a C in orgo lab but A in orgo lecture...

[buiboy98]

So hey i need to ask for some advice and comments. I'm a 2nd year premed student at UVA and I got a C in Organic chemistry lab for this semester. However I got an A in organic chem lecture. I know i can't do much about it right now since it's its done and over with but how bad will a C look on my transcript? Will it ruin my chances to get into say... uva medical school??? Will medical schools understand that lab is for some strange reason alot more difficult than lecture at UVA??

thanks you!!

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[CapnCrunch]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=687261

 

[CapnCrunch]

Consider yourself lucky that it was in lab. Labs are usually one credit (at my school at least) and therefore have less impact in your GPA.

 

[YouNeverKnow22]

how on earth did you get a C in lab?

 

[nabeel76]

So hey i need to ask for some advice and comments. I'm a 2nd year premed student at UVA and I got a C in Organic chemistry lab for this semester. However I got an A in organic chem lecture. I know i can't do much about it right now since it's its done and over with but how bad will a C look on my transcript? Will it ruin my chances to get into say... uva medical school??? Will medical schools understand that lab is for some strange reason alot more difficult than lecture at UVA??

thanks you!!

Same thing happened to me, I got a C in Orgo I lab but a A in lecture at UVA. The labs over there are really really skrewed up in terms of grading. They have some weird system which try's to equalize the grades across all of the sections (approx 10-15 different sections w/ different TA's) of ochem lab taught that semester.

Basically you are ranked within your section, for example if there are 15 students in your section, and you are ranked number 1 of the 15 - that does not guarantee you an A. The only thing that that guarantee's you is that you will get a higher grade then student number 2 no matter what either one of you get on the final exam. If student number 3 in your section kills the final exam and student number 1 bombs it - student number 1 still comes off with the higher grade, even if the original difference between student 1 and 3 is a matter of a few points. The final exam is somehow used to determine the final grades between sections. It is therefore possible that no one in your section will get an A if someone in your section does not out perform the highest score in the other sections on the rediculously hard final. So if there are slackers in your section you will suffer. The system was supposedly designed to account for the variances in the difficulties of the individual TA's and somehow equalize the grade.

I am not sure if that system still exists, I took Ochem lab in 2006, but I never fully understood how it was done.

 

[nabeel76]

Consider yourself lucky that it was in lab. Labs are usually one credit (at my school at least) and therefore have less impact in your GPA.

No this was a 3 credit stand alone lab, same effect on your gpa as the lecture course.

 

[metallica81788]

I had a C in Organic lab (2 hours), but Bs in Organic I and II (6 hours combined).

It didn't hurt my GPA that much, but I was asked about it at some interviews. Organic Lab at my school is run by a premed-hating witch, to say the least.

 

[rctriplefresh5]

how on earth did you get a C in lab?

maybe it was hard for him? how on earth are you going to be a doctor if youre rude?

 

[buiboy98]

yea...its a 3 credit course. i was ranked 5 out of 13. supposedly 55% was supposed to get As or Bs...and apparently my section did not score high enough. i just put way more effort into lab than lecture which is why im disappointed in what i got.

but hey nabeel76 if u havent already applied to med schools, how did applications go?? like were u able to get interviews at schools you wanted?

 

[Dr McSexy]

Organic Lab at my school is run by a premed-hating witch, to say the least.

HaHa, glad I didn't have her. I don't think anyone likes her. The guy actually curved my grade up to an A (I was 4 test points away) .

 

[nabeel76]

yea...its a 3 credit course. i was ranked 5 out of 13. supposedly 55% was supposed to get As or Bs...and apparently my section did not score high enough. i just put way more effort into lab than lecture which is why im disappointed in what i got.

but hey nabeel76 if u havent already applied to med schools, how did applications go?? like were u able to get interviews at schools you wanted?

Well I didn't do as well as I would've liked to on the MCAT and scored about 7points lower then my AAMC averages so I decided to retake the MCAT and withdraw my applications from the med schools that I did apply to - so I am not sure how that would be viewed.

However that single grade didn't affect my GPA too much since I have about 175 credits (Degree in Biology and Chemistry) and I did very well in all of my other science courses.

Yeah I didn't think that grading system was fair either so just hang in there and know that its not a good indicator of how well you'll do in your other science courses. Just make sure you get no more C's in the sciences if at all possible.

 

[YouNeverKnow22]

maybe it was hard for him? how on earth are you going to be a doctor if youre rude?

I thought being rude was a key trait for being a doctor, specifically a surgeon

 

[Handinhand]

I got an A in both OChem I and II, but a B in lab.

The reason? I had two great lecturers, but one ******* of a TA for lab.

 

[Snarkalark]

yeah i was close to getting a B in lab too. it's really just a crap shoot as to what kind of t.a. you get. i got the hardest one in the department. luckily, they standardize at my school.

 

[FlowRate]

I got an A in both OChem I and II, but a B in lab.

The reason? I had two great lecturers, but one ******* of a TA for lab.

Lab is one place where I can accept that your instructor is a huge factor in your grade. At my school, we're graded on a curve vs. the rest of my class, but I know that the grades would have been much lower if we all had simply been given the grades that my TA gave us. Nobody had over 95% in a 30 person lab afaik.

 

[Steelersfan2009]

I got a B+ in orgo lab, because I made a C on the final.. that final was near impossible I still remember this.. 92 going into final and a B+ coming out of it lol.. i hate when profs make terrible finals.
made As in Orgo 1 and 2 though which i was happy about. Orgo lab at my school was 2 credits.