1 person out of 300 students got an A on the first biochemistry exam

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TooMuchPressure

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The test was 25 questions multiple choice. It was a 92. The professor's grading scale was 75+ is an A but because this semester she started doing all multiple choice the grading scale is 90+ is an A. The average grade of the first exam prior to changing her grading scale was 57. After changing her grading scale to 90+ is an A the first exam average was 50. In other words, she thought making the exam all multiple choice would be easier so she raised the grading scale.



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Really? Biochemistry isn't that hard to have less than 1% of the class making As.

And why the hell are there 300 people in your class?
 
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For some reason it seems as if the chemistry department loves to fail their students in Biochemistry. My class average was a 1.63 GPA and the department apparently didn't bat an eye when the prof submitted her evals.

I would say about 1% of the class got an A in the course as well, and we didn't have the luxury of writing multiple choice exams. Brb regurgitating ridiculous mechansims w/ arrow pushing.
 
Thats annoying. We had more As in my class then that but the average was the same. and we had multiple choice exams. The worst part is that an A is a 93 -__-
Everyday I get up under the impression attendance bonus check will be taken ☕

The A was probably a retake also. My orgo I class was similar. Chemistry departments are a hit or miss it seems across the board.

Time to devote 4 hours a day studying that class alone. Plus you will reap all the benefits for the MCAT.

We have a test in a week. The amount of material, is what one class over a semester would learn, for just this exam. I keep telling myself this is emulating medical school and I need to perform well to shush the worries.
 
Doesn't the department set curve guidelines? Surely the class will be curve balanced by the end of the semester.

I thought even at the harder schools its usually like
15-20% A of some form
30%-35% B of some form
40%-45% C of some form
5%-10% D or lower of some form

roughly kind of like that
 
Spector1 said:
Doesn't the department set curve guidelines? Surely the class will be curve balanced by the end of the semester.

I thought even at the harder schools its usually like
15-20% A of some form
30%-35% B of some form
40%-45% C of some form
5%-10% D or lower of some form

roughly kind of like that
Click to expand...

Honestly at my school, the premed bio classes including biochem were more like 5% A. Chem department didnt curve at all.
 
General Bio at my school was so poorly taught and even more poorly curved.

Biochem was better, managed an A- but had I put more effort in, could have gotten an A.
 
Spector1 said:
Doesn't the department set curve guidelines? Surely the class will be curve balanced by the end of the semester.

I thought even at the harder schools its usually like
15-20% A of some form
30%-35% B of some form
40%-45% C of some form
5%-10% D or lower of some form

roughly kind of like that
Click to expand...

My school doesn't curve prereqs (or only bio I think?). From my understanding it's the same at many places.
 
TooMuchPressure said:
The test was 25 questions multiple choice. It was a 92. The professor's grading scale was 75+ is an A but because this semester she started doing all multiple choice the grading scale is 90+ is an A. The average grade of the first exam prior to changing her grading scale was 57. After changing her grading scale to 90+ is an A the first exam average was 50. In other words, she thought making the exam all multiple choice would be easier so she raised the grading scale.



View attachment 196889
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Were these like MCAT passage multiple choice questions? You would think that even some typical A/B level students would get a little bit lucky and end up with a 90+ in this scenario.
 
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Doudline said:
My school doesn't curve prereqs (or only bio I think?). From my understanding it's the same at many places.
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I find that almost unbelievable. I bet they either they subtly curve it through grading difficulty or the professor is experienced and confident enough to know his standard curriculum will yield the expected curve for a given class. Usually theres a pretty significant pressure for professors to have a reasonable grade curve, especially in entry level courses. If OP's professor recently made a significant change in her syllabus, its very likely that the grading curve will be adjusted.

I had a professor two years ago who had maybe 10 As on his first test and 1 A on his second test (cough, my 92, cough) in a class of ~300 or so. He swore up and down throughout the semester he wouldn't curve. Ended up curving just before the final and making a piss easy final with 75% of the questions lifted from old exams.
 
sorry but lol that sounded like something you would write in a secondary or something

anyways yeah I agree, I also found free response easier for biochem
 
wasteofspace323 said:
I find that almost unbelievable. I bet they either they subtly curve it through grading difficulty or the professor is experienced and confident enough to know his standard curriculum will yield the expected curve for a given class. Usually theres a pretty significant pressure for professors to have a reasonable grade curve, especially in entry level courses. If OP's professor recently made a significant change in her syllabus, its very likely that the grading curve will be adjusted.

I had a professor two years ago who had maybe 10 As on his first test and 1 A on his second test (cough, my 92, cough) in a class of ~300 or so. He swore up and down throughout the semester he wouldn't curve. Ended up curving just before the final and making a piss easy final with 75% of the questions lifted from old exams.
Click to expand...

This isn't that unbelievable at all. Where I went to school there were many courses where it was expected that 1/3+ of the students would take a failing withdrawal or actually fail. Especially at schools with many cutthroat science majors in addition to premeds, this type of grading isnt just tolerated, it is encouraged. Overall OP, just work your butt off and do your best, and hopefully it'll show up on your MCAT.

I'm reminded of a Biochemistry teacher who would overload his 200 person class into a 350 person class because so many kids would take a failing withdrawal after the first exam. His quote "one in three students enter (university) as a pre med. One in ten will go to medical school. It is my job to separate those students from the rest"

Sorry to hear you're stuck in such a Crappy class OP
 
J Senpai said:
Really? Biochemistry isn't that hard to have less than 1% of the class making As.

And why the hell are there 300 people in your class?
Click to expand...
At big schools that's not uncommon at all. My biochem class had two different sections of 350+ people. That's just how it is at large schools.
 
That's biochem for you. We had averages in the 40s and the year before it was in the 30s.

There probably will be some sort of curve or scaling or sth once she realizes the multiple choice was so hard for everyone (sounds like she was expecting the opposite).

I agree I preferred biochem tests with free response as opposed to MC.

Biochem is a lot of material and can be taught at a very in-depth level. It was one of the toughest classes but also one of the most rewarding.

For me it helped to not focus so much on memorizing but on the chemistry concepts and what I like to call chemical reasoning (critical thinking using chemistry knowledge). That way it's easier to deal with new situations on exams or the MCAT. And just know it's a class that will take a big time investment.
 
goldy490 said:
"one in three students enter (university) as a pre med. One in ten will go to medical school. It is my job to separate those students from the rest"

Sorry to hear you're stuck in such a Crappy class OP
Click to expand...

Is it really his job though? Isn't his job to lecture about the course material and let the students know what they themselves can do to adequately prepare for tests? The type of attitude that professor has seems like "you'll have to get through me", and that should be mentioned in the professor evaluations.
 
Spector1 said:
Doesn't the department set curve guidelines? Surely the class will be curve balanced by the end of the semester.

I thought even at the harder schools its usually like
15-20% A of some form
30%-35% B of some form
40%-45% C of some form
5%-10% D or lower of some form

roughly kind of like that
Click to expand...
lol, curves. Good departments don't set curves, as curves reward lazy and incompetent students by setting the bar lower than it should be.

In most of my more difficult courses, there was no curve. Only three students out of over 100 in my Orgo class got an A, for instance, and 40% got a D or F.
 
Mad Jack said:
lol, curves. Good departments don't set curves, as curves reward lazy and incompetent students by setting the bar lower than it should be.

In most of my more difficult courses, there was no curve. Only three students out of over 100 in my Orgo class got an A, for instance, and 40% got a D or F.
Click to expand...
At a certain point, what are they actually gaining from having 40% of the class fail? I get making the class so it's difficult to get an A, but to have that many people fail? That's just ridiculous.
 
Pastamahn said:
At a certain point, what are they actually gaining from having 40% of the class fail? I get making the class so it's difficult to get an A, but to have that many people fail? That's just ridiculous.
Click to expand...

Students retake the courses, which gives the school more money.
 
There were no curves in my biochem class and I was one of only 5 As. I think we had 40 people in the class, though. I can't imagine a class of 300+.
 
ok so this where I have a major disconnect...I'm sure there are schools that do grade using a curve so how do the adcoms know the difference between a 3.7 at a school that does and doesn't grade on curve. Also some schools a 90 is an A and other a 92 is an A.
 
Pastamahn said:
At a certain point, what are they actually gaining from having 40% of the class fail? I get making the class so it's difficult to get an A, but to have that many people fail? That's just ridiculous.
Click to expand...
It keeps people who can't handle higher level sciences out of their upper division courses, and gives an honest assessment of the knowledge of the students. Their A doesn't say, "this student was the best out of the ones we had," it says, "this student actually knows and understands the material." Likewise, their D or F does not say, "this student was the worst of the class," it says, "this student did not understand the material enough to handle further coursework."
 
redzone1 said:
ok so this where I have a major disconnect...I'm sure there are schools that do grade using a curve so how do the adcoms know the difference between a 3.7 at a school that does and doesn't grade on curve. Also some schools a 90 is an A and other a 92 is an A.
Click to expand...
They don't. Which is why you should go to the school and take the major in which you can succeed, not the school in which you can get a shiny degree and a fancy major in which you can barely skate by.
 
Mad Jack said:
It keeps people who can't handle higher level sciences out of their upper division courses, and gives an honest assessment of the knowledge of the students. Their A doesn't say, "this student was the best out of the ones we had," it says, "this student actually knows and understands the material." Likewise, their D or F does not say, "this student was the worst of the class," it says, "this student did not understand the material enough to handle further coursework."
Click to expand...

I have to strongly disagree here. Curves don't lower the bar, they allow the professor to make the course challenging while not punishing students for allowing themselves to be challenged. I think competitive (curved) grading in intro classes is really stupid because there the material is broad and easy enough to just know it or not but in advanced courses there should be higher expectations than just understanding what was taught in lecture and often that means asking difficult, open-ended questions that require a lot of thinking on the part of the student. Otherwise upper-div science would be just like lower division and who wants to live in that world? I sure don't.
 
wasteofspace323 said:
I find that almost unbelievable. I bet they either they subtly curve it through grading difficulty or the professor is experienced and confident enough to know his standard curriculum will yield the expected curve for a given class. Usually theres a pretty significant pressure for professors to have a reasonable grade curve, especially in entry level courses. If OP's professor recently made a significant change in her syllabus, its very likely that the grading curve will be adjusted.

I had a professor two years ago who had maybe 10 As on his first test and 1 A on his second test (cough, my 92, cough) in a class of ~300 or so. He swore up and down throughout the semester he wouldn't curve. Ended up curving just before the final and making a piss easy final with 75% of the questions lifted from old exams.
Click to expand...

My undergrad science departments did not curve at all except for Orgo, and it was just a different scale. 88+ was an A, 76+ was a B, 65+ was a C, 50 percent marked failing. There were also no pluses or minuses in orgo for us, but there were in every other class. Not sure why, that's just how it worked. Biochem was the normal 90-80-70 scale for us.

Mad Jack said:
It keeps people who can't handle higher level sciences out of their upper division courses, and gives an honest assessment of the knowledge of the students. Their A doesn't say, "this student was the best out of the ones we had," it says, "this student actually knows and understands the material." Likewise, their D or F does not say, "this student was the worst of the class," it says, "this student did not understand the material enough to handle further coursework."
Click to expand...

There's a bit of a caveat there though in terms of the professors ability. If a large portion of a class (25% or more) is failing orgo it tells me that either there are a lot of people taking it that haven't taken other pre-reqs yet, or the professor is such a bad teacher that he/she needs to be replaced. Orgo is tough, but it's not rocket science.
 
Stagg737 said:
My undergrad science departments did not curve at all except for Orgo, and it was just a different scale. 88+ was an A, 76+ was a B, 65+ was a C, 50 percent marked failing. There were also no pluses or minuses in orgo for us, but there were in every other class. Not sure why, that's just how it worked. Biochem was the normal 90-80-70 scale for us.



There's a bit of a caveat there though in terms of the professors ability. If a large portion of a class (25% or more) is failing orgo it tells me that either there are a lot of people taking it that haven't taken other pre-reqs yet, or the professor is such a bad teacher that he/she needs to be replaced. Orgo is tough, but it's not rocket science.
Click to expand...
See, that implies it is the teacher's job to make sure you understand the material. I was one of the students that got an A, and I didn't get it because he taught me everything, I got it because he straight up told us "there is no way for me to teach you everything in our short lecture time together. You will need to read the materials I place online and the book chapters assigned if you want to both understand the material adequately and get a good grade." That class taught me to teach myself, and made me realize that mastering the material was my responsibility, not my professor's. That was a perfect lesson to learn before medical school, and has served me well.
 
300 students in a class... what is this? Caribbeans?
 
Glazedonutlove said:
lol I didn't know this was unusual thing... it's the norm around here 😀
Click to expand...

I have not seen a class with more than 200 students after freshman classes.

Doesn't your school advertise their "low staff:student" ratios? What do the rest of the staff do? Clean toilets?

I don't know, I had like a max of 35 people per class - but I went to a tiny engineering school. I think we had less than a thousand students in each class (graduating year).
 
moisne said:
I have not seen a class with more than 200 students after freshman classes.

Doesn't your school advertise their "low staff:student" ratios? What do the rest of the staff do? Clean toilets?

I don't know, I had like a max of 35 people per class - but I went to a tiny engineering school. I think we had less than a thousand students in each class (graduating year).
Click to expand...

You do realize giant schools exist... right?
 
moisne said:
I have not seen a class with more than 200 students after freshman classes.

Doesn't your school advertise their "low staff:student" ratios? What do the rest of the staff do? Clean toilets?

I don't know, I had like a max of 35 people per class - but I went to a tiny engineering school. I think we had less than a thousand students in each class (graduating year).
Click to expand...
so much ignorance
 
Mad Jack said:
See, that implies it is the teacher's job to make sure you understand the material. I was one of the students that got an A, and I didn't get it because he taught me everything, I got it because he straight up told us "there is no way for me to teach you everything in our short lecture time together. You will need to read the materials I place online and the book chapters assigned if you want to both understand the material adequately and get a good grade." That class taught me to teach myself, and made me realize that mastering the material was my responsibility, not my professor's. That was a perfect lesson to learn before medical school, and has served me well.
Click to expand...

That's all well and good, but it is the professors job to make sure you know what to study and make sure the class is presented with at least the basics. That's what they're paid to do, whether a student actually learns it is a different story. Still, there's no way 25% of the class fails if the professor does that assuming they're actually studying.

moisne said:
I have not seen a class with more than 200 students after freshman classes.

Doesn't your school advertise their "low staff:student" ratios? What do the rest of the staff do? Clean toilets?

I don't know, I had like a max of 35 people per class - but I went to a tiny engineering school. I think we had less than a thousand students in each class (graduating year).
Click to expand...

There are plenty of schools out there with 10,000+ students in each graduating class. Does it really surprise you that some classes would have hundreds of students? Especially for classes like biochem which may only have 1 section each year...
 
LOL - you guys missed the point.

Even BIG schools have to post staff:student ratios. You don't want to be posting "come here, we have a 300:1 ratio of staff students - it's like watching lectures online!"

I had figured by junior year - they would've cut the sizes smaller.

Glazedonutlove said:
so much ignorance
Click to expand...
Yes - which is why I said "I don't know".
 
Glazedonutlove said:
probably bc free response includes partial credit
Click to expand...
Yeah but she provided her an old exam which was way easier than the actual thing. Obviously I don't trust that it was actually an old exam but who knows. Like on the old exam she would ask using chymotrypsin and trypsin draw the amino acid sequence of the product or something then on the new exam she would ask for ph, pka, pga, gpa, mcat score, what she bad for breakfast and what size her shoe is, and how many cuts of each and the ph differences would be like .1 off from the other answer. It was awful.
 
Stagg737 said:
That's all well and good, but it is the professors job to make sure you know what to study and make sure the class is presented with at least the basics. That's what they're paid to do, whether a student actually learns it is a different story. Still, there's no way 25% of the class fails if the professor does that assuming they're actually studying.



There are plenty of schools out there with 10,000+ students in each graduating class. Does it really surprise you that some classes would have hundreds of students? Especially for classes like biochem which may only have 1 section each year...
Click to expand...
I really think a lot of the other students really didn't try all that hard. I didn't exactly go to a powerhouse institution, so a lot of the students weren't exactly cream of the crop.
 
moisne said:
LOL - you guys missed the point.

Even BIG schools have to post staff:student ratios. You don't want to be posting "come here, we have a 300:1 ratio of staff students - it's like watching lectures online!"

I had figured by junior year - they would've cut the sizes smaller.


Yes - which is why I said "I don't know".
Click to expand...
Many schools have professors that might only teach one semester of lecture per year and spend the rest of the time doing research. It's kind of like how many med schools might have 5:1 faculty to student ratio, it doesn't mean you're sitting in first year lecture all alone with five professors lecturing to just you. Most of the faculty have zero to minimal actual lecturing duties.
 
cloudmurder1 said:
Is it really his job though? Isn't his job to lecture about the course material and let the students know what they themselves can do to adequately prepare for tests? The type of attitude that professor has seems like "you'll have to get through me", and that should be mentioned in the professor evaluations.
Click to expand...

The thing is that is what the department wants. In a school where 1/3 of the entire freshman class is "premed" the chemistry, bio, and physics departments (which only receive a certain amount of funding) don't want to be crushed under the weight of a million premeds when they don't have that capacity to succeed in higher division courses. In these kind of science classes you aren't judged compared to your peers, you are judged on an absolute scale of competent in the material or not. As @Mad Jack said, they are evaluating if you are ready to take upper level courses in the hard sciences (which most premeds don't intense to do, hence why some people get crushed by uselessly hard pre reqs)

Another great quote: "you can all master the material and all get As. You can also all Fail. If no one has mastered the material, then no one will pass and I'll see you again next semester."
 
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