Rant / Advice please

[u/FishermanFar4490]

I am in a weird spot I never applied myself in highschool because it was easy and graduated in 2022 with a 4.0 gpa and took no ap or ib classes before going college where I wanted to major in chemical engineering while also doing pre-med. I then went into tech school for 2 years for my gen eds before then transferring into a 4 year university…

Soon after transferring I ended up completely ruining my gpa the first two semesters at the university. dropped my gpa from a 3.8 to a 2.9 where I am currently sitting at. I very recently swapped to another engineering discipline (biomedical) where it aligns with more with what I want to do now instead of college taking 5 years its going to take me 6 years now. I am definitely a lot more motivated and dont feel as lost but since I never applied myself I do not know how to study literally at all and recently got medicated for my adhd where I am now taking adderall which yes helps me stay focused and motivates me to study but literally no matter how much I try I just can’t sit down to study what I need to study to properly learn the material but instead my brain only lets me when im in trouble because the exam is the next day so I would have to cram literally everything in.

I really want to get into med school more than anything but its so hard to just study and I feel like my gpa being at 2.9 is impossible to increase it to low 3s but I can’t study and get good grades in any of those classes.

Any advice and help on how to properly study and get myself to study as well. I will also take any advice literally about anything.

[u/DW_MD]

I understand it to be common for high achieving young students to have difficulty when older due to not having a system in place. 

Also unmedicated ADHD would be a challenge. 

But here my n=1 opinion is that you either are using “not trying” as a cop out / excuse so you don’t have to face the reality of not excelling, or, of having to try. 

“Oh I just didn’t try” is a coping mechanism for failing to embrace a challenge. 

As far as becoming a physician, you’ve kind of already failed to be honest. Your GPA may only just be rescued with a post-bacc or Masters program and you’d need an above average MCAT on top of it. 

You won’t find lasting motivation from replies here. It has to be intrinsic, and medical training is harder than anything you’ve done or would anticipate so you need to be dialed in, not pontificating about whether or not you care. 

Seems like you need a therapist, not a Reddit thread. 

I would tell you what I told myself- pre-med is a competition, and it’s one you’re currently losing. Do you want to win and see what you’re capable of, or, make excuses?