Anticipating poor grade in Physics II--keep or withdraw?

[lbecktell]

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Hi all,

I got stuck with a real dud of a professor for Physics II this summer session. He's a barely audible old man who reads directly off his slides, and spends little to no time actually teaching concepts--just regurgitating the text and writing down long, complicated formula derivations. I have taught myself the entire course thus far, and thought I was doing well until I took the first exam today--four questions, two from the homework and two over concepts and solving styles I swear he never even included on his slides or lectures. Got the first 2 right, and had no idea how to solve the last two.

When I asked him about how I could best study for the questions where we have no basic concepts to fall back on, he smiled smugly at me and told me that those who succeed in medical school are those who can figure out how to get an A in his course, since the stress, panic, and lack of information apparently simulate real life.

Okay.

Well, I am anticipating a C in this course if the tests continue to progress the way they have, and I know I'll have to retake the course either way to raise my grade. However--do I stick through it, take the C, and then retake in a regular semester, or do I withdraw now and retake? What looks better to vet schools and why? Will one C in a course (even if i retook it for an A or B) completely ruin my chances? For reference, I have a 3.7 GPA from my first degree and all my pre-reqs thus far have been a 4.0GPA.

Thanks!!!

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Well, I am anticipating a C in this course if the tests continue to progress the way they have, and I know I'll have to retake the course either way to raise my grade. However--do I stick through it, take the C, and then retake in a regular semester, or do I withdraw now and retake? What looks better to vet schools and why? Will one C in a course (even if i retook it for an A or B) completely ruin my chances? For reference, I have a 3.7 GPA from my first degree and all my pre-reqs thus far have been a 4.0GPA.

Thanks!!!

Absolutely not.

 

[beatles1964]

Hi all,

I got stuck with a real dud of a professor for Physics II this summer session. He's a barely audible old man who reads directly off his slides, and spends little to no time actually teaching concepts--just regurgitating the text and writing down long, complicated formula derivations. I have taught myself the entire course thus far, and thought I was doing well until I took the first exam today--four questions, two from the homework and two over concepts and solving styles I swear he never even included on his slides or lectures. Got the first 2 right, and had no idea how to solve the last two.

When I asked him about how I could best study for the questions where we have no basic concepts to fall back on, he smiled smugly at me and told me that those who succeed in medical school are those who can figure out how to get an A in his course, since the stress, panic, and lack of information apparently simulate real life.

Okay.

Well, I am anticipating a C in this course if the tests continue to progress the way they have, and I know I'll have to retake the course either way to raise my grade. However--do I stick through it, take the C, and then retake in a regular semester, or do I withdraw now and retake? What looks better to vet schools and why? Will one C in a course (even if i retook it for an A or B) completely ruin my chances? For reference, I have a 3.7 GPA from my first degree and all my pre-reqs thus far have been a 4.0GPA.

Thanks!!!

What an arrogant man! I would have been boiling if a teacher came back with a line like that especially given the fact you took the high road asking for help instead of demanding a higher grade or outright blaming him for his faultly teaching. You're in a tough spot, but you certainly aren't the first pre-vet to be dealt an awful teacher with a bad grading/teaching style. Although I had not gotten any C's during undergrad, I came close with several B-'s and like you, I seriously considered the possibility of having to retake courses. Personally, if you haven't gotten any C's previously and don't expect any more I would finish the course, take the C, and look at how it affects your overall GPAs (cumulative, last 45, science). It would probably drop your science GPA lower than overall cumulative, but schools will be able to see the ccourses you took and grades you received and immediately spot the outlying C grade and likely attribute it to a "bad semester, rough patch, poor teacher, etc." If it is your only C, I wouldn't bother retaking the course if your grades are high. Just be prepared to explain your lower grade if they should ask during interviews. There is a section of VMCAS that allows you to provide explanations about anything on your application you feel needs explaining, however this isn't the place to badmouth professors even though it may be rightly deserved. I was specifically asked a question during one of my interviews along the lines of, "Have you ever received a poor grade/struggled in a class and if so how did you handle it?" They would rather see that you stuck it out until the end and know that you know how to accept a lower grade than you might be used to and move on.

Hope this helps, best of luck!

 

[Gwenevre]

Oh honey I feel your pain. Only C on my transcript is from Physics II, same type of professor. I was 1% away from a B and he still wouldn't give me the grade. Don't worry about it, honestly.

 

[LetItSnow]

I don't feel the OP's pain, because all I see is "not my fault!"

My first suggestion is that you take responsibility for your grade and not try to blame the teacher.

 

[LetItSnow]

Oh honey I feel your pain. Only C on my transcript is from Physics II, same type of professor. I was 1% away from a B and he still wouldn't give me the grade. Don't worry about it, honestly.

I don't get this. If you were 1% away you were 1% away. Why should the rest of the class need a 90% or whatever for an A and you only need 89%? What about the person who was only 1% behind you? If your grade deserves an A surely their grade does, for the same reason.

Cutoff are cutoffs. if you want the grade above the cutoff, score above it. *shrug

I missed an A in some first year vet school class by 1 POINT - about .20%. That's my fault, not the teacher's, and I got the B that I earned.

 

[lbecktell]

I don't feel the OP's pain, because all I see is "not my fault!"

My first suggestion is that you take responsibility for your grade and not try to blame the teacher.

Gosh, thanks so much for the lovely sentiments, and vote of confidence for my study skills and motivation to succeed!

I'm an intelligent person, and a hard worker. I study hard for this class, attend every one of his "homework question and answer" sessions (I am often the only one), and I have enlisted the help of the school tutor. I think you should understand that it is possible that despite my hard work, there will be a professor whose teaching style I don't mesh with. This guy isn't working for me. He isn't working with me, either. It's frustrating to feel like you spend your entire day doing physics, only to encounter things on the test that he simply never went over because he ran out of class time, and according to him, it's our job to teach ourselves the material he didn't cover.

Look. If I could explain the material to myself, I would. I'd have saved the cost of taking the class with this guy over a strenuous 5 week summer session, and I'd have aced his exam because I would understand the concepts so damn well. But I don't, despite my best efforts. And yeah, I see myself getting a less than stellar grade.

Instead of snarking that you think I am a whiner, why don't you offer something constructive? I'm not getting an A, it's clear. Okay, I owned that, and I asked what to do. It's going to affect my GPA either way.

 

[LetItSnow]

Instead of snarking that you think I am a whiner, why don't you offer something constructive? I'm not getting an A, it's clear. Okay, I owned that, and I asked what to do. It's going to affect my GPA either way.

I did give you constructive advice: Instead of blaming your grade on someone else, take personal responsibility for it. Your grade is your grade; it's not your teacher's fault just because you don't happen to like the way they teach, or their advice, or whatever.

Not meshing with someone's teaching style sucks, to be sure. But that doesn't make your grade his fault. You said he doesn't teach concepts. Ok, so what? Get a book. Get two books. It happens - some teachers suck. It's still your responsibility to learn the material.

You didn't really 'own' the grade. You spent 2/3rds of your post blaming the teacher and then asked if you should withdraw. Not sure how you feel that is "owning" the grade, but.....

Anyway. WTF gave you the answer to the specific question of how it will impact your chances.

 

[dovelover]

Having a crappy professor can certainly negatively impact your success in a class, either because you have trouble learning from them or because they do a crappily unfair job of creating the assessments by which your grade will be determined. But it's not the sole determinant. There's not much you can do about the professor at this point (have fun writing a horrible course evaluation when all is said and done, I suppose), so you really just have to try hard not to focus all of your energy on being mad and frustrated. It'll just make you get flustered and do worse on your exams. These entry level science courses are often made to be weed out courses, and some professors take that idea too far. They want to discourage not only those who don't have the academic aptitude, but also those who don't have the determination and ability to not let this stuff get to them and keep with it regardless. If you stick with it, you may end up finding that your final grade isn't as bad as you thought it would be, especially if a lot of people have trouble in the class. Maybe you will still get a C, but it's not going to kill you. You'll still get some cruddy professors in vet school, and you'll have to deal with some dickheads and idiotic clients when your a vet. The sooner you learn how to not let this crap get to you, the better off you'll be.

 

[LetItSnow]

H You'll still get some cruddy professors in vet school,

Gasp. Say it isn't so! 🙂

 

[Kyoht]

I would take the C. If it were anything lower I would take a W on my transcripts and then retake. Physics II is not a cake class (as you surely know) and I don't think 1 C would hurt your chances since you have a respectable GPA already. Some might even say a W would look worse because you quit and did not follow through.

I completely understand teacher/student learning styles that don't mesh - I've been in that situation too. I've also experienced it in the workplace. I've learned that almost everyone finds themselves in this situation at some point in their life. Playing the blame game isn't going to raise your grade or help so my advice is to keep doing the best you can. LIS has a very good point, real life is not fair. You have to either find a way to be successful with the teacher's learning style or bow out gracefully IMO.

 

[lbecktell]

Thanks, everyone! This is good advice and I appreciate it.

 

[drbd]

I've heard many times that a W on your transcript will look really bad. If you keep your GPA up, vet schools will know that C's are not typical for you especially since I'm sure you'll be taking or have already taken another physics course and will be able to prove yourself there.
They could ask you about it in an interview, but just emphasize that it has been a learning experience for you. I think that showing perseverance when dealing with a difficult person/situation and taking one C on your transcript will look a lot better than giving in and withdrawing.. unless you were expecting to get lower than a C, as someone said previously. 🙂 Even so, I know someone who has gotten into a really good veterinary school on her first application and had failed a class and had received more than one C.

 

[Kpowell14]

I've heard many times that a W on your transcript will look really bad.

Not sure who told you this, but I'd like to say that a W on your transcript is Not a deal breaker at all. I know several people on this forum have had a W including myself, and it had zero impact on at least myself being accepted to my #1 school.. I know someone on here has said that they had multiple W's and was still accepted.. Granted if you have multiple W's, that may have more of an impact, but if you are otherwise well rounded and have a good GPA - 1 W isn't really an issue.

 

[WillowLeaf]

Not sure who told you this, but I'd like to say that a W on your transcript is Not a deal breaker at all. I know several people on this forum have had a W including myself, and it had zero impact on at least myself being accepted to my #1 school.. I know someone on here has said that they had multiple W's and was still accepted.. Granted if you have multiple W's, that may have more of an impact impact, but if you are otherwise well rounded and have a good GPA - 1 W isn't really an issue.

I've heard the same, that a lot of W's could be bad, but just one isn't really a problem.

 

[WelshCob]

*Raises hand* I have two W's on my transcripts and 2 C's. No school ever said a word to me about them. It did take me 3 years to get in, however, grades and those W's were never given as a reason for me not getting in when I did a file review.