Critical Decision: Retake Orgo I?

[pratzel15]

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Hello everyone,

I'm hoping to get a few opinions on what I should do about my C in organic chem. I this summer, as I plan to finish the orgo series.

Here's a little background: I attend a top state school as an Engineering Science (Nanomedicine Engineering) major, and will be entering my Third Year next fall. My current GPA is 3.4 cum./3.3 BCPM, so that definitely needs work. I'm not the most naturally inclined at math, so I took Calc II and Organic I (lecture) at my school last summer. It ended up being a bit too much to handle, and I also didn't really realize the importance of my courses that summer. I ended up falling to a C in Organic I when all was said and done, didn't go forward with Organic II right after receiving that grade, and am still kicking myself for it because it left me an agonizing decision to make.

I've decided not to take any organic at my 4-year institution no matter what; rather, I've elected to take it at another 4-year institution close to home that is not as academically rigorous. However, I don't know if I should retake orgo I or simply move on to orgo II...I've done my homework on the forums and have compiled a list of all the pros and cons to retaking. If anyone could please scan it, weigh the importance of some of the things listed, and/or give me their honest opinion on what would serve me best going forward I would truly appreciate it.

Pros (to retaking): Show med schools I can handle Orgo I, Refresher for Orgo II, Take all orgo courses in sequence from orgo I/lab to orgo II/lab, Slight GPA Boost

Cons (to retaking): Orgo I shows up twice on transcript, Draw more attention to the blunder during interviews, Getting less than A would destroy me

Thanks in advance for all of the help, very grateful! 🙂

 

[plumhill]

Hello everyone,

I'm hoping to get a few opinions on what I should do about my C in organic chem. I this summer, as I plan to finish the orgo series.

Here's a little background: I attend a top state school as an Engineering Science (Nanomedicine Engineering) major, and will be entering my Third Year next fall. My current GPA is 3.4 cum./3.3 BCPM, so that definitely needs work. I'm not the most naturally inclined at math, so I took Calc II and Organic I (lecture) at my school last summer. It ended up being a bit too much to handle, and I also didn't really realize the importance of my courses that summer. I ended up falling to a C in Organic I when all was said and done, didn't go forward with Organic II right after receiving that grade, and am still kicking myself for it because it left me an agonizing decision to make.

I've decided not to take any organic at my 4-year institution no matter what; rather, I've elected to take it at another 4-year institution close to home that is not as academically rigorous. However, I don't know if I should retake orgo I or simply move on to orgo II...I've done my homework on the forums and have compiled a list of all the pros and cons to retaking. If anyone could please scan it, weigh the importance of some of the things listed, and/or give me their honest opinion on what would serve me best going forward I would truly appreciate it.

Pros (to retaking): Show med schools I can handle Orgo I, Refresher for Orgo II, Take all orgo courses in sequence from orgo I/lab to orgo II/lab, Slight GPA Boost

Cons (to retaking): Orgo I shows up twice on transcript, Draw more attention to the blunder during interviews, Getting less than A would destroy me

Thanks in advance for all of the help, very grateful! 🙂

Do you know why you got a C? Was it consistently poor performance, or did you just bomb one exam? From my experience, very little material from Orgo I was needed for Orgo II (assuming you know how to draw resonance structures, what Sn1/2/E1/2 mean, etc), so I wouldn't retake Orgo I just as a refresher for Orgo II. Now, a lot more of the material from Orgo I is going to be on the MCAT, so if you were consistently missing key concepts or not understanding big ideas, then it might be worth a re-take. As you know, however, Organic is tough and getting an A is incredibly difficult (especially if you aren't naturally good at it, which some people are), so it might just be better to take the C and do better from here.

 

[pratzel15]

Truthfully, I did just fine on 2/4 exams, scoring slightly above average. However, I had a lot of trouble on the last two exams because I put in the same amount of time studying (~12 hour all-nighters before exam day) as I did previously, stopped attending class, and feel like I just didn't have enough practice with synthesis problems. I feel more than capable of getting an A at the less demanding college i'll be taking it in as well, but I will be sure to put in 100x the effort cause I know my life is on the line.

My greatest concern is whether I should not retake because of the negative attention a repeated class will garner on my transcript. It would also be a repeated class at a worse school, which I know probably wouldn't sit well with adcoms, but again I am not going to take it again at my home school because it's insanely competitive and I don't want to risk it.

 

[sil219]

I think you should retake it. I know that Orgo is a tough course, but definitely C is going to be a setback in your application so retake is almost a must (esp since your gpa is not top notch either). I know two friends who got C in orgo, ended up retaking it and got A-/A, and both in med school now. Also, I really think you should retake it at the school you are attending now since it will look fishy if you retake it as some other school. Your interviewer may ask you why you didn't take it at your school.

Retaking a course (anything below B-, and doing much better obviously) is definitely not a negative. It is better than not addressing the problem, so you shouldn't worry about bringing unnecessary attention. Hope that helps!

 

[AdrianVeidt]

I think you should retake it. I know that Orgo is a tough course, but definitely C is going to be a setback in your application so retake is almost a must (esp since your gpa is not top notch either). I know two friends who got C in orgo, ended up retaking it and got A-/A, and both in med school now. Also, I really think you should retake it at the school you are attending now since it will look fishy if you retake it as some other school. Your interviewer may ask you why you didn't take it at your school.

Retaking a course (anything below B-, and doing much better obviously) is definitely not a negative. It is better than not addressing the problem, so you shouldn't worry about bringing unnecessary attention. Hope that helps!

u cant b srs

 

[pratzel15]

Thanks for weighing in, guys.

I had a long chat with my tuition-paying parents, and they are dead set against a retake because they think I would be better served to just get As in the rest of organic series (orgo I lab, orgo II lec., orgo II lab) than go back and try to fix the C in orgo I. So I will pose two scenarios, and if you guys can tell me which one looks better and justification that would be great?

Scenario 1: Orgo I: C (home school, "public ivy"), Orgo I: A (retake, nearby 4-year school), Orgo I Lab/Orgo II+Lab: A (nearby 4-year school)

Scenario 2: Orgo I: C (home school, "public ivy"), Orgo I Lab/Orgo II + Lab: A (nearby 4-year school)

Only difference is no retakes for Orgo I in Scenario 2, but I'm stepping down to the easier school in both cases. This is what I'm left to decide, so please help!

 

[kmp0410]

It really doesn't matter, overall there is plenty of chances to prove your intelligence so one C will not hurt you as bad as you think. They more than likely will not study every single grade you made like you think.

If you want to take it to get a better grasp on the material so you will do better in Orgo 2, then by all means do it.

But that C will still be on your GPA, so the difference will just be an extra class to even it out.

Also I wouldn't be too hard on yourself (less than an A will destroy you/my life would depend on it). Just work hard, if your not doing as well as you'd like then work harder or work smarter (office hours, different study methods etc).