I need some non-biased advice

[b*rizzle]

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At the beginning of this semester, I was not sure if I was going to finish with a chemistry or biology degree, so I picked up an inorganic chemistry class in case I decided to go BA chemistry.

Well, the class is awful and so is the professor, and thus I changed my mind to BS Biology. Now, I'm normally an A student, but I'm barely struggling to keep a C in this course. The professor's lectures are terribly ambiguous and she constantly makes mistakes in her lecture notes, and has to come back one, two or even THREE lectures later to correct herself. Her exams and quizzes are awful -- she tests on things she hasn't covered or assigned in the reading. Her graders are inconsistent and she acknowledges discrepancies in grading, yet refuses to correct them (this is the reason I'm working to keep a C instead of fighting for a B). Her and I have had some personality clashes in the past, and she has held this against me in her grading: she'll flat out acknowledge that something was marked wrong that should have been right, but she'll tell me she doesn't particularly care about it. Despite complaints to the department, nothing can/will be done (she's tenured). This class has been an constant source of frustration to me, because I know I need to bring my grades up in there, but my pharmacy pre-reqs (which also count as biology requirements) are a lot more important to me (organic II, statistics, and microbiology -- in which I'm doing comparatively well), and I'm more worried about them anyway.

This class isn't a pharmacy prerequisite, and if I knew I were guaranteed at least a C in the course, I'd just hang in there and not worry -- it's only a two hour credit class. I am wondering, however, if I should try and withdraw from the course and save myself the intense headache of trying to deal with a D on my transcript. I know either way I'd have some explaining to do at a pharmacy school interview -- they'd probably wonder about a "W" just as much as they'd wonder about a D, but if I withdraw then I don't have to try and salvage my GPA, which is fairly decent but I don't think a D would do much for it.

I'm planning on waiting until after I find out how I do on the last exam before I officially make a decision about withdrawing (I'm kicking myself for not declaring it Pass/Fail). I will probably also call someone at the school of pharmacy this week and talk to them about it too.

What I want to know is if anyone has had to handle a situation like this before. I don't necessarily think it would hurt me in applying to pharmacy school, because I'm otherwise a good student, but I just want to know from past experience if you guys think I should try and tough it out and take my chances with a really bad grade, or what...I'm struggling with this decision a lot more than I thought I would. 🙁

 

[jemc2000]

My opinion, for what it is worth, is if it is not too late to get a W, drop the class. I have found it is easier to explain a W than salvage a gpa.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[b*rizzle]

My opinion, for what it is worth, is if it is not too late to get a W, drop the class. I have found it is easier to explain a W than salvage a gpa.

Just my 2 cents.

That was pretty much my thought. I'm waiting till after the last exam, and I'm trotting straight down to the registrar's office if it doesn't work out.

Thanks for your comment. 🙂

 

[DHG]

That was pretty much my thought. I'm waiting till after the last exam, and I'm trotting straight down to the registrar's office if it doesn't work out.

Thanks for your comment. 🙂

I know exacltly how you feel.

I changed my major to Biochem from Biology just last semester. I could have graduated this semester with Biology, but I thought "what the heck, it's only 8 more hours, I'll be done this summer instead, and I already have some biochem credit I don't need for Biology..."

So I have the same situation in my Pchem class. The class is just terrible. Ambiguous grading and all. I'm a straight A student, too, and I'm struggling for a C in this class. We started with 18 students and now are down to 8. That many people have dropped. If I could drop this class, I would. I feel that I'm not giving my more important Pharm rereqs the attention they deserve because of this class. I can't drop, though, and graduate this summer. I have no choice, I have to see it through.

If I was in your shoes, it would be a no brainer for me. I'd drop it in a heartbeat. You can always say the class was not very well organized and not well taught, and you chose to use your energies elsewhere. Nothing wrong with that.

Hope it works out for you.

 

[Crazy_Norwegian]

It sounds like you have applied for pharmacy school admission for this fall.
If that's true, what really matters is what the pharmacy school thinks.
I know that the school I applied to for this fall only cares that I get a C in my remaining preqs. Only grades through the fall semester will affect admissions. My school also doesn't care what I get in classes that aren't preqs. If your school is the same, dropping would be a no-brainer. Is this going to delay your graduation?

Since misery loves company, my sister is going through much the same situation in her inorganic chemistry class right now...the difference is, she isn't trying to get into a competitive program. I have also been in this kind of situation in the past (orgo II a long time ago). It seem that the worst teachers are often jerks, too.

 

[b*rizzle]

It sounds like you have applied for pharmacy school admission for this fall.
If that's true, what really matters is what the pharmacy school thinks.
I know that the school I applied to for this fall only cares that I get a C in my remaining preqs. Only grades through the fall semester will affect admissions. My school also doesn't care what I get in classes that aren't preqs. If your school is the same, dropping would be a no-brainer. Is this going to delay your graduation?

Since misery loves company, my sister is going through much the same situation in her inorganic chemistry class right now...the difference is, she isn't trying to get into a competitive program. I have also been in this kind of situation in the past (orgo II a long time ago). It seem that the worst teachers are often jerks, too.

Yeah, I'm applying to begin coursework in Fall '06. My pal is a PY2 at Carolina and she told me that since it's not a prereq, they'd only be interested in knowing why you dropped it, and probably wouldn't push it much further than
that. If I drop, I'll have to make sure because it may put me 1 credit hour off of graduating, which is something I could easily make up for w/ a nice and easy 1 hour pass-fail class, such as "Intro to Allied Health Sciences". I just don't want the adcom to hold it against me if I drop it.

Thanks for the input -- jemc2000, DHG, Crazy Norwegian -- you guys have been most helpful!