Dilemma on which course to take for Spring

[mjg713]

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I am looking to apply this upcoming cycle and I am in a major dilemma. I wanted to register for Organic Chem 2 at my home school but the teacher is horrible! (had him first semester). I tried finding the class at another school but it is either filled up, horrible teacher, or not convenient to travel to. I would usually just suck it up and take the bad teacher but my GPA is borderline and I really need another A. Would it be a bad idea to take Biochemistry at my home school instead (good teacher) and worry about Orgo 2 next Fall? Is this frowned upon? Thanks!

 

[sjv]

Nope, won't matter. How you do is more important than when you take it.

 

[doc toothache]

Organic II is usually a prerequisite for biochem.

 

[NMC2010]

^ what doc toothache said. Also, you should just take O-chem 2 now with the bad teacher. I think as long as you have the foundation from 1 down well, 2 isn't bad at all. It's basically just a bunch of variations of hydronium and hydroxide ion reactions with/on carbonyls, has some random things like diels-alder and EAS stuff thrown in, but nothing that's really hard.

 

[Gaucho4Life]

^ what doc toothache said. Also, you should just take O-chem 2 now with the bad teacher. I think as long as you have the foundation from 1 down well, 2 isn't bad at all. It's basically just a bunch of variations of hydronium and hydroxide ion reactions with/on carbonyls, has some random things like diels-alder and EAS stuff thrown in, but nothing that's really hard.

That's all yours did? Hmmm. That just sounds like a watered down version of my 2nd quarter... Out of 3

 

[mjg713]

I am a non-degree student (have a B.S. already). At my school I can register for whatever I want whenever I want as long as I pay out of pocket for it. I am a little worried about taking Ochem 2 because I took Ochem 1 Fall of 2012 and think I would need a bit of a review before Ochem 2 (which I could hypothetically do this Summer).

 

[NMC2010]

That's all yours did? Hmmm. That just sounds like a watered down version of my 2nd quarter... Out of 3

We went through our entire textbook by Janice Smith, 3rd ed. so w/e was in that. Those reactions are all I remember from it lol - took it a few years ago.

 

[nontradpredentalhopeful]

I am looking to apply this upcoming cycle and I am in a major dilemma. I wanted to register for Organic Chem 2 at my home school but the teacher is horrible! (had him first semester). I tried finding the class at another school but it is either filled up, horrible teacher, or not convenient to travel to. I would usually just suck it up and take the bad teacher but my GPA is borderline and I really need another A. Would it be a bad idea to take Biochemistry at my home school instead (good teacher) and worry about Orgo 2 next Fall? Is this frowned upon? Thanks!

Nope, not at all. Take the one with the better teacher, as long as you have the prerequisites. If it's biochem in the chem dept, they'll generally want to see 2 semesters of ochem. If it's biochem in the bio dept they'll generally ask for 1 semester of ochem.

Organic II is usually a prerequisite for biochem.

I have seen (at more than one school) that it is generally a prerequisite for biochem in the chem dept but not biochem in the bio dept.

^ what doc toothache said. Also, you should just take O-chem 2 now with the bad teacher. I think as long as you have the foundation from 1 down well, 2 isn't bad at all. It's basically just a bunch of variations of hydronium and hydroxide ion reactions with/on carbonyls, has some random things like diels-alder and EAS stuff thrown in, but nothing that's really hard.

Why would you recommend someone take a class with a bad teacher? I'm sure you're an individual who is very gifted in chemistry, but for someone who seems shaky on ochem 1 material (having taken it in fall 2012) and may not be as good at chem as you are I think it'd be much smarter to take another class and take the summer to thoroughly review ochem 1 before fall semester. Biochem is a good one as long as it's one of the biochem courses that requires only one semester of ochem. Physiology, anatomy, histology, immunology, developmental biology, genetics, molecular biology etc etc are also good classes to take if mjg would rather just take an upper level class that is relevant to dental school.

 

[mjg713]

Thanks a lot, your advice has inspired me to take Biochemistry instead. BTW, It is in the Biology department and only requires one semester of Ochem. As for the other courses you listed, I took a good amount of them during my post bacc. I also need to take Biochem anyway because a good amount of the schools I am applying to require it. I will use the Summer to freshen up on Ochem and take it in the Fall with a good teacher, hopefully securing an A.

 

[nontradpredentalhopeful]

That sounds solid to me. I think a lot of ppl assumed you had just taken ochem 1, and initially I did too, but if it has been that long then I think it's better to just take biochem because you'll have the summer to review ochem and that's definitely better than trying to jump into ochem 2 without reviewing ochem 1. Plus the thing with the not as good professor. It's a no brainer IMO. Have fun taking biochem!

 

[Daneosaurus]

^ what doc toothache said. Also, you should just take O-chem 2 now with the bad teacher. I think as long as you have the foundation from 1 down well, 2 isn't bad at all. It's basically just a bunch of variations of hydronium and hydroxide ion reactions with/on carbonyls, has some random things like diels-alder and EAS stuff thrown in, but nothing that's really hard.

We did diels alder in 1 😀

 

[NMC2010]

Nope, not at all. Take the one with the better teacher, as long as you have the prerequisites. If it's biochem in the chem dept, they'll generally want to see 2 semesters of ochem. If it's biochem in the bio dept they'll generally ask for 1 semester of ochem.

Why would you recommend someone take a class with a bad teacher? I'm sure you're an individual who is very gifted in chemistry, but for someone who seems shaky on ochem 1 material (having taken it in fall 2012) and may not be as good at chem as you are I think it'd be much smarter to take another class and take the summer to thoroughly review ochem 1 before fall semester. Biochem is a good one as long as it's one of the biochem courses that requires only one semester of ochem. Physiology, anatomy, histology, immunology, developmental biology, genetics, molecular biology etc etc are also good classes to take if mjg would rather just take an upper level class that is relevant to dental school.

I understand where you're coming from, my thoughts were mainly in not messing up the timeline for applying to DS. But it doesn't look like that's an issue if he/she can take biochem w/out o chem 2 and can just take o chem 2 later. I was also thinking you're going to have bad teachers in DS, so it might be good to condition yourself now, but that seems a bit counter intuitive now that I think more about it - why make a tedious subject any more so?

We did diels alder in 1 😀

We must have just been slow 1st semester lol