impossible prof=low grade

[Sparty Corn Fed]

Hello, just a quick question. I'm currently taking a summer genetics class. I understand the material, but the prof is set on tricking everyone and making tests impossible. My question is this: How bad would it hurt me if I got a 2.5 in this class. Would that stick out like a sore thumb on my transcripts? If that's the case, would I be better off dropping the course to avoid the low grad? thanks
corn

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[Tweetie_bird]

drop it like a bomb now!!
I've had that happen to me, and I didn't drop it. It totally looks like a sore thumb on my transcript. Take another class that you would have had to take instead, and drop this one.

 

[none]

How exactly does one get a "2.5" in a single class? C-= 1.7, C=2.0, C+=2.3, B-=2.7 And sure, it's not great, but will it single-handedly keep you out of med school? No.

 

[hassan148]

Drop this class it will hurt you when you apply, Just my take on things.

 

[Sweet Tea]

drop it, especially if you can take the class later with a better prof. wish i had done that when i had the chance...

 

[westsidespartan]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by none:
•How exactly does one get a "2.5" in a single class? C-= 1.7, C=2.0, C+=2.3, B-=2.7 And sure, it's not great, but will it single-handedly keep you out of med school? No.•••••Michigan State grades on the half-point system. There are no letter grades, the grades possible are 4.0, 3.5, 3.0, 2.5, etc.

 

[The Philosopher]

Look Corn,

drop the damn thing. Man...i wish i woulda dropped genetics when i had the chance...

just learn from the mistakes of the previous 4 posts....you'll be thankful lookin back at no class, rather than a C-.

Also, how strong is your GPA? If you're pullin like a 3.5/3.6 science/cum, you gotta drop it.

Actually, no matter what your GPA is, drop it. Unless if a 2.5 would increase your GPA...in that case, hey keep it. It shows improvement...

 

[relatively prime]

I would say drop the class if it's not too late. If you stay in the class and bomb it DO NOT BLAME YOUR GRADE ON THE PROF. While we might understand that some profs are bastardly... if you say that in a personal statement or during an interview, the medical schools are just going to think you're immature and whinny.

 

[Sparty Corn Fed]

eh, i'll still blame it on the prof, cause he is the problem, i just won't blame it on him when it comes to the whole med school thing...another twist, the date to drop w/ a refund has already passed, so if i drop it, i am losing somewhere around 1600 big ones...this will teach me to never take summer classes again... oh yeah, my gpa is 3.9, so it's high, but still, i don't want it do a number on it, thanks for the advice
corn

 

[nray]

Sparty,

High GPA or not, stop complaining and suck it up. We have all had those hard profs. When I took pchem the class average for my class was a 30 out of a 100. A top grade of 50. No matter what the top of the class will always get A's. Study hard and get the job done.

 

[Cdc28p]

If you will probably get a 2.5 (or whatever low grade that is), drop it now! Trust me, $1600 seems like a big loss now, but if you spend thousands of dollars on those secondaries and interview trips and still don't get in any decent school, it'll hurt much more.

Don't "suck it up" and suffer. This application process is already competitive as it is. No need to be heroic now and suffer later.

 

[Explosivo]

Is your class curved?

Most are and you're probably not the only one who is having trouble. I doubt your prof will flunk the whole class if everyone is struggling. Try to score slightly better than the average on each exam and you'll probably come out ahead. In fact, your class sounds like my genetics class when I took it 4 years ago. It was the so-called "weed out" course for pre-meds. It was super hard, the profs sucked, the exams tried to trick everybody, and the homework assignments were ridiculously long. Averages on our exams were about 40-50/100 points.

 

[relatively prime]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by nray:
•Sparty,

High GPA or not, stop complaining and suck it up. We have all had those hard profs. When I took pchem the class average for my class was a 30 out of a 100. A top grade of 50. No matter what the top of the class will always get A's. Study hard and get the job done.•••••Yeah, honestly... when you think about it, professors are expected to give so many A's, so many B's, etc... so no matter how hard the prof is, all you have to do is do better than most of the people in your class. So I don't understand why having a hard prof woul dbe a reason to get a bad grade... unless the prof is one of those wierdos that only gives 2 or 3 As in which case you could probably file a complaint to your school.

I've had really hard prof before... but that never stopped me from getting high grades because even though I struggled, I made sure I struggled more than most the people in my class. And that got me an A... despite the prof.

 

[Buttacup]

If Corn decides to drop the course now after the date for dropping courses has passed then he would get a W on his transcript. the next question should be is a "w" on a transcript better than the 2.5 he might receive?
just a thought.

 

[guavero]

Drop the class b4 u regret!

El tico

Non medical Costa Rican spanish
----------------------------------
Acular = to chicken out
Aculon = coward

 

[Tweetie_bird]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Buttacup:
•If Corn decides to drop the course now after the date for dropping courses has passed then he would get a W on his transcript. the next question should be is a "w" on a transcript better than the 2.5 he might receive?
just a thought. •••••one "W" on a transcript is no biggie, especially if she has a 3.9 CUM GPA. If this is part of a long list of "W's"....that's another story.

 

[Bounty]

I really don't mean to sound rude but I cant believe you are considering dropping a class because the prof is hard. As one of the other posters said, we have all had those hard profs.
Doesnt it just feed into the pre-med stereotype that things are done solely to get into med school. I know we are not just a bunch of anal, grade-hungry people who dont care about learning.

My advice is do your best in the class, dont drop it at the first sign of difficulty. I also agree that the W on you transcript may be worse than the 2.5.
Once again, i dont mean to offend anyone, thats just the way i feel.
B

 

[Sparty Corn Fed]

I really don't mean to sound rude but I cant believe you are considering dropping a class because the prof is hard. As one of the other posters said, we have all had those hard profs.

i completely agree with you on that part, and I would not even be considering it if he was a good and fair prof. I would much rather have a difficult class, but not if the prof makes it unfair and gets his jollies off of making his students feel stupid...but thanks for the advice, it really helps, and to clear something up, i won't get a "w" on my transcript until after next wednesday, the refund deadline has passed, but i can still drop w/ nothing recorded. thanks
dave

 

[Bounty]

I'm sorry. I wasnt trying to imply that you would drop the class because of difficult subject matter. It sounds like the guy is a real jerk. I guess i would consider how much you need the class now and whether there is some kind of curve.

 

[JennaB4MD]

Everybody here is sayin' drop it, but when I thought I was going to get a C+ in biochem this past semester, my premed adviser told me to stick it out because if you drop it, med schools might think you were failing the class, and if you're 2.5ing it, you're definitely not failing. talk to an adviser first.

 

[lola]

i took a cell bio class once and got c's on both exams -- one prof a jerk, and one prof senile. i studied really really hard for the final and somehow ended up with an a- for the course grade... am still wondering how that happened! anyway, if this is the only class you've struggled with, i wouldn't drop it. you never know how well you'll do in the end i.e. everyone in the class is getting a bad grade, so the prof makes a curve. even if you can only bring it up to a 3.0, that's not too bad. my dad is a prof, and he always said it was fishy when students didn't have a single a- or lower on their transcripts. i agree. everyone has a course they struggle in even if they are brilliant!

 

[The Philosopher]

Yo corn,

you proved yourself, and you got a 3.9

don't listen to people sayin you shouldn't drop it cuz it's "hard" and you're a "typical premed", or cuz "you never know," or whatever. As long as you ain't gettin a W, you're golden.

It's not worth the risk. I mean, c'mon. If you've aced all your classes, you don't want to even toy around with any sort of "chance" at doing well. If it's not a class you're doing well in, for whatever reason, you just aren't interested in it and aren't learning much because sure, one reason is that idiot prof of yours.

Just drop it and move on...and relax. Enjoy the rest of your summmer, now that you're $1600 in the hole (but your GPA is in the sky) <img border="0" alt="[Pity]" title="" src="graemlins/pity.gif" />

I bet admissions probably like that you have a life too, especially over the summer, rather than taking classes over summer (like me...the frigging ***** that I am). I'm sure you can work on your application in different ways, rather than taking courses.

 

[jmejia1]

There's nothing wrong with dropping a course; so if you're looking to get your 2.5, then drop it. The "W" won't look half as bad as an average grade and oh well, you're short $1600.

lastly, DO NOT blame the professor if you're asked about the class during an interview. we've all had "hard" or "jerk" professors, interviewers don't want to see you blame someone else for a bad grade or difficulty in your class though.

 

[The Philosopher]

jmejia,

i don't think he has to even worry about that though, cuz the drop deadline is on wed next week, and as long as he drops it by then, there's no W, no need to explain to anyone, no record of anything happening. Just a -$1600 in the bank account....which he coulda given to those starving children in Africa and all those Afghanistan refugees...

but i guess, we all make poor judgements

 

[Bikini Princess]

In principle, you should stick with the class.

I took p-chem and biochem at the same time junior year and thought I was doing badly but endly up with solid A's in both, you never know how those kind of classes will turn out..
usually everyone is doing bad, so you'll do well.

Above all, you will actually learn the material if you struggle. And...get copies of old tests!!!!!!!!!!!! this is the one panacea for a sketchy professor.

Good luck,
bikini

 

[Lara]

If you honestly have a bad feeling about the class, and no W will be listed, then I'd have to go with those who say not to mess with a 3.9 GPA if the course is unecessary. Just try to make up for it by doing something good during the summer.

But I definitely understand it's tough to swallow a $1600 loss, so again it depends just how bad your vibes and gut feelings are.

 

[Sonya]

If you can fit it in your schedule, drop and retake it some other time. I was in your situation, and my GPA went from like almost 3.9 to 3.75, because of one damn class (yeah, it also diverted attention from other classes too, allowing their grades to suffer).
Obviously, don't say the prof was screwy. For a class like genetics, you can just say that you realized doing good in genetics was important since genetics is so fundamental to medicine and bio (yada yada.. something like that). So, you were doing somewhat poorly in the class, and you wanted to make sure you had a good background with such fundamental stuff. And, that's not all big talk either, genetics IS important for almost anything in bio.

Your other choice might be to file pass/ no pass.

seriously, when you have a very high GPA (i.e. &gt;3.85) you are opening yourself for a lot of opportunities at top tier schools. (please do not try to attack this w/ comments on how GPA isn't all medschools are looking for... there is basis f or this, and you want to know, PM me). So, it's worth preservng.

your prof was probably crappy in some ways, but realize, the fact that you're doing bad is probably making you think more negative of him than he really is.

sonya