My First Failed Class!

[vsasi]

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Ok,
so i'm a first semester freshman who decided to take a dinosaurs class Pass/Fail. After this last exam, I am almost sure that I am going to fail and not receive credit. I feel like a complete idiot, even though it doesn't factor into gpa. Am I making a big deal out of nothing?

 

[PMED99]

Immediately talk to the professor!!!!

If you are a freshman tell him/her that you really didnt know what you were getting into with the class. Ask if you may do anything to help your grade!!

I recommend doing this now!

Sometimes professor are understanding. Maybe the fact that you are new to college will help out.

Best of luck.

 

[Sonya]

the fact that you are getting a failing isn't that big of a deal (if you're positive it will not effect your GPA at that school OR in medical/graduate schools mind). However, maybe you have something to learn about study skills or college or something that applies to other more relevant classes.

You'll figure it out. We all need to mess up a little to improve ourselves. 🙂

Sonya

 

[elias514]

Your life is over. An F translates into abject failure--it's a stigma that will haunt you for the rest of your life. People will be able to smell the "Fness" that permeates the aura of failure around you. Forget about medical school. A job. A family. Your life is over. Just give up and jump off a 4 ft. cliff... Hurry up.

 

[jlee9531]

well hopefully you will improve your study skills and i dont know if you did this...but take any class too lightly....

people will screw themselves over if they underestimate a class...

its never good to fail any class but it doesnt affect your gpa so thats a relief....i dont know if there are any options for you to fix this F....

thank goodness for freshman year....
you have the rest of your college career to show that the F was a fluke....

GL...and watch out for that four foot cliff....the initial 1 sec drop is a doozy...

 

[alexPDX]

My first semester in college I got an F in one of my courses. My advisor wanted me to just move on, but I decided to retake the cours (with a different prof., of course). I worked hard and I got an A the second time over. On my transcript it still shows that I got an F, but also that I retook the class and got an A. As far as my GPA, only my passing grade is factored in. It is not a very pleasant alternative, but if you really care about your grades, it?s worth doing it. Besides, I think that retaking the course shows that when you make a mistake, you take responsability and fix it instead of sweeping it under the rug.

 

[Spitting Camel]

AMCAS factors in failing grades too, remember? If you're p/f, that's great. Just don't let it happen again!

 

[NRAI2001]

If you are taking a class for p/f and u do fail, do med schools look at this critically or do they not really care since it doesn't factor into ur GPA?

 

[asama527]

They will look at the F. If the F shows up, some med schools will recalculate the GPA with the F. Also...beware, some top business schools will recalculate using Pass = D since they assume that it's economically the most efficient to take a course P/F and get a D. Most places know that you wouldn't be taking a course P/F unless you knew you weren't going to do well. I'm not sure it applies to medical school but it's something you might want to consider. If you fail only 1 class, it don't think it's a huge problem. Nobody's perfect...even the person who gets in the Harvard MD/PhD program is going to have a flaw SOMEWHERE.

 

[Bones2008]

Originally posted by NRAI2001
If you are taking a class for p/f and u do fail, do med schools look at this critically or do they not really care since it doesn't factor into ur GPA?

Keep in mind that your AMCAS GPA and your school GPA can be different. While I can't say for certain, I think that AMCAS will integrate the failing grade into your GPA.

 

[smc927]

You won't be the first person in med school with an F on their transcript. Go all out to avoid the F, then figure out why you fell short and don't do it again.

 

[potuhusky]

i made the same fall my fresh year. really stupid move. but so far it has not bit me (knock on wood). just finish strong and they'll see beyond it. if it happens again, you have a lot of explaining to do. i think it still looks better than multiple withdraws.

 

[robotdancing]

how exactly does one go about failing a dinosaurs class? i mean, really.

 

[vsasi]

I have no idea how I failed this dino class, but anyway how will AMCAS treat this Fail (I took the class with the pass/fail option)? It's not a class that I took for a grade, but will they still treat it as a grade?

 

[uniqueseraph]

AAMC states:

"Pass/Fail courses attempted under a Pass/Fail system that allows three or more passing grades (e.g. High
Pass/Pass/Low Pass/Fail) will be treated as a regular pass/fail course unless your school provides an alpha grade
conversion (e.g. A,B,C)."

Good luck vsai!🙂

 

[vsasi]

right, but since it is a Fail, will they factor in a 0 gpa for the class?

 

[NRAI2001]

Originally posted by uniqueseraph
AAMC states:

"Pass/Fail courses attempted under a Pass/Fail system that allows three or more passing grades (e.g. High
Pass/Pass/Low Pass/Fail) will be treated as a regular pass/fail course unless your school provides an alpha grade
conversion (e.g. A,B,C)."

Good luck vsai!🙂

I ve never heard of any undergrad school having this sort of pass/fail system.

 

[vsasi]

I go to wash u, and in the credit/no credit option, you either Pass or Fail. With this Fail showing up on my transcript (not an actual F in a class) will AMCAS factor a 0 into my cum gpa, even though my wash u transcript does not count pass/fail courses into gpa?

 

[robotdancing]

Originally posted by vsasi
I go to wash u, and in the credit/no credit option, you either Pass or Fail. With this Fail showing up on my transcript (not an actual F in a class) will AMCAS factor a 0 into my cum gpa, even though my wash u transcript does not count pass/fail courses into gpa?

no, it won't factor in as a zero. that being said, as a fellow wustl student... man, if you're gonna fail dinobio, best of luck w/ your chemistry courses. i'm not trying to be nasty, just realistic. we have a very rough pre-med curriculum here and if you're having trouble passing classes intended for non-science majors, you may want to think long and hard about whether your goals are attainable. if you're POSITIVE you're going to fail, i have a couple of suggestions for you: first, try talking to the professor. many of our faculty members are really nice people and, while they won't give you an A for effort, they may be reasonable. if that doesn't work, meet w/ a dean. you may be able to petition a withdrawal from the class. you'll be better off doing that than failing the course... assuming you don't make a habit of it.

 

[asama527]

If you get only one "F" and the rest of the grades are pretty decent, it makes for good conversation at the interviews. Come up with a good story that involves some sort of struggle and explain what you learned from the experience. As everyone else seems to think, one "F" is not going to keep you out of med school. I do know at least ONE person who got in to Harvard med with an "F" on her transcript.

 

[NRAI2001]

Originally posted by asama527
If you get only one "F" and the rest of the grades are pretty decent, it makes for good conversation at the interviews. Come up with a good story that involves some sort of struggle and explain what you learned from the experience. As everyone else seems to think, one "F" is not going to keep you out of med school. I do know at least ONE person who got in to Harvard med with an "F" on her transcript.

To get into Berkeley Med you need straight A's. You have no shot at Berkeley Med anymmore.😀

 

[asama527]

I can think of other reasons besides grades why it might be impossible to get into Berkeley med 😉

 

[alexPDX]

Originally posted by asama527
I can think of other reasons besides grades why it might be impossible to get into Berkeley med 😉

LOL!