Failing a Class?

[jsk070]

Hello everyone. I'm freaking out, and I think my MD chances are pretty much shot.

This year I'm taking physics and the teacher is a complete *****. His style is unorthodox and extremely unorganized, and I failed my first test. So I'm pretty much in the grip of either getting a C in the class or failing all together.

I'm not a bad student at all, my overall gpa including biology, chem and ochem is a 4.0. Students struggle in his class because hes a complete joke.

Anyways I can go on and on, but what I was wondering- how will med schools see a failing grade in a class, and how will they look at a grade replacement? What about W's?

Is my chance to Harvard or Stanford pretty much done for? I'm guessing it is. Oh well, Ill direct my energies to DO or CARRIB. But seriously, am I really that bad off? My overall gpa is a 3.92, and my Science is a 4.0. It's just physics is killing me. Its freaking intro to physics. It SHOULD not be harder then ochem. ****. What do u guys think?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[brianmartin]

A lot of people are caught off guard by physics - it's a lot different than the othe prereqs. And the teacher makes a big difference, although honestly I doubt it could be an A->C difference unless he is giving really hard exams and not curving (in which case he is just a jerk).

One C is not going to hurt your chances at any schools, especially considering your high GPA otherwise. Just make sure to step it up next term.

With regards to your comment about "DO and Carribean" schools, try not to let your anxiety right now take over. It's not the end of the world, and you'll probably get into an MD school. Don't freak out.

 

[futuredrcrawfor]

If you can manage the C then I would push for it- if not could you take W and retake with someone else? One bad grade won't hurt but failing is not good!

Really a 3.8 cum and 3.8 science really isn't going to hurt your chances that bad lol. Just make sure you get the physics on the MCAT

 

[Law2Doc]

Hello everyone. I'm freaking out, and I think my MD chances are pretty much shot.

This year I'm taking physics and the teacher is a complete *****. His style is unorthodox and extremely unorganized, and I failed my first test. So I'm pretty much in the grip of either getting a C in the class or failing all together.

I'm not a bad student at all, my overall gpa including biology, chem and ochem is a 4.0. Students struggle in his class because hes a complete joke.

Anyways I can go on and on, but what I was wondering- how will med schools see a failing grade in a class, and how will they look at a grade replacement?

Is my chance to Harvard or Stanford pretty much done for? I'm guessing it is. Oh well, Ill direct my energies to DO or CARRIB. But seriously, am I really that bad off? My overall gpa is a 3.92, and my Science is a 4.0. It's just physics is killing me. Its freaking intro to physics. It SHOULD not be harder then ochem. ****. What do u guys think?

Many people find physics harder than Ochem. The first thing you need to do is stop transferring blame onto your prof and start to figure out how you can master the course. Unless he is failing out most of the class, you have to own up to not having done what was needed to get that A that I suspect some others got. Most likely, you simply need to be doing more problems (the #1 reason people don't do well in courses like physics). Do all the problems in your text even if only a portion are assigned. Once you have completed those, pick up other problem books (Schaums?) and do those too. That, sadly, is how you master physics.

There are people who have failed courses, retaken for a good grade and still gotten into an allo med school. You will survive this, if you take steps to fix things, and stop worrying about the prof being unorthodox, unorganized, a ***** or a joke. I suspect if you were doing well, you would call him none of these.

 

[TeaKae]

Hi. You are definitely over-reacting. An F on your transcript will not ruin your chances of getting into an MD school....I cannot speak for Harvard or Stanford, but plenty of people who have gotten an F, or a couple Cs for that matter, have gotten into med school

 

[futuredrcrawfor]

And the teacher makes a big difference, although honestly I doubt it could be an A->C difference unless he is giving really hard exams and not curving (in which case he is just a jerk).

I got a C in Organic 1 because the prof was so bad and I am sitting with another prof in Organic 2 now with an A... not much of a difference effort wise just that I had no clue what we were studying i OChem- I thought it was about bonds or something... who knew mechanisms were part of Ochem! NOT ME!

So professors are HUGE- if your school has pickaprof or ratemyprof use it!

 

[jsk070]

If you can manage the C then I would push for it- if not could you take W and retake with someone else? One bad grade won't hurt but failing is not good!

Really a 3.8 cum and 3.8 science really isn't going to hurt your chances that bad lol. Just make sure you get the physics on the MCAT

If I do bad the next time, I'll take a W. But I heard that schools hate W's...whats worse? W's or Fails+Grade Replacement?

 

[Law2Doc]

If I do bad the next time, I'll take a W. But I heard that schools hate W's...whats worse? W's or Fails+Grade Replacement?

An F is always worse than a W.

 

[jochi1543]

If I do bad the next time, I'll take a W. But I heard that schools hate W's...whats worse? W's or Fails+Grade Replacement?

Make sure you can still withdraw then. Schools only let you withdraw until about halfway into the semester.

I withdrew from physics II - I had a health problem then and my memory was shot. I sat down at the midterm, and it was one of those exams where they give you NO formulas (it was also calc-based, so I had to remember all the calc conversions, too). I studied like crazy, but I seriously couldn't remember a SINGLE THING from what I studied. And you can't solve the problems if you don't remember any formulas! I knew I'd get like 10% on that midterm, so I just withdrew and then took this class later at another school. This time, I ended up just 0.5% away from an A-! (bastard wouldn't round lol)

 

[TheRealMD]

There is no such thing as "optional" problems in physics or ochem. Most people forget that.

 

[jsk070]

There is no such thing as "optional" problems in physics or ochem. Most people forget that.

Ya I understand... I can't really complain. I should of listened to the ratemyprofessor reviews. Teacher always comes in late, asks us not to take notes, asks hypothetical questions and tells us various things according to invisible syllabus.

Anyways I understand high school physics differs from college level physics, but when you do all the problems in the book and understand all the mathematics and working behind it, I would expect at least a B. Then on a test I could see equivilent questions worded differently or somewhat similar to stuff we practiced as hw or lecture. However, physics to him is equivalent to throwing a marker on the board and asking why does gravity exist or some bull**** like that. I should of taken some teacher that expects us to learn the processes and how to perform equations instead of this load of philosophical bs-which I can see relates to physics- but I would expect this hypothetical, highly abstract physics to be in the upper division levels just like analytical chemistry.

Anyways I dropped it. Got my W. Ah well, I'll utilize the ratemyprofessor system alot better next time.

 

[HumidBeing]

Yeah, I swear by ratemyprofessor ever since I signed up for a course thinking the ratings must have been from disgruntled students. I sat through the first class & went straight over to add/drop to switch classes.

The W isn't going to hurt you at all. It was the best thing to do if you were worried about the possibility of failing. Actually, I don't think that having a 3.8 compared to a 4.0 would make a whit of difference anywhere, not even at the "top" schools. They reject bushels of 4.0 students every year. Seriously, they want students who can bring something unique to their rolls, and 4.0's aren't what makes a student unique. Yes, they want high achievers, but once you reach a certain range, it's all high. A tenth of a point or so just doesn't make an outstanding difference.

I get apprehensive about every physics test, too. The exam questions tend to be nothing like anything from the book or that we've discussed in class. It takes some really worrisome moments of staring at the questions before I realize how they relate to what we've covered and can figure out how to attack them. Physics and astronomy professors really seem to be a different breed than Life Science professors. Maybe the fields attract different personality types.

 

[Dr_Dan_the_man]

If you fail that class you will definitely not get into med school. I don't even think the Caribbean schools will take your money.

You should look into moving to china or maybe russia.

 

[theNEWgirl]

Hello everyone. I'm freaking out, and I think my MD chances are pretty much shot.

This year I'm taking physics and the teacher is a complete *****. His style is unorthodox and extremely unorganized, and I failed my first test. So I'm pretty much in the grip of either getting a C in the class or failing all together.

I'm not a bad student at all, my overall gpa including biology, chem and ochem is a 4.0. Students struggle in his class because hes a complete joke.

Anyways I can go on and on, but what I was wondering- how will med schools see a failing grade in a class, and how will they look at a grade replacement? What about W's?

Is my chance to Harvard or Stanford pretty much done for? I'm guessing it is. Oh well, Ill direct my energies to DO or CARRIB. But seriously, am I really that bad off? My overall gpa is a 3.92, and my Science is a 4.0. It's just physics is killing me. Its freaking intro to physics. It SHOULD not be harder then ochem. ****. What do u guys think?

whatever happen to the mid-tier schools? honestly ...

 

[radi0headfan]

Hello everyone. I'm freaking out, and I think my MD chances are pretty much shot.

This year I'm taking physics and the teacher is a complete *****. His style is unorthodox and extremely unorganized, and I failed my first test. So I'm pretty much in the grip of either getting a C in the class or failing all together.

I'm not a bad student at all, my overall gpa including biology, chem and ochem is a 4.0. Students struggle in his class because hes a complete joke.

Anyways I can go on and on, but what I was wondering- how will med schools see a failing grade in a class, and how will they look at a grade replacement? What about W's?

Is my chance to Harvard or Stanford pretty much done for? I'm guessing it is. Oh well, Ill direct my energies to DO or CARRIB. But seriously, am I really that bad off? My overall gpa is a 3.92, and my Science is a 4.0. It's just physics is killing me. Its freaking intro to physics. It SHOULD not be harder then ochem. ****. What do u guys think?

i had 3 C's plus a Q drop in college (similar to your situation..teacher was horrible)...i think you'll be fine if i'm getting interviews