is a C+ the end of the world?

[lovernotahater]

i went to a very prestigious undergraduate school where my gpa in my humanities major and overall was a 3.9. i chose to graduate a semester early and began my post-bacc at a program at my local state school. since then, i have managed to get straight A's in biology and chemistry (1 and 2) but I got a C+ in the first half of physics. I have organic chemistry and one semester of physics left. Is this C+ detrimental to my record? I feel like most post-bacc students rarely get such low grades in anything.

i am also meeting with the dean of admissions at the state med school for an "informational meeting." what should i be prepared for?

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[njbmd]

Hi there,
The biggest detriment of that C+ would be not being able to figure out why you performed so poorly. If your math is a problem, get it up to speed before you do any more physics courses. You should be able to review your exams and figure out (perhaps with the aid of your instructor) why you made the mistakes that you did and correct the problem. After all, you do not want any more low grades.

I am not sure what an "informational meeting" with the Dean of Admissions at your state school would entail. Did you request this meeting? Is this a service provided by the state school for groups of pre-med students? Generally, an informational meeting means that some type of information is going to be exchanged. The type of information is largely in the hands of the person who requested the meeting in the first place.

If you requested the meeting, then you shoud go with prepared questions for the Dean of Admissions beyond "How can I get into your medical school?". Know something about the school, i.e. you have reviewed everything on the school's website about admissions and ask questions for clarification of anything that you do not understand.

If this is a service provided by the medical school or the admissions office, do the same preparation (review the website) and be prepared to take notes on anything that you find helpful in terms of applying to that school or medical school in general.

njbmd

 

[lovernotahater]

thanks for the advice.

i would love to take the blame the professor approach, but i realize i am largely responsible for my own performance.
the professor was always impressed at how well i understood the concepts and was equally surprised at my performance on the tests. he told me i would very likely perform much better in physics II.
i think the biggest problem, as you said, is my math skills. i took the course without ever having taken calc/pre-calc and plan to take pre-calc over the next winter session before physics II.
the highest grade among 50 post-baccs in the class was a B+, and two students received that.

nonetheless, i have never heard of any successful post-bacc student getting such a low grade which is why i feel rather dejected.

do you think it is worth re-taking physics 1? perhaps at another school? or should i pack my bags for the caribbean?

Hi there,
The biggest detriment of that C+ would be not being able to figure out why you performed so poorly. If your math is a problem, get it up to speed before you do any more physics courses. You should be able to review your exams and figure out (perhaps with the aid of your instructor) why you made the mistakes that you did and correct the problem. After all, you do not want any more low grades.

I am not sure what an "informational meeting" with the Dean of Admissions at your state school would entail. Did you request this meeting? Is this a service provided by the state school for groups of pre-med students? Generally, an informational meeting means that some type of information is going to be exchanged. The type of information is largely in the hands of the person who requested the meeting in the first place.

If you requested the meeting, then you shoud go with prepared questions for the Dean of Admissions beyond "How can I get into your medical school?". Know something about the school, i.e. you have reviewed everything on the school's website about admissions and ask questions for clarification of anything that you do not understand.

If this is a service provided by the medical school or the admissions office, do the same preparation (review the website) and be prepared to take notes on anything that you find helpful in terms of applying to that school or medical school in general.

njbmd

 

[PainDr]

do you think it is worth re-taking physics 1? perhaps at another school? or should i pack my bags for the caribbean?

Are you crazy?!?!? DO NOT retake the course. Just suck it up and move on. If you can produce a better grade in physics II it won't be a problem at all. IF ASKED, simply say that you made the mistake of not taking your math courses prior to physics I...end of story. Don't dwell on the negative. What's done is done. Believe me, if it's an isolated incident, no one will care.

 

[wook]

i went to a very prestigious undergraduate school where my gpa in my humanities major and overall was a 3.9. i chose to graduate a semester early and began my post-bacc at a program at my local state school. since then, i have managed to get straight A's in biology and chemistry (1 and 2) but I got a C+ in the first half of physics. I have organic chemistry and one semester of physics left. Is this C+ detrimental to my record? I feel like most post-bacc students rarely get such low grades in anything.

i am also meeting with the dean of admissions at the state med school for an "informational meeting." what should i be prepared for?

Personally, I don't think a C+ is a huge deal. As another poster advised, move on and try to do better on you other classes.

Wook

 

[Law2Doc]

Are you crazy?!?!? DO NOT retake the course. Just suck it up and move on. If you can produce a better grade in physics II it won't be a problem at all. IF ASKED, simply say that you made the mistake of not taking your math courses prior to physics I...end of story. Don't dwell on the negative. What's done is done. Believe me, if it's an isolated incident, no one will care.

Agree with this -- one low grade with an otherwise stellar GPA does not merit even considering offshore options. Figure out how to better approach physics II and don't do worse than a B and you will probably still be fine. There are many many people in med school who had a C or two in their undergrad history. I doubt anyone will ever bring up this course grade, but if they do, absolutely do not blame it on the professor. Ideally get an A in the next physics and get that subsequent physics course professor to write one of your LORs.

 

[E-Raist]

I hope a C+ isn't the end of the world... otherwise a fair amount of students would be panicking wildly. ;-)

 

[Law2Doc]

I hope a C+ isn't the end of the world... otherwise a fair amount of students would be panicking wildly. ;-)

If it was the end of the world, the world ended many years ago, and all these posts are moot.

 

[jumboolia]

well how about if you got a A in physics 1 at a community college and a C+ in physics 2 at a 4 year university. ( I took the physics 1 at a CC back home during the summer) This was to fulfill my pharmacy pre reqs which I plan on using when I apply to med school once I graduate. Is my undergrad basically a done deal and so I should just focus on doing well in my graduate level pharmacy courses, or should I retake that physics 2.
I was told by a pre med advisor to not retake it...but was wondering what others thought.

 

[njbmd]

well how about if you got a A in physics 1 at a community college and a C+ in physics 2 at a 4 year university. ( I took the physics 1 at a CC back home during the summer) This was to fulfill my pharmacy pre reqs which I plan on using when I apply to med school once I graduate. Is my undergrad basically a done deal and so I should just focus on doing well in my graduate level pharmacy courses, or should I retake that physics 2.
I was told by a pre med advisor to not retake it...but was wondering what others thought.

If your knowledge base is sufficient for the MCAT, then you do not (and should not) retake this class. It actually does not matter WHERE you took the class as long as you know the material from the class in sufficient depth to apply to problems on the MCAT. If this is not the case, then either upgrade your knowledge with an audit/review or retake under conditions where you can maximize your knowledge.

njbmd

 

[markneil]

C+ with grades of As = fine (you have a chance)
C+ with other C+s = not fine
C+ with Ds and Fs = ...

 

[tiredmom]

Don't sweat it. Finish up the deficits in your knowledge base with pre-cal and take physics II. I got a C in Precal during my undergrad,(currently a MS4) and no one ever asked me a thing about it. And I didn't have straight A's either... but it was my only C.

 

[kinpatsu]

I sucked at Orgo (so did the prof) and ended up with a B- and a C for those two semesters of hell. This was at a post-bacc program where I got As and B+s on my other coursework. I ended up getting multiple acceptances and am a happy M2.

Moral of the story? "Don't sweat it!"