drop orgo lab?

[goblue1980]

Hi all,

So I've got quite conundrum. I'm taking orgo right now, and have managed to do really well in the lecture portion, but apparently really poorly in the lab. My grades on the labs add up to a low B, but earlier this week I received my midterm grade, and I failed. I have no idea how I failed except that the exam was all multiple choice, and the questions were quite confusing. We all sort of conferenced afterwards, and I seemed to have put the same answers as many others. So this is quite confusing to me. It's not worth a whole lot, but I wonder if I drop and retake next semester, I could do much better. But I hate to retake after all the stress and work I've put into it. And I am worried a bit about getting a W on my transcript.

I'm really frustrated and upset right now.

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[mspeedwagon]

Is lab a portion of your grade (in which case it would just bring your orgo grade down some) or a separate grade all together.

If it's a portion of your total grade then I'd stay. If it's a separate grade all together and is going to impact your overall GPA significantly, I'd run for the hills.

 

[goblue1980]

It's not a portion of my lecture grade. I honestly don't know how I did that badly.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

How do you honestly think you will end up in the class? At my college the lab portions are seperate classes for 1 credit. So unless you have a total of 4 credits on your transcript, a B for a 1 credit class won't affect you that much.

 

[goblue1980]

I'm honestly more concerned about a C. Or possibly failing all together. If I do this badly on my final. I will get lower than a C, and then, I don't even know if I could retake any of it. If I get a C I think I'd have to retake it.

I think I'd feel more comfortable retaking it, and really understanding the lab techniques and processes. But how bad would it look?

 

[goblue1980]

I feel like an idiot. I just went to talk to the instructor, who i've had before, and who really likes me and knows that this grade is totally unlike me. She told me I'd be extremely lucky to get a B at this point. I'll probably get a C. But apparently the school I'm at has a policy that if you drop one class in the summer, you have to drop both. This makes absolutely no sense to me. She said if I retook the class, I'd probably do awesome. Anyways, I actually started crying a bit. I've never had to have this conversation with any professor before.

 

[mspeedwagon]

I would NOT drop a 1 credit class if you are going to get a C or higher in it. If you don't think you can get a C, then definitely drop.

 

[goblue1980]

The school I am at has a different set up than others. Apparently you go from Chem 1 to Orgo 1 to Orgo 2 and end with Chem 2. But i've heard that it's ok to put of taking the Orgo 2 lab till after the MCAT. So I was thinking of retaking this lab, doing really well (the instructor assured me that I would do well if I retook it--(she says she's seen a lot of people do that). But if I do this, then I would have to take Orgo 2 lab out of sequence (if allowed). But if I go onto Orgo 2 lab with a poor understanding of Orgo 1 lab, wouldn't that be detrimental to my Orgo 2 lab grade?

 

[mspeedwagon]

Definitely don't go on to orgo 2 lab. My suggestion is to put off the whole lab sequence and just get done with the class. The set-up you describe of classes is the same at my undergrad (chem 1, orgo 1, orgo 2, chem 2). Honestly, the information you learn in lab won't really help you that much on the MCAT.

The school I am at has a different set up than others. Apparently you go from Chem 1 to Orgo 1 to Orgo 2 and end with Chem 2. But i've heard that it's ok to put of taking the Orgo 2 lab till after the MCAT. So I was thinking of retaking this lab, doing really well (the instructor assured me that I would do well if I retook it--(she says she's seen a lot of people do that). But if I do this, then I would have to take Orgo 2 lab out of sequence (if allowed). But if I go onto Orgo 2 lab with a poor understanding of Orgo 1 lab, wouldn't that be detrimental to my Orgo 2 lab grade?

 

[pietachok]

Don't drop it.
I had a C in Orgo & 3 B-'s in Bio courses on my post bacc transcript (2 other C's in college) and still got into a decent med school.

When you get isolated C's in difficult courses but are able to do well in other difficult courses, they still get the proof they're looking for that you can handle time-consuming, intense material. Yes, when you're not perfect, you aren't going to get into certain schools, but if those aren't where you're heart's dead set, one C isn't going to make or break your whole application to the vast majority of institutions.