Got a bad grade on my Political Science class

[kristinairene]

I go to a community college right now as a freshman and doing my science pre-reqs before I transfer, but I am also taking one non science related class just for extra class and I really hated it (Political Science). I knew I should've not taken it but since I already did and I can't do anything about it I got a D on it and I feel terrible. Even though this is my first semester as a freshman I still wanted to do better than that even if its a non-science related class. Will this D affect my overall application when I apply for med school in the next couple of years? I am never ever taking this class anymore. Also, do you guys think taking more SCIENCE class will be better? Thing is, I feel like I can get much better grades if I take loads of science since I enjoy science more than any other subjects, or do you think it wouldn't make me look as a well rounded candidate?

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[alexandertg6]

I go to a community college right now as a freshman and doing my science pre-reqs before I transfer, but I am also taking one non science related class just for extra class and I really hated it (Political Science). I knew I should've not taken it but since I already did and I can't do anything about it I got a D on it and I feel terrible. Even though this is my first semester as a freshman I still wanted to do better than that even if its a non-science related class. Will this D affect my overall application when I apply for med school in the next couple of years? I am never ever taking this class anymore. Also, do you guys think taking more SCIENCE class will be better? Thing is, I feel like I can get much better grades if I take loads of science since I enjoy science more than any other subjects, or do you think it wouldn't make me look as a well rounded candidate?

I'm not an adcom, but my analysis is : No, its not good, but it wont kill you either. It will be a red flag considering especially perhaps that it is a community college (so classes are perceived to be easier in terms of grading regardless of whether or not they are). Prove to the admissions committees that you are just as academically capable as every other medical student and you will be fine. Best of luck,

Alex

 

[plumhill]

Definitely not good, but won't kill you. But don't get anything lower than a B after this, ok? In the future, if you truly hate a class and/or know you can't do well in it, drop it ASAP.

 

[kristinairene]

I'm not an adcom, but my analysis is : No, its not good, but it wont kill you either. It will be a red flag considering especially perhaps that it is a community college (so classes are perceived to be easier in terms of grading regardless of whether or not they are). Prove to the admissions committees that you are just as academically capable as every other medical student and you will be fine. Best of luck,

Alex

Definitely not good, but won't kill you. But don't get anything lower than a B after this, ok? In the future, if you truly hate a class and/or know you can't do well in it, drop it ASAP.

Thanks guys. Yeah, probably not the best idea to take some random class and I for sure will not take any classes out of the science field again.

 

[gettheleadout]

Thanks guy. Yeah, probably not the best idea to take some random class and I for sure will not take any classes out of the science field again.

I don't know how your core requirements are going to feel about that...

 

[kristinairene]

I don't know how your core requirements are going to feel about that...

What do you mean?

 

[gettheleadout]

What do you mean?

You're in your first year of college? You're going to have take many more non-science classes to get a degree, even a science degree.

 

[globetrotter3]

Definitely not good, but won't kill you. But don't get anything lower than a B after this, ok? In the future, if you truly hate a class and/or know you can't do well in it, drop it ASAP.

THIS. Our registrar's office works SO hard to discourage people from dropping classes, I never even really considered it as a viable option. My first quarter freshman year I pushed myself way too hard, took crazy difficult classes, and definitely paid for it. You don't want to get into the habit of giving up, if you can push yourself like crazy and pull a good grade out of it, do it. But at the same time, it's ok to drop classes. It's much easier to explain than a bad grade.

 

[plumhill]

OP mentioned being in community college so he/she might not know about the core requirements.

Most college, regardless of whether its an Ivy or a state school, will require you to take a certain number of classes in certain departments, to make sure that upon graduation everyone has received a well-rounded education in a multitude of fields. Usually, everyone has to go through one or two lab science classes (piece of cake if you're interested in the health sciences!), take a certain number of English courses, and a certain number of other elective courses outside of the major (poli sci, comp lit, psychology, philosophy, etc). So unfortunately you're most likely going to have to take classes that aren't science classes when you get to a four-year college.

If you truly detest the humanities, many schools (particularly state schools) have"science-y" courses that fill a particular requirement. For example, to fill one of my core requirements I'm taking a writing class called "Science and Technology," and my fiancee (ECE major) took "Ethics in Engineering" for one of his. But I highly recommend that you take something non-science-y while you're in college. Even if its something as simple as a drawing class, or something you've never heard of (I took a symbolic logic class last quarter and found what might be my second major, philosophy). You may find there's something else out there that you enjoy!

 

[plumhill]

THIS. Our registrar's office works SO hard to discourage people from dropping classes, I never even really considered it as a viable option. My first quarter freshman year I pushed myself way too hard, took crazy difficult classes, and definitely paid for it. You don't want to get into the habit of giving up, if you can push yourself like crazy and pull a good grade out of it, do it. But at the same time, it's ok to drop classes. It's much easier to explain than a bad grade.

I think at many colleges there's a certain time period where you can drop a class without it showing up on your transcript (usually in the first 3-4 weeks or something). If you have to withdraw from a class afterwards that isn't the best thing in the world since you'll have a W on your transcript, but one or two W's isn't going to kill you or your GPA. The best thing is to really figure out in the first couple weeks if this is a class you can stick with and do well in, and if not, drop it!

 

[globetrotter3]

I think at many colleges there's a certain time period where you can drop a class without it showing up on your transcript (usually in the first 3-4 weeks or something). If you have to withdraw from a class afterwards that isn't the best thing in the world since you'll have a W on your transcript, but one or two W's isn't going to kill you or your GPA. The best thing is to really figure out in the first couple weeks if this is a class you can stick with and do well in, and if not, drop it!

At least for us, you can drop in the first few days w/o any ill effects, first week and a half with a mark only on your unofficial transcript, and around the first 6-7 weeks of the term for a W. Best thing is, W's don't calculate into your gpa...not a habit to get into, but if you're having a sh*tty time of things it's better to have a few W's than a few D's

 

[kristinairene]

OP mentioned being in community college so he/she might not know about the core requirements.

Most college, regardless of whether its an Ivy or a state school, will require you to take a certain number of classes in certain departments, to make sure that upon graduation everyone has received a well-rounded education in a multitude of fields. Usually, everyone has to go through one or two lab science classes (piece of cake if you're interested in the health sciences!), take a certain number of English courses, and a certain number of other elective courses outside of the major (poli sci, comp lit, psychology, philosophy, etc). So unfortunately you're most likely going to have to take classes that aren't science classes when you get to a four-year college.

If you truly detest the humanities, many schools (particularly state schools) have"science-y" courses that fill a particular requirement. For example, to fill one of my core requirements I'm taking a writing class called "Science and Technology," and my fiancee (ECE major) took "Ethics in Engineering" for one of his. But I highly recommend that you take something non-science-y while you're in college. Even if its something as simple as a drawing class, or something you've never heard of (I took a symbolic logic class last quarter and found what might be my second major, philosophy). You may find there's something else out there that you enjoy!

Ah I see. I guess it's really necessary to take non-science even if you're a science major. Best thing I'll do is to avoid classes that might seem hard for me then, or perhaps drop it as early as possible. Thanks btw.

 

[kristinairene]

You're in your first year of college? You're going to have take many more non-science classes to get a degree, even a science degree.

I'm a freshman.

 

[Neurosis]

seriously why would anyone take such a boring/dreadful class? I took AP Gov in High school and let me just say it was literally the most tedious class I have ever been in. But in all seriousness, I wouldn't stay out of the humanities, just don't take political science/government classes again. And if I may be so bold, I would also suggest you stay the hell away from philosophy, if you're like me and hate pointless roundabout arguments about the human condition and all that crap.
/rant

 

[johnisles2011]

You should be warned that getting a D in a class is bad, but it's probably worse coming from a community college where they expect you to be above the coursework.
You might even want to take political science again at a university and kick its butt to show you can do it. Then it looks like the teacher was awful or you were sick or something.

 

[gettheleadout]

OP mentioned being in community college so he/she might not know about the core requirements.

Good point and good advice to the OP.

I'm a freshman.

I really apologize if that came off the wrong way (I rather detest agism), but I just meant that it would be plausible for an upperclassman to have finished all the core requirements and get away with only taking science classes on out, and from what you said before I didn't think you were in a position with that many credits.

 

[kristinairene]

Good point and good advice to the OP.

I really apologize if that came off the wrong way (I rather detest agism), but I just meant that it would be plausible for an upperclassman to have finished all the core requirements and get away with only taking science classes on out, and from what you said before I didn't think you were in a position with that many credits.

Its alright.

 

[kristinairene]

You should be warned that getting a D in a class is bad, but it's probably worse coming from a community college where they expect you to be above the coursework.
You might even want to take political science again at a university and kick its butt to show you can do it. Then it looks like the teacher was awful or you were sick or something.

I'll keep that in mind. Nice blog by the way.

 

[Musclemass]

OP, your posts show some writing awkwardness. If that's because you wrote quickly, then no issue. If not, you may need to work on your written expression a bit, and that may have contributed to your grade (in a class that must have had been graded based on written work). Good luck.

 

[kristinairene]

OP, your posts show some writing awkwardness. If that's because you wrote quickly, then no issue. If not, you may need to work on your written expression a bit, and that may have contributed to your grade (in a class that must have had been graded based on written work). Good luck.

Yeah that could be one of the contributing factors why I failed that Political Science class, because we did a lot of current events and analytical term paper. That class is only done once a week that's why the professor gave us too much work. I was not interested in that class at all since Political Science is not my forte and that class is full of discussions and debates talking about bill of rights and amendments which I didn't really understood.

 

[absolutdokta]

seriously why would anyone take such a boring/dreadful class? I took AP Gov in High school and let me just say it was literally the most tedious class I have ever been in. But in all seriousness, I wouldn't stay out of the humanities, just don't take political science/government classes again. And if I may be so bold, I would also suggest you stay the hell away from philosophy, if you're like me and hate pointless roundabout arguments about the human condition and all that crap.
/rant

true dat. I thought I wanted to go into something politically related when I first started. I was all gung-ho about it and signed up to take this foreign relations class and some other intense class that I cant even remember. The class with no name was once a week for 3 hours....and it was three hours of hell!!! We had reading and written assignments up the wazoo and to my meek freshman mind that was nuts so I dropped it before the deadline-to-drop-with-no-trace-on-the-transcript-date. I stayed in the foreign relations class mostly cuz there was this incredibly hot chick that sat next to me but overall the class blew monkey balls big time and I ended up neglecting some assignments and got a C. Next semester I dumped political science as an ambition and started down the science road

 

[Musclemass]

Yeah that could be one of the contributing factors why I failed that Political Science class, because we did a lot of current events and analytical term paper. That class is only done once a week that's why the professor gave us too much work. I was not interested in that class at all since Political Science is not my forte and that class is full of discussions and debates talking about bill of rights and amendments which I didn't really understood.

There was no advance information about discussion themes that you could have prepared for? After leaving a class discussion you didn't understand, did you do further research to learn about those topics? You must have had graded material before the term paper, did you discuss your work with the instructor to understand how to do better?

It doesn't matter what the subject is, getting an education is not a passive activity. It's your responsibility to understand and do whatever is necessary to master the material and be successful in each class you take. As a first step in learning to be proactive, take a writing or English composition class or two, it will help your grades.

 

[AD04]

It is only freshman year. They'll understand that you did poorly on one class. Just make sure that you do better from now on. The admissions people will see it was just an adjustment from high school to college and that you really do have what it takes to do well in medical school.