How should I approach retaking the second sequence classes of the Biology and Organic Chemistry requirements?

[hopefulpremedstudent]

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Hello! Like my name saids, I am a undergraduate senior hopeful pre-medical student really struggling in terms of GPA. Currently my cumulative GPA is a 2.71 with my sCGPA being a 2.25. I have been riddled with C's on my transcript.

I understand I must retake the second class of the Biology Sequence and the second class of Organic Chemistry because my grades for those classes were C-. I was wondering if you all had any advice approaching retaking these classes as a post-bacc student after I graduate because I needed advice on how to approach the retaking of the classes.

Should I also retake the first classes of Biology and Organic Chemistry before the second sequence classes because they seriously go hand in hand with the understanding of the materials? (I received C's on the first sequence of the classes of Biology and Organic Chemistry).

I was first planning to study in-depth after I graduate for my MCAT and take it seriously. Would studying for my MCAT first, getting a high score and understanding the materials be enough to go straight into taking Biology II and Organic Chemistry II without taking Biology I and Organic Chemistry I again?

Any advice would definitely be appreciated and taken into consideration. Thank you all.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

Can I ask what your prehealth advisor told you about your plans? With a sGPA of 2.25, I would not think about studying for the MCAT or banking on a high score.

 

[hopefulpremedstudent]

Hi, thank you for asking! I haven't talked to my pre-health advisor. Instead I talked to a medical student that had similar grades with me and kind of talked to me on my next plans and steps since I still want to pursue this path. Like for example retaking my C- pre requisites and taking higher level biology and chemistry classes. But only doing this after studying for the MCAT for example to improve on better studying habits and learning how to study more efficiently and effectively and learn how to better understand materials more.

Only after studying for the MCAT and learning on how I should improve to use that same mindset and methods for the next post bacc DIY classes to improve my GPA. Then, to focus on applying for a SMP as well.

I still plan to talk to my pre-health advisor very soon however to ask for their opinion. I understand my GPA is extremely low. However, I still want to be a physician no matter how long it takes.

Please be as honest and brutal. I really appreciate anything again. Thank you.

 

[chilly_md]

The MCAT's ochem does not involve synthesis and all those hard things you see in class. Studying for it with significant knowledge deficits is also not going to be the most productive.

Do not retake a C. For pre-reqs below that, retake, though biology may not be required if you ended up taking other bio classes. Given where your GPA is at, you are going to need to take 30+ credits of upper level science courses as a post bacc student. Did you major in science?

 

[hopefulpremedstudent]

Yes, I majored in science and did not do well in the classes. Do you have any recommendations on how to approach taking a class like Organic Chemistry II without retaking Organic Chemistry I then?

 

[chilly_md]

You should put that specific example aside and figure out what is going wrong with your studying and comprehension of material if you did not do well at any point taking science courses during your 4 years of school. If you did not already see this very applicable thread for you, I have linked it below:

Post in: 'I repeated 4 classes do I still have a chance to get in MD school? What I can do to improve in this case?'

Feb 8, 2025

So if you really want to do Family Medicibe,the good news is that American med students don’t want to match Family,so you can go to a bottom of the barrel school and still match.

But practical advice- start using Anki. Do it. I don’t really care if you like it or not. I’ve never met a student who said it didn’t improve their grades if they sincerely did it for several weeks.

For your math and physics classes, you just have to grind. Go do tons of practice problems. I joked Freshman year that calculus was my girlfriend because I’d be doing math problems in the student union on a Friday...

• Hollow Knight

• 

Your first semester back should be maybe 1-2 classes where you can focus your full efforts to get an A. Most of the upper level science courses are different from Ochem, which is like math and physics in that you need to do a steady amount of practice problems. The student in the thread I linked, like many, reached out while they were still a full-time student paying tuition for their bachelors with several semesters remaining. You're past that point, but have flexibility to build up.

 

[AJS59]

Please DO NOT attempt to take O-Chem 2 if your foundations in O-Chem 1 are shaky. Seriously. Terrible idea.

As for biology, it depends a little bit on how your college frames things. My college had separate classes covering genetics, cell bio and anatomy and technically speaking you didn't need to take them in a certain sequence.