O Chem curve

[sle3pyguii]

Have your professors curved your O Chem classes?

My professor claims that there is no point to curving the class because we get to drop 1/4 exams, not including the final. He says that even though our exam averages are around the 60s.

Anyone have a professor like this?

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[cycloketocaine]

In pharmacy school, so far, the averages are in the 70s and they WILL NOT curve it under any circumstances. They won't drop a test either. I say suck it up and work hard, because that crap does not happen in pharmacy school.

 

[WhiteSnows]

In pharmacy school, so far, the averages are in the 70s and they WILL NOT curve it under any circumstances. They won't drop a test either. I say suck it up and work hard, because that crap does not happen in pharmacy school.

I need a C to pass

 

[fenixtnlfan]

You go to Arizona right? I do also. Both semesters for me were curved, but only 1-2%. I have heard of other o.chem teachers not curving though. One of my friends took the class and an A was above a 92%. Now that's got to suck.

 

[piyi]

In my first ochem class, the instructor curved 2 exams slightly; I believe each exam we got around 10-15 points added to our score, so if you got an 82 out of 150 then you really got a 92 out of 150 (exams were out of 150 for some reason). The grade was based on a total of ~600 points (+ an extra 200 or so for your lab grade), so this instructor's curve was an extra 25 points for everyone.

In my second ochem class, there was no curve as far as I know (and definitely not for A's-- you had to get a 90% or higher to get an A. He may have curved points in order for a C or B to be achieved, but I don't know specific details about that).

 

[Jack555]

In pharmacy school, so far, the averages are in the 70s and they WILL NOT curve it under any circumstances. They won't drop a test either. I say suck it up and work hard, because that crap does not happen in pharmacy school.

Undergrad is NOT graduate school. Undergrad is about getting good grades to get INTO grad school. Studying hard and getting D's won't get you into pharmacy school.


I bet when you were in your o-chem class and the average had been a D you wouldn't have wanted a curve. yah right

 

[cycloketocaine]

Undergrad is NOT graduate school. Undergrad is about getting good grades to get INTO grad school. Studying hard and getting D's won't get you into pharmacy school.


I bet when you were in your o-chem class and the average had been a D you wouldn't have wanted a curve. yah right

Thank you Captain Obvious, I know that you aren't in grad school. But, you are trying to be, and I think curves make students lazy.

Oh, and BTW, my class average was a 64. We had 1/2 of the class take a W. But I busted my ass and made a 89. So, no, I didn't want a curve.

 

[lasthope03]

Forget the curve , just work harder. It will benefit when you have to take the PCAT. I aced my ochem when i took it and when it come to the PCAT, i didn't have to study that section at all .

 

[Rumplestiltazepam]

My Ochem class was curved a few points because the class had its fair share of idiots, even with a curve many of the idiots managed to fail the courses. Never under estimat idiots

 

[lee0539]

My Ochem class was curved a few points because the class had its fair share of idiots, even with a curve many of the idiots managed to fail the courses. Never under estimat idiots

There is always the opposite of that where a class of mostly very strong students are given a very hard test and so what should have been 40% A's becomes 10% A's, 20% B's, and 10% of the lowest A's get B-. Then rest get C+/C/C-. With a few really bad students getting D's/F's.

 

[WhiteSnows]

There is always the opposite of that where a class of mostly very strong students are given a very hard test and so what should have been 40% A's becomes 10% A's, 20% B's, and 10% of the lowest A's get B-. Then rest get C+/C/C-. With a few really bad students getting D's/F's.

I took organic chem 1 with a hardest professor in my school. I had not choice because there was no other available teacher. We had 5 tests and every test he put all national chemistry association questions for BS students. 1/2 of my class dropped out. I stayed and was surprised that I got an A at the end. There were a lot of B's and C's. I got all As for my chemistry classes.

 

[aboveliquidice]

I took organic chem 1 with a hardest professor in my school. I had not choice because there was no other available teacher. We had 5 tests and every test he put all national chemistry association questions for BS students. 1/2 of my class dropped out. I stayed and was surprised that I got an A at the end. There were a lot of B's and C's. I got all As for my chemistry classes.

I remember back when I took organic - we had to walk three miles in 25 ft of snow just to take a test. They blared country music during the test - and had a 50% negative curve... yeah, they said it couldn't be done - but I still got a 120% A...

A question about the lack of a curve should not be an automatic invitation to advertise your chemistry GPA.

Cyclo was right - Do not be deterred by the obstacles you face. Hit the books harder, attend your local Organic tutor (every school has 'em) - and slam dunk it. When you come out with that awesome grade (or even just a decent one) - you will know you have earned it.

That type of confidence is something money can't buy - and you need it for pharmacy school - you have to know that no matter what they throw at you - it can be mastered. I am avoiding the urge to spout motivational quips right now. I had a rough time with Organic - but it definitely made me a better student.

~above~

 

[genesis09]

In my class, the professor said he wanted to see a certain percentage of the class receive each grade. However, you would never get a grade lower than what a straight curve would give you. Very few people, less than 10%, actually failed the course.
My pharmacy school actually does somewhat curve for certain courses. For physio, your grade was determined by standard deviations from the average. At my school, an average grade will get you a B in a class.

 

[steveysmith54]

For physio, your grade was determined by standard deviations from the average. At my school, an average grade will get you a B in a class.

hmm... thats pretty good.

 

[cdpiano27]

Well, I think it matters who is in your class. In my PhD, program an average grade is a B or even a B+, but failing is considered lower than a B-, AND hence you need 3.0 to stay in the program (but very few people get kicked out because of grades, but they fail the qualifying or preliminary exams, which are not recorded on our transcripts). About a quarter will just leave on their own. But to be at the top, you a have to be really top. Everyone is from different countries, and the top students come from the top five universities in China AND were at the top of the class in those universities (Fudan, Nankai, Beijing, Tsinghua, Zhejiang). So, when we grade the undergraduates papers who have to take the intro to statistics class, everyone laughs about how bad the students are. Most of the TA's get a kick out of grading these papers.

It really depends on the INSITUTION where you take organic I think. An A from Johns Hopkins, UC-San Diego, or UC-Berkeley, means an A anywhere.

That is why the California state schools (UCSF and UCSD) take mostly everyone ONLY from UC-Berkeley, UCLA, and UC-San Diego and don't require PCAT. Gettin a 3.7 from those schools means a lot more than the PCAT, in my opinion.

 

[NewRx]

To me, organic 2 lab is kicking my butt. I mean, we have this prof that is a real ***. He will barely answer question or he'll shout that you should know this or that the answer is in the book. It is obvious that answers are not easily apparent. One person dropped already. I need to tighten up and know that I have about a month and half of this mental and physical torture. I'm doing the labs, and yet I have absolutely no clue about them. I miss inorganic chem labs or just organic chem 1 or lectures. (I had 94 my fire o-chem test, Infrared spectrum, spin coupling and all that. It's not fun.) I cannot afford a C right now. I'm borderline 3.2 and pharmacy is really on the horizon.

Pharmacy students: do you really have to do O-chem 2 lab stuff? Yes, I can see usefulness of O-chem 1. But O-chem 2 lab stuff, do you do them. I'm not lazy. I love physics, calculus, particularly biology, anatomy & physiology. The too abstract O-chem 2... Alas.

 

[ScienceNerd]

lol. get used to this. the grades will always vary, especially if you're in a large university, for difficult science classes. Many times if you talk to your prof and show substantial improvement, they will be willing to overlook your grade-but YOU have to make that effort. I started with a really bad test grade for ochem I (lol, I wouldn't even post that on here, it was that bad), but I ended up getting one of the few A's on the final, along with better test grades-because of that, and me constantly asking help from the prof, he graciously overlooked that first test and I got an A. In my endocrinology class now, the class average for the first test was a 54-and this prof doesnt curve, but she does look for good students willing to try and is almost always does "personal" curves (I know several people who got higher than expected grades for her class after making better test grades following a really bad 1st test grade). I was lucky enough to have this prof before and knew she wanted detailed specific answers, so I knew to study hard and study alot to make a good grade. Bottom line: profs usually don't like to hear people complain about bad grades (I was a gen chem lab TA, and yes, this gets REALLY aggrivating, and more than anything sounds petty), but they do like to see effort and improvement. So tuck in and isolate yourself from everyone and try to approximately study 1 hour a day doing practice problems for o-chem. It will really help and you'll be very proud when you see how much your hard work and effort pay off. (PS, I cannot stress enough how this will help on the PCAT if you learn it class; your review, like mine, will be minimal if you know your stuff)

 

[omnione]

For organic I, my professor slightly curved the grades at the end of the semester. For organic II, my professor allowed us to either waive the final if we had an A or take the final and have a good grade on a portion of the exam replace its respective unit exam grade earlier in the semester.