advice: should i drop?

[Dave4468]

Soo...my teacher is really bad...

My chem 1 class is 5 units, if I drop it I will be at 9 units. It will be difficult just pulling off a C at this point, and the drop date is next week. I'm thinking about just roughing it out at pulling off a C and then proving myself next semester getting an A in the second part of g-chem. I'm stressing :\

any advice?

P.S.
My current GPA is 3.59 and I'm in my first year

 

[tharper14]

Just drop it if you're going to take it over anyways. A "W" will look better than a C and it won't affect your gpa.

 

[tellsarah]

My vote: Drop

Dont worry about going down to 9 hrs. If you have financial aid, you can get forgiveness so they wont take away your funds for next semester.
Save C's for harder classes like Organic.

 

[PCPharm]

I say drop too so it won't hurt your gpa in the long run.

 

[Dave4468]

thanks for the responses, so far I'm leaning towards dropping..

I guess I'm mainly worried about bad dropping to 9 units will look...

 

[jspwinter]

Probably one of the most helpful sites to visit when registering for classes is http://www.ratemyprofessor.com . I'm sure many others know about it but it can give you an idea of how the professor is like and how they're teaching style is. And remember to leave feedback about your current professors so others can avoid horrible teachers.

 

[PCPharm]

Oh yeah I use that site too. It helps a lot. And when you have no choice in whose class to take, at least it gets you mentally prepared for what you're signing up for. haha

 

[glowinglimabean]

I'd say drop the class. Some schools will ask you why you dropped any class so be ready for that.

 

[bwsalvas]

My advice is take the W or R or whatever they may call it at your school.

I had a similar situation two years ago where I knew I could do so much better in a class but the professor was just horrible.

Well I "stuck it out" and got a D. I took the class over and got an A- no sweat, but that D was still on my transcript and the schools that I applied to wanted to average the grades together.

A biology professor told me that a resignation is better than a C+ if you can get better than a C+ taking the class over.

Good luck with everything.

 

[RxWildcat]

Do as everyone has said, if you'd get a "W" then go for it, but if you'd get an "I" then I'd stick it out and retake it later. I had a "W" on my transcript and it didn't seem to affect me.

 

[meowmeow]

Sometimes a C is worse than a W. So yes, u should drop it. Plus ure probably not learning much, right? If u get financial aid, sometimes if u drop in the middle they will still give u financial aid as if u were still full-time.

 

[jspwinter]

ps you shouldn't be struggling in gen chem.

 

[OrllY]

you can't blame the teacher for being a bad teacher, chemistry is a tough class, i got a c- in it, never retook it, but now I just got accepted into pharmacy school. what makes you think you'll score higher if you retake it?

 

[mrblah]

drop it, I'd rather take a W than a C (as long as you don't have alot of W's). One or two W's won't hurt your chances getting into pharmacy school and will have no bearing on your gpa. Getting a C will definitely hurt your gpa and hard to make up for it (if the school averages retaking classes).

 

[UTPharm]

how do ppl get into pharmacy schools with C-s on their transcript? Seriously tho, at Toledo, if you have more then 2 or so B's you probably wouldn't get in unles EVERY other class was an A.

 

[rowerpharm]

I think it is important to emphasize that while taking the W is probably the better route, you need to work hard next term when you take the class again and get an A (or B, if you just can't get that A). It would look bad if you took the W this term and got a C next term. Before you drop the course, make sure it is something you are willing to put the time and effort into next term to get a decent grade.

 

[tootoo30]

Drop it QUICK! At least the W won't be factored into your GPA!

 

[OrllY]

how do ppl get into pharmacy schools with C-s on their transcript? Seriously tho, at Toledo, if you have more then 2 or so B's you probably wouldn't get in unles EVERY other class was an A.

99 on chemistry portion of pcat
i'd say my gpa is below average of where i am attending, but the pcat saved my life.

 

[Drug Doc]

how do ppl get into pharmacy schools with C-s on their transcript? Seriously tho, at Toledo, if you have more then 2 or so B's you probably wouldn't get in unles EVERY other class was an A.

lol is this a serious comment? its people like you that scare these poor applicants into living in the library. tsk tsk

 

[Philanderz]

Drop it... but be sure to when you take it again... try harder to have a satisfactory grade.




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[RxWildcat]

Well the drop date for his class was in early May, so he's already dropped if he was going to drop.

 

[naseuy]

1 or 2 withdrawn courses shouldn't be too much of a problem. A big fat F would definitely lower your science gpa.

 

[Dave4468]

Well the drop date for his class was in early May, so he's already dropped if he was going to drop.

yes I dropped it long ago
thanks, and I appreciate all the comments and advice. I'm going to be taking it in the Summer and definitely try to ace it this time;]

 

[vaioman08]

yes I dropped it long ago
thanks, and I appreciate all the comments and advice. I'm going to be taking it in the Summer and definitely try to ace it this time;]

Good move. You're only a freshman. Many grad schools could care less about drops during your first two years. When you get to organic and on, you'll be glad you didn't just get by with a C. You use nearly every bit of general chemistry in organic chemistry, especially the labs. The better you know gen chem, the better you will understand organic chemistry.

 

[RxWildcat]

Well this is off topic, but I disagree about using general chemistry in organic chemistry. I used very little or no general chemistry in organic chem. I do agree that dropping the class was the right move though

 

[bklyngirl]

lol is this a serious comment? its people like you that scare these poor applicants into living in the library. tsk tsk

I for one take comments like that with a grain of salt!!! People like that don't take their heads out of their textbooks long enough to realize that
there's much more to the admissions process other than all A's.

 

[triumphbr]

I for one take comments like that with a grain of salt!!! People like that don't take their heads out of their textbooks long enough to realize that
there's much more to the admissions process other than all A's.

Yep, but when you have all the A's you don't have to worry as much about the other stuff. Personally getting the A's was easier than having to stress over doing super good on the PCAT, hoping for a great interview or any of that other junk.

A's in hard classes speak for themselves and you have nothing to prove other than that you are not socially inept which shouldn't be all that hard.

Plus you have more control over getting A's than anything else in the process so why wouldn't you want to take full advantage of it?

 

[bklyngirl]

Yep, but when you have all the A's you don't have to worry as much about the other stuff. Personally getting the A's was easier than having to stress over doing super good on the PCAT, hoping for a great interview or any of that other junk.

A's in hard classes speak for themselves and you have nothing to prove other than that you are not socially inept which shouldn't be all that hard.

Plus you have more control over getting A's than anything else in the process so why wouldn't you want to take full advantage of it?

I agree to an extent - BUT the PCAT is quite similar to the ACT and I think it should be given equal weight to GPA when making admissions decisions.
Grade inflation is quite common in many colleges (some even practice grade deflation), so comparing GPA's is not always an accurate measure of who's more academically prepared. I've known some students who would just need to show up in class to get a good grade, some had professors who awarded hugh curves, and others who struggled and worked extremely hard with an extremely tough professor and never made a B. Sometimes you don't have as much control over getting A's as you would like to.
The PCAT, like the ACT, is the best measure in comparing college students from various schools, as everyone's being tested on the same content.
It is true that some are not very good test takers, but unfortunately testing does not end with an admission, as we are all aware that passing the NAPLEX is needed to earn your pharmD degree.
I also think that a student with a high GPA that cannot do well on the PCAT after 2-3 times would raise a red flag to admissions officers. Bad test taker excuse would probably not be an indicator because how then can a bad test taker have a high GPA, which is the direct result of achieving high grades on a numerous amount of tests?
There are many applicants with GPA's slightly above 3.0 that have a much more impressive well-roundedness and get accepted, while there are some 4.0ers with nothing but GPA to brag about that get rejected.
The ideal applicant is someone that has an extremely high GPA and PCAT, and has found time to volunteer and have work related experience in the pharmacy field. I wonder how many applicants meet that criteria, and to the ones who do, they deserve a standing ovation!