Got a C+ in Orgo 1...

[DukeSilver]

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long story short, took orgo 1 during pledge term and pretty much got owned on the first midterm, didn't wanna get a W, so i stuck with it and brought it up to a C+. am i screwed for med school? I still have 5 more terms before I'm gonna apply

 

[scarshapedstar]

Not if you get an A in orgo II. Speaking from experience, though, an upward Orgo trend is not easy to pull off. Like you should buy Orgo for Dummies or something today and make sure you understand everything that you didn't get the first time, because Orgo I : Orgo II :: Algebra : Calculus.

 

[DukeSilver]

I'm also planning on taking a lot of Math classes and Bio classes and Neuroscience classes to make up for this mess that I got into. I've actually been previewing for Orgo 2 this break as well. If there's an upward trend from my mistake, then it won't be as bad, im hoping?

 

[dmf2682]

long story short, took orgo 1 during pledge term and pretty much got owned on the first midterm, didn't wanna get a W, so i stuck with it and brought it up to a C+. am i screwed for med school? I still have 5 more terms before I'm gonna apply

Seriously? What's more important, your education or your frat? Get your priorities straight.

 

[NoirD2]

Seriously? What's more important, your education or your frat? Get your priorities straight.

Ragin' face with ya boys of course.

 

[theseeker4]

Seriously? What's more important, your education or your frat? Get your priorities straight.

Was thinking the same thing.... Got to grow up some day.....

 

[shoehornlettuce]

Orgo II is similar to the second half of Orgo I. Maybe a bit more emphasis on synthesis depending on the professor. You really need to make sure you understand all the reactions, mechanisms, reagents like the back of your hand. Guessing you probably covered elimination, substitution, addition, reactions with alcohols, ethers, epoxides, alkenes, alkynes in the second half of your semester. Orgo II is just a whole lot more of this. Make sure you understand things like resonance and carbocation rearrangements by resonance, hydrogen and carbon shifts cause most of the time when you're having difficulty figuring out a problem, that's tied into the answer. Also, some schools do NMR in Orgo I and some in Orgo II. If you haven't already done it, you might want to look into it cause it can be a pain in the ass for some people.

 

[BHaus9]

Meh, what does your cumulative GPA look like? I didn't do so hot in Orgo and it hasn't come up in any of my interviews.

 

[DukeSilver]

Orgo II is similar to the second half of Orgo I. Maybe a bit more emphasis on synthesis depending on the professor. You really need to make sure you understand all the reactions, mechanisms, reagents like the back of your hand. Guessing you probably covered elimination, substitution, addition, reactions with alcohols, ethers, epoxides, alkenes, alkynes in the second half of your semester. Orgo II is just a whole lot more of this. Make sure you understand things like resonance and carbocation rearrangements by resonance, hydrogen and carbon shifts cause most of the time when you're having difficulty figuring out a problem, that's tied into the answer. Also, some schools do NMR in Orgo I and some in Orgo II. If you haven't already done it, you might want to look into it cause it can be a pain in the ass for some people.

We went through A LOT of synthesis, I know the reactions, mechanism, reagents, we covered E1, E2, Sn1, Sn2, alkene and alkyne reactions, NMR all in 10 weeks. Taking Orgo in a quarter system school sucks, but oh well, I'm fairly confident about the Orgo 1 topics now, and I'm previewing the crap about of the Orgo2 material right now

 

[DukeSilver]

Meh, what does your cumulative GPA look like? I didn't do so hot in Orgo and it hasn't come up in any of my interviews.

somewhere around a 3.4-3.5. i still have 5 more terms before i plan on applying, so hopefully theres an upward trend.. crossing my fingers

 

[tiedyeddog]

I still have 5 more terms before I'm gonna apply

As long as you had a good GPA to start with you'll be fine.

 

[tiedyeddog]

somewhere around a 3.4-3.5. i still have 5 more terms before i plan on applying, so hopefully theres an upward trend.. crossing my fingers

If you bring it up to 3.6ish you'll still be competitive, just probably not for most top 40 schools, apply broadly.

 

[pkwraith]

I had a C+ for Orgo I. As long as you hold up everything else, you should be fine in the absolute sense. Just be prepared to explain it at interviews in a convincing fashion (don't bring up pledge activities, this coming from a fratboy).

 

[woo]

I've gotten a few C's, and still got into med school. It can easily be done.

 

[0919mmk]

I got a c in orgo1 and a c+ in orgo2.

 

[DrHouse579]

Seriously? What's more important, your education or your frat? Get your priorities straight.

Clearly, you don't know what pledge semester means.

 

[dmf2682]

Clearly, you don't know what pledge semester means.

clearly. get "initiated" by a pack of college boys who want you to pay them in order to be their friend.

 

[DrHouse579]

clearly. get "initiated" by a pack of college boys who want you to pay them in order to be their friend.

Hey, you're saying a bunch of stuff that I don't like.

LOL I totally understand what you're saying. I don't approve of the frat system; personally, I call bs to any frat boy who claims to care about his grades more than their greek life just on what pledging entails. I know of too many, otherwise very astute and studious, friends who decided to go greek and trashed their GPA for the quarter or semester they decided to pledge. I agree fully that one can maintain a healthy GPA once you become initiated and aren't required to do someone's dirty laundry and get them McDonald's at two in the morning, but anyone who claims they can pledge and get a 3.7+ is lying or one of those weird party animal/geniuses (more likely art major).

 

[ShoTyme]

Seriously? What's more important, your education or your frat? Get your priorities straight.

Clearly, you don't know what pledge semester means.

What DMF is saying is that you put your fraternity in front of your education. If your goal is to become a doctor, then keeping your focus on that should be where your mindset is. Getting derailed by pledging is childish. Yes many people join frats. Some of those will go on to become doctors. In the end, you may reach your goal. But if you do, I bet you will look back and admit that you were not as focused as you should have been. If you are able to pledge AND make your grades, then that's ideal. If something has to give, be mature and forgo the extracurricular activities. There will always be distractions. That's life. Being able to properly manage / put away those distractions shows maturity. Good luck in your future and your upcoming life decisions.

 

[scarshapedstar]

I never had a pledge semester. Most people don't.

Blaming anything on that is like saying "I liked to wake up and whack myself in the temple with a ballpeen hammer for a while there." Your choice!

 

[Conflagration]

Maybe this is just me, but couldn't he retake Orgo I and raise his GPA if he got a higher grade? Don't DO schools take the better of the two?

Even if he didn't do that, he shouldn't be too bad off, right?

 

[varsityblue]

Honestly, don't worry about it too much. If your other grades are strong, one C+ isn't going to keep you out of medical school. Just include an additional information section which explains what happened and I think you'll be fine.

 

[DukeSilver]

Alright, thanks everyone. I'm gonna try my best and get a much better grade in Orgo 2. No, I am not going to retake Orgo 1 b/c I didn't fail it, and my school doesnt even let people retake unless they failed. And for all the GDIs that are bashing on greek life, don't judge based on what you've heard from others. I was hesitant about rushing, but during pledge term, I realized that not everything i've heard from it was true. So please, unless you go through pledging, don't say crap like "its paying people to be your friend."

 

[dmf2682]

Alright, thanks everyone. I'm gonna try my best and get a much better grade in Orgo 2. No, I am not going to retake Orgo 1 b/c I didn't fail it, and my school doesnt even let people retake unless they failed. And for all the GDIs that are bashing on greek life, don't judge based on what you've heard from others. I was hesitant about rushing, but during pledge term, I realized that not everything i've heard from it was true. So please, unless you go through pledging, don't say crap like "its paying people to be your friend."

I was a psi upsilon pledge but decided it wasn't for me after they wanted me to pay their dues and keep on with my pledge activities during finals week. They also wanted me to abandon other things that I was doing, including my job, in order to hang out with them. So I will repeat:

Being in a frat is paying people to be your friends. If you stop paying them, and have other stuff that you need to do, they will stop being your friends.

Your life. It's already cost you once- take care to set your priorities in the future.

 

[DukeSilver]

I was a psi upsilon pledge but decided it wasn't for me after they wanted me to pay their dues and keep on with my pledge activities during finals week. They also wanted me to abandon other things that I was doing, including my job, in order to hang out with them. So I will repeat:

Being in a frat is paying people to be your friends. If you stop paying them, and have other stuff that you need to do, they will stop being your friends.

Your life. It's already cost you once- take care to set your priorities in the future.

I don't know about you, but I actually pledged with a lot of my friends. Pledging just strengthened our friendship, and gave us the opportunity to meet more people. My fraternity wasn't even that strict about us paying our dues. We could work off parts of it by doing stuff for the house. We also have strong alumni support, and they give us money for events, etc. I'm sorry your experience ended that way, but don't just overly-generalize and chastise all greeklife because of your experience.

 

[BHaus9]

I was a psi upsilon pledge but decided it wasn't for me after they wanted me to pay their dues and keep on with my pledge activities during finals week. They also wanted me to abandon other things that I was doing, including my job, in order to hang out with them. So I will repeat:

Being in a frat is paying people to be your friends. If you stop paying them, and have other stuff that you need to do, they will stop being your friends.

Your life. It's already cost you once- take care to set your priorities in the future.

That's sort of an unfair generalization. I'm not in a frat - school didn't even have a greek system - but I know of people who made it out unscathed, and in fact used their frat as a support system / source of wonderful EC projects. Fraternities and sororities are not all the same animal.

Is it true that Greek life can detract from focus on one's studies? Absolutely. But the same goes for television, intramural sports, and SDN. Medicine does not have to consume your life to be a priority. Granted, you want to limi the C grades for sure, and if your frat is going to make that difficult, you should drop it. But it's also probably unfair to dismiss frats as categorically bad.

 

[Conflagration]

DukeSilver, are you in Duke University? What were your high school grades? (NC resident putting together applications, sorry to bother you.)

 

[gravitywave]

I was a psi upsilon pledge but decided it wasn't for me after they wanted me to pay their dues and keep on with my pledge activities during finals week. They also wanted me to abandon other things that I was doing, including my job, in order to hang out with them. So I will repeat:

Being in a frat is paying people to be your friends. If you stop paying them, and have other stuff that you need to do, they will stop being your friends.

Your life. It's already cost you once- take care to set your priorities in the future.

your experience is not generalizable. get off the high horse already.

 

[dmf2682]

your experience is not generalizable. get off the high horse already.

That is a foolish comment. The OP said that if you haven't been through the pledging process then you can't comment. I have, and can, from the horse's own mouth. Sure my specific experience may have been unique to me, but from a grade-wise perspective it's already hurt him.

I suspect the OP knows what I'm saying is true, otherwise he wouldn't have brought up the fact that his grades were lower during pledge term.

Ultimately this isn't about me, but the OP. My advice remains: set your priorities straight and you'll do better.

 

[Ignatius M.D.]

somewhere around a 3.4-3.5. i still have 5 more terms before i plan on applying, so hopefully theres an upward trend.. crossing my fingers

3.4-3.5 at Duke? Do well on the MCAT and you'll be fine. An upward trend in Orgo is definitely hard to do. I got an A in first sem., B in second. Professor for second semester was a harsher grader though

 

[Cambino]

long story short, took orgo 1 during pledge term and pretty much got owned on the first midterm, didn't wanna get a W, so i stuck with it and brought it up to a C+. am i screwed for med school? I still have 5 more terms before I'm gonna apply

Do well in ochem II, but like the others have said, an upward trend in organic chemistry isn't easy. Office hours, review daily, and I'd even take time to review concepts you're uncomfortable with over the break.

 

[Cryptos]

3.4-3.5 at Duke? Do well on the MCAT and you'll be fine. An upward trend in Orgo is definitely hard to do. I got an A in first sem., B in second. Professor for second semester was a harsher grader though

Duke does rush/pledge all during spring semester, so it's unlikely he's a Duke student.

 

[DrHouse579]

I was a psi upsilon pledge but decided it wasn't for me after they wanted me to pay their dues and keep on with my pledge activities during finals week. They also wanted me to abandon other things that I was doing, including my job, in order to hang out with them. So I will repeat:

Being in a frat is paying people to be your friends. If you stop paying them, and have other stuff that you need to do, they will stop being your friends.

Your life. It's already cost you once- take care to set your priorities in the future.

This is a fallacy that has gotten on my nerve since day one. Just because you pay to be in a frat doesn't mean you're buying friends. If that's the case why doesn't everyone get bids; I mean by your logic, whether or not you get a bid should be based solely on your ability to pay. This is not the case, many frats give out scholarships and allow payments to be reduced through service to the frat (at least in one case at my ugrad). So, please, stop with these generalizations and vent somewhere else about your lifestyle choice.

 

[DukeSilver]

I completely agree with Dr. House. Most people who usually talk smack about greek life have never even stepped into a frat house. And no, I am not a student at Duke, I attend an Ivy League school, the answer shouldnt be that hard to figure out. Also, i failed to mention that fraternities are often involved in campus activities, from volunteering to setting up fundraisers for disaster reliefs, things like that. Yeah, sure, i messed up one term, but im not caught up in the past, im looking forward to the next 5 terms to bring my grades/stats up. I believe that greek life is something you truly won't understand unless you go through pledge term (ALL OF IT, as in you follow through to the end) and become a brother.

 

[DukeSilver]

DukeSilver, are you in Duke University? What were your high school grades? (NC resident putting together applications, sorry to bother you.)

I've already answered, but just to clarify, I'm attending an Ivy League school. No one really cares about high school grades, but I graduated valedictorian of a large public school, 2320 SAT, 800 on a few subject tests, National AP Scholar by junior year, etc. None of that crap matters now though. I did get into Duke, however. Was among my more favored schools.

 

[orthomyxo]

I got a C in organic I, and a B in organic II. Not ideal, but sometimes you just have to admit that you can't be perfect in everything you do. I know it's a novel idea for pre-meds, but an average grade in a genuinely difficult course is nothing to lose sleep over.

And I may be an oddball on this one, but I found organic II to be easier than organic I.

 

[SoonerFromTexas]

You all paid for college, so you all paid for your friends if you want to use that reasoning. OP, you will be fine. 4 point it next semester. Good luck 👍

 

[dreamweaver1988]

Orgo II is similar to the second half of Orgo I. Maybe a bit more emphasis on synthesis depending on the professor. You really need to make sure you understand all the reactions, mechanisms, reagents like the back of your hand. Guessing you probably covered elimination, substitution, addition, reactions with alcohols, ethers, epoxides, alkenes, alkynes in the second half of your semester. Orgo II is just a whole lot more of this. Make sure you understand things like resonance and carbocation rearrangements by resonance, hydrogen and carbon shifts cause most of the time when you're having difficulty figuring out a problem, that's tied into the answer. Also, some schools do NMR in Orgo I and some in Orgo II. If you haven't already done it, you might want to look into it cause it can be a pain in the ass for some people.

Memorizing IR and NMR spectra was the WORST. Fun? Relevant...to anything, ever? Nope.

 

[gettheleadout]

This is a fallacy that has gotten on my nerve since day one. Just because you pay to be in a frat doesn't mean you're buying friends. If that's the case why doesn't everyone get bids; I mean by your logic, whether or not you get a bid should be based solely on your ability to pay. This is not the case, many frats give out scholarships and allow payments to be reduced through service to the frat (at least in one case at my ugrad). So, please, stop with these generalizations and vent somewhere else about your lifestyle choice.

You all paid for college, so you all paid for your friends if you want to use that reasoning. OP, you will be fine. 4 point it next semester. Good luck 👍

Double logic fail.

 

[dmf2682]

I completely agree with Dr. House. Most people who usually talk smack about greek life have never even stepped into a frat house. And no, I am not a student at Duke, I attend an Ivy League school, the answer shouldnt be that hard to figure out. Also, i failed to mention that fraternities are often involved in campus activities, from volunteering to setting up fundraisers for disaster reliefs, things like that. Yeah, sure, i messed up one term, but im not caught up in the past, im looking forward to the next 5 terms to bring my grades/stats up. I believe that greek life is something you truly won't understand unless you go through pledge term (ALL OF IT, as in you follow through to the end) and become a brother.

I may get flamed for saying this in this particular forum, but I believe learning and learning how to do well in school is something a lot of people (myself included) don't understand until they get through undergrad. Yes, all of it, as in you take all your classes, wear the funny hat and get the $150k+ piece of paper.

My advice. Take it or leave it. Be cognizant of what kind of time drain your frat stuff is and consider its impact on your studies.

 

[SoonerFromTexas]

Double logic fail.

You proved my point.

It is silly to think that people attend college with the sole intention of gaining friendship. The same is true for greek organizations, or any college organization for that matter.

Anyway, I am done with this tread. Best of luck to you OP and to everyone who replied.

 

[gettheleadout]

You proved my point.

It is silly to think that people attend college with the sole intention of gaining friendship. The same is true for greek organizations, or any college organization for that matter.

Anyway, I am done with this tread. Best of luck to you OP and to everyone who replied.

What? Greek organizations are social associations; whether you think they entail "paying for friends" or not, why do you think people join fraternities and sororities besides meeting and associating with their brothers and sisters, i.e., friends?

 

[SoonerFromTexas]

What? Greek organizations are social associations; whether you think they entail "paying for friends" or not, why do you think people join fraternities and sororities besides meeting and associating with their brothers and sisters, i.e., friends?

I have done 100+ service hours through my fraternity (various non-profits and not required) and I have learned more about medical school/getting good grades from the people there than anywhere else. The whole point of my post was to discredit the false stereotypes mentioned.

 

[gettheleadout]

I have done 100+ service hours through my fraternity (various non-profits and not required) and I have learned more about medical school/getting good grades from the people there than anywhere else. The whole point of my post was to discredit the false stereotypes mentioned.

And was all of that expressly your reason for interest prior to joining?

 

[SoonerFromTexas]

And was all of that expressly your reason for interest prior to joining?

Not my sole reason. Grades, athletics, campus events, community service, and yes...people/social aspects. 8 other people in my fraternity got accepted to med school this year, but there are a lot of party hard 24/7 people too. There is a lot of diversity. I am not trying to convince you to like greek organizations, just to keep an open mind. I think we have both made our points and I enjoyed the discussion. Good luck in your aspirations to attend medical school.

 

[gettheleadout]

Not my sole reason. Grades, athletics, campus events, community service, and yes...people/social aspects. 8 other people in my fraternity got accepted to med school this year, but there are a lot of party hard 24/7 people too. There is a lot of diversity. I am not trying to convince you to like greek organizations, just to keep an open mind. I think we have both made our points and I enjoyed the discussion. Good luck in your aspirations to attend medical school.

Keep in mind I haven't said anything passing judgment on the Greek system, I'm merely arguing that it is inherently a social organization. Grades? You're either studying with brothers or using old tests and materials from other brothers. Athletics? It's probably easier to get an intramural team together when you have a social group of guys to start with. Campus events? Social. I don't really buy that you need social affiliation with anyone to find community service opportunities. My point is that whether it's all good or bad, whether you're justified in paying your dues for whatever you want out of it or not, it is all based on the fact that the primary purpose is to serve as a means to associate with others in a social context.

 

[hospitalist1day]

I've gotten a few C's, and still got into med school. It can easily be done.

I'm getting a D in pre-calculus (lack of discipline this semester). Were you ever questioned?

 

[GetThePointe77]

I just read the OP and havent read all the response posts however
I got a C+ in Orgo1 and have gotten into 2 MD programs this cycle (and am hearing about another school in two weeks)
Just keep your grades up as much as possible and try to do really well in orgo2 to show you can handle the material.
GOOD LUCK!

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

I just read the OP and havent read all the response posts however
I got a C+ in Orgo1 and have gotten into 2 MD programs this cycle (and am hearing about another school in two weeks)
Just keep your grades up as much as possible and try to do really well in orgo2 to show you can handle the material.
GOOD LUCK!

mdapps: 7 years of research? You are 21?
Did you like, start research when you were 14 years old?

 

[Dr. Ducky]

If i have a good enough gpa will i be able to study for becoming a medical doctor? How high does my gpa need to be to get into a good school?

........

I smell a troll