Labs

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Turkishking

Turkishking

Full Member
7+ Year Member
I'm currently taking evolutionary biology. The material is basic, and I've got it. The labs are killing me. I scored a pathetic 7/10 on my first lab quiz, and on the second probably similar. How do you guys study for lab? I'm trying to get a 4.0. The labs are what is worrying me. My lab TA makes the quizzes unnecessarily difficult which throws off a lot of students. To make it worse, she's a pre-med undergraduate student. The lab is worth more than the class itself. If I do well on the exams, and mess up on the quizzes im going to end up with a B+ or A-.. Which will significantly decrease my sGPA since its a 5 credit course
 
Turkishking said:
I'm currently taking evolutionary biology. The material is basic, and I've got it. The labs are killing me. I scored a pathetic 7/10 on my first lab quiz, and on the second probably similar. How do you guys study for lab? I'm trying to get a 4.0. The labs are what is worrying me. My lab TA makes the quizzes unnecessarily difficult which throws off a lot of students. To make it worse, she's a pre-med undergraduate student. The lab is worth more than the class itself. If I do well on the exams, and mess up on the quizzes im going to end up with a B+ or A-.. Which will significantly decrease my sGPA since its a 5 credit course
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You'll be fine, 4.0's are overrated
 
Turkishking said:
I'm currently taking evolutionary biology. The material is basic, and I've got it. The labs are killing me. I scored a pathetic 7/10 on my first lab quiz, and on the second probably similar. How do you guys study for lab? I'm trying to get a 4.0. The labs are what is worrying me. My lab TA makes the quizzes unnecessarily difficult which throws off a lot of students. To make it worse, she's a pre-med undergraduate student. The lab is worth more than the class itself. If I do well on the exams, and mess up on the quizzes im going to end up with a B+ or A-.. Which will significantly decrease my sGPA since its a 5 credit course
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Much like you ask of others on your threads, the best advice for lab quizzes is to answer the question that is asked. Don't get cocky like you know everything on it and you should ace it; the quiz/exam can always beat you and it's your job to make sure they don't. Obviously that means preparing for the material, that's a given. What's not a given is stuff like "the wording of this question seems wonky, maybe I should ask the TA" or "gee, there's a big bolded 'not' in the prompt, maybe that's important." Read the question, know what's being asked, and answer.
 
Turkishking said:
No. I take academics seriously. I'm not giving up a potential 3.96. And I don't agree with legalization of marijuana or smoking it.
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Have fun with college then.

And to answer your question, Lab requires a completely different skill set to master than theory-based classes. Now you can't get by on memorizing any more. You have to understand why you're doing everything before you do it. If you're simply following a recipe, you will not do well in lab. If you mindlessly follow your lab partner(s), you will not do well in lab. If you're afraid of not doing well in lab, you will not do well in lab. Think about each thing you do and ask yourself why you do it. It's better to go over the procedures the night before the lab so you understand everything going in.
 
theonlytycrane said:
a gunner getting outgunned
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Her GPA isn't as high as mine. But I'm going to do well on these lab quizzes. As Aldol stated, I'm going to start understanding concepts better, and select a more appropriate lab partner. But that sounds great! If I'm ever a bio lab TA, I'm going to make the quizzes extremely difficult and fail everyone. Joking obviously.

Working hard classifies an individual as a gunner? I actually am very helpful and tutor my peers in need..
 
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No I actually love @Turkishking 's posts and I hope he knows I'm always joking too. I'm 99% sure he's trolling for funsies but I just go with it. He also brushes off the jokes well- please stay around! 🙂
 
A B+ in this class would decrease your graduating GPA by less than 0.03 if you get straight As otherwise. It would decrease it by 0.015 if you get an A-.

Anyway, that aside, the best thing to do is figure out what you're getting wrong on the quiz, why you're getting those questions wrong, and see if there is a way to fix the problem. Merely telling us that you're getting questions wrong isn't going to help us solve anything. If you don't know why you're getting them wrong, it might be worth talking to the TA, saying you're having trouble studying for the quizzes and seeing if there's anything they would recommend doing. Or find classmates who are doing well and see what their strategy is.
 
theonlytycrane said:
No I actually love @Turkishking 's posts and I hope he knows I'm always joking too. I'm 99% sure he's trolling for funsies but I just go with it. He also brushes off the jokes well- please stay around! 🙂
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If he brushed off the jokes, he wouldn't have placed me on his ignore list
 
Complain to your course's professor that your lab TA's quizzes are too difficult, and once they see you guys are all performing well below your lecture exam scores, they can properly curve your grade to be more accurate.
 
I would say anything above a 3.8 is considered "taking academics very seriously".... No school is going to be like OMG this guy has a 3.96 and this guy has a 3.84.... 3.96 is applicant is better than the 3.84... Not how this process works
 
Turkishking said:
I'm currently taking evolutionary biology. The material is basic, and I've got it. The labs are killing me. I scored a pathetic 7/10 on my first lab quiz, and on the second probably similar. How do you guys study for lab? I'm trying to get a 4.0. The labs are what is worrying me. My lab TA makes the quizzes unnecessarily difficult which throws off a lot of students. To make it worse, she's a pre-med undergraduate student. The lab is worth more than the class itself. If I do well on the exams, and mess up on the quizzes im going to end up with a B+ or A-.. Which will significantly decrease my sGPA since its a 5 credit course
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maybe if you actually studied and spent less time on SDN you'd be getting As
 
Turkishking said:
I'll report back to you in 2 months.
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I'm messing with you man... Diminishing returns, no point in investing a ton of effort to raise your lab quiz grade. Although could always ask to review the quizzes with the professor to see if he thinks they're unfair.


Times spent studying for such a useless quiz would be better spent either having fun or doing something constructive outside of class
 
Turkishking said:
No. I take academics seriously. I'm not giving up a potential 3.96. And I don't agree with legalization of marijuana or smoking it.
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Damn, your life must be boring as F. I have a 3.5 and I take my academics very seriously. The difference is, I don't care about a stupid grade but rather absorbing the material. At the end of the day, my money is better spent on learning than a stupid grade. It's quotes like this that make me cringe, you go to school to learn not for a stupid GPA but it's not your fault, it's the ridiculous "meritocracy" we are in.
 
Dagrimsta1 said:
The difference is, I don't care about a stupid grade but rather absorbing the material. At the end of the day, my money is better spent on learning than a stupid grade.
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The realities of the application process matter. Med schools don't let in whoever most appreciated their learning experience, they look at your GPA. You can't just ignore the impact that grades have on your career prospects. You're free to think that it's a shame that the education system is the way it is, but it's foolish to proceed as though it's any different.

There is a happy medium between your extreme idealism and Turk's... whatever the hell goes on in his head.
 
Dagrimsta1 said:
Damn, your life must be boring as F. I have a 3.5 and I take my academics very seriously. The difference is, I don't care about a stupid grade but rather absorbing the material. At the end of the day, my money is better spent on learning than a stupid grade. It's quotes like this that make me cringe, you go to school to learn not for a stupid GPA but it's not your fault, it's the ridiculous "meritocracy" we are in.
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No my life is fine. I hang out with friends, but I study more. At the end of the day, medical schools don't care about if you learned material. It comes down to the MCAT. And if you adequately study for the MCAT you'll be fine.
 
Turkishking said:
No my life is fine. I hang out with friends, but I study more. At the end of the day, medical schools don't care about if you learned material. It comes down to the MCAT. And if you adequately study for the MCAT you'll be fine.
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There is so much more to life than getting to medical school my friend. There is no need to rush into a career you are going to do for the rest of your life. Live a little bit
 
Turkishking said:
Well.. As a physician you need to have high morals. I've experienced a quite of few things in HS. Made me think of how pointless it is to indulge in it. I've experienced the consequences.
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did your parents ground you and force you to start studying MCAT in HS for coming home past curfew?
 
Turkishking said:
Well.. As a physician you need to have high morals. I've experienced a quite of few things in HS. Made me think of how pointless it is to indulge in it. I've experienced the consequences.
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If you can't even get As in labs you're on a poor course for even cracking 500 on the MCAT bud sorry 🙁
 
aldol16 said:
If you mindlessly follow your lab partner(s), you will not do well in lab. [...] It's better to go over the procedures the night before the lab so you understand everything going in.
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Turkishking said:
As Aldol stated, I'm going to start understanding concepts better, and select a more appropriate lab partner.
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Aldol didn't say "choose a better lab partner," they said you shouldn't let yourself coast on your partner's understanding of the lab work. It's not your lab partner's responsibility to educate you, so choosing a new one is not necessarily a way to start doing better.

Caveat: if your lab partner is constantly contaminating samples/messing up procedures/generally d***ing around during your lab, then yes, find a new one.
 
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Eleithyia said:
Aldol didn't say "choose a better lab partner," they said you should let yourself coast on your partner's understanding of the lab work. It's not your lab partner's responsibility to educate you, so choosing a new one is not necessarily a way to start doing better.

Caveat: if your lab partner is constantly contaminating samples/messing up procedures/generally d***ing around during your lab, then yes, find a new one.
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I think you meant "shouldn't"
 
Turkishking said:
I'm currently taking evolutionary biology. The material is basic, and I've got it. The labs are killing me. I scored a pathetic 7/10 on my first lab quiz, and on the second probably similar. How do you guys study for lab? I'm trying to get a 4.0. The labs are what is worrying me. My lab TA makes the quizzes unnecessarily difficult which throws off a lot of students. To make it worse, she's a pre-med undergraduate student. The lab is worth more than the class itself. If I do well on the exams, and mess up on the quizzes im going to end up with a B+ or A-.. Which will significantly decrease my sGPA since its a 5 credit course
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Turkishking,

Your explained scenario is common in college, and your concern is understandable, despite those insinuating otherwise. My recommendation is to befriend the TA, attend her office hours, and ask her as many questions as you deem necessary not to be "thrown off" during quizzes. Even in the most seemingly difficult classes, someone will get an A, and your goal is to be that person; Hence, your goal in such scenario may be to outscore everyone else, more so than it is to get an A on each quiz. Good luck, and I hope you'll be able to achieve your 4.0 goal.
 
Frogger27 said:
There is so much more to life than getting to medical school my friend. There is no need to rush into a career you are going to do for the rest of your life. Live a little bit
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The poster already asserted that he has some social life in which he is content with. There is no need to play the role of mama or papa, though I do recognize the psychological gratification you may be experiencing from rendering such advice 🙂
 
theBriefing said:
The poster already asserted that he has some social life in which he is content with. There is no need to play the role of mama or papa, though I do recognize the psychological gratification you may be experiencing from rendering such advice 🙂
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Have you read his other posts? I really hope he is mostly trolling, because if he's not, it comes across like he does not do a single thing without thinking about its impact on his app, and if there's no positive return, he won't do it. Oh, and he occasionally socializes with "friends." But he's probably thinking about his app or classes while he's doing it. I feel bad for him if this is how he actually is.
 
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