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Academic probation


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Hi Everyone,

I'm reaching out because I just finished my first semester of PA school and I was placed on academic probation. I got a C+ in anatomy, C in pathology, and a C in clinical medicine. My gpa is roughly around a 2.7. If we fall below a 3.0, we are placed on probation. I have to raise my gpa to a 3.0 by next semester or I will be automatically dismissed from the program. My program director told me I will be around a 3.5 next semester (not sure if that's exactly true, it may be 3.3-3.4).

I'm nervous because next semester is supposed to be significantly harder, we will be starting pharmacology in addition to the usual classes (patho, anatomy, clinical medicine) and I'm already in the hole. It's my own fault. I didn't work nearly as hard as I should have this past semester and I was constantly cramming for exams rather than studying everyday.

Do you think it's worth it for me to stay in my program and try to raise my gpa to a 3.0 next semester? Do you know of anyone who has ever been in a similar place as me? What did they do to be successful? I want to be a PA so badly and I want to succeed more than anything and when I actually put the work in, I was able to get As and Bs on exams so I know that I am capable. However, our program is "pay as you go," so if I fail to meet a 3.0 next semester I am wasting double the money which is so scary.

Please help!!! 

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2 hours ago, kko0403 said:

when I actually put the work in, I was able to get As and Bs on exams so I know that I am capable.

Based on what you said it just seems that you need try harder.  Get a study group and focus.  

Your program seems pretty lenient to even let you continue with a 2.7 and not have you remediate your failed exams now to raise your GPA to above a 3.0.  If you were to not continue likely leaving with a 2.7 will make it harder for you to get in anywhere else I would suspect.  

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As far as I know all programs are 'pay as you go' i.e you pay each semester at that start of the semester. I guess I fail to see how that's relevant.

You can either work your butt off and pull up your GPA or drop out and likely never be a PA.  You would be hard pressed to find a program willing to accept you after A: having a low GPA and B: giving up.

Plenty of students get put on academic probation.  Put in the work, get better grades, and move on.  All who pass PANCE are PA-C's regardless of how they got there.

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I know for a fact that there were plenty of students in my program who were on academic probation at one point or another. Guess what we all graduated. That said, we all put in an incredible amount of work and effort to make that happen.

Reach out to your advisor, figure out how new ways to study, and refocus. Thousands have been in your shoes and are now PAs. This isn’t undergrad where dropping a course is an option. 

All the best!

 

 

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2 hours ago, GreatChecko said:

I know for a fact that there were plenty of students in my program who were on academic probation at one point or another. Guess what we all graduated. That said, we all put in an incredible amount of work and effort to make that happen.

Reach out to your advisor, figure out how new ways to study, and refocus. Thousands have been in your shoes and are now PAs. This isn’t undergrad where dropping a course is an option. 

All the best!

 

 

Thank you so much. I'm very shaken up by this and the summer semester is going to be significantly harder than my first semester, we're starting pharm and I'll be taking more modules and more credits. I hope that I won't break under the pressure of having to get all As and Bs in order to get off academic probation. Do you know of anyone who has ever had a gpa as low as 2.7 in PA school and pulled it up to a 3.0? 

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18 hours ago, Ket131 said:

Based on what you said it just seems that you need try harder.  Get a study group and focus.  

Your program seems pretty lenient to even let you continue with a 2.7 and not have you remediate your failed exams now to raise your GPA to above a 3.0.  If you were to not continue likely leaving with a 2.7 will make it harder for you to get in anywhere else I would suspect.  

Thank you. My program makes you remediate any clinical medicine module average below a 70. I remediated an infectious disease module because I had a 67 average and I scored a 90 on my remediation... however I was only given a 70 because if you remediate the module then you are still given the minimum passing grade no matter what you get.

They also make you remediate any course final averages that fall below a 70, and then once again, you will be give a 70 no matter what you score. I didn't fail any courses, I "passed" all of them with at least a 70 average but still failed to meet my program's requirement of a 3.0 cumulative semester gpa. 

Thank you for your advice. I am going to stick with my program, register for next semester, and work 1,000 times harder in order to bring up my grades. I will be taking more credits next semester so they will weigh more than this past one and I think I will need a 3.3 semester gpa to be at a 3.0 and get off probation 

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23 minutes ago, kko0403 said:

Thank you for your advice. I am going to stick with my program, register for next semester, and work 1,000 times harder in order to bring up my grades. I will be taking more credits next semester so they will weigh more than this past one and I think I will need a 3.3 semester gpa to be at a 3.0 and get off probation

You know you need to work harder, my biggest piece of advice right now is to not get so focused on there being more units that you get overly anxious because it's overwhelming and thus aren't able to put in good/hard work. You've gotten yourself in a sticky spot, you CAN get yourself out. Just focus on what you need to do and not that there's so much of it. Don't focus on that GPA number. Focus on each week, each unit, the amount of work you need to put in to succeed. And look closely at how you've been studying and what works/doesn't. If you think you may study better with a group - do it. If you've been doing that and it's not working - stop, or find a new group. If you've been relying only on powerpoints and/or textbooks, add in videos and question banks. If you only type your notes, try handwriting them. Don't be afraid to switch things up. I'm halfway through didactic now and I study differently for every course, you just need to find what works for that material. And I know this is nearly impossible to do in PA school a lot of the time, but especially for clinical medicine, if you can look at the material before the lectures it helps SIGNIFICANTLY. Don't be hard on yourself, and really try not to get overwhelmed. Focus on each day, work hard, and keep going. 

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On 4/27/2019 at 10:14 AM, kko0403 said:

Thank you so much. I'm very shaken up by this and the summer semester is going to be significantly harder than my first semester, we're starting pharm and I'll be taking more modules and more credits. I hope that I won't break under the pressure of having to get all As and Bs in order to get off academic probation. Do you know of anyone who has ever had a gpa as low as 2.7 in PA school and pulled it up to a 3.0? 

I don't know of  anyone's specific GPA. However, there were plenty of classmates that were struggling. We rallied around them and helped them as best we could. We all graduated.

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5 minutes ago, GreatChecko said:

I don't know of  anyone's specific GPA. However, there were plenty of classmates that were struggling. We rallied around them and helped them as best we could. We all graduated.

I also have incredible classmates who are collaborative and supportive. I’ve read other posts from people who have unfriendly, competitive, cutthroat classmates. I’m very lucky. We have a Facebook group and a highly organized google drive with the classes divided into files and we drop notes and study guides constantly. 

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You pretty much answered your own question, you can't cram. This isn't undergrad. 

As the semesters go by things start to interconnect and almost seem like review with some new details here and there. 

You need to study consistently, period! Take days off when you know you can or just have to. Studying too much can be bad also. 

The only class that might be really tough is Pharm, at least for me, but you can make up for it by excelling in the other classes. 

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If you're taking similar credits, you would need a 3.3-3.4. Unless you're taking significantly less credits this semester, you won't need a 3.5. This is completely manageable, even after getting a 2.7. A few classmates of mine were on AP with similar GPAs as you, and they managed to bring it up. Identify the classes that you feel you can definitely get A's in and capitalize on those, without letting any other class drop into the B range. It's manageable with the right support, time management, and study groups (if that's what works for you). Make sure external forces (family, significant other, pets, etc..) are not at play. It's a sacrifice, but those things need to be on the backburner for the next year. I wish you luck!

 

 

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On 5/7/2019 at 12:28 PM, Wellness said:

If you're taking similar credits, you would need a 3.3-3.4. Unless you're taking significantly less credits this semester, you won't need a 3.5. This is completely manageable, even after getting a 2.7. A few classmates of mine were on AP with similar GPAs as you, and they managed to bring it up. Identify the classes that you feel you can definitely get A's in and capitalize on those, without letting any other class drop into the B range. It's manageable with the right support, time management, and study groups (if that's what works for you). Make sure external forces (family, significant other, pets, etc..) are not at play. It's a sacrifice, but those things need to be on the backburner for the next year. I wish you luck!

 

 

Hi, 

I found out that I actually have a 2.8 and I need a 3.2, I am in more credits this semester. I started a new relationship last semester and I've put that on hold (no seeing each other, no texting etc.) and that has helped immensely. I've been studying every single day, prioritizing my sleep and health, ive been running each day now that the weather is getting warmer. This will take an incredible amount of self discipline and some days in class feel overwhelming but I just have to keep telling myself that I can do this as long as I work really hard.

Thank you so much! 

 

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18 hours ago, kko0403 said:

Hi, 

I found out that I actually have a 2.8 and I need a 3.2, I am in more credits this semester. I started a new relationship last semester and I've put that on hold (no seeing each other, no texting etc.) and that has helped immensely. I've been studying every single day, prioritizing my sleep and health, ive been running each day now that the weather is getting warmer. This will take an incredible amount of self discipline and some days in class feel overwhelming but I just have to keep telling myself that I can do this as long as I work really hard.

Thank you so much! 

 

You got this! You made all of the right steps. You're going to do amazing. 🙂

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Thank you so much. I'm very shaken up by this and the summer semester is going to be significantly harder than my first semester, we're starting pharm and I'll be taking more modules and more credits. I hope that I won't break under the pressure of having to get all As and Bs in order to get off academic probation. Do you know of anyone who has ever had a gpa as low as 2.7 in PA school and pulled it up to a 3.0? 
Yes. I have seen people with low grades their first semester turn things around. It's relatively easier early as you don't have that many low credits to overcome. Later on, it's a different story.

Best wishes!

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

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On 5/16/2019 at 2:05 PM, UGoLong said:

Yes. I have seen people with low grades their first semester turn things around. It's relatively easier early as you don't have that many low credits to overcome. Later on, it's a different story.
 

This is very true.

As an example, if you have one semester of 16 credits and are at 2.7, another 16 credits of 3.33 will get you out of trouble.

If you have 32 credits in and are at 2.7, now the math starts working against you. 

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  • 2 months later...
On 5/9/2019 at 6:07 PM, kko0403 said:

Hi, 

I found out that I actually have a 2.8 and I need a 3.2, I am in more credits this semester. I started a new relationship last semester and I've put that on hold (no seeing each other, no texting etc.) and that has helped immensely. I've been studying every single day, prioritizing my sleep and health, ive been running each day now that the weather is getting warmer. This will take an incredible amount of self discipline and some days in class feel overwhelming but I just have to keep telling myself that I can do this as long as I work really hard.

Thank you so much! 

 

How is it working out? Are you pulling it off? I'm in a similar situation...

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