I just got my Physics I grade and I feel like I'm going to cry

[snapcall]

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I'm a non-trad, this was my first semester back in school after three years of working (prior to which I got a degree in something completely unrelated because I had no clue I'd ever want to do vet med), and while my gen chem, cell bio, and physics lab grades were all ok (B's or better), I just found out that I made a C+ in Physics I 🙁. While my cGPA is still ok since I have a TON of credits, this has pretty much slaughtered my sGPA for the time being.

What really kills me is that I let this happen. I did really well on the first mid-term; I studied hard and got one of the top scores in the class. As the semester went on, I became much more focused on the classes that I found more interesting and/or had awesome profs. Since Physics was neither, I totally let it slip. So I'm not surprised that I didn't do well, just very disappointed in myself.

So should I retake Physics I next fall, or (as originally planned) take Physics II this spring? In either case, you can be damn sure that I won't let this BS happen again, I'm just unsure as to the best course of action given that I'm still hoping to apply next fall.

 

[squibby]

In my unqualified opinion, I would keep going on track and just make sure you do better in the second half of the course. It would look
impressive if you raised your grade to an A next semester/quarter. Even though you weren't really struggling with the material they don't know that, so if they think you were, and you raised your grade significantly it would show great determination and effort. I have also heard that they can be understanding if you have a fluke weak point but the rest of your grades are great

Like I said, I am highly unqualified to be dispensing advice, I just thought I would share my thoughts. If it makes you feel any better, I got two C's in organic chem last year, not for lack of effort. I decided after the first C I would focus less on my other classes the second quarter and try to get a B in o-chem. I still got a C. My second semester proffessor offered to write me a great evaluation, which I'm hoping they will connect to those bad grades.
I haven't gotten in anywhere yet, so we will see how great my thinking is.

 

[Minnerbelle]

It really depends on what the rest of your transcript looks like. If everything else is all peachy (esp if your other pre-reqs are more along the A and A- lines than the B line), then don't worry about it too much and move on. I had a W on my transcript for orgo 1 (which is waaaaaaaaaaaay worse than a C+) and no one batted an eye.

if it's really bothering you, is there any way you can retake it online or over the summer or something?

 

[snapcall]

It really depends on what the rest of your transcript looks like. If everything else is all peachy (esp if your other pre-reqs are more along the A and A- lines than the B line), then don't worry about it too much and move on. I had a W on my transcript for orgo 1 (which is waaaaaaaaaaaay worse than a C+) and no one batted an eye.

if it's really bothering you, is there any way you can retake it online or over the summer or something?

The other pre-reqs (and there have not been many thus far) are B+/A- and a B in my physics lab. I honestly think that I can work my tail off this spring and get A's in phys II lecture and lab while still doing well in my other classes. I just grossly underestimated how much work I'd have to do outside of class in order to do well on the tougher exams. Now that I know what I've got to put into the class in order to do well, I (hope to) have a much better shot at getting it right this time. Retaking over the summer would be possible but difficult to manage scheduling-wise, as my tentative plan is to take orgo then.

Btw, congrats on your recent acceptances! Way to go!

 

[sumstorm]

Also, ask yourself if you have the concepts. If you don't, retake. If you do, move on. Physics may not be critical to your future in vet med, but the concepts can really help understand some mechanistics in movement, anesthesia, etc. Also, second semester physics may not relate to first very much. many schools do vector motion first semester with some other stuff, then do electricity, magnetism, etc the next semester.

 

[turnandburn]

Eh. I wouldn't sweat it at all. I got a B- in physics, a C in OChem 2, and several W's on my transcripts and still got accepted. Just don't get too many 😉

 

[squibby]

Eh. I wouldn't sweat it at all. I got a B- in physics, a C in OChem 2, and several W's on my transcripts and still got accepted. Just don't get too many 😉

So what did you have going for you that made up for those grades?

 

[Whyevernot55]

Buck up, buttercup! I'm also a non-trad - got my degree in English, then went back for post-bacc prereqs, which I am currently finishing up. I have two Cs in those, as well as a W in orgoII (am actually going to TAKE this class this spring). And I just got accepted to Edinburgh. No club about anywhere else, but it can be done!
I'd say stay on track, and make up for it in other classes, experience, and strong recommendations. I have tons and tons of animal and veterinary experience in multiple fields, as well as extremely good recommendations from 3 vets, a chem professor, and the vice president of my alma mater. Remember that your GPA is not everything, and if you mess up one class it is not the end of the world.

 

[turnandburn]

So what did you have going for you that made up for those grades?

My overall GPA was still around a 3.5. Decent GRE. Good experiences and letters of recc. Good interview. The usual 😉.

Grades aren't everything; I volunteered with a guy who had a 3.8 and never got accepted.

 

[lunajett]

Snap, like others have said, I wouldn't worry about this one grade too much. Just keep going with your plan, do better next semester, and spend the time you would otherwise spend repeating this class on getting more/more diverse experience, building relationships with vets who can write you great LORs, and prep for the GRE.

I'm a lot like you, except I've probably taken "nontrad" to the extreme. I have BA in psych and MBA and I'm 42. This is my second round applying, and at least I've got one interview to look forward to so far. It was tough going back and doing all the hard sciences I avoided the first time through, and physics was one of the toughest. I managed to pull B's both semesters somehow. But like someone mentioned above, Physics I and Physics II are usually very different, so don't assume because you actually were doing well this semester that you can do just as well next semester if you actually keep it up all semester. Physics I, the "classical" physics of force, levers, gravity, inertia, etc, wasn't easy, but it's stuff we see and feel everyday, and I found it much easier to relate to. Physics II gets into things at the particle level - plus in may case that prof was the worst I ever had, so it was much tougher. Still I got the B - I think there was a huge curve involved or most of the class would have failed. Anyway, just be prepared for II to be harder, but it sounds like you're very capable of doing well if you stick with it.

I would keep the possibility of repeating this class on the backburner - if you don't get accepted anywhere your first try, then this could be something you could do next round to try and bring yourself up a bit. Right now, there are a lot more things that can help you more than bringing up one poor grade.

 

[Caninerepro]

I'm a lot like you, except I've probably taken "nontrad" to the extreme. I have BA in psych and MBA and I'm 42. .

Yea i am not the oldest, nor the only MBA!

Back on topic, I would not worry about one bad grade, especially your first semester back. But, you do really need to be more of the A than B+ on everything else from here on out. Ad Coms will understand that you needed a semester to get back into gear and refigure out how to study.

 

[Wolphcats]

Yea i am not the oldest, nor the only MBA!

Back on topic, I would not worry about one bad grade, especially your first semester back. But, you do really need to be more of the A than B+ on everything else from here on out. Ad Coms will understand that you needed a semester to get back into gear and refigure out how to study.

Back Off Topic, I wish I had a MBA. I think all vets should either have a MBA or take courses on how to run a clinic at vet school. I watch the owners of my current work run the clinic into the ground. They hired a 4th vet, in a two exam room clinic. The techs only do things when they need to be done on hospitalized pets, not taking history or performing treatments so the doctors could be free... They miss so many opportunities to promote ourselves... I had to fight them for 1 year to put up a website... they didn't want to spend the $20/year needed to host a domain and website... Their employee payments and benefits are all screwed up. The only reason I have not quit is because no other vet clinic in the area is hiring. 😡

 

[nyanko]

Am I the only one who did so, so much better in physics II than physics I???

 

[jpeterman13]

Am I the only one who did so, so much better in physics II than physics I???

Nope, I did as well. 3.2 in PhyI and 3.8 in PhyII (3.9 in PhyLab).

 

[nymeria1]

Nope, I did as well. 3.2 in PhyI and 3.8 in PhyII (3.9 in PhyLab).

Same. PhysII was definitely easier for me. I think that it was harder to learn about things "we see and feel everyday" because things were not necessarily what you'd expect or counterintuitive. Electricity and magnetism was totally new and I could relate it to my background in chemistry. That and I think my prof was so much better for II than I. 😉

 

[squibby]

Nope, I did as well. 3.2 in PhyI and 3.8 in PhyII (3.9 in PhyLab).

What kind of grading system is that? Do you get numbers and not letter grades? At the school where I took most of my prereques there were no + or -'s, which really sucked if you got a b+ b/ it looks like a b, but awsome for A's because there are no A-'s.
Anyone else have that?

 

[jpeterman13]

What kind of grading system is that? Do you get numbers and not letter grades? At the school where I took most of my prereques there were no + or -'s, which really sucked if you got a b+ b/ it looks like a b, but awsome for A's because there are no A-'s.
Anyone else have that?

We only got numbers. It was terrible to enter those into VMCAS, converting every course...😴

 

[aspiringDVM]

What kind of grading system is that? Do you get numbers and not letter grades? At the school where I took most of my prereques there were no + or -'s, which really sucked if you got a b+ b/ it looks like a b, but awsome for A's because there are no A-'s.
Anyone else have that?

We do have the plus/minus system, and I recently calculated that if we didn't, my GPA would actually be about 0.05 points higher (only two B+ and a handful of A-). So don't be too bummed about it 😎.

 

[Biomajir]

I would not worry about it too much. I had a fairly poor GPA, and my math GRE score was absolutely horrible. I mad a C in all my chems and labs, a C in both physics, and a C in my algebra. It took me two tries, but I finally got in. Make sure you have good experience and try to do well on your GRE's. You will be fine.

 

[JustCats]

Pull yourself up by the bootstraps and move on. You'll be fine. Don't retake Physics I but do better in Physics II. No more Cs! 👍

Nyanko--I had a better grasp of Physics II than Physics I as well.

I just found out that I made a C+ in Physics I 🙁. While my cGPA is still ok since I have a TON of credits, this has pretty much slaughtered my sGPA for the time being.

So should I retake Physics I next fall, or (as originally planned) take Physics II this spring?

 

[snapcall]

Thanks for all the helpful replies! This forum is the best! 👍

I'll be proceeding according to my original plan and taking Physics II next semester (and hopefully acing it 😀).

 

[lunajett]

Hey one other thing, Snap. Keep in mind, even if you repeat the C and get an A, some schools you apply to might still calculate the original C in their GPA determination, along with the new grade. Depends on the school, but for the ones I applied to this year, I believe Illinois and CSU both included EVERY grade I have received - even repeated grades - in the GPA. So while adding an A into the mix helps, you may never be able to wipe out that C... so even more reason not to worry about it at this point and just move along!

 

[TSUJC]

I agree with the others. I wouldn't retake it, unless you can get an A+ the 2nd time your overall GPA won't move very much and even with an A+ is still won't have that big of an impact. I failed physics the first time, barely pulled a C the second time and still got accepted to vet school. It's just one class, cut yourself some slack. I'm sure you are a great student otherwise, it's a hard subject!

 

[HopefulAg]

Back Off Topic, I wish I had a MBA. I think all vets should either have a MBA or take courses on how to run a clinic at vet school. I watch the owners of my current work run the clinic into the ground. They hired a 4th vet, in a two exam room clinic. The techs only do things when they need to be done on hospitalized pets, not taking history or performing treatments so the doctors could be free... They miss so many opportunities to promote ourselves... I had to fight them for 1 year to put up a website... they didn't want to spend the $20/year needed to host a domain and website... Their employee payments and benefits are all screwed up. The only reason I have not quit is because no other vet clinic in the area is hiring. 😡

Agreed, agreed, and agreed. The very reason I'm currently working on my MBA is so I have some idea of how to run my own clinic. It's helped out a ton already in planning, and it's already taught me to hire a damn accountant. God I hate accounting.


By the by go for the MBA if you want. The GMAT is easy, it's not hard to get into a business school, and the MBA program doesn't have to be super prestigious if all you want is the knowledge. Plus business courses, while incredibly boring, are a lot easier than the Science courses we're all used to and is good for boosting GPA. Got a 4.0 in my MBA classes last semester. 😀

 

[bryantvo]

naw move on to physics II and get an A. it'll balance out then.