. I think that you should stay in that class" Guess what Mr.Counselor.....I THINK THAT YOU SHOULD COUNSEL ME NOT THINK FOR ME!!! He wouldn't let me go down and made me stay in that class. The mid-term finals were coming up and guess what? I was still failing. Then, the last day before the finals started, my teacher calls me up to her desk and says that I have NO CHANCE of passing and that I'll just have to take Math again next year. This pisses me off majorly, I HAVE NEVER E-E-E-VER TAKEN A CLASS OVER AGAIN AND WASN'T PLANNING ON TAKING IT OVER NOW. I went to my counselor and asked If I could take it in summer school and he said sure. So I went back to class and asked the teacher if I still had to take the final since she said that I had no chance of passing.......she said yeah. So I took it and got a D, half because I wasn't trying since I knew that I wasn't going to pass and half because I didn't know half of the stuff. At the end of the semester my grades looked like this: - F A - C D A A I started off the next semester as the only sophmore in school not taking math. These were my new classes (Health was half-year): Comp. Lit. World Problems Drivers Ed. Lunch Physical Science Spanish III English Gym THE FINAL CHAPTER
So since I got kicked out of Math for the first time in my life (or kicked out of any class for that matter) this was my GPA: GPA:2.4 Weighed:2.8 That sucked horribly. If I didn't mention before, I have wanted to go to Med School and I knew that I had no chance in HELL of getting into Med School with those grades and my family's average income. I worked hard to raise my other classes's averages and started getting my grades up. These are my grades from the recent 3rd quarter report card: Comp. Lit. B+ 90.4 World Problems B+ 85.6 Drivers Ed. C+ 80.4 Lunch Physical Science B+ 87.4 Spanish III C- 75.4 English C+ 80.3 Gym B+ 90.3 My grade went down in English because I did bad on a major speech. My grade went down in Comp Lit because of a bad quiz and down in World Problems because of a missing current events. I brought my grade up in Spanish from a 53.2 at the beginning of the quarter to a 75.4 at the end. Gym went down because of my lack of volleyball bumping. Anyways, as you can see I had brought my grades up but still my parents were angry with me. Why? Because all my life I had been an A student....B was B-B-Bad for me. Now I was acting like bringing my grades up to a B was a good thing. I was pissed originally because of their lack of support for me now that I had brought my grades up but then again in the back on my mind I knew that this was bad for me. I was never gonna get into Med School and I was gonna let down my family. Now I'm currently on Spring Break and my dad has taken me to the library to get Math books so I can prep for the summer but I don't know which books to get, what sections to read or where to start. I plan on bringing my B grades up to an A and my C's to B's. But, I'm real bad at studying and sitting down to do homework because of distractions at home (small sisters, TV, PS2, CC.net ) Anyways, after reading my longest post(s) ever, can someone diagnose my problems and tell what I can do to prep for summer school, my Junior year, what classes I should take or not take, where I should look for financial help to get into Med School, and HOW I CAN SUCEED IN MATH. Thank you all for your time and patience and understanding. This is why the BBS is a family and no matter if your muslim, jew, christian, hindu, or any other religion we all come together as one to help each other. NOW HELP ME!!!!!!
1) To do better in math, I would suggest getting a tutor. My brother was horrible at math. He just couldn't pass even Algebra. My mom got him a tutor and it helped him immensely. Not only was she able to help him with learning the material, but that is also a block of time with no distractions to make sure the work gets done. 2) Speaking of distractions at home, I had this problem too. I found that if I worked on homework in the library, I could focus better. If you work with a friend then the HW won't get so boring that you want to kill yourself, but you should still be able to keep each other relatively on task. 3) If you want to be a doctor, then you are going to need a lot more upper level science courses like physics and chemistry. If you think you can handle it, take the AP courses. If you pass the AP tests you can get college credit for classes taken in high school and really get ahead. 4) Don't worry too much about med school at this point. At one time I thought about med school too. Later I decided to major in computer engineering and I really like it. Doctors have to go to school for a looooooong time. At least wait until you finish high school before you decide what you want to do with your life. 5) How in the world did you get a C in drivers ed?!?
Thanks for the tips Hydra. As for Drivers Ed, we have a stupid thing called "Classroom Driving simulator" which is when you sit behind some stupid machine and and watch on the projector while you do what its doing on the movie. It's really sucks and I always get a bad grade at it. Our class schedule is like this: 1 day driving 1 day off 3 days classroom 1 day simulator And my grade also came down because of some stupid "learn how to do the miles per gallon formula in your head" quiz. I mean, why learn when technology will tell us??? BTW, my dad Is suggesting putting me in Kumon tutoring center or something like that. Should I go for that or get a private tutor? Also, do they just let you take AP tests or do you have to be recommended? And is there any way I can prep for the tests? Any books you can recommend? And as for Med School, I'm pretty set on going there, its like a family tradition on my dad's side and I'm his first born and all of his brothers have sons who go to med school so you can imagine the pressure. Plus I think Med School would be fun because I really do want to be a doctor and help out people. I'm willing to stay the 8-10 years.
Oh yeah, one more question. Say I graduate HS with a GPA of 3.2. Can I go to a Junior College and raise it so I have a better chance of getting into Med school? And can I also take more classes in JuCo like all that inorganic and organic chemistry they want to be able to apply for Med School? Right now I'm looking at going to University of Illinois but their avg. GPA entry is 3.5...........currently my GPA is 2.4-2.8. The good thing though about U of I is that 90% of their people come from in-state and they accept 14% of the applications they recieve.
I suck at math... the legal profession is the only one that would have me! A tutor is a great idea!!!
I would suggest a private tutor, but that would probably be more expensive, so if you can manage with the help from the tutoring center, then go for that instead. As far as AP tests are concerned, I think that you have to take the AP class, at the end of the year everyone in the class can take the test. The teacher for the AP class can probably recommend any relevent books, or you could talk to someone who took the class the previous year. All this assumes of course that your school offers AP classes and that they will allow you to take them. Med schools do not look at high school GPA, as far as I know. They only look at college GPA and scores on entrance exams. If you cannot get into the University for undergraduate work that you want, then go to a JuCo for a year or two and transfer. My cousin went to a juco but he didn't bust his ass in there and the screwing around really hurt him. He ended up taking four years to get his AA and an additional 3 years o get his BA. If you want to go to a juco, and you are serious about med school, you really have to work hard on every class at the juco and strive for all 'A's.
Right now I'm planning on taking Geometry again in summer school, and either going with the tutor or the center. I think I want to go with the private tutor because it would be more 1-on-1 help. Also, I want to get into an AP class, but I don't know how they work. Right now I've taken Biology and Physical Science and got A's in those classes. Should I take Biology AP? Do they teach you new things like a regular class but at a faster pace or do they expect you to know everything and expand and review what you know? Also, I'm not very familliar with the process here. Sure I was born here and went to school here and everything but I'm the first one in my family to go through and American learning system. After you finish HS, where do you go? Is it to a regular college, than Med-School? And if your HS GPA is 2.8 can you raise it in college or is that just a seperate GPA all together? Also, what classes should I take in College to get in? My next year's schedule as a Junior (in HS) looks like this: Study Hall Chemistry Algebra 2 (If I take and pass Geometry in SummerSchool) Speech English World History Gym Consumer Ed.
I'm afraid that I have some bad news for you. If you really want to try to get into Medical School, then it is not necessary but will really help distinguish you from other applicants and that is taking Calculus. Now, to be able to do well in Calculus in college, you must absolutely have a strong background in algebra & taking 4 years of math in high school would be a bare minimum. When I was in high school, I took Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, and then a semester apiece of Trigonometry and Analytic Geometry. By the time I started college, I took a 5 credit course in Pre-Calculus (Algebra & Trigonometry) that was pretty rigorous. I did really well and took Calculus I in the spring, made an A, and the rest was history. Chemistry and Physics should be taken before you graduate if you are interested in any science/math/engineering/health field. If you have the chance to take AP Biology then by all means take it because Zoology, Botany, and A & P (Anatomy & Physiology) are key courses for Pre-Med students. It is probably too early to think about Medical school, but there are 2 paths that you can take: 1) Major in Biology or Chemistry and get a 4 year degree and then apply to Medical School 2) Take 2 years worth of undergrad classes like Botany, Zoology, Freshman Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics (non-calculus based or calculus-based), A&P, and either Calculus or Algebra & Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus. After finishing these 2 years, then apply to Med School. Some people feel that they have a better chance of getting accepted if they have a 4 year degree, but I believe a lot of it has to do with how well you score on the MCAT as well as what your college GPA is. And as mentioned earlier, taking classes like Calculus and even Calculus-Based Physics will give you an advantage over a lot of other applicants simply because they didn't take those courses. This is, of course, assuming, that you make at least a B in those courses. I wouldn't sweat high school for now, just try to improve your GPA and make sure that you do well enough on the ACT or SAT to get into a decent school. You may have to go to a JC or CC (excellent way to knock out Zoology, Organic, Calculus (if you decide to take it), etc. out of the way) for the first 2 years. Then I would transfer to like a University of Illinois and take Microbiology, Physical Chemistry, etc. and get a degree with a major in Biology and minor in Chemistry or the other way around. That way if you don't get into Medical School, you can at least try to find a job in industry or even go to grad school and get a Master's or a Ph.D. Probably before the Senior year, you should take the MCAT...that way you can take it again after you graduate if you need to (I believe that you can take it multiple times but am not sure). Apply to Med School after you get the degree. You may not like that answer because it means that you have to go to school essentially for another 2 years, but considering that you are having some problems right now in high school, it may be to your advantage to do this because you might turn out to be a late bloomer. Oh and with the math...definitely get a tutor, but also make sure you do plenty of problems. When I had Calc II, I had a 70 year old woman who made us do at least 50 problems usually more every week (had it in the summer) to be turned in. Doing the problems was the only way that I learned it. It is like anything else you do. If you were a good 3 point shooter, it wouldn't make sense for you to just quit practicing shooting 3's for like 2 or 3 years now, would it? You would probably be lucky to draw iron when you took your first 3 after all that period of non-practicing. Same thing with math - you have to work the problems if you are going to survive.
Thank God that we are on block schedule... I had always thought it was pretty uniform for an A to be from 90-100, a B from 80-89, a c from 70-79, and anything under 70 failing. Is this only in the south/Texas? High school and college GPA's are seperate. You graduate from high school and start over. Plan for future Doctors- Graduation of High school College(Undergraduate-four years) Med School(Graduate-four years) Residency(two years) Fellowship(Only if you want to specialize in a certain medical field-I think this is an additional one to two years)
Thanks for the tips. And as for Chicago our grading scale is like this: <table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" width="10%" bordercolordark="#000000"> <tr> <td width="50%">A+</td> <td width="50%">97-100</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%">A</td> <td width="50%">94-96</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%">A-</td> <td width="50%">91-93</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%">B+</td> <td width="50%">87-90</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%">B</td> <td width="50%">84-86</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%">B-</td> <td width="50%">81-83</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%">C+</td> <td width="50%">77-80</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%">C</td> <td width="50%">74-76</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%">C-</td> <td width="50%">71-73</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%">D+</td> <td width="50%">67-70</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%">D</td> <td width="50%">64-66</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%">D-</td> <td width="50%">61-63</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%">F</td> <td width="50%">60 and below</td> </tr> </table> Which sucks somewhat at the top but is better at the bottom. Right now I want a tutor but my dad is against it. He wants me to learn by myself and as I said before, we went to the library the other day to get some books about math. These were the books I checked out: The High School Geometry Tutor - REA (Research & Education Association) Math THE EASY WAY - Barron's Educational Series, Inc. ------ Anyone have any other recommendations?
