Failed chem 1 with an F, retook with a C

[jorge921995]

---

Members don't see this ad.

What can I do?


I had an awful freshman year. I ended with a 2.45. I'm a bio major, by the way. I'm not trying to make excuses, but I was the first one in my family to ever go to college in the US so I had to adjust on my own, luckily I had a coworker who was just graduating and helped orient me in a lot of things, but then I was still lazy. Then, that summer, I took ecology and retook college algebra and got an A and B+ respectively. Then, this fall, I took French (5), Chem 1 (3), Intro to Psych (3) and Tropical Botany (3). In French, I'm getting an A for sure, an A in Psych too, and most likely an A in tropical botany. Now, I'm scared I'll be getting anywhere from a C to B- in Chem 1. My freshman year, I failed chemistry due to being lazy. But this class is just hard, I get the concept, I even bought a chemistry for dummies book which helped a lot, his tests were just so hard and I got mostly C's on those tests. I'm waiting for my final exam grade to be posted, but I feel I got like a C, or B-. I THINK it might be a different grading system, like in my last chem class, for example, a 70 was B-. Now I'm worried that I might get an average of those grades as a D. Is it over for me?

 

[Turkishking]

Rethink career choices. Just joking. See if you can pull yourself together, and if you still can't then it may be time to rethink alternative career choices.

 

[jondoe123]

If medicine is your TRUE passion and you do poorly in undergrad you should purse a masters in bioscience or whatever its called. Usully 2 year program that has all major sciences like micro/phsyio/genetics. People have a better chance at getting accepted if they do that , perform well, then apply. Its a longer road but youll have better results.
Try to do well now for the rest of ur college career.
I strongly advice avoid carribean if someone plants that seed in your ear.
Good luck. Grades dont make a doc, they only get you in the door.

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

Its not over, but it doesn't look stellar either. Perhaps consider grade replacement options on the DO side of things.

 

[Lawpy]

Something is seriously wrong here if retaking a class despite the extra info and familiarity can only bump you from an F to a C. You need to assess and evaluate your studying skills and academic deficiencies.

 

[Goro]

Over? Not at all. But get a better work ethic and start acing things.

What can I do?


I had an awful freshman year. I ended with a 2.45. I'm a bio major, by the way. I'm not trying to make excuses, but I was the first one in my family to ever go to college in the US so I had to adjust on my own, luckily I had a coworker who was just graduating and helped orient me in a lot of things, but then I was still lazy. Then, that summer, I took ecology and retook college algebra and got an A and B+ respectively. Then, this fall, I took French (5), Chem 1 (3), Intro to Psych (3) and Tropical Botany (3). In French, I'm getting an A for sure, an A in Psych too, and most likely an A in tropical botany. Now, I'm scared I'll be getting anywhere from a C to B- in Chem 1. My freshman year, I failed chemistry due to being lazy. But this class is just hard, I get the concept, I even bought a chemistry for dummies book which helped a lot, his tests were just so hard and I got mostly C's on those tests. I'm waiting for my final exam grade to be posted, but I feel I got like a C, or B-. I THINK it might be a different grading system, like in my last chem class, for example, a 70 was B-. Now I'm worried that I might get an average of those grades as a D. Is it over for me?

 

[DocWinter]

It's not over as you are still in the beginnings of this, but if you can't get at least a B in a retake, I believe you're either not ready for this or not meant for it. Taking a semester to reevaluate goals and interests might be best.

You need to learn how to get good in the sciences. Get a tutor, change your study methods, and figure out why you struggle

 

[jorge921995]

What if I work really hard and get an A in Chem 2?

 

[DocWinter]

Overall, your science GPA should be 3.2+ at a minimum. Having a C isn't a kiss of death - it does drag down your gpa and it does give some questions about your grasp on the material. If you can figure out how to get As in Chem 2 and beyond, you can probably just move on from this. What is your plan to get As?

 

[Glandzburg]

What if I work really hard and get an A in Chem 2?

That will be a good start to an upward trend. Your low grades early on will not sink you alone, but you don't have any more wiggle room for stuff like this. Use winter break to reevaluate your study methods, because something clearly isn't working. You won't go from a F/C in chem 1 to an A in chem 2 without fixing some things.

 

[NotYou20]

What if I work really hard and get an A in Chem 2?

Then you'll have a shot. I don't think just working really hard is going to solve this. You just aren't learning chemistry well. If you understand what's going on and know how to learn, gen chem doesn't require a whole lot of work. So you need to figure out what you're struggling with and correct that. If you can do that and work hard, good grades will come.

 

[jorge921995]

Of course, I'd start doing much more practice problems. More for dummies books. And now that I look back, we had a lot of topic that we only had one lecture on, and I guess I brushed those under the rug and completely forgot to study for. And honestly, again I'm not making excuses, I kind of blame my professor because towards that end of the course, he started going away from the schedule on the syllabus, and I had no idea what we were going to learn in the next class and I couldn't read ahead.

 

[Glandzburg]

Of course, I'd start doing much more practice problems. More for dummies books. And now that I look back, we had a lot of topic that we only had one lecture on, and I guess I brushed those under the rug and completely forgot to study for. And honestly, again I'm not making excuses, I kind of blame my professor because towards that end of the course, he started going away from the schedule on the syllabus, and I had no idea what we were going to learn in the next class and I couldn't read ahead.

Syllabi are not binding contracts. Most professors even put a disclaimer in there that they might deviate from if need be. People are a lot less keen to give you advice and help you out when you start blaming others for your shortcomings.

 

[jorge921995]

So, unfortunately, it's officially a C, I just got my email from my professor saying I should be happy with a C since science majors tend to be some of the best groups of students, makes me cringe a little, lol. I plugged in some numbers into an accurate GPA calculator and says I'll end up with a 2.88 GPA. Which, assuming I get all A's next semester with 16 credits, I can get a 3.14 by the end of this year. Which means, if I keep up the same thing, I can get a 3.41 by the end of my junior year, I guess I could apply for DO, right?

 

[HooktOnFiziks]

I'm someone who struggled with getting good grades in his classes throughout undergrad. I'm gonna just rant a bit about what worked with me; since you're not me, pardon me if I seem to assume you do x or y or that z will help you -- but if something here does click with you, great.

Anyways, since you're getting A's in other classes (albeit arguably much easier courses), you're doing *some* things right with your study skills. But you really need to adjust your academic approach to certain classes based on the class itself. For example, bio classes aren't as problems-based as chem or other phys sci classes; so for chemistry, you should realize that it's not about just getting the concepts you're taught, but also knowing how to apply those concepts. You gotta actually solve a ton of problems ahead of time, ones that you anticipate might be on the test. Another aspect of a class that you might want to take into consideration is the teacher. You're right -- a teacher can really sway your performance in a class, and I have no doubt that if you had a teacher who you jived with better, you would have gotten a better grade. Maybe not an A, but probable something better than a C. That's just the luck of the draw. What's important is that you tailor your studying not so much to understanding the material of the subject, but the course in the context of the course -- i.e., parts of the subject that the teacher believes is important for you to learn. So make sure you GET your teacher, that you understand how they think, what they think is important. This will help you anticipate also what kind of questions he/she will bring on tests, and so when you practice problems, you can tailor your practice to those kinds of problems, and maybe even derive possible test questions based on what you know has been emphasized in class. Tl;dr: adopt a more mindful academic approach

Edit: As for med school admissions, you still have time to raise your GPA. Also, trend matters. Also, postbaccs will help. BUT DON'T THINK THAT'S AN EXCUSE TO DO POORLY NOW!