Anon asked 1 year ago
Hello,
I wanted to reach out and ask if anyone had any advice about overcoming/not dwelling on a bad exam grade. I am an underclassman who has been doing really well in classes and exams so far, until I got my recent exam score for a class. I know everyone says that one exam score doesn’t define you and I completely agree with that, but I can’t help but feel disappointed and doubt myself and my abilities.
With that being said, I was wondering if anyone had any advice on overcoming doubt in these kinds of situations and/or any tips on adapting my study habits to be more successful in the future?
Thank you so much for your help.
Haitong Yu answered 1 year ago
Hello,
Thank you for asking the question and I think dealing with a bad exam grade is something that everyone has to experience at some point in college. I know the feeling of working really hard and studying for an exam but doing as well as you hope is really terrible. It is only natural to have self-doubt in a school like the University of Michigan, where you are surrounded by other top students from various high schools. I personally think the best way to deal with this feeling of imposter syndrome is to remember that you belong here and a bad exam score does not define who you are (also ice cream and other good food helps with this as well). Medical school application is a lot more than GPA and MCAT scores and a bad exam score does not mean you are going to have a bad grade in the class. I hope this helps a little. If you have further doubts or any other questions, feel free to come to our virtual office hours and I wish you all the best for the rest of the semester!
PMH Haitong