D On First Biology Exam?

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jamie123

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We had a biology exam and I genuinely spent almost 24 hours studying for it in total. I made myself a study guide, had group study sessions and still made a 99/150 (equivalent to a 66%=D). The day of the exam, we had several problems with answer sheets and so the professor made us retake the exam next class and somehow I STILL made a 99/150.

I don't see how this could have happened because I studied for the exam even harder. I have emailed my professor and made an appointment to see her but my self confidence has REALLY gone down. How did my grade not even go up ONE point? I'm a biology major and I thought I would make at least a B on the first exam because I studied harder for this one than all my other tests. Our professor does drop the lowest exam grade but what if i do equally bad on my other tests? I know, it's just one exam and it's okay, and everyone fails at some point but I just thought I would do better than a D.

I also don't know how to explain this to my parents because they are such sticklers are grades >.<

I am definitely going to study harder for the next exam and try to do better, but I just don't know how to get over this because I expected so much more of myself. This is my first semester in college by the way (I'm a freshman). It just sucks that I am pre-med and I can't even make a good grade on my Bio I exam 🙁 What does this say about me getting into medical school? I've always made A's in my life and this has just ruined my day.
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It's only one test in one class in your first year, so you have a lot of time and a lot of opportunities to make it up.
 
Is the search function not working or something?
 
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What was the class average?
Also those "24 hours" of studying, did they occur like a day before the test? Furthermore, how did you study the material? What do you think might have made you score so low? Like not reading the assigned pages in the book? Skipping class?

Alright, two points to take home from this:
1) Studying for long periods of times in an ineffective fashion isn't going to get you far. You need to figure out new study habits.
2) It's not the end of the world. In fact, be humbled by this experience. Now get studying.
 
studying for a long time is useless. learn how to do effective information recall.
 
no it wasn't 24 hours before the test. it was a total of 24 hours over a span of 5 or 6 days. (about 2 hours at a time with breaks in between). and i have never skipped a class or skipped any reading assignments so that is why i was a bit shocked about my grade.
 
jamie123 said:
no it wasn't 24 hours before the test. it was a total of 24 hours over a span of 5 or 6 days. (about 2 hours at a time with breaks in between). and i have never skipped a class or skipped any reading assignments so that is why i was a bit shocked about my grade.
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How did you study? I had plenty of moments in early high school where I blamed the exam for my failure. "But Mrs. Lady, I studied for 12 hours for this exam! It must be too hard!" Well, now I realize that opening a book and staring at the words for 12 hours is not studying.

As said earlier, quality over quantity. I try to incorporate all learning methods into my study habits: reading, writing, hearing, repetition, understanding, thinking, seeing (if available), and speaking. Works great. 👍
 
it's okay, if it makes you feel any better i didn't fare too well on my first biology test either, got a C+ 🙁
 
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oh i don't blame the exam in the least. i am just upset about my grade.

i felt like i understood the material quite well after i made a study guide, re-read the chapters, and outlined all of the important points. i went over the practice questions our professor put up and the more i read, the more i understood the concepts. i have made the appointment with my professor so she can help me go over what i need to work on, but any other tips would be greatly appreciated!
 
Well, you might as well give up. It's pretty well known that all mainland MD and DO schools put, above all else, emphasis on your first exams, in your first science classes. You could get a 42 on your MCAT and you'd be lucky if they didn't wrap dog crap up with a copy of your app, and send to your house.

Seriously dude, calm down, do you guys get drops? If so, there's your drop. Figure out what you did wrong, and then adjust accordingly. Where did you stand in regards to the class average? I had a physics class where one of my exams was a 20% (to the class average of 33% so I'm going to unlucky guessing on my part) and I ended up with a 60% average in the class, which still got me an A. In any case, even if you bomb this class, so long as you do well after, you'll be fine. Schools understand that sometimes people have a hard time adjusting to college, and schools look more favorably on a person who has a 3.5 average who started out bad, but improved and aced their later classes vs. someone who consistently got a 3.5.
 
hahaha thanks 🙂

the class average was a 54% and yes we do get one exam grade dropped. i am just really nervous about the next 3 exams because i want to do very well on them and come out of the class with an A. i guess i'll just have to study even harder!
 
jamie123 said:
hahaha thanks 🙂

the class average was a 54% and yes we do get one exam grade dropped. i am just really nervous about the next 3 exams because i want to do very well on them and come out of the class with an A. i guess i'll just have to study even harder!
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With an average like that, there is only one person at fault - the professor. Regardless, learn this now: You do not need get a 93% to get an A, you only need to be so much better than your class. The MCAT is not based on what percent you get right, but how well you do relative to everyone else. In my school, if you get a 75%, you are guaranteed to pass the class, but if everyone does bad, only the very bottom percentage actually fails, while a 90% is a guaranteed honor, but really everyone who is the top bracket (I don't remember what percentage) honors regardless of their percent score on the exam.
 
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mishaS said:
With an average like that, there is only one person at fault - the professor. Regardless, learn this now: You do not need get a 93% to get an A, you only need to be so much better than your class. The MCAT is not based on what percent you get right, but how well you do relative to everyone else. In my school, if you get a 75%, you are guaranteed to pass the class, but if everyone does bad, only the very bottom percentage actually fails, while a 90% is a guaranteed honor, but really everyone who is the top bracket (I don't remember what percentage) honors regardless of their percent score on the exam.
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curves are non existent at my school, so really...you get what you get.
 
Neurosis said:
curves are non existent at my school, so really...you get what you get.
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That blows, and your school is shooting you guys in the foot by doing this because you're not competing on a level playing field with everyone else. I'm against grade inflation, but on multiple occasions, I've had terrible professors, who just couldn't teach. In classes like calc, or orgo, which you really can't learn on your own, this could easily kill your grades. I've also had classes with great profs, who were extremely demanding, and where you could really set yourself apart, but it was still nearly impossible to get above a 90%. In the end, though you might be proud that you really "earned" your grade over everyone else who rode the curve, but med schools won't care, and it would be a shame if you worked harder, and knew more, but couldn't get in because your schools policies suck.
 
thank you for all the fantastic advice! i am feeling much better about not doing so well, this first time (and hopefully only time 😛).

this is my professor's first semester teaching so i think she is having a bit of a difficult time. she really is a wonderful person who wants us to do well but she's more concerned with applying everything we've learned rather than making sure...we've learned it (if that makes any sense). i understand it will be better for us in the long run to know how to apply all of the concepts but it is something completely new, so i'll need to work harder at it.
 
If it makes you feel any better, med school classes are harder, so you're probably screwed. 🙂
 
Does your professor drop your lowest test grade?

Biology tests are difficult conceptual exams. Where did you get the majority of your points taken off?

For biology, once you finish your chapters and sections you should be able to write an essay on the topic. Usually college exams ask very specific questions down to the very names of specific enzymes. As you go through a topic, make sure you know all the details your professor and textbook go over.

I wouldn't get too rattled, I think you're just new to studying, don't try to project this on your intelligence, because I can tell you I've scored far worse on college exams. It happens to everyone, it won't be the last exam you fail either.
 
jamie123 said:
hahaha thanks 🙂

the class average was a 54% and yes we do get one exam grade dropped. i am just really nervous about the next 3 exams because i want to do very well on them and come out of the class with an A. i guess i'll just have to study even harder!
Click to expand...

There you have it... you've got 12 percent above the average. If your teacher is curving the class based on rank you're probably in the B+ zone.
 
jamie123 said:
We had a biology exam and I genuinely spent almost 24 hours studying for it in total. I made myself a study guide, had group study sessions and still made a 99/150 (equivalent to a 66%=D). The day of the exam, we had several problems with answer sheets and so the professor made us retake the exam next class and somehow I STILL made a 99/150.

I don't see how this could have happened because I studied for the exam even harder. I have emailed my professor and made an appointment to see her but my self confidence has REALLY gone down. How did my grade not even go up ONE point? I'm a biology major and I thought I would make at least a B on the first exam because I studied harder for this one than all my other tests. Our professor does drop the lowest exam grade but what if i do equally bad on my other tests? I know, it's just one exam and it's okay, and everyone fails at some point but I just thought I would do better than a D.

I also don't know how to explain this to my parents because they are such sticklers are grades >.<

I am definitely going to study harder for the next exam and try to do better, but I just don't know how to get over this because I expected so much more of myself. This is my first semester in college by the way (I'm a freshman). It just sucks that I am pre-med and I can't even make a good grade on my Bio I exam 🙁 What does this say about me getting into medical school? I've always made A's in my life and this has just ruined my day.
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First off, don't stress.

Second, figure out how to be efficient. There is no UG biology exam that studying 24 hours for shouldn't give you an A.

You need to be faster/more efficient. Go through the material faster. Make sense out of it, create mnemonics when appropriate. Spread out your passes of the material (i.e. over a week instead of a few days).

Also, realize some UG professors suck and you may need to use other resources to do well (textbook or other summary books). I had a few bad grades in UG because I relied solely on a crappy professor while the A students realized he sucked and used tutors/other books/text to do well.

In the end, realize these UG aren't really that hard compared to med school so step your game up (efficiency) if you want to do medicine. It doesn't get easier, bro.
 
Morsetlis said:
If it makes you feel any better, med school classes are harder, so you're probably screwed. 🙂
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lol. I kind of said this too.

I don't think our tests are THAT much harder, it's just that the test you had 3-4 weeks to prepare for in UG, you have 5-7 days to cover that amount of material. So, they are harder in respect to volume/speed rather than concepts.

IN SUMMARY: no one test will make or break your medical career, BUT this should be a warning sign that you need to learn how to use your time better or learn faster.
 
When you meet with your prof, ask to look at the exam key and go through the questions that you got wrong. In doing so, look for any trends in your mistakes.

For example, do you rush through the question and miss qualifiers such as 'NOT' or 'ONLY'? Was there a specific sub-topic (organelles, signal transduction, etc) where you were repetitively tripped up? Did you seem to lose more points on the back end of the exam? (Then you need to improve your endurance) Did you run short on time and have to rush through the last bunch of questions? (Then you need to work on triaging)

You could have studied well and understood the material but might need to work on your test-taking strategies. Before you scrap your current study habits definitely assess your exam results to come up with a focused game plan. Good luck.
 
Another thing. Go to your Professors office hours. If he is nice, usually he would give you hints on how the test format would be like, and maybe direct readings (Bio's the case) where he will formulate his questions from.
That's what I did for Bio 1 and Anatomy 1 and 2.
 
Man, the paranoid freshmen are flooding pre-allo in droves.
 
jamie123 said:
hahaha thanks 🙂

the class average was a 54% and yes we do get one exam grade dropped. i am just really nervous about the next 3 exams because i want to do very well on them and come out of the class with an A. i guess i'll just have to study even harder!
Click to expand...
You did better than average... Just look forward now, use it as motivation. 👍
 
Chops369 said:
Man, the paranoid freshmen are flooding pre-allo in droves.
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I know. There should be a sticky or something of a thread informing freshman that not everyone is cut out to be a doctor and to not fret, there is always the caribbean or a thrilling career as a nurse.
 
D On Biology = DO ?


I never was good at a math... someone wanna double check that for me??


Juuuuust kidding OP, don't worry about one bad grade, god knows how many I have. You'll be fine.
 
codeblu said:
d on biology = do ?


i never was good at a math... Someone wanna double check that for me??


Juuuuust kidding op, don't worry about one bad grade, god knows how many i have. You'll be fine.
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me.
 
Haha, that was my exact test score on my first bio exam in college. I managed to pull a B from that. I'm sure you'll be fine. 🙂
 
I got a D on my first Chemistry exam of my first quarter of freshman year undergrad... still made it to med school... just work hard and stay focused. Med school admissions committees care more about the overall product than the individual parts from which it was made.
 
I forgot to mention, I got something like a 46% on my first bio exam in college.

The professor was SUPER laid back, and stressed about four times in the test review how we shouldn't have to study to ace it.

I showed up without even glancing at the notes once, and got the bomb dropped on me.

After that I scored over 100% on the next two tests, and did something like an 85 on the final. He told us he was going to drop the lowest test grade. He lied. I ended up with a B. Bastard.
 
zma21 said:
I forgot to mention, I got something like a 46% on my first bio exam in college.

The professor was SUPER laid back, and stressed about four times in the test review how we shouldn't have to study to ace it.

I showed up without even glancing at the notes once, and got the bomb dropped on me.

After that I scored over 100% on the next two tests, and did something like an 85 on the final. He told us he was going to drop the lowest test grade. He lied. I ended up with a B. Bastard.
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Do you go to a community college or something?
 
Bl4ckout said:
Do you go to a community college or something?
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Like I said, super laid back professor.

As to my school? Hell no. Professors aren't allowed to curve, boost grades, etc (at least in college of science). I just did some outside research that he applied to the exams. 4.0's are unheard of here.
 
zma21 said:
I forgot to mention, I got something like a 46% on my first bio exam in college.

The professor was SUPER laid back, and stressed about four times in the test review how we shouldn't have to study to ace it.

I showed up without even glancing at the notes once, and got the bomb dropped on me.

After that I scored over 100% on the next two tests, and did something like an 85 on the final. He told us he was going to drop the lowest test grade. He lied. I ended up with a B. Bastard.
Click to expand...
Lol, that's why i don't trust the laid back teachers, they're usually the WORST kind of professors.
 
Neurosis said:
Lol, that's why i don't trust the laid back teachers, they're usually the WORST kind of professors.
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He told us if we had any problems with our grade to contact him after christmas break (i took it fall semester).

Being a freshman, I wasn't aware that grades are more or less set in stone from the previous semester once the next semester begins.

I went to talk to him about it. "There's nothing I can do about it now."

Prick. :laugh:
 
I love how everyone is so warm and informative, but when I expressed my concern about my bio test, majority of SDN told me to give up my hopes and dream of med school my first semester of college. 🙄 (they weren't joking either.)

OP, I don't know how hard your Bio class is or how your professor teaches. But my professor all he does is read through slides and call it a day. My first test was on 10 chapters, what I did was I went through all the chapters and focused on concepts or anything I wasn't familiar with and I would take it to the tutors, ask people in my study group or just look up the answers myself. I did a little of each and just review it over night until I was able to grasp the topic and understand what it is and WHY that happens etc. So I did than and managed to get a 90 on my first test. Good luck :luck:
 
AsianPersuasion said:
I love how everyone is so warm and informative, but when I expressed my concern about my bio test, majority of SDN told me to give up my hopes and dream of med school my first semester of college. 🙄 (they weren't joking either.)

OP, I don't know how hard your Bio class is or how your professor teaches. But my professor all he does is read through slides and call it a day. My first test was on 10 chapters, what I did was I went through all the chapters and focused on concepts or anything I wasn't familiar with and I would take it to the tutors, ask people in my study group or just look up the answers myself. I did a little of each and just review it over night until I was able to grasp the topic and understand what it is and WHY that happens etc. So I did than and managed to get a 90 on my first test. Good luck :luck:
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Not really.
 
Just gotta learn how to study. When I first started college I got B's in both gen bio classes (read: easiest classes you'll take for your major basically), and that was with a few days of studying before tests. Now I generally study the night before / morning of tests for classes like microbio (tons and tons of memorization) and I can pull high 90s. Just find a way to study that works and exploit the crap out of it.
 
AsianPersuasion said:
I love how everyone is so warm and informative, but when I expressed my concern about my bio test, majority of SDN told me to give up my hopes and dream of med school my first semester of college. 🙄 (they weren't joking either.)
Click to expand...

They were being facetious, because the question doesn't really require a serious answer. It's a single test, you'll survive and your gpa will as well. Now if you come back in a year and tell us you ended sophomore year with a 2.0, then we might literally tell you to end your dream.
 
serenade said:
They were being facetious, because the question doesn't really require a serious answer. It's a single test, you'll survive and your gpa will as well. Now if you come back in a year and tell us you ended sophomore year with a 2.0, then we might literally tell you to end your dream.
Click to expand...
lol I know, I didn't take it serious. You're right though, if I ended sophomore year with that GPA I would definitely look for alternative. But thanks though, you were the few who gave me sound advice. More students dropped the class after that first test.
 
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