Exactly how bad are C's on your transcript?

[wickd]

By the looks of things right now, Ill be lucky if I can pass Gen. Chem right now with a C. I keep on hearing from people that getting a C in anything is like getting a F on your transcript.

Help please?

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[szhao]

i don't think getting a C is that bad, but keep in mind, too many Cs will cause you to have a 2.0 GPA, so yea.

 

[docbens]

I had a C and a C- and still got accepted, so I don't think that it is the end of the world.

 

[WatchingWaiting]

Average admitted med student gpa is around a 3.5. You need 3 straight As to make up for 1 C. You need seven to eight A-s to make up for a 1 C. Hence, a C in anything on the pre-med sequence is generally an indicator of having a high chance of getting weeded out of the med school hunt. If you are on track to get a C in anything, you need to assess your studying techniques and intensity of work initiative and take corrective action.

 

[wickd]

Average admitted med student gpa is around a 3.5. You need 3 straight As to make up for 1 C. You need seven to eight A-s to make up for a 1 C. Hence, a C in anything on the pre-med sequence is generally an indicator of having a high chance of getting weeded out of the med school hunt. If you are on track to get a C in anything, you need to assess your studying techniques and intensity of work initiative and take corrective action.

So would it be best to drop? I really don't like taking a W in Chemistry. And yeah, the prof. even said that I should take a good look at my study habits, because there is a huge difference between my quiz average, and my test average.

 

[ICCONFETTI]

I got 2 C's and still was admitted.

It def doesn't help your application though so make sure you show an UPWARD trend and make up for it by getting A's in all ur other classes.

 

[wickd]

I got 2 C's and still was admitted.

It def doesn't help your application though so make sure you show an UPWARD trend and make up for it by getting A's in all ur other classes.

I have a B in all my other classes right now. I could try to make them A's to compensate for the C. Sadly this will be my 3rd C. ( I started taking college courses in high school)

 

[ONYX4000GT]

By the looks of things right now, Ill be lucky if I can pass Gen. Chem right now with a C. I keep on hearing from people that getting a C in anything is like getting a F on your transcript.

Help please?

Worker harder next time, and youll be fine.

 

[123165]

I think you will find a lot of people here that took college courses in high school, I had 24 credits by the time I was a "freshman". I then went to my state school and was on academic probation due to some personal difficulties. Yeah I got a few bad grades, but I got my head on straight and started studying.
The key phrase was already given. "upward trend"

Study hard, and don't lose your motivation and you will be fine.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

I had 6 C's. Physfound, Physfound II, Control Systems, Medical Imaging Systems, Orgo 1 and Orgo II.

I've had 6 invites and 2 acceptances.

Definitely not end of the world. Had to do an SMP tho. There is always a solution.

 

[McPoyle]

Is a C looked at any differently if it is not one of the schools pre-reqs, say it is in some liberal arts class.

 

[IckeyShuffle]

Is a C looked at any differently if it is not one of the schools pre-reqs, say it is in some liberal arts class.

A C in a core science class is not good. A C in other classes isnt bad. But too many C's is detrimental.

 

[PEN15]

I have C's littered all over my transcript too. But not in my pre-req courses though, all of them came in stupid social science courses that I didn't put too much effort into. If you're really worried then take the W. A W won't be detrimental to your GPA. With that said, I also have a W.

 

[Depakote]

A "C" is definitely something you can recover from, even in a core science. Now the problem is, if you're getting it in Gen Chem. You're setting yourself up for trouble. The classes only get harder from here... (and Gen Chem is on the MCAT)

You're going to need to make sure you get your study skills down and make sure you master the material before this gets out of hand. It might be worth looking into getting some tutoring and getting help with the professor.

 

[hopster]

-

 

[BucsFan813]

I had A LOT of Cs (and an F, and two Ds, and a W) and I got in. So there.

Similarly: a few D's and a lot of C's and I got into a top 5!!!

 

[szhao]

Similarly: a few D's and a lot of C's and I got into a top 5!!!

are you indian? haha j/m but good job.

 

[stiffany]

I had 6 C's. Physfound, Physfound II, Control Systems, Medical Imaging Systems, Orgo 1 and Orgo II.

I've had 6 invites and 2 acceptances.

Definitely not end of the world. Had to do an SMP tho. There is always a solution.

Yea, I think it also depends on whether or not you're going to be a science major with numerous chances to help bring up that GPA later on. I had 3 C's in the sciences (Bio I, Bio II taken freshman year and Orgo I taken first semester sophomore year before dropping the science idea and doing something else for a few years). As a result, my cumulative GPA is lower by about 0.15 (even with a 3.7-3.8 average for my other 30+ classes) and my science GPA is greatly diminished as well since there's only 11 classes counting towards it at this point (just the pre-reqs counting orgo 1 twice and then one extra bio class). Having a low science GPA is seemingly making it harder for me to get interviews this season even with a decent MCAT score and an average cumulative GPA (as well as good LORs, graduating from a top 5 university, and what I think are decent ECs). However, if this is your first semester in college, I say start busting your bum right now by going to office hours, doing practice problems till your hand hurts, etcetera and see if you can raise that C up to a B by the end of the term. Then, reevaluate your study habits and try to improve for next semester. If you're not a freshman and you already have a trail of classes with poor grades (other than the ones you took in high school) I say drop the class with a W and then figure out what you need to do to improve your study habits/test taking abilities with the help of campus resources, professors, friends, etcetera. However, I might also recommend talking to an advisor at your campus who knows you/the system as well as your professor (to talk about the possibilities/what you can do to perform better) before withdrawaling/taking the C.

 

[etf]

i had like 3 c's, all of them in science classes. while i wasn't admitted, i was granted 5 interviews, so it can't be that bad...just make up for it on the mcat

 

[thedelicatessen]

Is a C looked at any differently if it is not one of the schools pre-reqs, say it is in some liberal arts class.

I have been on more than a handful of interviews this season with one acceptance so far, and only one person asked me about specific grades in two bio electives I took.

 

[Dr. Josh]

I had A LOT of Cs (and an F, and two Ds, and a W) and I got in. So there.

where did you get in?

 

[Dr. Josh]

Similarly: a few D's and a lot of C's and I got into a top 5!!!

wow, that's encouraging? where? what else did you have going for you?

 

[Dimness]

I had two C's. One in analytical chemistry and one in lab in cell/molecular genetics. And I got in.

 

[babaghannough]

a few C's, one in orgo II. already got 2 acceptances and withdrawing some apps.

 

[cgscribe]

I wouldn't use people getting in as evidence to support getting C's. Those people are probably also scoring well above average for the MCAT, doing heavy research, and/or involved in amazing extra-curriculars (on top of the fact that they probably had all A's despite those few bad grades). Getting A's will help you get into med. school, so do everything you can to keep that high gpa. C's aren't the end of the world, but they're not good by any means.

 

[xpinchx]

Just improve from here. One C in your BCMP GPA won't kill you. Just bust ass from here on out, just remember your future is depending on it.

 

[wickd]

Its final. I'm taking the W, becuase when you think about it, if I get by with a C-, then wont it be a struggle to make a C in any other chemistry class? Thankfully the prof is letting me stay and take the tests for the class. I'm just going to use the down time to "find" the best way to study for Chem.

Thanks for all your help guys.

 

[paranoid_eyes]

C's do not equal F's. That said, don't stress what you can't change. Just stress what you can change (future grades).

 

[RustNeverSleeps]

By the looks of things right now, Ill be lucky if I can pass Gen. Chem right now with a C. I keep on hearing from people that getting a C in anything is like getting a F on your transcript.

Help please?

As someone on an adcom, a C in a science prereq concerns me. However, it is not the end of the world. Try to take and do really well in upper-level science courses to show that you are capable of handling difficult science-based coursework. A solid MCAT score will also help demonstrate that you are solid in area that might appear weak on your transcript. Good luck!

 

[DrZeke]

bleh, whatever, I have a C+ ooo and a D and I think I'm doing ok.

Med schools like it when you've shown how you recover from "failure". Retake the class or just take more upper level sciences...

 

[soeagerun2or]

First, as long as your cumulative and BMCP > 3.6 don't sweat it. Otherwise anything <A is the same as F.

 

[wickd]

bleh, whatever, I have a C+ ooo and a D and I think I'm doing ok.

Med schools like it when you've shown how you recover from "failure". Retake the class or just take more upper level sciences...

As someone on an adcom, a C in a science prereq concerns me. However, it is not the end of the world. Try to take and do really well in upper-level science courses to show that you are capable of handling difficult science-based coursework. A solid MCAT score will also help demonstrate that you are solid in area that might appear weak on your transcript. Good luck!

Im going to retake the class. I just dont like the idea of barely passing Chem, and not having an assurance that I know the material enough to succeed in other Chemistry classes. Besides, the final for the second semester of Gen. Chemistry covers EVERYTHING from all the Gen. Chem classes, so taking the C will hurt me in the long run.


On a side note, the prof. that is teaching the class got a VERY low rating on ratemyprofessor.com. Does that indicate anything ?

 

[DrZeke]

Im going to retake the class. I just dont like the idea of barely passing Chem, and not having an assurance that I know the material enough to succeed in other Chemistry classes. Besides, the final for the second semester of Gen. Chemistry covers EVERYTHING from all the Gen. Chem classes, so taking the C will hurt me in the long run.


On a side note, the prof. that is teaching the class got a VERY low rating on ratemyprofessor.com. Does that indicate anything ?

yup...run screaming... LOL
IMHO, read the ratings on ratemyprofessor.com, but also look at comments made about him/her. If the comments seem well-written and indicate that the person who rated the prof might have a clue, than try to avoid the class. if you can't avoid the class, then make sure you have the ability to learn the material on your own - using textbook, study guides or whatever you can. Also, if you have the $, consider getting a tutor, if you know that you have to take that professor he/she can't teach, and/or you can't learn it on your own without some guidance. Just don't put yourself in a position where you are doomed to fail, because it will look bad if you keep messing up in chem, and won't help you when you take the MCAT. (I teach GCHEM for the princeton review, so just my two cents).

 

[szhao]

Wait...so is it better to just take easy classes and get easy A's t(then study like crazy for the MCAT), or are adcoms able to tell what's hard and what's not...shouldn't that matter?👍 👎

can i suggest another option? take classes that are interesting to you.

 

[DrZeke]

Wait...so is it better to just take easy classes and get easy A's t(then study like crazy for the MCAT), or are adcoms able to tell what's hard and what's not...shouldn't that matter?👍 👎

i went to school in canada...and guess what...everyone who took classes outside of our major that they knew they would get A's in...all those ppl are in med school...

Now, that being said, if you are interested in a class and you think you will put in the work to get an A. Absolutely, do that, especially if you really like a subject, get a minor in it...it shows you're not just a unidimensional troll... But if you couldn't give a crap about what classes you take outside your major..just take ones you know you will do well in.

That's my advice, and it's only because I've taken A LOT of classes...but you do what's good for you.

 

[PhotoMD]

A C on gen chem is meaningful if it's followed by C's on later classes, and meaningless if it's followed by high marks on later gen chem / organic / biochem. Take a hard courseload and do well, and committees will see it as a fluke. I got a C in one of the intro biology sequence classes, a C in popular music, and a C in physics: waves. But I got straight A's on organic, biochem, and upper level molecular bio. The C's were the price of having a life.