Question about raising GPA ... Advice appreciated

[MaybePharmacist]

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Hi everyone. It's been awhile since I've posted here, but I really need your opinions again. Ok, well ... I re-took a few classes and I also took a few general requirements for pharm school that I hadn't taken before. Thankfully, I did well in them. However, I'm afraid that my science/math GPA won't be as high as I need it to be in order to be competitive. A pharm school near where I live requires additional classes for admission, specifically biochemistry I and II and immunology. I'm thinking about taking them, but I'm EXTREMELY scared of biochem. I can't do poorly in anymore classes, so I'm very wary of taking a class like biochem, in which many people don't do well (I've heard horror stories). So, what do you think? Should I avoid this school and this class? If so, should I take less difficult (although not easy) science classes? Do you have any suggestions for which classes I should take? Or, should I take biochem? Also, can anyone who has taken biochem describe exactly what it's like? Is it like organic chem? Sorry for all the questions, but I just need to figure out what to do. Thank you for any help!!

 

[Iconoclastic]

If it's only one school, and you think you have a decent chance of getting into the others, I don't see any reason to stress it.

Just from browsing these forums though, it seems like most schools do require biochem. So if there's any chance you might end up applying to more schools, I'd say plan on taking it.

 

[b1234]

Hi everyone. It's been awhile since I've posted here, but I really need your opinions again. Ok, well ... I re-took a few classes and I also took a few general requirements for pharm school that I hadn't taken before. Thankfully, I did well in them. However, I'm afraid that my science/math GPA won't be as high as I need it to be in order to be competitive. A pharm school near where I live requires additional classes for admission, specifically biochemistry I and II and immunology. I'm thinking about taking them, but I'm EXTREMELY scared of biochem. I can't do poorly in anymore classes, so I'm very wary of taking a class like biochem, in which many people don't do well (I've heard horror stories). So, what do you think? Should I avoid this school and this class? If so, should I take less difficult (although not easy) science classes? Do you have any suggestions for which classes I should take? Or, should I take biochem? Also, can anyone who has taken biochem describe exactly what it's like? Is it like organic chem? Sorry for all the questions, but I just need to figure out what to do. Thank you for any help!!

If you don't think you can handle biochem as an undergrad, what makes you think you could handle it as a grad/professional student?

 

[phathead]

You sound a lot like where I was four years ago.

I used up all of my mulligans after my first four semesters. I did poorly in virtually all of my classes and sat with about a 2.2 GPA.

I gave up at one point. One of my weakest moments in my life, but I decided I had ruined my chances. I didn't live with that decision for very long and it ignited this massive desire to finish what I started.

I too was scared of biochem... and genetics... and microbio... all because I lacked the confidence in my abilities due to my previous failings. The thing is, when the time came to take these classes I generally did very well in them. The stress of knowing I could not screw up once was immense, I have the gray hairs to prove it, but it was the desire to make it that made me push myself through it.

Biochem was one of the first classes I took upon my reassertion to continue on towards pharmacy school. It was the hardest class I've ever taken. The class itself is similar in intensity to Orgo, but with more interesting material. Think of it as a true mixture between what you learn in your bio classes and what you learned in your chem classes.

Once you get in them, you'll find it's not as bad as you think it will be. I ended up going overkill in studying for tests and such because I had to, but this in itself ended up actually helping me.

As cheesy as it sounds, if you really want to do it, you can do it.

My science GPA SUCKED compared to many others because most of my core science courses were taken during those first four semesters. I applied with a culm sciGPA of 2.66, but my average over the last few semesters was a 3.3 or so. When I killed the sci portions of the PCAT, I had an argument that I was capable now of doing well in science courses, I just made mistakes starting out with.

Don't give up and don't give into your fears. Find your motivation and plow through it like a fat kid through chocolate cake.

If it helps, here are my stats. I was accepted at 4 of the 5 schools I applied to, and waitlisted at the fifth - http://www.iwanttobeapharmacist.com/2009/08/my-pharmacy-school-admissions-stats.html

Good luck.

 

[MaybePharmacist]

Iconoclastic - Really? Most of the schools that I've looked into don't require biochem. I actually found a huge list of classes required by most pharm schools, and very few say that biochem is needed. I was looking into this state school (which is one of the few that requires it) because it would be way cheaper for me to go there. However, I'll go through the requirements of the schools that I'm interested in again.

b1234 - The reason why I'm so wary of taking biochem is mostly because I've been burned at the school where I have to take it. Their science program isn't the strongest and, honestly, I'm one of those people who maybe needs more guidance than others in these types of classes ... which is hard to do with 120 people crammed into one classroom. I hope this will be different in pharm school, where the class sizes are smaller and the professors are more caring. Also, I used to be pretty shy and not mix with people easily, so I wouldn't really study with anyone nor did I ever join a study group. I'm trying not to make excuses, but just to explain why I did poorly. The point is that I'm trying to change myself and be a better student.

phathead - Thank you!! Encouragement = 🙂 . Our cases really are very similar. I didn't do well during my first four semesters either. I got so discouraged that I ended up switching majors. It really was the worst time of my life too. Anyways, I've done well in my bio classes (bio I, bio II, micro, etc.), but, for some reason, chem just goes over my head. And like I was telling b1234 ... I really do not want to take this class at the school where I have to take it because I feel like I won't get the help that I need. I've been researching what biochem is like and my heart pounds like crazy when I read about it because I keep re-living my orgo nightmare. Anyways, do you mind if I ask you how you balanced your classes? As in, what other classes did you take while taking biochem? Did you try to keep your courseload light? I don't have too many pre-reqs left, so I could spread them out over the next year ... but I also don't want pharm schools to think that I can't handle too many classes at once. Currently, I'm signed up for A&P 2, biochem, and immunology, but I could put immunology off until next semester. *sigh* I'm just not sure what to do.

 

[phathead]

phathead - Thank you!! Encouragement = 🙂 . Our cases really are very similar. I didn't do well during my first four semesters either. I got so discouraged that I ended up switching majors. It really was the worst time of my life too. Anyways, I've done well in my bio classes (bio I, bio II, micro, etc.), but, for some reason, chem just goes over my head. And like I was telling b1234 ... I really do not want to take this class at the school where I have to take it because I feel like I won't get the help that I need. I've been researching what biochem is like and my heart pounds like crazy when I read about it because I keep re-living my orgo nightmare. Anyways, do you mind if I ask you how you balanced your classes? As in, what other classes did you take while taking biochem? Did you try to keep your courseload light? I don't have too many pre-reqs left, so I could spread them out over the next year ... but I also don't want pharm schools to think that I can't handle too many classes at once. Currently, I'm signed up for A&P 2, biochem, and immunology, but I could put immunology off until next semester. *sigh* I'm just not sure what to do.

That semester I was taking:

Biochem I
Microbiology
Orgo II (retake, got a C- the first time)
Philosophy 101
Business Law

I purposefully stayed away from taking too many easy classes in a semester. I didn't want to give them anymore weaknesses in my application than I already had.

 

[b1234]

Iconoclastic - Really? Most of the schools that I've looked into don't require biochem. I actually found a huge list of classes required by most pharm schools, and very few say that biochem is needed. I was looking into this state school (which is one of the few that requires it) because it would be way cheaper for me to go there. However, I'll go through the requirements of the schools that I'm interested again.

b1234 - The reason why I'm so wary of taking biochem is mostly because I've been burned at the school where I have to take it. Their science program isn't the strongest and, honestly, I'm one of those people who maybe needs more guidance than others in these types of classes ... which is hard to do with 120 people crammed into one classroom. I hope this will be different in pharm school, where the class sizes are smaller and the professors are more caring. Also, I used to be pretty shy and not mix with people easily, so I wouldn't really study with anyone nor did I ever join a study group. I'm trying not to make excuses, but just to explain why I did poorly. The point is that I'm trying to change myself and be a better student.

phathead - Thank you!! Encouragement = 🙂 . Our cases really are very similar. I didn't do well during my first four semesters either. I got so discouraged that I ended up switching majors. It really was the worst time of my life too. Anyways, I've done well in my bio classes (bio I, bio II, micro, etc.), but, for some reason, chem just goes over my head. And like I was telling b1234 ... I really do not want to take this class at the school where I have to take it because I feel like I won't get the help that I need. I've been researching what biochem is like and my heart pounds like crazy when I read about it because I keep re-living my orgo nightmare. Anyways, Well, do you mind if I ask you how you balanced your classes? As in, what other classes did you take while taking biochem? Did you try to keep your courseload light? I don't have too many pre-reqs left, so I could spread them out over the next year ... but I also don't want pharm schools to think that I can't handle too many classes at once. Currently, I'm signed up for A&P 2, biochem, and immunology, but I could put immunology off until next semester. *sigh* I'm just not sure what to do.

Most pharmacy schools don't require biochem as an undergrad because most require you to take biochem in your p1 year.

You need to get out of the "I can't do it" mindset...

When I took biochem - I took Ochem2, biochem, a biology class that was about half plant phys and half animal phys, and a basic inorganic chemistry class. It was a time consuming but intellectually fairly easy semester. For the most part, I didn't really have the leisure of balancing my schedule between some harder and some easier classes. I pretty much had to take specific classes each semester or risk getting stuck at the end of a year needing one class to graduate and not being able to take it due to scheduling conflicts...

Assuming you have a solid background in those topics your schedule shouldn't be too difficult but my take a lot of time and there will be a lot of things to memorize that you unfortunately must just flat out memorize. On the plus side, all three courses should have plenty of topics that overlap so... there will be things that you learn in one class and end up needing to know for all three.

As far as getting the help you need in your class(es) I have a few suggestions that may work for you - depends on the school you go to though. Sounds like you go to a fairly large school that's heavily research based so that could some difficulties. Try getting into a study group or two - preferably one where you don't wait until right before a test to meet... and one where you try "teaching" each other the material. If there is an area on campus where chem/biochem students tend to study - try studying there more - often you might be able to ask other students questions and get (good) answers. If you have a TA or assistant - try them - or depending on your relationship with them and how busy they are - try asking other profs that specialize in that particular field.

 

[Iconoclastic]

Like I said, I was just making an observation based on browsing SDN alone. Biochem seemed to pop up a lot in discussions about prerequisites.

Phat - I know Philosophy can be a prereq to a lot of schools, but why Business Law? I'm asking because I had a post a while ago asking about filling out my schedule... wanting to stray away from wasting time on classes I don't need, while keeping my schedule from looking too easy.

 

[phathead]

Most pharmacy schools don't require biochem as an undergrad because most require you to take biochem in your p1 year.

Just a FYI, within 3-5 years, biochem will become a pre-req for virtually all schools

 

[phathead]

Like I said, I was just making an observation based on browsing SDN alone. Biochem seemed to pop up a lot in discussions about prerequisites.

Phat - I know Philosophy can be a prereq to a lot of schools, but why Business Law? I'm asking because I had a post a while ago asking about filling out my schedule... wanting to stray away from wasting time on classes I don't need, while keeping my schedule from looking too easy.

My B.S. is in Business Administration, it was a required course for my degree

 

[b1234]

Just a FYI, within 3-5 years, biochem will become a pre-req for virtually all schools

A 4 year degree probably will be too but for now...

 

[phathead]

A 4 year degree probably will be too but for now...

True. Only reason I mention the biochem part is 3 of the 5 schools I applied for will be changing it to a pre-req next cycle

 

[Aircraftnoise]

I really hate to burst everyone's bubble, but if you repeat a class, your school might accept the higher class grade and forget the other, but PharmCAS WILL NOT. Your cumGPA in PharmCAS will average the two grades. That means if you got below a 2.0 in a class, you would have to retake that class several times and get a 4.0 in it each time to get a 3.0 average or above for that class. Just sayin...

 

[b1234]

I really hate to burst everyone's bubble, but if you repeat a class, your school might accept the higher class grade and forget the other, but PharmCAS WILL NOT. Your cumGPA in PharmCAS will average the two grades. That means if you got below a 2.0 in a class, you would have to retake that class several times and get a 4.0 in it each time to get a 3.0 average or above for that class. Just sayin...

How is this bursting our bubbles? Quite a few of us have mentioned this multiple times and regularly recommend against retaking classes...

 

[MaybePharmacist]

Aircraftnoise - Hmm ... It doesn't make any sense to retake one class multiple times. It should be enough to retake a class that you did poorly in and make a good grade in it the second time, no? Then, you should take other classes to raise your GPA.

b1234 - Thank you for your suggestions. You were right about my school - it's huge and the majority of professors that I've encountered are pretty uncaring. I looked up the biochem professor on ratemyprofessors.com and he has decent reviews, but the TA was definitely less popular. If I do end up taking biochem, I'll probably end up spending a lot of time in his office asking questions.

phathead - I have a degree in business too! Luckily, since I'm done with all of my electives, I can just focus on my science classes now.

Ok, so I need to ask this again because I'm still unsure ... but can anyone give me a thorough description of what biochem is like? I just want to have a basic idea of what it's like.

Thank you all!