Medical Orgo 2: Should I risk taking a B-/C+, or opt to make the course Pass/Fail?

[Question]

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I have unfortunately received a B- on my first exam in Orgo 2. I'm worried that I will only finish with a B-, but more likely a C+.

I was wondering if anyone could advise me on what would be the smartest move going forward:
1. Taking a hit on my gpa with a B-/C+
2. Electing to have the course as P/F (assuming I would not be retaking the course if I chose the P/F option).

Thank you again for any advice you might have to help me!

— Experts please respond to this post —

 

[GoSpursGo]

Do not make a prerequisite P/F, period. Study harder, and if you get a C it still won’t kill you

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

You need to do better. It’s a prereq. You need to do well. This is how schools know if you can handle medical school courses.

 

[Dral]

Agree with my colleagues. Don't take a pre-req as P/F. That does not look good on a transcript.

Get a tutor, the ball and stick models, whatever it takes to try to maintain/improve.

What type of thinker are you? I'm very visual so organic chem came naturally to me. Synthesis reactions were honestly like fun puzzles to me. However, Pharm in med school was a totally different story. It wasn't very visual at all and I really struggled. One thing I did was use different colored pens/highlighters to organize material to introduce a visual element to help me learn/memorize.

Many people seem to have issues with Ochem. If you can target that the way your brain works/learns isn't as compatible with the material, I recommend you take some time to step back and try to come up with ways to adapt to learning and processing the material more effectively.

 

[Med Ed]

What I wish I had done when I took organic chemistry:

1. Go to the library.
2. Find the shelf of organic chemistry textbooks.
3. Open them to the relevant chapters and do every practice problem they have.
4. Find other books with organic chemistry practice problems and do them.
5. Rinse, lather, and repeat often.

If you do enough practice problems you will start to see certain themes emerge in what is tested on, as the number of readily testable concepts in each chapter is finite. Your professor probably isn't too creative in writing the exams, and will likely pose problems that are similar to those that have been posed throughout the history of organic chemistry classes.

When I started doing synthesis problems I had a hard time, mostly because I was trying to think through them via their chemical structures (I'm visual, but not that visual). Then I realized each reaction is a tool with a defined purpose that can be expressed in English. So if I (just making this up) need to convert an alcohol to an ester, and I have a reaction that will convert an alcohol to a carboxylic acid and a reaction that will convert a carboxylic acid to an ester, then I just choose those reactions and do them in order.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Totally agree o chem was my worst as well. Draw draw and draw. Repetition

 

[Ryxndek]

Honestly loved organic chemistry as it felt like I was solving a puzzle which some folks have reiterated. I cannot stress this enough, but literally do as many practice problems as you can. I did so many that I was able to predict pretty accurately what would be tested on my exams since as some have said, there’s only so many you can test on.

what helped for me was I wrote in my notebook every single broad reaction possible. so if I was given an Alkene and it had HBr as the reactant, how would a strong nucleophilic acid attack the double bond? Would it produce a trans or cis group, how does the size of the attacking group affect things? Stuff like that really helped things stick. So if memorizing is easier, memorize reactants and starting material to predict end products. I also remembered for drawing arrows that electrons usually move from negative to positive, so it helped predict where I needed my electrons to be pushed. Ochem is a lot of work, but if you do practice problems it will eventually click at some point. It’s not easy, and for some it’s really challenging, but I know plenty of people who got a B or C and still managed to get into professional school. One bad grade won’t kill your dreams, don’t let others tell you it will. Just focus and grind and do your best. Try to keep your head up!

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Honestly loved organic chemistry as it felt like I was solving a puzzle which some folks have reiterated. I cannot stress this enough, but literally do as many practice problems as you can. I did so many that I was able to predict pretty accurately what would be tested on my exams since as some have said, there’s only so many you can test on.

what helped for me was I wrote in my notebook every single broad reaction possible. so if I was given an Alkene and it had HBr as the reactant, how would a strong nucleophilic acid attack the double bond? Would it produce a trans or cis group, how does the size of the attacking group affect things? Stuff like that really helped things stick. So if memorizing is easier, memorize reactants and starting material to predict end products. I also remembered for drawing arrows that electrons usually move from negative to positive, so it helped predict where I needed my electrons to be pushed. Ochem is a lot of work, but if you do practice problems it will eventually click at some point. It’s not easy, and for some it’s really challenging, but I know plenty of people who got a B or C and still managed to get into professional school. One bad grade won’t kill your dreams, don’t let others tell you it will. Just focus and grind and do your best. Try to keep your head up!

totally agree