A bad apple or two...

[swinks]

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When in interview they ask you about a poor grade, what would be the most appropiate thing to tell them?

What would they want to hear? Do they get that nobody is perfect and can't all have straight A's with a 4.0 GPA?

Right now, I foresee one on my transcript.
I assume they don't want to hear something like; "My professor was an absolute dick and shouldn't be teaching university courses." Because that's all I got.

My transcript is mostly A's (>80%) with a few B's (70%< Grade obtained <80%), but this one may be a C (<70%). :-(

Currently, my GPA for the required courses is about a 3.6 or 3.7. I'm scared this ones gonna ruin me.

 

[DVMorBust]

When in interview they ask you about a poor grade, what would be the most appropiate thing to tell them?

What would they want to hear? Do they get that nobody is perfect and can't all have straight A's with a 4.0 GPA?

Right now, I foresee one on my transcript.
I assume they don't want to hear something like; "My professor was an absolute dick and shouldn't be teaching university courses." Because that's all I got.

My transcript is mostly A's (>80%) with a few B's (70%< Grade obtained <80%), but this one may be a C (<70%). :-(

Currently, my GPA for the required courses is about a 3.6 or 3.7. I'm scared this ones gonna ruin me.

One C won't 'ruin' you. Everyone has subjects that are more difficult for them. Just learn what you need to from it (study habits, etc.) and move on.

As for the interview answer, in that situation I'd probably say something like 'I found that this course challenged me in unexpected ways. While the subject material was difficult, the way in which it was presented provided the largest hurdle. Throughout the semester I struggled with that class, but it gave me the opportunity to learn a new set of study skills, as well as the ability to recognize when an academic situation is going poorly, and I'm confident that if put in that situation again, I would recognize the signs earlier and be better equipped to act on them effectively."

 

[david594]

Where are you going to school?

The grade cutoffs you mention are different than whats kind of the standard in the USA.

 

[katryn]

DVMorBust's response is a pretty good one, and you can cater it even more to the specific problem you had with the class.

My 3 C's were in classes that involved course material that I had taken several times before (cell bio, genetics, etc.). When asked why I made poor grades in "easy" classes, I pointed out that I had trouble focusing on material that I felt I already knew and had to work much harder to rememorize material in the way it was presented by the teacher, as opposed to learning something from scratch.

Find something about the class that is difficult, minus having a crappy teacher, and find a way that it may have improved you.

 

[1CellNtheSea]

Don't worry so much about C's. I had 3 in undergrad and I got in without even an interview. The strength of your application is balanced with experience, LORs, and personal statement. While grades are important, they aren't completely everything. But of course don't go slack off, always try your best! You should worry of course about getting low grades but if you gave 100% then there's nothing more you could have done. My 2 cents.

 

[sumstorm]

I had several C's. I probably had an out since I worked FT and attended college FT. One of the best things I ever did was obtain certification as a tutor in those subjects (chem and biochem) which also supported the idea that I understood the material but couldn't perform/recall fast enough on the exams. Oh, it also probably helped that the highest grade in any o chem class in the 4 years I attended was a B+.

 

[Skillet9886]

Obviously try your best in all your classes, but one C isn't the end of the world. I had 2 C's and 2 C+'s and got in without a problem. One of the C+'s was in Bio 1 🙂eek🙂, and it was from a bad professor. Ugh, I still do not like him. Anyway, I had 3 interviews and never got asked about that class. Actually, I never got asked point blank to "explain" my grades, and my GPA is below average for the schools I applied to. I ended up bringing up my grades in my UF interview (bad idea? maybe.). One of the questions I asked dealt with how difficult vet school is academically and how I will handle the stress. I told them that I have come to terms with the fact that I am not going to just "get" everything and that I have to get over that. I said I got C's in orgo and freaked out at the time because "no one gets into vet schools with C's." That is definitely not true. At all.

So you can handle it however you'd like, but, depending on where you apply, I would be very surprised if they brought up one C on your transcript and expected an explanation for it. Especially if you do well on the GRE. I have gotten the impression that most vet schools (obviously can't speak for all of them....well, any of them, really) seek out students that are well-rounded. I have met very few well-rounded people with 4.0 undergrad GPAs. Not saying they don't exist, just saying I don't know them.

 

[swinks]

Thanks guys for your stories.

Where are you going to school?

The grade cutoffs you mention are different than whats kind of the standard in the USA.

How so?

 

[twelvetigers]

He means that here, 'A's are usually 90%+, 'B's 80% - 89%, 'C's 70% - 79%, etc.

 

[swinks]

90's in the science program at my school are RARE. Hence, I have none.

They do happen, but like I say, not very often.

 

[david594]

90's in the science program at my school are RARE. Hence, I have none.

They do happen, but like I say, not very often.

It would be easier if you just mentioned where you went to school.

I am kind of assuming you are from cananda as that grading scheme is common there.

 

[swinks]

Right you are- Canadian.

StFX is the school I go to.

 

[Bill59]

I assume they don't want to hear something like; "My professor was an absolute dick and shouldn't be teaching university courses."

You assume correctly. Blaming your performance on the professor is bad strategy. Remember, there's a good chance the persons interviewing you are teachers themselves. So they have likely had the experience of teaching a class where most of the students did well and 1 or 2 did poorly and proceeded to blame the teacher. This tends to annoy the teacher.

annoying interviewer = bad