grrr... organic chemistry

[futureneonateMD]

WARNING: THIS IS JUST A RANT!

for the past three weeks i have been studying my butt off for my 1st O. Chem Exam... i'm talking 3 hours A DAY sunday-saturday.... there are 4 exams, each worth 25% of your grade.. no quizzes, no homework assignments... so i took the exam on Monday and knew i missed a few questions, but i figured with the curve, i'd be ok... anyway, i got my exam back today and the professor announced that the highest grade was a 99/100... and the second highest grade was a 72! mind you, I was the one who got a 72, but the 99 messed up the curve!!!! and after my 72, all of the other scores were under 43! my goodness... so i asked him what i had to do to get an "A" in the class, and he said "get 100 on your next 3 exams and you'll get an "A-" in the class".. well, that sure messed up my day! sorry, just had to let off some steam... thanks for reading!

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[Chuckwalla]

I'm with you, that is absolutely (I would put another word there) ridiculous. The average should determine the curve, not some freak who can pull a 99 when the average is an F. Sorry you got a crappy teacher like that.

 

[futureneonateMD]

yea the professor isn't that great... he has tourette's syndrome and I know it's not his fault and everything, but honestly i cannot focus on his lectures, or on taking the exam because his outbursts distract me. Plus the class is 1 1/2 hours, but he lets us out early EVERY DAY so i'm guessing he wants us to teach ourselves! oh well, i guess i need to try to get all 100s...lol

 

[BrianUM]

yeah I def had a tough time in orgo...i thought i understood the material well but my test scores didnt reflect that and i got a b in orgo 1 and a b- orgo 2 BARELY...I still got into med school so no worries

 

[pmpkn219]

Umm... wow. This is like one of those traditional O chem horror stories! Our classes weren't curved so we never had to worry about the people who got 99s (although i did once or twice in OC2, surprising the beejezus out of myself).

This is concerning, if you subscribe to the Ochem as a "weed out" course theory... not sure if this is truth or urban legend, but there's certainly people like the poster above me, seemed to work out for him. Not sure what you could do, avergaing a 75 in the class (end of semester/year) really wouldn't be a strong point on your transcript. You could always explain the prof's ridiculous exam pattern, but it could look like an excuse. But if you Do end up with 80s or 90s your next 3 exams, it would boost the grade.

I don't know if this is better or worse, but maybe you could withdraw and take Organic at a nearby school? My school was in a Consortium of 9 others, and we could take 1 or 2 classes a semester at one of the other ones if we wished. Something to look into perhaps?

 

[BrianUM]

WARNING: THIS IS JUST A RANT!

for the past three weeks i have been studying my butt off for my 1st O. Chem Exam... i'm talking 3 hours A DAY sunday-saturday.... there are 4 exams, each worth 25% of your grade.. no quizzes, no homework assignments... so i took the exam on Monday and knew i missed a few questions, but i figured with the curve, i'd be ok... anyway, i got my exam back today and the professor announced that the highest grade was a 99/100... and the second highest grade was a 72! mind you, I was the one who got a 72, but the 99 messed up the curve!!!! and after my 72, all of the other scores were under 43! my goodness... so i asked him what i had to do to get an "A" in the class, and he said "get 100 on your next 3 exams and you'll get an "A-" in the class".. well, that sure messed up my day! sorry, just had to let off some steam... thanks for reading!

And wow, thats just scary...so the whole class failed the test except for that guy and maybe you?...just brutal..def complain to a dean or something because that's not right.

 

[futureneonateMD]

only 9 people are registered for the class, so i guess they figure that 7 out of 9 didn't study and its our fault that the average is so low

 

[stealthopts17]

That's pretty f'ed up. I remember having a professor who was notorious for writing up insanely difficult exams and handing out failing grades to a good chunk of her students. I heard that she was suspended for a while because she was failing too many people . I was lucky to have taken her class AFTER that happened though. I would also try talking to the higher-ups and see what they have to say about it.

 

[sunmoon6689]

I completely understand what you are going through. The professor I took O. Chem 2 from was a complete jerk. Nobody in the class could understand a word he was saying. For the first exam, he gave us the exam from the last year as a study tool. It was composed mainly of homework questions from the text and examples that he had given in lecture. With that in mind, everybody expected a similar exam and excellent scores. However, he completely changed the format to include material that he had never really gone over. Absolutely nothing looked familiar. The average for the exam was around a 50 percent. After the exams were returned, well over half the sixty-five person course dropped out. We were left with 20 people struggling for a C. The next two exams were about the same, but he guaranteed us that if we stayed around the average he would pass us. After the final exam, only four people actually received passing grades. I was five points above where he said the C cut-off was, so I thought I was in the clear. Besides, I had enough extra credit to bump my overall course grade to a B. I thought I was in pretty good shape considering the difficulty of the course. However, he decided to change the curve and awarded me a D+. As a result, my extra credit was not applied as you were required to have a C for the extra credit to count. I wrote a letter to the department and spoke with the department head. I was told that the professor's wife was depressed and he was having a really hard time at home. I could not believe it. Only four people actually passed the course and the department considered that acceptable. I was in shock. The department head went on to tell me that the professor would never be allowed to teach the course again because they received so many complaints, but there was nothing he could do to force the prof to give me my rightful grade. He then preceded to tell me I should consider scientific writing instead of medicine as my letter was executed quite well. I received an A- in O. Chem 1! I have really never gotten over this experience. It was very unfair, but now thanks to this post I know that many O. Chem courses are just as unfair!

 

[pmpkn219]

Geez that's really horrible to hear you guys had those sorts of experiences. I felt lucky every day of my 2 semester of O chem, our professor was an ANGEL. Not that he was even super-easy on us, but he was just one of those legitimately GOOD professors, he really loved & knew how to teach. Which I was ever so grateful forduring his course and when going over Ochem for the MCAT.

 

[ClockworkDoc]

I was in the same position back in school, except I set the curve. Yeah me!

 

[mam4993]

I don't really get the indignation about the curve. Maybe it's just that my school barely uses curves, but what I'm reading is that you scored a 72 on the exam and were disappointed when your grade turned out to be... a 72? I mean, it sucks that the test was so hard that you had to bust your butt for a C, but a 72 being a 72 makes sense to me.

Now the story about the professor resetting the curve so that a B turned into a D... that's just awful. Did you try to go to the Dean or anyone above the Department Head? Seriously, I'd be so pissed. I don't understand the use of curves at all. Is it just so the professor can have a nice slope on his chart of grades? What on earth?

 

[solitude]

the prof is yanking your chain. No prof. in their right mind would institute such a harsh curve. I know it's early in the semester and so you're worried about your grades, but all you can do is try your best on each exam. If you have the second-highest grade come December, you will receive an A in the course I promise you.

 

[_ian]

the prof is yanking your chain. No prof. in their right mind would institute such a harsh curve. I know it's early in the semester and so you're worried about your grades, but all you can do is try your best on each exam. If you have the second-highest grade come December, you will receive an A in the course I promise you.

That was what I was thinking, until I saw his class has nine students. His professor could just be a dick.

Professors hold constant grade scales to get students to try harder and work together without worrying about a curve. If they think a 72 is a C rather than an A, they'll be working much, much more to understand the material to the degree the professor would like. If the grades bring themselves up, the professor doesn't have to do anything; if they don't, they can fix it after the final.

 

[PZMO]

OP, I would seriously try talking to a department head or someone else with some authority over this guy. Organic is my area of concentration; it was my favorite series, my area of research, and the subject I tutor most often. Thus, I have been very involved with many faculty in the dept. One thing they always say is that while organic is a very difficult subject, it is NOT impossible to learn. So as they see it, when avg. performances are as low as they were on your exam.... it is THEIR FAULT, not the students.

Your prof obviously doesn't get this at all. See if someone above him does. It isn't worth a bad mark on your transcript for something that isn't (at least not entirely) your fault.

 

[solitude]

That was what I was thinking, until I saw his class has nine students. His professor could just be a dick.

Professors hold constant grade scales to get students to try harder and work together without worrying about a curve. If they think a 72 is a C rather than an A, they'll be working much, much more to understand the material to the degree the professor would like. If the grades bring themselves up, the professor doesn't have to do anything; if they don't, they can fix it after the final.

Oh yeah, I didn't see the nine students thing either. In that case, you might end up with an A- or worse. I don't even think it's unreasonable that you would receive A-, B+ or B if you were second-highest in a class of 9 students. That roughly corresponds to the grading proportions in large courses at some other universities (although at mine, there is a much higher proportion of A's and B's).

 

[futureneonateMD]

I sure hope you guys are right bcuz i already have anough B's and C's on my transcript!

 

[boulux]

what's so hard about organic chemestry??? I'm not in the us education system, but what I'm doing right now is pretty easy. Well, my first exam was hard but I think I got more than 90%.

What are you learning exactly in your first organic chemestry course?

 

[novawildcat]

3 hours a day for 3 weeks and you didn't ace it? Then you are obviously studying wrong. The #1 way to ace organic chemistry is to answer most of the questions at the end of the chapter WITHOUT once going back in the chapter for hints/reaction mechanisms/reagents. If you can do 90% of the questions from just the top of your head then you will ace ochem, guaranteed. Making flashcards, recopying your notes, spending hours highlighting your text are all a waste of time. Learning to study efficiently and effectively is much more important than how much time you actually study.

 

[DrJekyl]

I agree with the previous poster. Maybe you should try studying differently. I know everybody has their own way of learning things. This is what worked for me. Work out the problems at the end of each chapter step by step and understand what is happening in each step. Memorizing flashcards in O-Chem is a bad idea because you will get confused when you are tested on compounds you have not seen before. If you can understand the steps involved in each reaction you will be able to solve any reaction your professor gives you on an exam.

 

[boulux]

well, I'm asking again... what's o-chem like for you? because what I'm doing is freaking easy.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

That's ridiculous. There is not a single professor at my entire school who could get away with grading like that. Being the second highest scorer in the class IS an A. I would very seriously consider talking to someone above him in the hierarchy.


Btw, are you aware that "neonate" is a term used to describe the patients (babies), and not the doctors?

 

[DrWanahbe]

I hear you! I'm in Gen Chem and we had an introductory O Chem unit. I ROCKED every practice test and problem thrown at me...I knew EXACTLY what I was doing - and I was doing it correctly. How, I ask you, did I supposedly (I haven't seen it yet, so either I made a series of very stupid LITTLE mistakes or the one question I know I got wrong counted more that I think it should) get a B on this exam? How???? Right now, I'm counting on the fact that my grade got mixed up with someone else's. Because this is NOT RIGHT.

 

[akinf]

I was in the same position back in school, except I set the curve. Yeah me!

Your GPA doesn't really attest to that. Also, I don't know how your freak school does it, but you are not supposed to "set the curve" (whatever the hell that means) based on one person's score. Also, I don't know what you are studying that requires 3 hours a day of organic chem studying. If you are already doing reaction mechanisms, I suggest you pick up Organic Chemistry as a Second Language and A Book of Reaction Mechanisms by Groutas. Some good stuff out there to take the edge off.

 

[futureneonateMD]

i did hours of working problems, but he added new concepts to the exam that weren't in the book, and with only 10 questions at 20 points each, getting one wrong messes things up. but now i know how his exams are, so i am sure i'll do a lot better on the next one... and yes, i know what a neonate is!

 

[Oculus Sinistra]

Wow, that is very strange.
I can't imagine a professor getting away with failing 7 people out of 9, however.

 

[akinf]

Wow, that is very strange.
I can't imagine a professor getting away with failing 7 people out of 9, however.

The reason you can't imagine it is probably b/c it didn't happen.

 

[juice55]

I didn't think orgo was hard. BUT, in our school, everything's on a curve, so the only thing that matters is the median and the standard dev. So... sometimes the median is a 40... sometimes the median is an 86. It doesn't matter how much you know, you just have to do better than everyone else. What's the big deal?

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

I didn't think orgo was hard. BUT, in our school, everything's on a curve, so the only thing that matters is the median and the standard dev. So... sometimes the median is a 40... sometimes the median is an 86. It doesn't matter how much you know, you just have to do better than everyone else. What's the big deal?

Obviously this professor has no idea how a curve works

 

[juice55]

why would you say that?

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

why would you say that?

Like you said...Because a curve is based on the median, not the outlyer gunner at the top of the distribution....

 

[juice55]

and... a 99 shouldn't mess up the curve THAT much... a 72 should still be well above the mean if its the second highest grade. Well, depending on what the other scores were.

 

[juice55]

yeah. our curve is based on the median and the standard dev. if you're higher than a standard dev above the mean, that's like.. an A/A-

 

[Oculus Sinistra]

The reason you can't imagine it is probably b/c it didn't happen.

I understand. I'm projecting as a trend.

 

[mvenus929]

what's so hard about organic chemestry??? I'm not in the us education system, but what I'm doing right now is pretty easy. Well, my first exam was hard but I think I got more than 90%.

What are you learning exactly in your first organic chemestry course?

Yeah, I was thinking that too. The first exam was cake, and I only missed two problems due to not looking at the entire molecule. Now that we've gotten beyond the basics, though... It's going to be a long and hard semester. I have a quiz on Monday that I get to try to study for tomorrow.

 

[DocteurMarion]

Orgo 1 I got B and Orgo 2 I got B+
Let me tell yout his is a hard subject! The exams were SOOOO hard at my school, I studied my butt off each time and was really hoping for an A as final grade...Oooh well. Do what you can. Doing not so goo on o-chem is not the end of the world.

 

[MedStudentWanna]

what's so hard about organic chemestry??? I'm not in the us education system, but what I'm doing right now is pretty easy. Well, my first exam was hard but I think I got more than 90%.

I always hate posts like this. If people are having difficulty in a subject, telling them how "easy" it supposedly is does nothing but make them feel worse. What exactly is the purpose of chiming in if you're breezing through orgo while you know there are countless threads on this board about people working their butts off and getting by with a B or a C? It's just mean-spirited, in my opinion.

 

[boulux]

I always hate posts like this. If people are having difficulty in a subject, telling them how "easy" it supposedly is does nothing but make them feel worse. What exactly is the purpose of chiming in if you're breezing through orgo while you know there are countless threads on this board about people working their butts off and getting by with a B or a C? It's just mean-spirited, in my opinion.

I think you missed the point completely. I was asking what U.S. pre-meds were learning in o-chem because it looks very hard while my o-chem course here is by far the easiest of all my "prereq".. That's it, there's nothing mean-spirited in that question lol.