Interview question: why did you get a C in ______?

[Mohorsegirl]

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Just wanted to ask what others have said in an interview when asked this question, and what you think the "right" answer is. I know you shouldn't say you didn't like the teacher, but I think that's what came out of my mouth after I couldn't think of anything else to say...

 

[nyanko]

Well, I got asked a similar question and my answer was dumb.

I think what you need to do is think about really why you got a C. Were you taking too many hours that semester? Working too much? Didn't go to class? It's easy to blame the professor but obviously some people didn't get C's in the class so something went wrong with you. I think a good way to answer a question like this is to be honest and then talk about how you have prevented the situation from repeating itself.

 

[katryn]

Ecology, and Evolution both, I had already had the material several times in high school and college so I didn't think I needed to pay attention to pass the class....until after the first exam in which I found I was very very wrong and started taking notes like mad.

Electrical Physics....just didn't ever make sense to me no matter how many hours I spent in the tutorial lab with the TA's. Unfortunately I have no good answer for that one.

 

[SocialStigma]

I'm just going to tell the truth and say for organic chem that I was too overambitious when I overloaded and took too many courses that semester and found that I couldn't handle the courseload on top of everything else.

 

[Coquette22]

Electrical Physics....just didn't ever make sense to me no matter how many hours I spent in the tutorial lab with the TA's. Unfortunately I have no good answer for that one.

This is my answer for organic chemistry. I worked my butt off, but just didn't understand the material, no matter how much time and energy I spent on it.

 

[BlacKAT33]

I have a problem with slacking once I know I can do well without much work. Examples: I got A's in orgo I and calc I without much work at all. I thought I could do the same next semester and I ended up getting C's in orgo II and calc II. I think I need to work on my wording before I say this because it can come off really cocky, but that is the truth of what happened. There were also 2 significant deaths during the same semesters I had Cs and it was very depressing. But I still take full responsibility and know that i could have studied more.

 

[PM2009]

I got a C in anatomy my first semester freshman year which was a big bummer. The reason was that it was my first real science class and I was in no way prepared to do well in it. I hadn't developed my study skills at all and definitely struggled. I took the graduate level dissection course that TA's for that class my senior year though and Aced it so I'm hoping that will help.

I have a whole semester of bad grades though do to several health and personal reasons so I'm wondering if they'll even bring that one C up. I did repeat/delete several courses and got A's but the grades are obviously still there on my transcripts.

 

[lunajett]

But I still take full responsibility and know that i could have studied more.

I think that is the take-home point, and I suspect that's what adcoms would want to hear. Don't get defensive, make excuses, or pass the buck to a crappy prof. Bottomline is it's on us to get the grades we need, and we all could have done SOMEthing different to get a better grade. If I am asked this question, I'll be expressing my own regret with the grade, and trying to explain while not sounding like I am "making excuses" - honestly admit that it was a difficult subect for me, and I was working more than fulltime and failed to get extra help when I fell behind. And then talk about what I learned from the experience and what will be different in vet school. I think that's the most important thing with questions like this - own your screwups, and show what you learned from it and how you'll do better in the future.

 

[HopefulAg]

Taking Pharmacology without the recommended prerequisite (Physiology). Would not advise.

 

[scb44f]

The difference between a C and a B for me in Orgo I was a few week's worth of questions online to complete before class (which was at 8 am). At that point, I didn't keep a planner and only remembered to complete the questions about half of the time. I am kicking myself now for that mistake, but I have grown and found ways to make sure I do everything necessary since then. I won't take Orgo II until this coming fall, so I plan to update my schools when I'm done with the class, especially if I earn an A or B, to show them that I have improved (also, orgo II is easier, at my school anyway, since a totally different professor teaches it).

 

[168135]

Is illness a good excuse for a C? Last year, second semester, I was sick for every midterm I had and one of my final exams because of my living situations (wasn't getting enough rest because my roomates liked to party + job + volunteering). Had a really bad infection that lasted over two weeks that made it uncomfortable to sit still (let alone study) during my first batch of midterms, in bed with a fever for the second, and had a bit of the stomach flu two days prior to one of my finals that I didn't do so well in...

I was wondering if something like that is appropriate to put in your application too, or are you only allowed to include illness if you were hospitalized or something of that nature. One course doesn't really matter for vet school, but the other was physics, and I don't know if I'll get a chance to re-take it.

 

[oregonhopeful]

I'd be hesistant to tell an admissions committee that you got a C because you couldn't handle the workload, unless you follow that up by showing them how you were able to learn to handle a big workload.
I had a string of Cs on year, because I overloaded myself and I was able to show the adcom that I fixed it and went on to take heavier harder courseloads with (almost) straight As.
Vet school is all about being able to handle a heavy courseload. That's one of the things they look for in applicants.

 

[Mohorsegirl]

Yeah I didn't want to say "I overloaded on courses that semester" because then I thought it would seem like I couldn't handle the vet school course load, which is what you are trying to get across (that you can). How do you own your mistake and show you "fixed it," I can't think of how?

 

[BlacKAT33]

Yeah I didn't want to say "I overloaded on courses that semester" because then I thought it would seem like I couldn't handle the vet school course load, which is what you are trying to get across (that you can). How do you own your mistake and show you "fixed it," I can't think of how?

it is hard to think about wording things right. some things that i can think of that may be different for undergrad vs. when you're in vet school (IMO)
-if you were working in undergrad
-if you were involved in lab/research
-if you were in honors or another program that had a thesis on top of your classes
-if you had a leadership position that took up a lot of time (president, VP)

those are some things that i think would make a heavy course load harder depending on how much time you spent in these things. and then im also sure most people still spent time socializing and going to parties so i would still own up to not being as serious as i should have been, or not spacing my time out right. Im not sure about the "fix it" part unless you took a heavy load another time and were able to pull it off. But i think you can always talk about how you grew from the duties that you had when you were younger and how it influences your organizational skills and other priorities. anyway, not sure if i answered it? lol but maybe i just added something u could think about

 

[ColoradoDVM]

Is illness a good excuse for a C? Last year, second semester, I was sick for every midterm I had and one of my final exams because of my living situations (wasn't getting enough rest because my roomates liked to party + job + volunteering). Had a really bad infection that lasted over two weeks that made it uncomfortable to sit still (let alone study) during my first batch of midterms, in bed with a fever for the second, and had a bit of the stomach flu two days prior to one of my finals that I didn't do so well in...

I was wondering if something like that is appropriate to put in your application too, or are you only allowed to include illness if you were hospitalized or something of that nature. One course doesn't really matter for vet school, but the other was physics, and I don't know if I'll get a chance to re-take it.

In my undergrad, seems I always had something semi-serious like strep throat by the end of every semester. I would start out every semester with good grades, get sick by the second or third exam, crash, then burn. In retrospect, I think it was a stress management issue for me. In any event, I didn't bring it up on my application as an excuse for some of my weak grades. I thought it would not read well or sound like I took responsibility. I did say that my poor performance was due to not yet possessing the skills required to successfully navigate through college. I then listed my past 3 semesters GPA's and credit hours taken, showed full-time work schedule, mentioned the upward trend and (thankfully) rock solid grades and stated that my current grades reflect my knowledge and abilities, and that I overcame the issues that kept me from doing well in the past. Most of the classes I took my last 4 semesters were upper division, but I did retake biochem to show them (and myself) that I could do really well in a chemistry class. If you do retake a class, I think you do need to ace it. I hired a tutor, something I never did before, because memories of Biochem failure in the past really stressed me out. It worked out and paid off. Doing well in that class took a huge weight off of me and really built up my confidence. That's when I really started believing that I could succeed.
I felt like I had to own those past grades but show that those kind of marks were very much in the past. 🙂

 

[SocialStigma]

I don't know if I can show (on paper) that I was able to "fix" my problem and be able to handle taking on a heavy courseload :/.

Most of my problem last semester (when I got the C+) is that I'm in a program right now that started the whole PBL approach so I pretty much have group project meetings whenever I'm not in class. Last semester I had a group meeting everyday from 9pm-12am (including weekends sometimes) because that was the only time we could meet and whenever I wasn't in class/lab/group meeting, I was catching up on my online course. I spent probably 15-20 hours/week JUST on that group project and orgo was neglected as a result.

This semester, I still have group projects but I'm staying much more on top of my other courses even though I'm not overloading anymore. Hopefully this will translate to straight As but even though my work habits have changed, I'm not really showing them that I can handle a heavy courseload (and I'm not keen on overloading again just for the sake of proving I can do it).

 

[ColoradoDVM]

Hopefully this will translate to straight As but even though my work habits have changed, I'm not really showing them that I can handle a heavy courseload (and I'm not keen on overloading again just for the sake of proving I can do it).

A member of CSU's acc. comm. really stressed the importance of a heavy courseload to me. You might want to consider it.

 

[BlacKAT33]

unfortunately, i didnt join SDN in college and i did not know that schools look at a heavy course load during undergrad. I was at school full time, but i dont consider my load "heavy" because it was just the normal sci stuff that everyone takes. I also took one elective each summer or winter session just to keep me busy and to get it out of the way for the normal semester so i could focus on my sci courses. i was really worried in Oct when i found this heavy course load thing out, but i have 2 invites so far so i guess its ok 🙂 They probably also understand that i was also busy withing in lab and doing research, as long as the president of a fraternity...so IMO it was a heavy schedule...maybe just not heavy course load.

 

[katryn]

I know it varies between schools, but for Tennessee it is not an absolute essential. The only time they definitely look at a heavy course load is when they calculate your quality points (you get extra for every two hours over 12 in a semester). Some interviewers will ask you about it, but some don't. The two times I've been asked about it they seemed satisfied that I understood that vet school would be a high course load and that I had specific coping mechanisms to get me through.