Horrible Professor!

[Mohammed1989]

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Hey guys,

Well we all will have atleast one horrible professor at one point in our undergrad education. I think I just had mine and it was for chemistry 1. This guy always went off track, the exams were something based off orgo and a mix of chem 2 (no lie). Majority of the class is in deep water, of course we went to the dean and complained. Turns out the dean and the professor were buddies so we had to go the President of the school and complain. It's still in action and we have no idea what's going to happen. I might be able to pull a B in the class but have no knowledge of chemistry from the class. I guess during my break I'm going to have to teach myself chemistry. This guy has not done one review and get this before the final he covered 5 chapters in 3 classes😡. Fresh material he's going to test us on, he spent a full month on 1 chapter and this guy deserves to either teach somewhere else or go back into research because he is too smart for a cc. Professor has numerous complaints too.

What have you guys done with professors who cannot teach? Who always go off topic and are not helpful?

 

[123165]

Hey guys,

Well we all will have atleast one horrible professor at one point in our undergrad education. I think I just had mine and it was for chemistry 1. This guy always went off track, the exams were something based off orgo and a mix of chem 2 (no lie). Majority of the class is in deep water, of course we went to the dean and complained. Turns out the dean and the professor were buddies so we had to go the President of the school and complain. It's still in action and we have no idea what's going to happen. I might be able to pull a B in the class but have no knowledge of chemistry from the class. I guess during my break I'm going to have to teach myself chemistry. This guy has not done one review and get this before the final he covered 5 chapters in 3 classes😡. Fresh material he's going to test us on, he spent a full month on 1 chapter and this guy deserves to either teach somewhere else or go back into research because he is too smart for a cc. Professor has numerous complaints too.

What have you guys done with professors who cannot teach? Who always go off topic and are not helpful?

Did better than everyone else, and banked on the curve. I really despise teachers like this.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Hey guys,

Well we all will have atleast one horrible professor at one point in our undergrad education. I think I just had mine and it was for chemistry 1. This guy always went off track, the exams were something based off orgo and a mix of chem 2 (no lie). Majority of the class is in deep water, of course we went to the dean and complained. Turns out the dean and the professor were buddies so we had to go the President of the school and complain. It's still in action and we have no idea what's going to happen. I might be able to pull a B in the class but have no knowledge of chemistry from the class. I guess during my break I'm going to have to teach myself chemistry. This guy has not done one review and get this before the final he covered 5 chapters in 3 classes😡. Fresh material he's going to test us on, he spent a full month on 1 chapter and this guy deserves to either teach somewhere else or go back into research because he is too smart for a cc. Professor has numerous complaints too.

What have you guys done with professors who cannot teach? Who always go off topic and are not helpful?

your blown..
you should have droped him if you saw him failing to actually teach chem1..

knowing when to drop a class is really something you get into doing.. its better to have 3 W's then 1 C or a class that you end up with no info especially when its integral to your whole pre-med life..

 

[Mohammed1989]

your blown..
you should have droped him if you saw him failing to actually teach chem1..

knowing when to drop a class is really something you get into doing.. its better to have 3 W's then 1 C or a class that you end up with no info especially when its integral to your whole pre-med life..

Well if worse comes to worse and I do end up with a C I will retake the class during the summer. Just for future purposes and replace the grade will be replaced when I apply to DO med schools. I had no clue how his exams were going to be until half way through the semester. We had a exam on the periodic table of elements(1st quiz) aced it easily and I was like "well this class is easy." Little did I know that this guy was a meanie.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Well if worse comes to worse and I do end up with a C I will retake the class during the summer. Just for future purposes and replace the grade will be replaced when I apply to DO med schools. I had no clue how his exams were going to be until half way through the semester. We had a exam on the periodic table of elements(1st quiz) aced it easily and I was like "well this class is easy." Little did I know that this guy was a meanie.

that what happened with my pre-calc teacher
except after the middle i droped
cuz i knew i'd get ****ed over with a C
and i dont want a C..
cuz i have like a 3.7gpa..

 

[Cybii]

Did better than everyone else, and banked on the curve. I really despise teachers like this.

Yeaup, in situations like these, you just have to hope for a good curve...

 

[Mohammed1989]

that what happened with my pre-calc teacher
except after the middle i droped
cuz i knew i'd get ****ed over with a C
and i dont want a C..
cuz i have like a 3.7gpa..

I know but I wanted to transfer from my cc on time and I didn't know he was so bad. I know if I do get a C or C+ I'm going to have to repeat this class in the summer and improve it to a A

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I know but I wanted to transfer from my cc on time and I didn't know he was so bad. I know if I do get a C or C+ I'm going to have to repeat this class in the summer and improve it to a A

neh.. im transfering from my cc this year..
31 credits over the year, 10 credits over summer.. 9 credits ap.. i got 50 credits so im technocly almost a junior =).. and i skiped 12th grade
so that means.. i'll be 1 young mutta when i graduate 😀

 

[RG73]

Well we all will have atleast one horrible professor at one point in our undergrad education.

And every professor has about 1000 horrible undergrad stories.

 

[Mohammed1989]

neh.. im transfering from my cc this year..
31 credits over the year, 10 credits over summer.. 9 credits ap.. i got 50 credits so im technocly almost a junior =).. and i skiped 12th grade
so that means.. i'll be 1 young mutta when i graduate 😀

Lucky my ap credits never made it (fell asleep during the exam) I was lazy in hs. Yeah I'm suppose to be a junior going on senior but had a medical excuse. I just need 3 more classes to get out of my cc and I'm upset I might have to take chemistry over the summer again because of a bad professor.

 

[Mohammed1989]

And every professor has about 1000 horrible undergrad stories.

The professor talked about more history than chemistry. I know more about Dalton's experiments than I do any chem calculations.

 

[JaggerPlate]

Did better than everyone else, and banked on the curve. I really despise teachers like this.

Yup. Just be ahead of everyone else. He will have to normalize it in the end. Professors like this usually see how absurd their class was during final grades because they have to adjust everything, etc. We've all had this class, and, like Kev said, we all hated it.

 

[beckhunter116]

Luckily, I never had this happen in a science class. I did have this in my honors political science class, the professior was head of the history dept and head of the honors program. Basically, he talked about whatever.

 

[RG73]

The professor talked about more history than chemistry. I know more about Dalton's experiments than I do any chem calculations.

Perhaps that is because he expects you can read a textbook and doesn't want to repeat what's in the book.

I find science history fascinating though and I'm much rather hear that than how to do calculations. You can always ask him how to do the calculations during office hours.

 

[Mohammed1989]

Perhaps that is because he expects you can read a textbook and doesn't want to repeat what's in the book.

I find science history fascinating though and I'm much rather hear that than how to do calculations. You can always ask him how to do the calculations during office hours.

The whole class tried it, and there were days he promised to come in early and help but that never happened. He starts the class 2 minutes early and during the break continues to teach. Goes about 15-25 mins over the class period. He's pretty much cold hearted because the whole class talked to him and he always gives us bs advice.

He has knowledge of the subject, he's a very smart guy. He simply just can't teach. Of course we can learn about chemistry on our own but if were paying for a class and taking the time to come we expect to learn something. Not just hear nonsense and then have our a** handed to us on exam day.

 

[iatros]

some lessons are best learned the hard way

there is more than 1 professor for each class and there is likely more than 1 college in your town / region.

DO RESEARCH- on what profs are good to take, what classes are good to have, etc. every prof is different and some are just better teachers.

talk to your friends and other premeds. find out who's teaching your classes next semester and do some research on the profs. if you have a class with a prof who has a terrible reputation, take it another semester when someone else teaches it....or take it at another college.

hell, it's only your gpa / future at stake.

also- this is true at my alma matter, likely the same at other universities: the first week of class, everyone will rearrange their schedules and classes which are currently closed will become transiently open until someone snags up the last seat in the class. coincidentally (or not) you have up to the last day of the first week to enroll in classes.... keep a close eye on the class you want because it WILL become open and you will be able to enroll sometime that first week. i did this almost every semester i was in college and i got every class i ever wanted.

 

[Mohammed1989]

some lessons are best learned the hard way

there is more than 1 professor for each class and there is likely more than 1 college in your town / region.

DO RESEARCH- on what profs are good to take, what classes are good to have, etc. every prof is different and some are just better teachers.

talk to your friends and other premeds. find out who's teaching your classes next semester and do some research on the profs. if you have a class with a prof who has a terrible reputation, take it another semester when someone else teaches it....or take it at another college.

hell, it's only your gpa / future at stake.

also- this is true at my alma matter, likely the same at other universities: the first week of class, everyone will rearrange their schedules and classes which are currently closed will become transiently open until someone snags up the last seat in the class. coincidentally (or not) you have up to the last day of the first week to enroll in classes.... keep a close eye on the class you want because it WILL become open and you will be able to enroll sometime that first week. i did this almost every semester i was in college and i got every class i ever wanted.

Yeah I did learn it the hard way and I did do research before registering for next semester. I just didn't know many people at the cc besides a couple of students and they weren't pre-meds. When I did meet a couple of pre-med students they had no clue what a DO was and they were under the impression a DO is a excuse for a doctor. After trying to talk to them about it, I figured out they are hard headed and they feel they will always be right by taking those extra classes, since they feel superior.

 

[JaggerPlate]

some lessons are best learned the hard way

there is more than 1 professor for each class and there is likely more than 1 college in your town / region.

DO RESEARCH- on what profs are good to take, what classes are good to have, etc. every prof is different and some are just better teachers.

talk to your friends and other premeds. find out who's teaching your classes next semester and do some research on the profs. if you have a class with a prof who has a terrible reputation, take it another semester when someone else teaches it....or take it at another college.

hell, it's only your gpa / future at stake.

also- this is true at my alma matter, likely the same at other universities: the first week of class, everyone will rearrange their schedules and classes which are currently closed will become transiently open until someone snags up the last seat in the class. coincidentally (or not) you have up to the last day of the first week to enroll in classes.... keep a close eye on the class you want because it WILL become open and you will be able to enroll sometime that first week. i did this almost every semester i was in college and i got every class i ever wanted.

I always found the 'research the professor' idea flawed. Here is why ... at my university, we had a website dedicated to rating professors, and at the beginning of each quarter, people would go to the website, look up professors, and figure out which ones to take. However, In researching the site, I realized ( as with many, many 'rateable' fields on the internet), two type of people bother to take time out of their busy schedule and rate a professor: 1. The complete ass-kisser, A+ student, who goes to every office hour, wants an LOR, etc, so gives them a glowing, 100% review and 2. The person who failed the class, hated the professor, had personal issues, etc, and strikes out a personal vendetta against this particular teacher and writes a scathing review.

The people who took the class, thought it was alright, could logically and clearly list the pros and cons, got a B, etc, aren't going to take the time to write a review because frankly, they don't care. So, I continually saw this huge skew in rating for professors, and I eventually completely gave up on caring. One of the best professors I had, who I got to know personally, received a glowing LOR from etc, had a ton of horrible reviews online because his class was really hard and a lot of people got crappy grades. I also had professors who had tons of great reviews, people loved them, etc, who sucked (even if their class was easy or they had generous curves). I mean, it's better than going into a class completely blind, but the research/rating never worked out for me.

 

[123165]

I always found the 'research the professor' idea flawed. Here is why ... at my university, we had a website dedicated to rating professors, and at the beginning of each quarter, people would go to the website, look up professors, and figure out which ones to take. However, In researching the site, I realized ( as with many, many 'rateable' fields on the internet), two type of people bother to take time out of their busy schedule and rate a professor: 1. The complete ass-kisser, A+ student, who goes to every office hour, wants an LOR, etc, so gives them a glowing, 100% review and 2. The person who failed the class, hated the professor, had personal issues, etc, and strikes out a personal vendetta against this particular teacher and writes a scathing review.

The people who took the class, thought it was alright, could logically and clearly list the pros and cons, got a B, etc, aren't going to take the time to write a review because frankly, they don't care. So, I continually saw this huge skew in rating for professors, and I eventually completely gave up on caring. One of the best professors I had, who I got to know personally, received a glowing LOR from etc, had a ton of horrible reviews online because his class was really hard and a lot of people got crappy grades. I also had professors who had tons of great reviews, people loved them, etc, who sucked (even if their class was easy or they had generous curves). I mean, it's better than going into a class completely blind, but the research/rating never worked out for me.

I just had flash-backs to statistics, JP. Gotta love self-selection and sample bias.

My undergrad only had one teacher per semester, and a different teacher on the off-semester (ie a spring bio I teacher, and a fall bio I teacher), so if you were to try and avoid a class you would end up delaying graduation without summer courses.

 

[JaggerPlate]

I just had flash-backs to statistics, JP. Gotta love self-selection and sample bias.

My undergrad only had one teacher per semester, and a different teacher on the off-semester (ie a spring bio I teacher, and a fall bio I teacher), so if you were to try and avoid a class you would end up delaying graduation without summer courses.

Haha, sorry for the flash-backs!

I knew really, really intense people who would forgo taking a class they needed one quarter, just to take it later with the 'better' professor.

 

[iatros]

I always found the 'research the professor' idea flawed. Here is why ... at my university, we had a website...

yeah i understand. i left out that bit of advice (websites like pickaprof or ratemyprof) because i agree with you on that point...i wouldnt consider those websites entirely credible.

i may have failed to emphasize what i think is most important: talking to your buddies and people who's opinion you trust.....and if the premeds at your CC dont know what a DO is, they are *******es. dont listen to them.

 

[Mohammed1989]

and if the premeds at your CC dont know what a DO is, they are *******es. dont listen to them.

That's why I'm a loner at my cc just school and home no communication with these guys. Besides they all feel superior to others for some reason. These are the people who brag they will be making this much money in this amount of years. It's pretty idiotic to talk about money and years without even being accepted into a med school. What can you do that's life, also I never knew how many kids at a cc are gunners, it's amazing.

Some people do know what a DO is and they don't feel it's equal to a MD because of the letters. They say they're going to go to this med school and so on but when it's time for that MCAT, life will hit them hard.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

i have 2 Ws. One was a summer class i dropped on the first day but got a W anyway. The second was in calc. The professor had never taught calc before and she would get lost in the middle of a problem and be confused by what she was doing. she would get 80% of the way through a problem and then say "I did this wrong, lets start over." I said "peace, I am out" and took the W. How am i suppose to learn with that crap. good luck and i feel for you.

 

[cicatrez879]

I feel for your situation, as I am in a similar situation now with a teacher who legitimately has early state Alzheimer's and shouldn't be teaching.
This teacher begins a topic and halfway through explaining it, completely forgets what he's talking about.

There is nothing you can do except do everything to get ahead of the rest of the class. Teachers have to curve, or at least "scale" their classes. It'll be hard work, but it'll teach you to appreciate the role of a teacher in the future.

 

[Mohammed1989]

okay I got my grade today and here it is:
CHP -111-DB COLLEGE CHEMISTRY I C+/ B- 4.00 10.80

wtf is this? Is this considered a B- or a C+? Should I retake this? I already have to retake physics 1 because I got a C, I'll be taking physics over in summer 1. I'm a sophmore at a cc getting ready to transfer to a four year. I got a A in Bio 1 and im registered for Bio 2, Chem 2, Physics 2.
In summer 1 I have planned Histology and Physics 1(retake)

What should I do? My cGPA so far is a 2.967. I have only taken a handful of science classes

Anatomy and Physiology 1&2----B in both
Microbiology-A
and the rest I mentioned

Am I in deep water? Should I retake this in summer 2?

 

[jm192]

okay I got my grade today and here it is:
CHP -111-DB COLLEGE CHEMISTRY I C+/ B- 4.00 10.80

wtf is this? Is this considered a B- or a C+? Should I retake this? I already have to retake physics 1 because I got a C, I'll be taking physics over in summer 1. I'm a sophmore at a cc getting ready to transfer to a four year. I got a A in Bio 1 and im registered for Bio 2, Chem 2, Physics 2.
In summer 1 I have planned Histology and Physics 1(retake)

What should I do? My cGPA so far is a 2.967. I have only taken a handful of science classes

Anatomy and Physiology 1&2----B in both
Microbiology-A
and the rest I mentioned

Am I in deep water? Should I retake this in summer 2?

If you feel like you don't know the material, retake it.

If you're satisfied with it, don't. Med Schools will see both grades.

If you do retake it, take it at the school you're transferring to. Focus on showing an upward trend at the new school. Every committee member or interviewer I've talked to has said they really look at how your grades have improved.

Best of luck

Merry Christmas.

 

[Mohammed1989]

If you feel like you don't know the material, retake it.

If you're satisfied with it, don't. Med Schools will see both grades.

If you do retake it, take it at the school you're transferring to. Focus on showing an upward trend at the new school. Every committee member or interviewer I've talked to has said they really look at how your grades have improved.

Best of luck

Merry Christmas.

I guess I'll stick with the B- and have to get all great grades in my future classes. I'm just glad you can replace grades for DO schools

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

The best thing I learned to do in UG was independant study, this way you don't have to rely on crappy professors. If the class doesn't require attendance, skip it and teach yourself out of the book.
If it did require attendance I would have picked a seat far from the professor and used the time to self study. There are far more bad professors than exceptional ones out there (most are average), you should figure out an alternative that works for you because there is a good chance you'll be in the same situation sometime in the future.

 

[Mohammed1989]

The best thing I learned to do in UG was independant study, this way you don't have to rely on crappy professors. If the class doesn't require attendance, skip it and teach yourself out of the book.
If it did require attendance I would have picked a seat far from the professor and used the time to self study. There are far more bad professors than exceptional ones out there (most are average), you should figure out an alternative that works for you because there is a good chance you'll be in the same situation sometime in the future.

Thanks for the insight, really appreciate the advice and input from everyone.

I still don't know what I'm going to have to put down when it's time for me to apply. The B- or C+, I never seen B-/C+

 

[JaggerPlate]

Thanks for the insight, really appreciate the advice and input from everyone.

I still don't know what I'm going to have to put down when it's time for me to apply. The B- or C+, I never seen B-/C+

Try to see how it shows up on your transcript.

 

[ncguy2005]

I always found the 'research the professor' idea flawed. Here is why ... at my university, we had a website dedicated to rating professors, and at the beginning of each quarter, people would go to the website, look up professors, and figure out which ones to take. However, In researching the site, I realized ( as with many, many 'rateable' fields on the internet), two type of people bother to take time out of their busy schedule and rate a professor: 1. The complete ass-kisser, A+ student, who goes to every office hour, wants an LOR, etc, so gives them a glowing, 100% review and 2. The person who failed the class, hated the professor, had personal issues, etc, and strikes out a personal vendetta against this particular teacher and writes a scathing review.

The people who took the class, thought it was alright, could logically and clearly list the pros and cons, got a B, etc, aren't going to take the time to write a review because frankly, they don't care. So, I continually saw this huge skew in rating for professors, and I eventually completely gave up on caring. One of the best professors I had, who I got to know personally, received a glowing LOR from etc, had a ton of horrible reviews online because his class was really hard and a lot of people got crappy grades. I also had professors who had tons of great reviews, people loved them, etc, who sucked (even if their class was easy or they had generous curves). I mean, it's better than going into a class completely blind, but the research/rating never worked out for me.

I believe you're talking about www.ratemyprofessor.com?

Funny story, I destroyed cell biology and actually wrote my professor a good review... partly because I felt bad for everyone in the class giving her a hard time.... someone actually reported my positive review and it was removed... then again that following semester a biology TA didn't believe I got an A because 75% of the class failed and that professor was eventually fired...

I'm not really an over-achiever, I just really really really needed a third LOR for my med school applications....

 

[beckhunter116]

The best thing I learned to do in UG was independant study, this way you don't have to rely on crappy professors. If the class doesn't require attendance, skip it and teach yourself out of the book.

I just want to caution that you should test the professor out first.

After going through this thread I am really happy with my education. I went to a small to mid size state school, and I think that 90% of my professors were pretty awesome. Some were hard*****'s, but they taught the material appropriately and provided considerable help and assistance. Of all the science classes I took, I can only remember gen biology 1 being taught by a pretty flacky professor. She was a really sweet, but ditzy woman.

 

[beckhunter116]

repeat

 

[Mohammed1989]

Try to see how it shows up on your transcript.

I looked at the unoffical transcript and this is how it appeared

 

[Mohammed1989]

repeat

Repeat the course?

 

[beckhunter116]

Repeat the course?

No, SDN had repeated my previous post.

Did the course have a lab? Maybe that's why it was graded like that, otherwise I haven't seen a grade like that before. If you go through the school handbook it may explain what it means.

I don't think you should repeat the course.

 

[JaggerPlate]

I looked at the unoffical transcript and this is how it appeared

put it as a B- .... if they disagree, they will correct it. Frankly, I think that's weird and I'd feel comfortable taking this liberty in such a weird situation. If you are uncomfortable with this, email AACOMAS/AMCAS and ask. Also, it may be fixed in the official transcript.

 

[JaggerPlate]

I believe you're talking about www.ratemyprofessor.com?

No. It was a site specific to my University.

 

[Laryngophed]

put it as a B- .... if they disagree, they will correct it. Frankly, I think that's weird and I'd feel comfortable taking this liberty in such a weird situation. If you are uncomfortable with this, email AACOMAS/AMCAS and ask. Also, it may be fixed in the official transcript.

Yeah, I'd put it down as a B-, and if they don't like, they'll change it. As an aside, you should call the registrar and make sure they can't put just the B- down.

 

[DO3]

My pre-med advisor told me that a "C" in a course was much better than a "W." She said that some schools will look at the "W" and think that you quit just because things were a little tough. I don't know if this reasoning is correct or not, but I made two C's in college, one in an Intro Biology class and one in Organic I. I was definitely in a position where dropping these courses mid-semester may have made sense. I ended up with three acceptances, and when I was asked about those classes, I was able to turn it into a positive. I just told them that I did the best that I could, and that I did not want to quit and take a "W." I wanted to stick it out.

 

[JaggerPlate]

My pre-med advisor told me that a "C" in a course was much better than a "W."

That's really, really debatable. A 'W' (as long as your institution doesn't count them as a fail) is just as explainable as a 'C,' if not more. A lot of either isn't good, but I think 1 to 2 W's is probably easier to explain than 1-2 C's. You're fine either way, but I think the healh care reform bill should include mandatory memberships to SDN and more education for all pre-medical advisers.

 

[binko]

Not a horrible professor, but a laughable instance: Today during a lab I asked "do we needed to streak one or two different samples per plate?" The professor answered "yes" and walked away.

 

[Old Grunt]

This guy has not done one review and get this before the final he covered 5 chapters in 3 classes😡.

That sounds like good training from Med School.

Hey, if you can learn how to drink from a firehose as an undergrad, you'll rock med school.

 

[Old Grunt]

The best thing I learned to do in UG was independant study, this way you don't have to rely on crappy professors. If the class doesn't require attendance, skip it and teach yourself out of the book.
If it did require attendance I would have picked a seat far from the professor and used the time to self study. There are far more bad professors than exceptional ones out there (most are average), you should figure out an alternative that works for you because there is a good chance you'll be in the same situation sometime in the future.

That will help you in the basic science portion of Med School too. There's not a lot that's conceptually difficult and requires an expert to explain it. Everything is in the book. A lot of my classmates never go to class and just study on their own and do well.

 

[Mohammed1989]

That sounds like good training from Med School.

Hey, if you can learn how to drink from a firehose as an undergrad, you'll rock med school.

Well his exams had nothing to do with the chapters, go figure.

 

[Old Grunt]

Well his exams had nothing to do with the chapters, go figure.

Sucks. Sorry. I think you'll be surprised when you get to med school that you'll have some bad professors there too. The bottom line is (which was a shock to me, so don't think I am being condescending), in professional school you are expected to take the initiative to teach yourself and being able to spot a bad professor early on and take the necessary steps in a proactive manner to make sure you get the material is just good policy.

I spent December re-learning and in many cases, teaching myself biochemistry because my background was so weak in it.

G/L