Difficulty with bio but organic chem couldn't be easier...what to do

[Live4Life]

So I have completed the organic chemistry sequence and I actually found them to be easy. Doing a 10 step retro-synthesis couldn't be more enjoyable for me because if you understand the concepts then you hardly have to memorize anything at all. Follow the rules and you'll always end up with the right answer.

HOWEVER, I absolutely suck at biology classes. I am the perpetual B+ student in biology classes while in chem and physics classes I am a A/A+ student. If anyone else out there is in the same boat, what type of coping skills have you developed to allow you to do better in your biology classes? Bio classes are just so much memorization that I get frazzled and I find it very hard to "see the big picture" when all I am doing is memorizing stupid little facts. I find biology classes very interesting but they are killing my science GPA so I need to find a way to improve. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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[nick_carraway]

First, a B+ in a few biology courses doesn't kill your GPA.

My only advice is to find a subject of biology that you're better at. Are you struggling with core classes like genetics or cell biology or are you talking more advanced courses?

Regardless, as long as your major is in something else, there aren't that many bio courses to take. And if your major is bio oriented, elective courses tend to get better with fewer details to wrestle with.

I'd also ask your professors for some advice. They know how to succeed in their classes, typically.

 

[DEdm]

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[Hyperstudyosis]

I also felt like I was just memorizing in biology classes until I had a professor (for microbiology) who told the class to stop memorizing and actually learn instead. I guess I didn't realize that I could modify my study methods in biology in order to avoid memorizing. This was sort of an epiphany for me and I got an A in microbiology without memorizing anything. It made studying so much more enjoyable and less of a chore. I found that I am in large part a visual learner and that looking at the charts/graphs in my books was very helpful to me because it enabled me to picture certain processes that were occurring ( I had previously disregarded everything but the actual text). I stopped the flashcard method I had previously employed and instead started seeking to understand what was actually going on. This drastically cut my study time and, as I said, I really didn't memorize. It also helped that my professor usually asked us critical thinking quesitons rather than stupid memorization details.

 

[Raryn]

Solution? Stop taking bio classes. You only really need the 2 semesters of general bio. If theres anything I've learned from undergraduate bio, is that biology labs are the most worthless classes ever. Period.

If you're majoring in Bio? Switch to something you enjoy, like Chem.

 

[anomalous738232]

So I have completed the organic chemistry sequence and I actually found them to be easy. Doing a 10 step retro-synthesis couldn't be more enjoyable for me because if you understand the concepts then you hardly have to memorize anything at all. Follow the rules and you'll always end up with the right answer.

HOWEVER, I absolutely suck at biology classes. I am the perpetual B+ student in biology classes while in chem and physics classes I am a A/A+ student. If anyone else out there is in the same boat, what type of coping skills have you developed to allow you to do better in your biology classes? Bio classes are just so much memorization that I get frazzled and I find it very hard to "see the big picture" when all I am doing is memorizing stupid little facts. I find biology classes very interesting but they are killing my science GPA so I need to find a way to improve. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

i feel the exact same way as you.... a few of my pre-med acquaintances told me that o-chem and physics are sure fire GPA droppers.... however, to each their own, because physics was by far the easiest science pre-req class (for me). I also despise heavy text-book reading. I struggled with intro bio b/c what I felt was correct, the exam grader did not🙁. I tried everything... pre-reading, attending lecture, reading again, summarizing, reviewing, etc. but none of it yielded any exceptional results. i think my disadvantage was that i never took high school biology. is that yours as well? what i found to be effective was using review books to supplement lecture material. if you are like me, learning out of the text-book is a bit overwhelming... i am the kind of person who will remember the marginal details... for example, when I learned about the "bottleneck effect" in regards to genetic drift, i can still recall reading about an event that happened in pingelap atoll that made achromatopsia frequencies rise to 2.5%. The bigger picture? No freakin' clue....I use Schaum's Biology and Kaplan's GRE biology to understand the "bigger picture", which intro biology is all about.

Also, I've heard that attending the prof's office hours can be useful. I refrained from this b/c I was not too found of my intro bio prof's... it does get better in upper level courses, or courses specific to certain biology majors. good luck!

 

[anomalous738232]

Solution? Stop taking bio classes. You only really need the 2 semesters of general bio. If theres anything I've learned from undergraduate bio, is that biology labs are the most worthless classes ever. Period.

If you're majoring in Bio? Switch to something you enjoy, like Chem.

hahaha this works too 👍

 

[CPmustangs]

I would recommend not memorizing but try to understand the relationships. A previous poster was correct that you only need a few bio classes to get into med school, but i am starting med school now and anatomy is memorizing everything about the body, so if you can learn the functions rather than random facts you will do better. Sadly there is more biology then ochem is med school

 

[Live4Life]

Solution? Stop taking bio classes. You only really need the 2 semesters of general bio. If theres anything I've learned from undergraduate bio, is that biology labs are the most worthless classes ever. Period.

If you're majoring in Bio? Switch to something you enjoy, like Chem.

I know that I could stop taking bio classes, but since my science GPA is right on the limit of acceptable, (~3.5-3.55), I need to take some additional courses to bolster my BCPM GPA. Fortunately, I'm not a bio major. I already completed my degree in mathematics (decision sciences) but have returned to school to complete the pre-reqs after having worked for several years. I was told by everyone to take bio classes because they are easier to earn an A. I would love to take some additional chem classes but I don't think that the two semester p-chem sequence for scientists and engineers will do any favors for my GPA (I've already taken pretty much everything else unless I get into the Senior/Graduate level courses).

Any suggestions on how to connect the dots and see the big picture? Does anyone recommend any other GPA boosting science courses in physics or chemistry in the event that I find I'm just not going to get past that B+ threshold in bio?

 

[AlanAlanine]

If you're as good at ochem as you say you are, you will have memorized a ton of reagents and structures. But you probably don't realize it because ochem is good fun.

I am for sure better at ochem than at bio, but the difference is A+ versus A. I definitely had to work harder for an A in bio than an A+ in ochem though! For bio, you will just have to hold your nose and memorize a ton of meaningless stuff sometimes. What bio classes are you having trouble with specifically? Study techniques really depend on if you are studying molecular genetics versus ecology.

 

[TheWildcat08]

yeah, that sucks. usually mcat passages are bio heavy. when i took the mcat on july 17th, there was only one passage on ochem. if you're taking lots of bio classes, then you can't have the mentality of "well, i dont need to know that anymore" after you finish a course. all those classes are integrated, so make sure you keep your notes. use neumonic devices. i had pages of those and they were extremely helpful. i disagree with what the person above me said about going to the lecture, taking notes, and then studying later in the afternoon. that's how you get burned out. what i suggest is skimming the topics that are going to be covered in the lecture so you know what's coming up. go to the lecture, take notes. then wait till the next day and spend an hour before class carefully reviewing the notes you took the previous day. because after all, if you review your notes right after going to class, you're going to think you know it all because it's still so fresh in your mind. rest you mind a day from new information and you should be fine. i did this for my general physiology class which was killer. this class met 6 times a week, we had exams every 2 weeks, and each exam covered about 150 pages (single spaced) material. this class might have been a medical school course it was so rigorous, but i still managed a good grade and it was because of all the stuff i said before. i realize everyone is different, but that's my two cents, good luck with everything!

 

[carbonfishbone]

Wow and here I thought I was the only one! I too thought ochem was far far easier than bio.

For me, I think that it stems from the fact that in my ochem class, we were taught WHY things happened, not just that they happened, like for example WHY a substituent is a meta director vs a ortho/para director (just off the top of my head).

Where as in bio, we were just told that X happened. We really weren't given an explanation as to why. I really struggled in bio and had to study massive amounts just to keep that A. What seemed to really help me was to go beyond what was given in lecture and understand why it happens. Whether it be looking information up in wiki, google, or an upper division text; once I understood why something happened it made studying for bio A LOT more enjoyable and as a consequence, got much easier.

Just my 2 cents

..oh and ecology and plants just suck

 

[anomalous738232]

..oh and ecology and plants just suck

i agree. but those topics sure are easier than molecular & cell bio stuff.

 

[RockHardIce]

Try to relate the materials to their real world implications. Before
memorizing stuff, read the chapters like newspapers 🙂 It does not matter if you get whole ideas on first attempt. Look on websites such as Sciencedaily to look for the most updated big-pictures on a field. Once you get some idea on whats going on, small details become relatively easy to digest.

And yes, the more time you genuinely spend on a subject, the easier it gets.
I became a Microbiology Lab Assistant to learn Basic microbiology, and it worked!

 

[robocop1998]

Same here I am an econ premed and I think that physics and orgo are the easiest prereq classes. I get A/A+ in those classes but I end up with B+ in biochem and cell bio. I hate memorizing stuff!!

 

[NoMoreAMCAS]

Biology classes are brutally boring but very easy. Just get a list of everything you have to remember for the test, remember it word for word, then write the answers on your test. You dont have to know what the words on your list mean or how things work, you just have to know what's associated with what word wise.

If you're smart enough to get A's in Orgo and Physics, there is no reason you shouldn't be breezing through Biology classes😴.