Help for a Struggling Pre-Med

[peasnluv]

I received my grades for this semester and I failed Biology and Organic Chemistry. I studied for both classes and it was so disheartening to see all my hard work translated into failing grades, as if I had never studied in the first place.

I know that I will live a fulfilling life as a doctor, since it is my passion to help others during their most vulnerable of moments as a means of support and hope. This is all I've ever wanted to do. However, is this still a realistic dream for me? If so, what can I do to improve my grades and transform my shaky pre-med status? I've already tried the library and tutoring sessions.

I appreciate your honesty and any perspective you may have to share. Thank you.

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[rctriplefresh5]

I received my grades for this semester and I failed Biology and Organic Chemistry. I studied for both classes and it was so disheartening to see all my hard work translated into failing grades, as if I had never studied in the first place.

I know that I will live a fulfilling life as a doctor, since it is my passion to help others during their most vulnerable of moments as a means of support and hope. This is all I've ever wanted to do. However, is this still a realistic dream for me? If so, what can I do to improve my grades and transform my shaky pre-med status? I've already tried the library and tutoring sessions.

I appreciate your honesty and any perspective you may have to share. Thank you.

retake them and apply to DO. what did you find hard about biology? was it general biology 1 or 2? i am a robotic memorizer, and even i found it a little difficult to ace bio 2 due to all of the taxonomy, but it wasn't that bad. i think you should take just those 2 classes next semester and really concentrate.
med school is competitive im having doubts myself. but yeah id definitely retake them, those are both very important prerequisites.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

It's really hard to give advice on this one, because generally people fail classes after not working hard enough. But it sounds like you've been putting a lot of effort into your classes. Could you possibly pinpoint where you are struggling academically? Ochem is a difficult class even for people who have otherwise gotten great grades, but biology should just entail a lot of memorization of key concepts. I'm sorry to say, but if you are having this much difficulty in intro bio, I don't possibly see how you can handle the sheer amount of material in med school.

I think that right now what you should do is stop focusing on your grades per se, and start focusing on how to get a better understanding of the concepts in these classes. Even though the courses are over for the semester, I think it would be worth meeting with the professors to discuss in depth exactly where you went wrong. You will obviously have to retake both of these classes, so you need to be prepared the next time around.

I definitely won't say that there is no hope. However, you need to figure out why you failed these classes before you can move on.

 

[Elpenor]

I studied for both classes

I've already tried the library

lol? by the looks of these two statements, combined with your grades, I'm gonna say you aren't studying near enough (probably not very efficiently either). Also, are you implying that you don't study for some classes?

 

[peasnluv]

Thanks for all the replies!

Part of the reason I think I did poorly in Bio was that I was constantly trying to study for O-Chem, since I considered it a tougher class. It was a bad decision, but I completely put Bio on the back-burner and spent most of my time on O-Chem. I study for all of my classes and usually do well, but I studied especially hard for these two since I knew they were important pre-reqs and did not do well.

I will take all of your suggestions and will definitely speak to my professors to see what I need to do differently. I was thinking of taking a short break from O-Chem and starting again when I feel more prepared. I will retake the same Bio class once it is offered.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[coffeebythelake]

retake them and apply to DO.

agree

DO programs have grade replacement, so potentially your failing grades are not catastrophic.

 

[292007]

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[rctriplefresh5]

I'm in the same boat as you, peasnlv. I checked my grades today and I'm start to really worry about my chances for medical school. I received a C in ochem1 and am waiting for my genetics grade (I'm hoping I at least pulled off a B in the class if not a B-).

The C in Ochem will be my.....5th C in my sciences...These C's are comprised of intro bio and 2nd semester of calculus both taken in my first semester of college - I didn't really have a grasp of how different studying would be, but I hunkered down 2nd semester. Then in the summer I had a research internship but also took physics and it's lab...worst decision I've ever made - I never had time for school or vice versa and since it was a research fellowship if I didn't complete my hours, I wouldn't receive the scholarship.

I'm thinking my chances for med school are pretty bleak. I dont' even know if I should consider taking any of those classes again bc the university i attend averages the two grades together. i'm looking into doing post bacs then applying to med school after that.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

is ochem that hard? i heard its just rote memorizing? if youre good at bio will you be good at ochem? im taking this. in may.

 

[bravofleet4]

no it's no rote memorization. it's more concept based. in comparison, g. chem involved way more memorization. i can't recall any equations in o-chem. o-chem kills people who can't think on the spot. i would say if you're good at physics you might have a decent shot already at o-chem. it's about applying what you already know to new situations.

 

[292007]

..

 

[rctriplefresh5]

no it's no rote memorization. it's more concept based. in comparison, g. chem involved way more memorization. i can't recall any equations in o-chem. o-chem kills people who can't think on the spot. i would say if you're good at physics you might have a decent shot already at o-chem. it's about applying what you already know to new situations.

ive heard you can approach ochem in 2 ways, one being rote memorizing. thats what my chem teacher told me.i

 

[bravofleet4]

that's one opinion but unless she teaches it I would take it a grain of salt. Professor or no professor it's not something she should talk about unless she makes o-chem tests herself. If it was really rote memorization, people would say biology and chemistry could be approached the same way when in fact many people struggle and succeed in one but not the other.

for the OP you have some serious issues that have to be addressed first. Don't think right now about DO or Allopathic schools. It's extremely rare to have someone fail biology and chemistry unless there were external factors involved (and they better be really good). People fail one but not both (You didn't get even C's? b/c I know some ppl say they fail when they get B's). if you did get D's or F's you will definitely need to the adcom when you apply b/c it's not something that happens to everyone. I mean technically isn't this going to delay your entire learning schedule? You need to pass these courses to move onto the next level.

take the break to think about why you did badly in them. it's a sad fact of life but ability does not always measure up to ambition. I'm not saying give up. Keep going. But if your grades keep suffering despite the fact that you are REALLY TRYING then you need to think about re-evaluating your life.

 

[rctriplefresh5]

that's one opinion but unless she teaches it I would take it a grain of salt. Professor or no professor it's not something she should talk about unless she makes o-chem tests herself. If it was really rote memorization, people would say biology and chemistry could be approached the same way when in fact many people struggle and succeed in one but not the other.

for the OP you have some serious issues that have to be addressed first. Don't think right now about DO or Allopathic schools. It's extremely rare to have someone fail biology and chemistry unless there were external factors involved (and they better be really good). People fail one but not both (You didn't get even C's? b/c I know some ppl say they fail when they get B's). if you did get D's or F's you will definitely need to the adcom when you apply b/c it's not something that happens to everyone. I mean technically isn't this going to delay your entire learning schedule? You need to pass these courses to move onto the next level.

take the break to think about why you did badly in them. it's a sad fact of life but ability does not always measure up to ambition. I'm not saying give up. Keep going. But if your grades keep suffering despite the fact that you are REALLY TRYING then you need to think about re-evaluating your life.

yeah i didnt want to be an ass,, but i find it hard to believe that someone could fail gen bio 1 or 2. also if someone did fail any of those i would say, hey maybe they are more mathematical, they can score high in chemistry. but to not be good at either,...

then again hes obviously passed a year of gen chemistry so lets not overlook this. howd you do in gen chem 1 and 2 op? also what bio is this 1 or 2? you never answered =p.

braofleet, my professor said that his specialty is ochem. he doesnt teach it though because the senior professors like teaching it. we actually have only one ochem teacher at my school, and my professor says he leans very much towards the memorization aspect. i go to a community college so the faculty is rather close. i am a great memorizer, so i hope i can use memorization. i was able to score the highest grade on my last chem test, which was the gemometry, electron arrangement, 3d stuff. i have no visual thinking skills but was able to memorize it easily and i only studied one day(and he said itd takes weeks to memorize or to visually master =p)

so i relate that to oxhem, except with ochem ill be dealing with some painful reactions.

 

[peasnluv]

It was for Bio I. At my college, you can still move on to Bio II, even with poor grades in Bio I. So, hopefully, I won't be too behind.

It's embarrassing to admit, but I did actually fail those classes with a D and an F. I'm definitely not one of those super competitive pre-meds who considers a B a fail. I hope this is not a reflection of my intelligence or abilities, because then I would definitely be in big trouble. In the past, I had always done well in Biology and even did well in another Biology course at my college. I agree with the posts, Biology involves memorization of key concepts and isn't "hard" per se. However, it takes time to learn those key concepts. Time I dedicated to studying O-Chem instead, which- as you know- did not turn out well either.

My grades for Gen Chem fluctuated between C's and C+s.

Thanks for all the honest criticism; it is always the most helpful. Let me know if you have any other input or advice.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I received my grades for this semester and I failed Biology and Organic Chemistry. I studied for both classes and it was so disheartening to see all my hard work translated into failing grades, as if I had never studied in the first place.

I know that I will live a fulfilling life as a doctor, since it is my passion to help others during their most vulnerable of moments as a means of support and hope. This is all I've ever wanted to do. However, is this still a realistic dream for me? If so, what can I do to improve my grades and transform my shaky pre-med status? I've already tried the library and tutoring sessions.

I appreciate your honesty and any perspective you may have to share. Thank you.

i think that if you truely put a effort and failed biology..
then you need to go talk to a biology professor and get some study skill help.
it could be you took a teacher who simply was difficult and taught too little..
either way
the end result of this whole event should result in you learning what was the problem and how to fix it. having a problem isnt too bad, everyone screws up sometimes, but you need to figure out a solution for the screw up and from there you can improve.

 

[TheMightySmiter]

It was for Bio I. At my college, you can still move on to Bio II, even with poor grades in Bio I. So, hopefully, I won't be too behind.

Do NOT move on to Bio II!!!!! Med schools will not accept a D or an F for a prerequisite. You will have to retake both Bio and OChem.