Biochem Dilemma

[Garurumon]

I didn't do so hot on the first test. By not so hot, I mean below a C. 🙁 I studied, but not enough. Tests are not curved; a few people managed to get A's and I'm curious to know how. I've never had a science test scored this low, and it hit me hard. I'm wondering whether to still give this semester a chance, or drop the class with a W (I have until Oct 30) and try again in the spring. My professor suggested to at least take the second test coming up before the drop date. If I do bad again, I'll drop for sure (it will be my first W). But I'm worried that I won't be able to bounce back and ace the second test. I plan to take the MCAT on Jan 23. I know 1 W is not a big deal, but I'm worried of what this could do to my MCAT study plan. Is a classroom lecture really necessary for what'll be on the new MCAT? Or could I get by with self-study? In class so far we covered stereoisomers, amino acids, protein structure, and enzyme kinetics. In a nutshell: at this point should I drop or no?

 

[deleted407021]

Step back for a moment and breathe for me. You performed poorly on the first exam of a challenging upper division chemistry course and you know why, though you claim you don't ... you didn't prepare enough. This is no grounds for withdrawing or worrying about how you'll therefore do on the MCAT months from now. You're definitely overreacting a bit 😉

If you're really curious, why not ask the A students what they did to be successful? It's called 'upward social comparison' and it works. If you put in the extra elbow grease, attend office hours (very helpful for me in biochem) and work with your classmates, you will bounce back from this first disappointment. It's not really that big a deal, tbh.

Do you need first semester biochem to do well on the MCAT? Yes, you do. Enzyme kinematics, amino acids and all that protein guff are too complex to self-teach. You need good facilitation -- trust me.

If you want some pointers for this course, let me know. I'll try to help.

And remember ... when in doubt, hydrogen bonding!

 

[jb94mg]

Do you need first semester biochem to do well on the MCAT? Yes, you do. Enzyme kinematics, amino acids and all that protein guff are too complex to self-teach. You need good facilitation -- trust me.

This is debatable, IMO. Several anecdotes suggest that this isn't universally true, although in all likelihood it is in the vast majority of cases. A few folks have reported doing well with Moof University, Kaplan, or Khan as their main sources of knowledge. MOST people, however, probably couldn't teach themselves all of the biochemistry that's on the MCAT, if I had to guess, and taking a class first is probably the wisest thing to do. Which is exactly why I'm probably just going to wait until after I've had a semester of it to study for the MCAT despite anecdotes on SDN and reddit suggesting it's possible. 😛

Basically, I suggest sucking it up, OP.

 

[deleted407021]

This is debatable, IMO. Several anecdotes suggest that this isn't universally true, although in all likelihood it is in the vast majority of cases. A few folks have reported doing well with Moof University, Kaplan, or Khan as their main sources of knowledge. MOST people, however, probably couldn't teach themselves all of the biochemistry that's on the MCAT, if I had to guess, and taking a class first is probably the wisest thing to do. Which is exactly why I'm probably just going to wait until after I've had a semester of it to study for the MCAT despite anecdotes on SDN and reddit suggesting it's possible. 😛

Basically, I suggest sucking it up, OP.

True, and I hesitated to make that generalization for those same reasons. However, I think it's a good rule and -- plus -- biochem is a prereq. for a handful of schools. Might as well tough it out!

 

[Cotterpin]

Biochem was one of my favorite classes ever, but I would not recommend self-study. It's going to get a lot more complicated than just enzyme kinetics and amino acids (but you do need to have a very good understanding of those topics for the MCAT).

I suggest as you go forward in the class (if you go forward) to make yourself a lot of concept maps. There are a ton of interconnected processes to keep track of in biochem and it's very easy to not see the forest for the trees.

 

[Garurumon]

Thank you for all your responses. I've calmed down a bit now. I'll have to suck it up and pull through this class. The thought of self-studying biochem is daunting, and that was what made me take this class in the fall to get ready for the spring. I didn't expect this pitfall, though, but I'll do my best to climb out of it.

 

[deleted407021]

Thank you for all your responses. I've calmed down a bit now. I'll have to suck it up and pull through this class. The thought of self-studying biochem is daunting, and that was what made me take this class in the fall to get ready for the spring. I didn't expect this pitfall, though, but I'll do my best to climb out of it.

Attend office hours, work with classmates, ask the successful students how they did so well and practice the 3-D visualization skills required to understand biochemical functions and you will be fine!

 

[Garurumon]

Attend office hours, work with classmates, ask the successful students how they did so well and practice the 3-D visualization skills required to understand biochemical functions and you will be fine!

Will do, thank you very much. And thanks for offering your help as well. 🙂

 

[whatever5]

I got a C first semester orgo. None of the 7 med schools who have interviewed me seem to have a problem with it.

 

[Dr_OneDay]

I managed to pull out a letter grade higher in the class than I initially projected by focusing all my energy on the final. Try to study with a friend from the class because it really helped me to bring my grade up at the end. Other than that, reviewing your old exam and working out practice problems helps.