Dropping Orgo 2

[Woots32]

WARNING - SOLITICING ADVICE!!! If you don't want to listen to my pathetic little problem run far, far away!

So here's the deal - I'm taking orgo 2 this semester for one school, UW-Madison. All my others accept the biochem substitute. It's been 2 years since I took orgo 1, and now I remember why I never took this class earlier. It's MWF at 8am, and the professor is absolutely terrible. I swear to God, he's created his own nomenclature system and doesn't believe in using things like "topics" in his lectures.

I've missed a fair amount of class going on interviews, and I know I'll miss more later this fall (including twice next week). We just had our first exam and I got 50%, not sure what that is w/ a curve. C- probably.

I have until Oct. 18th to drop the class. I'm thinking that if I go ahead and drop it now, I can take it in the spring after I graduate, maybe w/ a different prof. If I get rejected at Wisconsin, or accepted at another school I like better, then it's not even an issue and I don't have to take the damn class.

So what should I do?

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[gotgirth]

My vote for dropping it...sounds like its not going to come down to Wisconsin, and seniors shouldn't have classes before 10am anyways.

 

[opus03]

If you've got other options..and it sounds like you do, I would drop it. Orgo II can become a huge blur if you don't keep up with it and a better instructor can never hurt!

 

[BlueAvocado]

Hey my suggestion,

I was kind of in the same boat as you earlier this semester. I was taking Gen. Chem. and what you said about your proff mirrors mine. So after about 5 weeks of frustration I switched to another Science class with another teacher. I did this after i talked to a few people. Let me tell you it's a night and day difference just between the instructors and the instructions. But i was priviladged to take a morning class cause I don't work at the moment. Some people don't have this chance, so If you can that's what I would do. Good Luck!

 

[Amy B]

How are you able to take Biochem without having both parts of Organic chemistry? I guess all schools are different, but at my undergradute school you had to take O Chem I and II before Biochem.

Does a different instructor teach it at a different time?

If you withdraw from it, be prepared to explain why you had to withdraw from a major science course. If you haven't withdrawn from any other classes, it might be ok. But you want to try and not get any W's in major courses. Of course you don't want to fail it either, so I would take the W if you I thought there was no way I could bring up the grade.

 

[opus03]

I know all schools have different policies but I definitely believe O- Chem should come before biochem. At my old school(before transferring) they actually had me in biochem and Orgo I at the same time! The first day of biochem they put a carbon skeleton on the board and I had NO idea what it was! It was awful at first...I don't know how all of us made it through....

 

[agent]

god this is a pathetic little rant...

*mumble, mumble, mumble* j/k!

id drop it, unless you desperately want to go to UW-Madison.. which is a nice school btw.. sad that they dont accept biochem??

 

[DoubleDoctor]

I would definitely drop it. It is nearly impossible to keep up in O Chem if you miss class even once or twice. Just come up with a reasonable reason why you dropped it.

I dropped Instrumental Analysis my junior year because my Grandfather was dying and I had missed some classes. I'm sure that had I stayed in the class I would have ended up with a B of some sort, but I decided to withdraw because I knew that I could easily get an A if I didn't have the stress of his illness to deal with also.

It was a difficult decision to make because it was the first time in my life that "I couldn't control" things. Always before, if I had a rough test I would just buck up and study harder and it always came out ok. I was totally against dropping any of my classes because of his illness even though he was an Alzheimer patient and after he became ill he also became very violent. We were staying with him 24 hours a day and I was trying to sleep on the couch and studying with him screaming and hitting. Finally the professor talked to me and told me that he thought I should withdraw. I was terribly hurt and totally depressed but he was right, it would have been nearly impossible for me to catch up while dealing with the situation with Grandpa. I ended up dropping just that class (withdrew passing) and retaking it later
and having no problem.

I wrote about that experience in my personal statement and the interviewer actually commented on it. She said that they don't want people in med school that have never failed at anything. She commended me for my honesty in discussing that painful time. As she appropriately pointed out, the is a lot of failure and things that overwhelm you when you are a physician. The key is being able to pick yourself up and carry on, not to be perfect.

 

[Woots32]

Thanks for all your help, guys! I know it can be irritating when people fill up the forum w/ their personal problems, but I really appreciate the input.

For those of you who were curious, at UIUC you're only required to take one semester or orgo (w/ lab) as a bio major. Looking back, I definatley would have taken orgo 2 years ago. I think I probably will drop, especially since I've never dropped another course before. (And if I do it before the 18th, I won't get at W on my transcript.)

Thanks everyone!

 

[agent]

if you dont get the W, id definitely do that.

 

[Sweet Tea]

drop it. good decision.

 

[Amy B]

Hey,
Don't worry about posting personal problems on SDN. That is what we are all here for... to help people and to get help.

 

[crazyA]

A former Illini speaking here...

Yeah, Orgo II sucks, and I think the only schools one would need it for are U of C, Wisconsin, and I think maybe Northwestern too

But when I took it last year, I had a 50%, and it turned out to be an A...shows what a useful class it was

 

[agent]

Originally posted by crazyA
A former Illini speaking here...

Yeah, Orgo II sucks, and I think the only schools one would need it for are U of C, Wisconsin, and I think maybe Northwestern too

But when I took it last year, I had a 50%, and it turned out to be an A...shows what a useful class it was

must've been a hell of a curve..

im contemplating if i should even bother applying to U of C

 

[Amy B]

Originally posted by agent
must've been a hell of a curve..

im contemplating if i should even bother applying to U of C

Speaking of curving... My Organic professor refused to curve. I mean not one single point. Not on tests or final exam or final grades. However the other professor who taught on different days of the week curved every test, final exam and final grades.

His grades were much higher than our classes grades and he handed out more A's. I earned a B which would have been curved up to an A in the other class. Not fair, but the facts of life about classes and different professors.

Oh by the way the classes were equally hard. Our tests were a bit harder due to their lenght which ususally consisted of 10 pages in 50 minutes. And no I'm not whinning about my B.