Drop Biochem?!

[13132]

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Oh hey...

I am a biochemistry major, but I learned I hate biochem. At my school you don't take biochem until your junior year so I really had no idea I would hate it so much.

I am a good student. 3.82 GPA strong EC's etc and am really worried what a C in biochem would do. First of all...if I tough it out how would a C in biochem (a 400 level chem course) really look? I feel like it would look better than getting a C in something really basic.

If it really does look bad...would a W look better? I am seriously considering changing my major to chem if I withdraw.

Thanks

 

[Knocked Up]

Oh hey...

I am a biochemistry major, but I learned I hate biochem. At my school you don't take biochem until your junior year so I really had no idea I would hate it so much.

I am a good student. 3.82 GPA strong EC's etc and am really worried what a C in biochem would do. First of all...if I tough it out how would a C in biochem (a 400 level chem course) really look? I feel like it would look better than getting a C in something really basic.

If it really does look bad...would a W look better? I am seriously considering changing my major to chem if I withdraw.

Thanks

Tough it out, learn biochem, and go take the MCAT. If you are a junior now you should be preparing for the MCAT. Honestly stop focusing on school and start focusing on that test, it matters a lot more than your "400 level" course.

 

[13132]

Tough it out, learn biochem, and go take the MCAT. If you are a junior now you should be preparing for the MCAT. Honestly stop focusing on school and start focusing on that test, it matters a lot more than your "400 level" course.

I keep telling myself biochem will have a magical effect on my MCAT score as opposed to not taking it.

 

[Rednawz]

definitely true

 

[centrigeugle]

Die in a fire. Biochemistry is the win. 😡

Okay just kidding mostly. What is it exactly that's giving you trouble? Biochemistry was my favorite science course in undergrad - I felt it was one of the few classes where I learned anything useful.

 

[Barcu]

Why do I suddenly keep reading that biochem was so helpful for the MCAT? I just don't see it. I found physiology to be the most helpful by far. Though, every course beyond the prereqs only marginally helps (and not necessarily worth the time to take unless you want to take the course anyway).

What I will say is that Biochem should be taken before med school (and as close to med school as possible). It is super-helpful in the transition to med school, especially if you remember it.

And to the OP, hating biochem is bad. It gets worse in med school. Now I'm not saying that if you don't like biochem, you shouldn't do medicine. What I am saying is that you should probably try and force your way through some terrible classes because in med school they come at you harder, faster, and you will hate it more.

Plus, having Biochem done in ugrad will make it a bit easier in med school. Stick with it and rock it. If you really are struggling, you might consider taking the W. But I would recommend trying to take the course again if you do.

👍

 

[13132]

Why do I suddenly keep reading that biochem was so helpful for the MCAT? I just don't see it. I found physiology to be the most helpful by far. Though, every course beyond the prereqs only marginally helps (and not necessarily worth the time to take unless you want to take the course anyway).

What I will say is that Biochem should be taken before med school (and as close to med school as possible). It is super-helpful in the transition to med school, especially if you remember it.

And to the OP, hating biochem is bad. It gets worse in med school. Now I'm not saying that if you don't like biochem, you shouldn't do medicine. What I am saying is that you should probably try and force your way through some terrible classes because in med school they come at you harder, faster, and you will hate it more.

Plus, having Biochem done in ugrad will make it a bit easier in med school. Stick with it and rock it. If you really are struggling, you might consider taking the W. But I would recommend trying to take the course again if you do.

👍

Thanks for the good advice. Considering the prof drops 1/3 exam or 1/2 the final I think that my grade is still really variable. Also, I think that taking biochem shows some balls as opposed to a student who didn't.

I think I hate it because I am not good at it....seriously. Your post really got me thinking what there is to hate about it. I loved orgo...molecular was fine, so what excuse do Ihave to hate biochem? None really. I think I will just tough it out especially since you say it is so helpful. I just don't want my preparation for medical school to hinder me from even getting there.

 

[Barcu]

Thanks for the good advice. Considering the prof drops 1/3 exam or 1/2 the final I think that my grade is still really variable. Also, I think that taking biochem shows some balls as opposed to a student who didn't.

I think I hate it because I am not good at it....seriously. Your post really got me thinking what there is to hate about it. I loved orgo...molecular was fine, so what excuse do Ihave to hate biochem? None really. I think I will just tough it out especially since you say it is so helpful. I just don't want my preparation for medical school to hinder me from even getting there.

That's a valid concern. In med school, you have the advantage of just needing to pass. You don't need to worry about the letter grade as much (which I know is stressful). I would really try and avoid a C, but pulling a B won't be the end of the world. If you really think that you might do poorly, you could withdraw, but I would recommend trying again another semester.

Talk to your prof, TAs, or other students and come up with a new way to approach it. Sometimes re-evaluating your study habits and trying out new ones may help you out.

Good luck. It's a beast.

 

[JonnyL]

any chance for a B? If I were you I would just keep trying and make my decision on the last day to drop.

 

[thyKnight]

I really don't see how You're going to like physical chemistry more than biochem.

~I'm taking both right now

 

[Morsetlis]

Biochem gets worse in med school.

If you can't get a B, drop it and retake it.

 

[13132]

Biochem gets worse in med school.

If you can't get a B, drop it and retake it.

I think I will stick with it. She drops one exam so essentially I am not in trouble yet. What worries me is that the second exam is a week or two after the drop date so it is a huge gamble.

I have to commit 110% so I don't end up having to keep my last exam score. Unfortunately... The first exam should have been the gimme.

 

[Morsetlis]

I think I will stick with it. She drops one exam so essentially I am not in trouble yet. What worries me is that the second exam is a week or two after the drop date so it is a huge gamble.

I have to commit 110% so I don't end up having to keep my last exam score. Unfortunately... The first exam should have been the gimme.

I have faith in you.

 

[orthomyxo]

I think I will stick with it. She drops one exam so essentially I am not in trouble yet. What worries me is that the second exam is a week or two after the drop date so it is a huge gamble.

I have to commit 110% so I don't end up having to keep my last exam score. Unfortunately... The first exam should have been the gimme.

What's up with all these lenient professors who allow dropped exams, let alone in a 400-level class? I wish I could get some of these lifelines.

 

[WorldChanger36]

I think I will stick with it. She drops one exam so essentially I am not in trouble yet. What worries me is that the second exam is a week or two after the drop date so it is a huge gamble.

I have to commit 110% so I don't end up having to keep my last exam score. Unfortunately... The first exam should have been the gimme.

Wow.... Professors that drop tests are very helpful. Stick with it and get a B. Study hard and get it done.

 

[13132]

Wow.... Professors that drop tests are very helpful. Stick with it and get a B. Study hard and get it done.

It is pretty nice until you realize her exams are much harder than the non drop courses I have taken.

Also...someone on here told me that orgo isn't heavily used in biochem and I am really regretting listening to that. There was a tough 15 point mechanism (100pt exam) that I blew and just had a hard quiz on mechanisms! Everyone told me to just be comfortable with general concepts 😕

She also said "As promised...this class will begin to become much more mechanism intensive" and "The mechanisms for enzyme reactions in your book are not detailed enough...you will need to come up with an appropriate detailed mechanism". Huh?! Has anybody else had such a orgo focused biochem?

 

[WorldChanger36]

It is pretty nice until you realize her exams are much harder than the non drop courses I have taken.

Also...someone on here told me that orgo isn't heavily used in biochem and I am really regretting listening to that. There was a tough 15 point mechanism (100pt exam) that I blew and just had a hard quiz on mechanisms! Everyone told me to just be comfortable with general concepts 😕

She also said "As promised...this class will begin to become much more mechanism intensive" and "The mechanisms for enzyme reactions in your book are not detailed enough...you will need to come up with an appropriate detailed mechanism". Huh?! Has anybody else had such a orgo focused biochem?

It would depend on the perspective of the professor. Both the chemistry and biology departments offer it at my school. The chem version was VERY VERY orgo intense with students having to draw out the step by step mechanism for every reaction. The bio version was not orgo intense although a basic understanding was required. It was more cascade intense, forcing the student to understand everything that is going on at the celluar level. Both sections had to fully understand and draw the amino acids, carbohydrates and main lipid molecules. I took the bio version and got a B+, a friend of mine took both ( in different semesters, and got an A- in the bio version and an A in the chem version). He felt the bio lab was more difficult than the chem lab although the bio lab was much more interesting. I don't know why someone would tell you orgo is not very useful for biochem.

 

[Morsetlis]

I don't remember how to hydrogenate oils or draw out the transitional state of a condensation or esterification or saponification, but I can sure draw some mean pathways with arrows and -ases everywhere!

It depends on the level of sophistication your professor (from which department?) requires.

I still stand by my assertion that all the orgo you need to know in biochem comes in the class itself.

 

[13132]

I don't remember how to hydrogenate oils or draw out the transitional state of a condensation or esterification or saponification, but I can sure draw some mean pathways with arrows and -ases everywhere!

It depends on the level of sophistication your professor (from which department?) requires.

I still stand by my assertion that all the orgo you need to know in biochem comes in the class itself.

She is from the chemistry department. For example, our last quiz was NOTHING covered in class. It was completely dependent on understanding organic II. How can I study for a quiz and exam when all of organic II is fair game? She went over a refresher which consisted of SN1 and SN2....not very helpful considering what she throws at us.

 

[13132]

I don't remember how to hydrogenate oils or draw out the transitional state of a condensation or esterification or saponification, but I can sure draw some mean pathways with arrows and -ases everywhere!

It depends on the level of sophistication your professor (from which department?) requires.

I still stand by my assertion that all the orgo you need to know in biochem comes in the class itself.

I didn't either...until I saw the key for the quiz I failed today ahahaha. 👎

 

[Morsetlis]

Then I guess you better hit up those double bonds to satisfy the Biochem professor from hell.

 

[13132]

Then I guess you better hit up those double bonds to satisfy the Biochem professor from hell.

For sure. I went home this weekend....looks like I'll be grabbing my old orgo book and notes. 😱

 

[orthomyxo]

She also said "As promised...this class will begin to become much more mechanism intensive" and "The mechanisms for enzyme reactions in your book are not detailed enough...you will need to come up with an appropriate detailed mechanism". Huh?! Has anybody else had such a orgo focused biochem?

What the hell? That sucks balls. My professor doesn't test us on mechanisms at all. I would probably hurl myself off the nearest tall structure if she did.

 

[13132]

What the hell? That sucks balls. My professor doesn't test us on mechanisms at all. I would probably hurl myself off the nearest tall structure if she did.

I am about to. I feel like I don't want to/can't justify a W to an adcom with "Well you see....the professor..." They will be like "yeah yeah you are just dumb."

Each day that goes on I consider dropping it more. I completed my prereqs already and it is just really frustrating to have this class destroy me so late in the game.

 

[orthomyxo]

I am about to. I feel like I don't want to/can't justify a W to an adcom with "Well you see....the professor..." They will be like "yeah yeah you are just dumb."

Each day that goes on I consider dropping it more. I completed my prereqs already and it is just really frustrating to have this class destroy me so late in the game.

If you did well in your organic sequence, i.e. two A's, or an A and a B, you should just drop it. They aren't going to to throw your application in the garbage over one W.

If you didn't do well in organic, like C's or something, it probably wouldn't look so good to drop biochemistry.

 

[13132]

If you did well in your organic sequence, i.e. two A's, or an A and a B, you should just drop it. They aren't going to to throw your application in the garbage over one W.

If you didn't do well in organic, like C's or something, it probably wouldn't look so good to drop biochemistry.

Organic I: A
Organic II: A-
Organic Lab: A

That is what is especially frustrating though. Given adequate time I could refresh myself, but the exams are written to "curve setters". That is what I like to call them. While I may have gotten a 95% these people in my class are the 98% types and they aren't having trouble.

So a W wouldn't be that detrimental? Even if it takes me down to 12 credit hours? I only have 1 other W in a religious studies class that I found out I just wasn't interested in.

 

[medicalmnt]

Organic I: A
Organic II: A-
Organic Lab: A

That is what is especially frustrating though. Given adequate time I could refresh myself, but the exams are written to "curve setters". That is what I like to call them. While I may have gotten a 95% these people in my class are the 98% types and they aren't having trouble.

So a W wouldn't be that detrimental? Even if it takes me down to 12 credit hours? I only have 1 other W in a religious studies class that I found out I just wasn't interested in.

Sorry for necrobump but I'm wondering if you could give me advice on what you decided to do and how that effected your application

 

[Theafoni]

I actually went on to smash every biochem exam that I took after that poor performance. I don't think I had experienced a course that really challenged me up until that point, so I learned how to study much more efficiently. I also learned that I love biochem... I know my original post said that I didn't like it, but I was just whining and being dramatic. I went on to take many more biochem classes, and did very well in them in undergrad and in med school.

What techniques would you say helped you study efficiently?

 

[optimistic3]

I actually went on to smash every biochem exam that I took after that poor performance. I don't think I had experienced a course that really challenged me up until that point, so I learned how to study much more efficiently. I also learned that I love biochem... I know my original post said that I didn't like it, but I was just whining and being dramatic. I went on to take many more biochem classes, and did very well in them in undergrad and in med school.

In retrospect, I would avoid dropping courses. I had two dropped humanities courses and I got grilled at an interview about that. I don't think its a huge deal, but with the level of competition for med school its just better not to have them. Usually just a bit of elbow grease will rectify the situation. Its hard to see that right after a bad exam, though.

This is a really cool update! I'm still kind of shocked that your professor made you learn all those mechanisms. I never had to do that in either of my biochem classes in undergrad. Did you have to do that in your med school biochem classes?