How bad is a C? I'm about a year from deciding exactly where to apply to and all, but I read on another thread that some schools will automatically screen you out if you have ANY C's!!! It's not that surprising since med school is so competitive, but it really startled me cuz for the first time in my life I might get a C in a class, and I just withdrew from orgo (with good reason: I didn't think I learned the material well enough really learn orgo II, and the highest grade I could have gotten would have been a C+)
BACKGROUND: It's completely my fault for not learning how to study; I've never had to do more than attend class, do any required homework, and scan the notes the night before the exams. So far I haven't been freaking out since I have I pretty high GPA (3.85) to absorb the shock wave, but then I heard about the filtering out C's thing.
QUESTIONS:
1. How badly this one screwy semester is going to hurt my chances, and which schools should I just forget about entirely? (I like the DO philosophy but also like the awesome hard-science research opportunities available at some MD schools.)
2. As far as schools that specifically ask you to explain why you have a C, is there any way they'd let me in? I'm very honest with things like this; I don't make excuses, and even if I did there wouldn't be any excuses I could make.
3. How bad of an idea would it be to take a slightly lighter courseload next year (my junior year) if I were an RA? I really want to be an RA but everyone I know who's done it has either had to drop a class or has gotten lower grades than normal. On the other hand, I feel like taking 13-14 credits next year after a semester like this will probably imply that "no, Spin can't handle the med school curriculum." I'm taking ~16 credits next semester, none of which are fluff, but I feel like doing only one "hard" semester and two "easy" semesters before applying won't look so good. Another thing that makes it tempting to take an easy course-load for at least the next Fall is the fact that I need time to take an MCAT prep course, or at least time to study on my own.
4. Any suggestions for getting into Loyola? ::swoons::