So I failed

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dr. Josh
  • Start date Start date
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
D

Dr. Josh

Members don't see this ad.
Now what am I going to do? I got a D in Organic Chemistry 1 and it's my senior year. I plan to retake it in the summer and then take organic 2. My grades were fairly decent before (3.7 overall and even a 3.9 science); this really killed my gpa and looks horrible. What should I do? Is my dream over? I was only taking it as a pre-req and don't need it to graduate. I don't want to wait to apply. It's Christmas and I'm so horribly depressed.
 
I would not send in my AMCAS until I finished orgo I again. That would either mean applying a little late in the cycle or next year. Why did you do so poorly?
 
did u already apply? if so, nothing you can do now, but plan to retake, because as someone else said, you need at least a C. some schools may not ask for your fall grades, so maybe you can still get in without them knowing it, although they will require you to retake it before matriculation.

hope this helps. let us know where you are in the application cycle for better answers.
 
how'd u take the mcat w/o orgo 1?
 
your dream is not over. obviously you have a good head on your shoulders because you gpa is pretty solid. it's a minor detour that does suck during the holiday. but things could be a lot worse. yes, it's not how you wanted things to turn out. but it's only a delay in the process. it doesn't mean your dream won't come true, it only means that it might take a little bit longer (if you retake the class, etc). don't waste your energy worrying and ruining your holiday. take a plan of action, stick with it, and move on and enjoy! good luck (and try not to stress).
 
To respond to most of your questions/answers at once:

I have not even applied yet and was going to apply over the summer as I was taking Orgo 1 and 2. I was going to take the MCAT right after graduation in June or so.

I do have some basic knowledge of orgo and do understand most of it. Why did I fail? Partly because my prof sucked and doesn't curve (over half the class failed); partly because I'm not good at memorizing and regurgitating everything and perhaps there were a few things i didn't understand, though in the end I thought I did. It certainly wasn't for lack of sdtudying; I studied non-stop for this class. I plan on getting some helpful books to review, perhaps auditing an orgo 2 class next semester to help me prepare and also help with the MCAT.
 
Lshapley said:
I would not send in my AMCAS until I finished orgo I again. That would either mean applying a little late in the cycle or next year. Why did you do so poorly?
Click to expand...

So that would probably be July; is that really going to put me at a disadvantage? See my other response as to why i did poorly.
 
at least on the ochem front 🙂 One of my mentors said that you ARE not expected to ace ochm! This is the class everyone retakes or gets C's in! In fact a friend of mine failed CHEM 1 twice before passing (with an A) and she just got accepted!

I took the mcat without ochm 2 or phy 2 and got a 26R (i'm not saying that is spectacular! but clearly acceptable) I applied in June (with no mcat/ochem or phy2) and the day after my mcat score came back I got a call for an interview!

I was accepted on the condition that i pass ochem2 and phy2 (which i just did!)

So, to sum up. You can be accepted with retakes and you can apply without all your pre-reqs

Good luck!
 
what's the big deal in failing Orgo? you won't be the first person and you won't be the last. you probably won't be in the middle of those who failed orgo, so why clog up SDN with your badly worded thread. Medicine is not the only thing in life and you can always retake it. Enough of cry babies on SDN. If you had invested the time in knowing the difference between R and S configuration, may be you wud have done well!
 
It's not gonna kill you, far from it with that GPA unless you were planning on attending Mayo, Harvard, etc..retake the course and ace that mother and you're set! I had a D in physics and I got into medschool with other aspects of my application....
 
kaybam20, that was a little rough, don't you think? Haven't you ever done poorly on a test or whatever and wanted to vent? 'sides, it Christmas. Show a little love.

To the OP: one of the good things about applying to DO schools is that the grade for a class that is a retake is substituted for the grade earned the first time around, not averaged in with the rest of your science GPA like when applying to MD schools, so assuming that you take the class again and get an A, you'll only have that A used when your AACOMAS GPA is calculated. That will give you a higher GPA than you would have otherwise. In that sense, it makes sense for students who have done poorly in classes to retake them, do well, and then apply DO.

The sky isn't falling. You'll be fine. Good luck and merry Christmas!
 
kaybam20 said:
what's the big deal in failing Orgo? you won't be the first person and you won't be the last. you probably won't be in the middle of those who failed orgo, so why clog up SDN with your badly worded thread. Medicine is not the only thing in life and you can always retake it. Enough of cry babies on SDN. If you had invested the time in knowing the difference between R and S configuration, may be you wud have done well!
Click to expand...

👎
 
Lshapley said:
I would not send in my AMCAS until I finished orgo I again.
Click to expand...

I agree. your concerns should be in sending in the best primary application even if that means applying in August when you retake and hopefully ace Orgo I.

It sucks but don't blame your Prof for failing the class. Use this as an opportunity to teach yourself a new subject. "Teaching yourself" will be a useful tool in medical school and in life. Reading your posts I see you gave it a shot. There are some threads on SDN that could point you to some good resources for learning Ochem on your own. You could start reading now during xmas break. I had crappy profs in undergrad in my orgo and biochem sequence so I know where you are coming from.

I would not audit Orgo 2 which is a required course because now you will have at least 2 retakes to deal with.

Good luck.
 
RisingSun said:
kaybam20, that was a little rough, don't you think? Haven't you ever done poorly on a test or whatever and wanted to vent? 'sides, it Christmas. Show a little love.
Click to expand...

ofcourse, i have failed so many times but i do not go about telling everybody as it were the biggest news in town. There are more important things in life. my message is he shud analyse his situation and take it again! the time spent posting new thread on different forums cud be better spent reviewing and restrategizing.
 
kaybam20 said:
ofcourse, i have failed so many times but i do not go about telling everybody as it were the biggest news in town. There are more important things in life. my message is he shud analyse his situation and take it again! the time spent posting new thread on different forums cud be better spent reviewing and restrategizing.
Click to expand...

there are more important things in life - i definitely know that. but to us pre-meds, this is one of the very important things right now. it's sometimes human nature to look for encouragement and support (even if it is anonymous) when we "fail." i dont think this thread wasted his time in restrategizing - it helped, getting bits of advice from everyone. if you don't have something encouraging to say to someone who's feeling a little crappy, just press the "back" button and don't post a thread to make Dr. Josh feel any worse than he already does. especially on christmas.
 
kaybam20 said:
ofcourse, i have failed so many times but i do not go about telling everybody as it were the biggest news in town. There are more important things in life. my message is he shud analyse his situation and take it again! the time spent posting new thread on different forums cud be better spent reviewing and restrategizing.
Click to expand...

And perhaps you'd be better off spending your time on learning the English language so you don't sound like an idiot fifth grader trying to text message her friend during study hall. If you don't have anything useful to add then just keep your mouth shut. Not a hard concept to understand.

If there's one thing I hate it's self-righteous, condescending, patronizing know-it-alls who try to dictate what people should and shouldn't be worried about and what posters should and shouldn't post. Karma's a boomerang and I really hope I hear about it when it hits people like you, Kaybam.
 
MedStudentWanna said:
And perhaps you'd be better off spending your time on learning the English language so you don't sound like an idiot fifth grader trying to text message her friend during study hall. If you don't have anything useful to add then just keep your mouth shut. Not a hard concept to understand.

If there's one thing I hate it's self-righteous, condescending, patronizing know-it-alls who try to dictate what people should and shouldn't be worried about and what posters should and shouldn't post. Karma's a boomerang and I really hope I hear about it when it hits people like you, Kaybam.
Click to expand...

it seems you speak and write better than me with ur excellent mastery of basterdized English!🙄 I wonder when publicly educated Americans (fake speakers of English lang.) started writing better than Britons (original English speakers)
 
i hate it when threads end up like this. and on CHRISTMAS? geesh! 😉

anyways, dr josh, its not the end of the world. try to forget about it and enjoy break. everyone on here gave great advice. if you want to be proactive during break, pick up some MCAT prep books, and a great orgo book by david klein i believe, called something like learning organic chemistry? maybe someone else knows the right title, but it was a lifesafer for me!

like hunter said, you want to apply with the best application possible. even if you take a summer MCAT, by then, the turn around time for scores should be even better, maybe 2 weeks? so you wont be at as big of a disadvantage as august MCATers of the past were!

good luck :luck:
 
supersash said:
i hate it when threads end up like this. and on CHRISTMAS? geesh! 😉

anyways, dr josh, its not the end of the world. try to forget about it and enjoy break. everyone on here gave great advice. if you want to be proactive during break, pick up some MCAT prep books, and a great orgo book by david klein i believe, called something like learning organic chemistry? maybe someone else knows the right title, but it was a lifesafer for me!

like hunter said, you want to apply with the best application possible. even if you take a summer MCAT, by then, the turn around time for scores should be even better, maybe 2 weeks? so you wont be at as big of a disadvantage as august MCATers of the past were!

good luck :luck:
Click to expand...

Good advice. It's not the end of the world.
 
HunterGatherer said:
I agree. your concerns should be in sending in the best primary application even if that means applying in August when you retake and hopefully ace Orgo I.

It sucks but don't blame your Prof for failing the class. Use this as an opportunity to teach yourself a new subject. "Teaching yourself" will be a useful tool in medical school and in life. Reading your posts I see you gave it a shot. There are some threads on SDN that could point you to some good resources for learning Ochem on your own. You could start reading now during xmas break. I had crappy profs in undergrad in my orgo and biochem sequence so I know where you are coming from.

I would not audit Orgo 2 which is a required course because now you will have at least 2 retakes to deal with.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

While I agree that it is not helpful to dwell on the fact that one had a bad professor, I can say from experience (I had a bad professor in organic, and it was the only chemistry class out of 35 hours that I got less than an A) that there are times that a bad professor (or a good one) can make all the difference. I don't think the OP was dwelling on it, he only mentioned it after someone asked why he did so poorly. Over half the class failing organic is unusual. Unfortunately, part of the undergrad experience is to know who to pick as a professor, if you can. It shouldn't be like that, but university systems are often set up in a way that protects professors who are poor at teaching. 🙁

To the OP: This is an important setback. Learn from it, move on. Most importantly, don't get in too much of a hurry to get into medical school. Trust me, you don't want medical school to happen too quickly. When you get in, you will have tons of extraneous things to take care of and little time to do them. Take things as they happen and adapt. That is the best possible advice I think I could give to all premeds.
 
jkhamlin said:
While I agree that it is not helpful to dwell on the fact that one had a bad professor, I can say from experience (I had a bad professor in organic, and it was the only chemistry class out of 35 hours that I got less than an A) that there are times that a bad professor (or a good one) can make all the difference. I don't think the OP was dwelling on it, he only mentioned it after someone asked why he did so poorly. Over half the class failing organic is unusual. Unfortunately, part of the undergrad experience is to know who to pick as a professor, if you can. It shouldn't be like that, but university systems are often set up in a way that protects professors who are poor at teaching. 🙁

To the OP: This is an important setback. Learn from it, move on. Most importantly, don't get in too much of a hurry to get into medical school. Trust me, you don't want medical school to happen too quickly. When you get in, you will have tons of extraneous things to take care of and little time to do them. Take things as they happen and adapt. That is the best possible advice I think I could give to all premeds.
Click to expand...

I'm not blaming my prof, though I think if I had one who could teach and cared anything about the students I could have done better. And I had no choce; he was the only prof teaching this semester. I was warned but now I wish I had waited and taken it in summer school to begin with, rather than taking it then, since I have to retake it now in the summer anyway and have a D on my transcript.

You as well as others have told me to learn from it and move on. I appreciate that, but honestly, I'm not sure what I learned from the experience. I knew I was not infalliable; I knew I wasn't perfect and was capable of failing. But I gave this course everything I had in me. I studied constantly, gave up a social life, and let other courses slide just to get through this one (fortunately I still somehow managed As in all the others) and I tried to get help from friends when i didn't understand something. I know I'm not totally stupid, but right now I'm really not sure I can do it. I'm afraid of failing again. It's so easy for others to say "just ace it next time and do well on your MCAT". What if I can't do it?:scared:
 
HunterGatherer said:
I agree. your concerns should be in sending in the best primary application even if that means applying in August when you retake and hopefully ace Orgo I.

It sucks but don't blame your Prof for failing the class. Use this as an opportunity to teach yourself a new subject. "Teaching yourself" will be a useful tool in medical school and in life. Reading your posts I see you gave it a shot. There are some threads on SDN that could point you to some good resources for learning Ochem on your own. You could start reading now during xmas break. I had crappy profs in undergrad in my orgo and biochem sequence so I know where you are coming from.

I would not audit Orgo 2 which is a required course because now you will have at least 2 retakes to deal with.

Good luck.
Click to expand...


I meant sit in on organic 2, not take tests or register for the course; just try to learn it. Why don't you recommend that? Don't you think it would help me when I have to take it?

NYCOM is my top choice, though I don't think I can afford it. Do you think I have any chance there now? What do I need to do? The other thing is I was planning on taking both courses at a CC due to costs. I know many SDNers frown on this but I really can not afford to take it at a private school nor pay to live away from home. Is this going to further kill my application?
 
Dr. Josh said:
I'm not blaming my prof, though I think if I had one who could teach and cared anything about the students I could have done better. And I had no choce; he was the only prof teaching this semester. I was warned but now I wish I had waited and taken it in summer school to begin with, rather than taking it then, since I have to retake it now in the summer anyway and have a D on my transcript.

You as well as others have told me to learn from it and move on. I appreciate that, but honestly, I'm not sure what I learned from the experience. I knew I was not infalliable; I knew I wasn't perfect and was capable of failing. But I gave this course everything I had in me. I studied constantly, gave up a social life, and let other courses slide just to get through this one (fortunately I still somehow managed As in all the others) and I tried to get help from friends when i didn't understand something. I know I'm not totally stupid, but right now I'm really not sure I can do it. I'm afraid of failing again. It's so easy for others to say "just ace it next time and do well on your MCAT". What if I can't do it?:scared:
Click to expand...

We've all been there.

I really don't think you have much to worry about, given your prior stats, even if you only get C's in Organic I and II. The thing that you really need to be concerned with right now is the MCAT (but not until after you take organic I and II). Get more than a 25 on that, and you will get interviews. :luck:
 
jkhamlin said:
We've all been there.

I really don't think you have much to worry about, given your prior stats, even if you only get C's in Organic I and II. The thing that you really need to be concerned with right now is the MCAT (but not until after you take organic I and II). Get more than a 25 on that, and you will get interviews. :luck:
Click to expand...

wait, you're telling me not to even attempt the MCAT until after taking orgo 2????? That means I can't take it until August or later. What if I try to learn orgo on my own from MCAT books? How much orgo is on the MCAT? I've heard people say not much.
 
its enough to lower you score enough were you might lose your seat to someone that new orgo 1,2, you can try and teach youself, but I would suggest finding someone that would be able to answer your questions if you had any.
 
Dr. Josh said:
wait, you're telling me not to even attempt the MCAT until after taking orgo 2????? That means I can't take it until August or later. What if I try to learn orgo on my own from MCAT books? How much orgo is on the MCAT? I've heard people say not much.
Click to expand...

The stuff that is still on the MCAT will kick your butt if you are not careful. I took it three years ago, so I am not as up to date; however, mine was the first one when they reduced organic in favor of more molecular genetics. There are a few reasons I say to wait:
1. There were organic II concepts on the MCAT that I took, even though they are pretty useless to medicine.
2. There were lab concepts on the MCAT that I took. This had a negative effect on my score because my professor's worst area was lab. He gave a poor lab lecture and turned it over to GA's who did nothing but stand there while we tried to figure out on our own what to do. Lab was one big cluster f____. It is essential, IMO, to have a competent lab instructor in organic chemistry. Fortunately, I had previously taken the one semester organic with a competent instructor, so I didn't totally bomb this part of the MCAT, but I could have done better.
3. Even though there is more molecular genetics now, than organic chemistry, the basis for understanding a lot of molecular genetics is organic chemistry. If you have not had a good genetics class that thoroughly covers molecular genetics, I would recommend that first as well.
 
Dr. Josh said:
What if I try to learn orgo on my own from MCAT books? How much orgo is on the MCAT? I've heard people say not much.
Click to expand...

MCAT books are designed to help you REVIEW a course that you have already learned-- not to teach you the material. Also, remember that scaled scores are reported, so it doesn't take a whole lot of missed questions to drop you from a great score to only an average score.
 
Your GPA is VERY high I would not sweat it ... 🙂
 
TheOneandOnly said:
Your GPA is VERY high I would not sweat it ... 🙂
Click to expand...

That WAS my gpa before this horrible D. My overall is now a 3.6; I have to differentiate my science and my everything else though. My BCPM is probably around a 3.4 now, possibly a little higher and my everything else is probably now around a 3.75. I'm too tired, sick to my stomach and depressed to recalculate this, maybe tomorrow.
 
jkhamlin said:
The stuff that is still on the MCAT will kick your butt if you are not careful. I took it three years ago, so I am not as up to date; however, mine was the first one when they reduced organic in favor of more molecular genetics. There are a few reasons I say to wait:
1. There were organic II concepts on the MCAT that I took, even though they are pretty useless to medicine.
2. There were lab concepts on the MCAT that I took. This had a negative effect on my score because my professor's worst area was lab. He gave a poor lab lecture and turned it over to GA's who did nothing but stand there while we tried to figure out on our own what to do. Lab was one big cluster f____. It is essential, IMO, to have a competent lab instructor in organic chemistry. Fortunately, I had previously taken the one semester organic with a competent instructor, so I didn't totally bomb this part of the MCAT, but I could have done better.
3. Even though there is more molecular genetics now, than organic chemistry, the basis for understanding a lot of molecular genetics is organic chemistry. If you have not had a good genetics class that thoroughly covers molecular genetics, I would recommend that first as well.
Click to expand...

ouch. I'm taking genetics next semester.
 
i think the reason someone (hunter i think?) suggest you DONT take orgo 2, even just to audit, is because it is completely rooted in orgo 1. if you didnt get orgo 1, you will be LOST in orgo 2. dont waste the time, money and effort on that. instead, work on relearning orgo, or prepping with other mcat subjects.

you asked for advice, but dont seem happy with what people are offering. you are not screwed for the future, just listen to what everyone says, and get on with it. especially since this is the only class you've done poorly in. as for the MCAT, i wouldnt take it without finishing all the pre-req's. has it been done? for sure. has is been done successfully? sure. but you've shown that you've had some difficulties (dont worry i have too!), dont mess up on the mcat.

hope this helps, and doesnt sound too negative, i'm not trying to be!
:luck:
 
I would just add to what everyone said:

It isn't often in SDN that everyone posting in a thread is pretty much in agreement. Take this as an omen. 😀
 
Dr. Josh said:
To respond to most of your questions/answers at once:

I have not even applied yet and was going to apply over the summer as I was taking Orgo 1 and 2. I was going to take the MCAT right after graduation in June or so.

I do have some basic knowledge of orgo and do understand most of it. Why did I fail? Partly because my prof sucked and doesn't curve (over half the class failed); partly because I'm not good at memorizing and regurgitating everything and perhaps there were a few things i didn't understand, though in the end I thought I did. It certainly wasn't for lack of sdtudying; I studied non-stop for this class. I plan on getting some helpful books to review, perhaps auditing an orgo 2 class next semester to help me prepare and also help with the MCAT.
Click to expand...

I have the same problems with just straight memorization and regurgiation. I got a D my first time around in orgo 2 (nothing but freaking mechanisms) but once I retook it I went up a B+. Don't worry about it, you'll be fine.
 
Dr. Josh said:
wait, you're telling me not to even attempt the MCAT until after taking orgo 2????? That means I can't take it until August or later. What if I try to learn orgo on my own from MCAT books? How much orgo is on the MCAT? I've heard people say not much.
Click to expand...

Not much? I don't know who you've been talking to but that's not really right. When I took it in april about half of the biological sciences section was all orgo.
 
Dr. Josh said:
I do have some basic knowledge of orgo and do understand most of it. Why did I fail? Partly because my prof sucked and doesn't curve (over half the class failed); partly because I'm not good at memorizing and regurgitating everything and perhaps there were a few things i didn't understand, though in the end I thought I did. It certainly wasn't for lack of sdtudying; I studied non-stop for this class. I plan on getting some helpful books to review, perhaps auditing an orgo 2 class next semester to help me prepare and also help with the MCAT.
Click to expand...

the fact that your prof doesn't curve is unfortunate. however, the fact that you think orgo is something to be memorized and regurgitated is probably why you failed the course. many people fail orgo not because they didn't study, but because their approach towards the subject is entirely wrong.
 
Highly recommended:

Organic Chemistry I as a Second Language AND Organic Chemistry II as a Second Language, by David Klein. I had a horrible professor, too, and had to teach myself. I wish I had these books BEFORE the semester had started, rather than halfway through. Got a C in Orgo 1 (barely) but got a B in Orgo 2. Basically, if you don't learn 1 you'll have a terrible time with 2. These books REALLY helped. Do all the exercises and it will make sense. Promise! 😀
 
jkhamlin said:
While I agree that it is not helpful to dwell on the fact that one had a bad professor, I can say from experience (I had a bad professor in organic, and it was the only chemistry class out of 35 hours that I got less than an A) that there are times that a bad professor (or a good one) can make all the difference. I don't think the OP was dwelling on it, he only mentioned it after someone asked why he did so poorly. Over half the class failing organic is unusual. Unfortunately, part of the undergrad experience is to know who to pick as a professor, if you can. It shouldn't be like that, but university systems are often set up in a way that protects professors who are poor at teaching. 🙁

To the OP: This is an important setback. Learn from it, move on. Most importantly, don't get in too much of a hurry to get into medical school. Trust me, you don't want medical school to happen too quickly. When you get in, you will have tons of extraneous things to take care of and little time to do them. Take things as they happen and adapt. That is the best possible advice I think I could give to all premeds.
Click to expand...

i think that professor can make a huge difference. He can make a hate/love type of difference.
If some professor doesn't give a crap about teaching (because he is pre-ocupied with research and teaches only because he is forced to)...it makes a huge difference. It also makes a huge difference if most of your class time is spend in discution sections with TA who can't even comunicate in english.

And yes you can learn orgo, or any other subject, by your self. I didn't go to class almost at all but I got a B (most ppl in my school fail this class)...but there are some professors who do not curve despite a 35% averages etc...I remeber when i was taking gen chem 2 the average on one of the 3 total tests was 40% for the class of nearly 250 ppl...professor didn't curve.
You can imagine how many people failed this course.
 
crimsonkid85 said:
the fact that your prof doesn't curve is unfortunate. however, the fact that you think orgo is something to be memorized and regurgitated is probably why you failed the course. many people fail orgo not because they didn't study, but because their approach towards the subject is entirely wrong.
Click to expand...
I totally disagree with this statement....
unfortunatelly orgo is 80% memorization and 20% understanding+practice.
The one thing that my professor said at the beggining of the course, and that i took really seriously was to study every day.
If you spend 1 hour a day for orgo you will ace it.
I usually would spend one full day (friday) to go over the whole material that was taken in class that week. I would make flash cards of reactions and do tons of problems.
Orgo is like learning a language. You need to memorize the alphabets and the words before you can practice
The more you practice the better you will be. There is not that much to understand untill you memorize things.
I also recomend Organic chem as a second language...it saved my butt many times.

don't worry, your GPA is still very good. Retake orgo(if you don't want to take the same professor then retake it at CC...i guarantee you WILL learn it there)...and work your butt off with MCAT. It's ok to take it in August. Med school application is not a race. It's better to apply a little later then apply early with bad MCAT.
You will be fine
Good luck
 
dr.kicia said:
I totally disagree with this statement....
unfortunatelly orgo is 80% memorization and 20% understanding+practice.
The one thing that my professor said at the beggining of the course, and that i took really seriously was to study every day.
If you spend 1 hour a day for orgo you will ace it.
I usually would spend one full day (friday) to go over the whole material that was taken in class that week. I would make flash cards of reactions and do tons of problems.
Orgo is like learning a language. You need to memorize the alphabets and the words before you can practice
The more you practice the better you will be. There is not that much to understand untill you memorize things.
I also recomend Organic chem as a second language...it saved my butt many times.

don't worry, your GPA is still very good. Retake orgo(if you don't want to take the same professor then retake it at CC...i guarantee you WILL learn it there)...and work your butt off with MCAT. It's ok to take it in August. Med school application is not a race. It's better to apply a little later then apply early with bad MCAT.
You will be fine
Good luck
Click to expand...
I studied way more than an hour a day. I thought I understood it but had problems memorizing it. I guess i didn't really totally understand it either. I plan to take it in CC over the summer because my prof sucked. But here's the ratings on one prof at my CC: http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=304057
 
dr.kicia said:
I totally disagree with this statement....
unfortunatelly orgo is 80% memorization and 20% understanding+practice.
The one thing that my professor said at the beggining of the course, and that i took really seriously was to study every day.
If you spend 1 hour a day for orgo you will ace it.
I usually would spend one full day (friday) to go over the whole material that was taken in class that week. I would make flash cards of reactions and do tons of problems.
Orgo is like learning a language. You need to memorize the alphabets and the words before you can practice
The more you practice the better you will be. There is not that much to understand untill you memorize things.
I also recomend Organic chem as a second language...it saved my butt many times.

don't worry, your GPA is still very good. Retake orgo(if you don't want to take the same professor then retake it at CC...i guarantee you WILL learn it there)...and work your butt off with MCAT. It's ok to take it in August. Med school application is not a race. It's better to apply a little later then apply early with bad MCAT.
You will be fine
Good luck
Click to expand...

It really depends on the instructor. Some make you memorize and regurgitate everything, and some help you understand the fundamentals and how to apply them to everything. That is the difference between a bad professor and a good one.
 
jkhamlin said:
It really depends on the instructor. Some make you memorize and regurgitate everything, and some help you understand the fundamentals and how to apply them to everything. That is the difference between a bad professor and a good one.
Click to expand...

yes you do need to understand for instance resonance or electron movement in reactions but when it comes to synthesis and reactions pure understanding will do nothing for you if you do not know your reagents(and that needs to be memorized).
Same thing with spectroscopy. You also cannot know the difference between SN1, SN2, E1 and E2 when shown a reaction if you do not first memorize the rules to recognize them etc.
First memorize then practice...that is how orgo is. Memorization is a major factor here.
 
dr.kicia said:
yes you do need to understand for instance resonance or electron movement in reactions but when it comes to synthesis and reactions pure understanding will do nothing for you if you do not know your reagents(and that needs to be memorized).
Same thing with spectroscopy. You also cannot know the difference between SN1, SN2, E1 and E2 when shown a reaction if you do not first memorize the rules to recognize them etc.
First memorize then practice...that is how orgo is. Memorization is a major factor here.
Click to expand...
No more than memorization is a factor in anything you learn.
 
Dr. Josh said:
Now what am I going to do? I got a D in Organic Chemistry 1 and it's my senior year. I plan to retake it in the summer and then take organic 2. My grades were fairly decent before (3.7 overall and even a 3.9 science); this really killed my gpa and looks horrible. What should I do? Is my dream over? I was only taking it as a pre-req and don't need it to graduate. I don't want to wait to apply. It's Christmas and I'm so horribly depressed.
Click to expand...

I suggest you pick yourself up and try again! You had an excellent gpa before orgo and since you seem to be going the DO route you have a 2nd chance with a retake! So while I know it's hard you need to move on and just figure out what went wrong instead of moaping around like this!
cheers
howie
 
stockmanjr said:
I suggest you pick yourself up and try again! You had an excellent gpa before orgo and since you seem to be going the DO route you have a 2nd chance with a retake! So while I know it's hard you need to move on and just figure out what went wrong instead of moaping around like this!
cheers
howie
Click to expand...

thanks, yea after a few days of depression, I'm trying to move on. The problem is I really have a horrendous summer ahead of me now: 2 semesters of orgo, studying and taking the MCAT, writing applications, shadowing a doctor and doing a special volunteer project, or two. Can I possibly manage this and survive?
 
Dr. Josh said:
thanks, yea after a few days of depression, I'm trying to move on. The problem is I really have a horrendous summer ahead of me now: 2 semesters of orgo, studying and taking the MCAT, writing applications, shadowing a doctor and doing a special volunteer project, or two. Can I possibly manage this and survive?
Click to expand...

why not shadow now?
and also 2 classes that you need for the mcat is not that bad. At least you will have that part of material fresh and more time to review other things. If you do really good in orgo you will fine with just a little bit of practice.
And writing aplications you can do for the whole month while you will be waiting for your MCAT scores to come in. Your applications won't be processed without it anyways.
So that leaves you with just MCAT, orgo and volunteering project...which is no problem if you organize your schedule well.
:luck:
 
Dr. Josh said:
thanks, yea after a few days of depression, I'm trying to move on. The problem is I really have a horrendous summer ahead of me now: 2 semesters of orgo, studying and taking the MCAT, writing applications, shadowing a doctor and doing a special volunteer project, or two. Can I possibly manage this and survive?
Click to expand...

WOW! Intense! I have to be honest with you; I don't think that this is a great idea. Summer classes are much more condensed and fast paced and I think you may have a problem with orgo because of it. Plus, until you have studied for the MCAT, you do not realize that it is really a full time endeavor in of itself. I recommend retaking organic at a community college if you can because the classes tend to be a little easier there. I would definitely not apply until you have taken and passed organic chemistry 1 and 2. Is there anyway you can do some of what you have planned during the spring semester? I think it would be a good idea to spread things out a bit. I think you are going to have a really hard time trying to accomplish everything you have planned for the summer. I am afraid what will happen is that you will end up not doing as well as you want to in everything. Just try to relax and plan things in a way that will not cause you to go insane. Good luck!:luck: 😀
 
DoctorMom78 said:
WOW! Intense! I have to be honest with you; I don't think that this is a great idea. Summer classes are much more condensed and fast paced and I think you may have a problem with orgo because of it. Plus, until you have studied for the MCAT, you do not realize that it is really a full time endeavor in of itself. I recommend retaking organic at a community college if you can because the classes tend to be a little easier there. I would definitely not apply until you have taken and passed organic chemistry 1 and 2. Is there anyway you can do some of what you have planned during the spring semester? I think it would be a good idea to spread things out a bit. I think you are going to have a really hard time trying to accomplish everything you have planned for the summer. I am afraid what will happen is that you will end up not doing as well as you want to in everything. Just try to relax and plan things in a way that will not cause you to go insane. Good luck!:luck: 😀
Click to expand...

I totally agree w. Doctormom that summer classes can def. get very intense. Remember its a semester crammed into between 5-8 weeks and I know it varies from school to school but in my cae summer sci classes meet 4 or 5 days per wk w/ assignments due the following day.
But I disagree w/ the cc thing it depends a lot on the professor. I have taken many classes at cc and a university and sometimes the cc which I expected to be fairly easy this didnot hold true
 
agreed... my summer was almost as intense... I ended up with a 20M on the MCATs and I studied for the MCATs for a whole year... wait to apply until your sure... and don't do too much at once... its better not to overwhelm yourself you will get more out of everything if u dont do as much
 
dr.kicia said:
why not shadow now?
and also 2 classes that you need for the mcat is not that bad. At least you will have that part of material fresh and more time to review other things. If you do really good in orgo you will fine with just a little bit of practice.
And writing aplications you can do for the whole month while you will be waiting for your MCAT scores to come in. Your applications won't be processed without it anyways.
So that leaves you with just MCAT, orgo and volunteering project...which is no problem if you organize your schedule well.
:luck:
Click to expand...


DoctorMom78 said:
WOW! Intense! I have to be honest with you; I don't think that this is a great idea. Summer classes are much more condensed and fast paced and I think you may have a problem with orgo because of it. Plus, until you have studied for the MCAT, you do not realize that it is really a full time endeavor in of itself. I recommend retaking organic at a community college if you can because the classes tend to be a little easier there. I would definitely not apply until you have taken and passed organic chemistry 1 and 2. Is there anyway you can do some of what you have planned during the spring semester? I think it would be a good idea to spread things out a bit. I think you are going to have a really hard time trying to accomplish everything you have planned for the summer. I am afraid what will happen is that you will end up not doing as well as you want to in everything. Just try to relax and plan things in a way that will not cause you to go insane. Good luck!:luck: 😀
Click to expand...


My shadowing position is near my house. I have no car at school, nor any access to shadowing, even if I could get a connection. Honestly i don't even know where the nearest hospital to my school is.😳

I do plan to take orgo at a CC near my house, not because I believe it will be easier but do to expenses and my present financial situation.

Orgo 1 is not offered in the spring; which is why I must take both over the summer. I could start studying for the MCAT during the spring semester but i don't have an easy semester then either.

Do you think it's really late to take the MCAT in July or August either while I'm taking orgo 2 or when I'm done. Will Sept be too late to apply if I'm an average applicant?

I've heard (here) of people applying while taking a pre-req and med schools only required them to take it before they matriculate. Why hasn't anyone mentioned that to me? I know I need to replace my orgo 1 grade before I apply so they don't look too closely at my pathetic D but why not while I'm taking orgo 2? Is it because I shouldn't take the MCAT before completing it?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Goro
So much for D.O. limiting one's options
Replies
8
Views
902
CBass2288
CBass2288
Mr.Smile12
[MSUCOM] So you want to be a DO/PhD? (from Research Scientists forum)
Replies
0
Views
66
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
H
question about american universities, pass fail credits
Replies
1
Views
473
Nontrad_FL_LGBT
N
S
How high should I reach?
Replies
8
Views
744
dial1010usa
D
F
Did I apply too late, or do I have a chance?
Replies
8
Views
2K
Goro
Goro
Top