how important is Organic Chemistry when compared to the overall transcript?

[Desielmo4]

hey everyone, I just have a quick question...
I was just curious to know how much emphasize is really put on Organic Chemistry grades, especially when compared to the overall transcript. I got an A in organic I and just found out that I got a B+ in organic two (horrible final exam), and I was curious to know how much that mattered when compared to the rest of my science grades (All A's until now). Also, do admissions committees take into consideration how streneous a semester's courseload is when evaluating the grades, bascially if I'm carrying four lab sciences in one semester, and do mediocre in one of them, will they understand it's because of the coursework from the other classes or are they liable to penalize me for trying to bite off more than I can chew. Any advice/help about this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Ashish

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[OrganicMLover]

I know a guy in med school now who got C+s in both O-Chems. That being said my physics prof told me that O-Chem and Physics are the most scrutinized classes on the transcript. A doc just told me the other day to make sure to get As in physics - that differentiates you from most applicants. Really, anybody can get an A in a bio class but it is much harder to get As in chem and physics classes.

 

[superdavykinz]

hey everyone, I just have a quick question...
I was just curious to know how much emphasize is really put on Organic Chemistry grades, especially when compared to the overall transcript. I got an A in organic I and just found out that I got a B+ in organic two (horrible final exam), and I was curious to know how much that mattered when compared to the rest of my science grades (All A's until now). Also, do admissions committees take into consideration how streneous a semester's courseload is when evaluating the grades, bascially if I'm carrying four lab sciences in one semester, and do mediocre in one of them, will they understand it's because of the coursework from the other classes or are they liable to penalize me for trying to bite off more than I can chew. Any advice/help about this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Ashish

Ok. Chill out. One B grade isn't going to end the beginning of your career. Yes, anything below an A will always hurt I don't see why it would be an advantage unless they're some crazy scheme of accepting a certain number of 4.0's and then moving on down the line. Just do well on the MCAT or at least comparable to your GPA, otherwise you'll "look bad".

 

[Will Ferrell]

B+... YOU'RE SCREWED. You must have messed up that final very badly.









premeds these days....

 

[willthatsall]

Yeah, dude...What is your BCPM now, like 3.93? That's not going to cut it except for at low tier schools, DO schools, and probably the Caribbean.

 

[Doc.Holliday]

its amazing how obtuse someone with such good grades can really be... what school do you go to?

i mean ive pushed it a few times expressing my worries about my less than spectacular gpa on here, but come on, do you really think a B+ is going to significantly affect how you fair in admissions? unless you were planning on getting in solely by a flawless gpa and not do any real extracurriculars, there is nothing to be worried about, even with quite a few more of those horrendous B+s... that actually brings up a point worth noting, it seems that quite a few of the premed types who worry so much about grades are severely lacking in extracurriculars. but i suppose most do fairly well in admissions nonetheless.

 

[Medinsane]

A doc just told me the other day to make sure to get As in physics - that differentiates you from most applicants. Really, anybody can get an A in a bio class but it is much harder to get As in chem and physics classes.

This is so sweet since my physical science GPA is alot better than my Bio GPA even though I'm a Bio major.

 

[Ross434]

A doc just told me the other day .

If your eyes aint red, its all in your head. Once said by PhD Med.

 

[Primo]

Shoot, you'll be fine.

I made a C in OChem 1 and a D in OChem 2. I'll be retaking 2 in the fall and hopefully get at least a B, an A if I can swing it. And I think I'll end up fine as long as the rest of my grades and ECs, etc are good.

 

[Haybrant]

hey everyone, I just have a quick question...
I was just curious to know how much emphasize is really put on Organic Chemistry grades, especially when compared to the overall transcript. I got an A in organic I and just found out that I got a B+ in organic two (horrible final exam), and I was curious to know how much that mattered when compared to the rest of my science grades (All A's until now). Also, do admissions committees take into consideration how streneous a semester's courseload is when evaluating the grades, bascially if I'm carrying four lab sciences in one semester, and do mediocre in one of them, will they understand it's because of the coursework from the other classes or are they liable to penalize me for trying to bite off more than I can chew. Any advice/help about this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Ashish

About weather schools take course load into consideration, I have found that they do not; You should look at amcas to get a better idea of that.

 

[abcxyz0123]

If your eyes aint red, its all in your head. Once said by PhD Med.

??

 

[g3pro]

I know a guy in med school now who got C+s in both O-Chems. That being said my physics prof told me that O-Chem and Physics are the most scrutinized classes on the transcript. A doc just told me the other day to make sure to get As in physics - that differentiates you from most applicants. Really, anybody can get an A in a bio class but it is much harder to get As in chem and physics classes.

Yeah, because physics and organic chemistry are the most important classes for physicians.

People stress over these classes way too much, and then you have people gunning for the A's in their classes. A new gunner has been born everytime someone says that organic is "OMFG teh most important f***ing class of teh undergrad!!!111oneoneeleven111"

Biology (genetics, histology, biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, cell biology, molecular biology) is far more scrutinized on the application.

 

[secretasianman]

its all about the bigger picture. they really don't care what you get in any individual class, but look more at your BCPM and total GPA. if your grades aren't the best, they also care about the trend of your grades and whether you improve or slide over time. why would they go way out, sifting through your application just o scrutinize you? "AH HA! he got a C- in o-chem a. RED FLAG RED FLAG."

 

[g3pro]

its all about the bigger picture. they really don't care what you get in any individual class, but look more at your BCPM and total GPA. if your grades aren't the best, they also care about the trend of your grades and whether you improve or slide over time. why would they go way out, sifting through your application just o scrutinize you? "AH HA! he got a C- in o-chem a. RED FLAG RED FLAG."

Exactly! The ADCOMs aren't there to look at your application and look at individual grades, and say "Well, this fellow got an A- in biochemistry, but he took it as a freshman, so that means he must really be talented. However, this english literature class isn't too high, only a B. That happened when he was volunteering at the hospital every day of the week, so that makes up for it."

The ADCOMs aren't searching your soul. They look at your MCAT, GPA, ECs, clinical shadowing, essays, recommendations. That's all you really need to understand who someone is without scrutinizing the details of a damn transcript!

 

[chaeymaey]

Exactly! The ADCOMs aren't there to look at your application and look at individual grades, and say "Well, this fellow got an A- in biochemistry, but he took it as a freshman, so that means he must really be talented. However, this english literature class isn't too high, only a B. That happened when he was volunteering at the hospital every day of the week, so that makes up for it."

The ADCOMs aren't searching your soul. They look at your MCAT, GPA, ECs, clinical shadowing, essays, recommendations. That's all you really need to understand who someone is without scrutinizing the details of a damn transcript!

Yeah, I always thought of the GPA and MCAT as just standard scores. I mean, say a school says that they give interviews to everyone with a 3.6 automatically. Once you've passed that mark then you've made it to the interview where they focus on you.

 

[UTKB]

I'm not going to give my opinion on what grades are most important, because it doesn't freaking matter what I or any of you think. All I can tell you is that several of my interviewers highlighted with a yellow marker my grades in organic and physics, and told me A's indicate a person can handle a difficult course load. It's their opinion that matters.

 

[abcxyz0123]

I'm not going to give my opinion on what grades are most important, because it doesn't freaking matter what I or any of you think. All I can tell you is that several of my interviewers highlighted with a yellow marker my grades in organic and physics, and told me A's indicate a person can handle a difficult course load. It's their opinion that matters.

i believe her, and I can't figure out how most of you can't understand that either. Its irrelevent whether physics and organic are not the most important classes in a physicians life...the fact that they are hard as hell compared to bio and genchem, and that fewer people can get good grades in them even if they study hard is what makes the classes stand out.

 

[Doc.Holliday]

i believe her, and I can't figure out how most of you can't understand that either. Its irrelevent whether physics and organic are not the most important classes in a physicians life...the fact that they are hard as hell compared to bio and genchem, and that fewer people can get good grades in them even if they study hard is what makes the classes stand out.

i think it depends on whether or not the student is a science major or not. in the case of a humanities major, who only took the required science courses, of course the adcom going to look at their ochem and physics grades as pretty important, but then again in this case there wouldnt be much else to look at and the effect those classes have on that sort of students bcmp gpa still brings it back to your gpa being looked at, not so much individual grades. on the other hand, for someone like me (taking pharmacology, biochemistry, independant studies (cardiovascular research) plus humanities in the fall) who really cares what i get in ochem I or cell bio or whatever the hell other specific course, i will have taken a crapload and again my gpa will be looked at in its entirety.

specific grades may come up in interviews, but thats different, you got there because your gpa as a whole was good enough to warrant an interview, and the interviewer isnt exactly "scrutinizing" a specific grade or anything, theyre just trying to get a feel for who you are etc.

 

[secretasianman]

i don't know about your school, but in mine, like 90% of the classes are graded on a curve.. so the same percentage of people will get A's regardless of what the subject is. technically even if it's a harder class, the grades will be normalized anyways..

i believe her, and I can't figure out how most of you can't understand that either. Its irrelevent whether physics and organic are not the most important classes in a physicians life...the fact that they are hard as hell compared to bio and genchem, and that fewer people can get good grades in them even if they study hard is what makes the classes stand out.

 

[dukeduke]

its all about the bigger picture. they really don't care what you get in any individual class, but look more at your BCPM and total GPA. if your grades aren't the best, they also care about the trend of your grades and whether you improve or slide over time. why would they go way out, sifting through your application just o scrutinize you? "AH HA! he got a C- in o-chem a. RED FLAG RED FLAG."

i got two Cs in ochem and still got 2 interviews....

 

[secretasianman]

i got two Cs in ochem and still got 2 interviews....

the quoted part was sarcasm sir..