Orgo.... CURVES?

[Spongebob]

Do most professors out there curve, give extra credit, or have a wacked out grading scale (ie: A>80, 70>B>80, etc.)? I have heard that more often than not these professors are in place.

The Orgo professor I have is new and has never taught before.... needless to say the class is a struggle. 45 started the clas and only 19 survived through the whole Drop/Withdrawl period. the averages for the two tests have been 50 and 59!!!! Amazing huh? I have consistantly scored 35 points above the average, but I am still wondering! Is this just the reality of the situation? Thanks for humoring my query.

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[audeo]

Harder the better for guys of your caliber it seems. No way to score 35+ if the class avg is 80.

 

[Spongebob]

sorry lots of numbers in the post.... the averages were a 50% and a 59% and I was just asking about the first three things....but thanks for the compliment.... or were you being sarcastic?

 

[jofrbr76]

I go to a state school in michigan, however our chemistry program gets respect, and tends to score WAY above average on the standardized national organic test you have to take after a year of organic. My Phd prof. has curved the first two tests so far this semester (avg 's were 51% and 64%) and i have heard from my sister at MSU, and a friend at UofM that this is a common thing with organic classes. Though personally i don't see what's so tough about organic. Put the time in and Memorize Everything!

 

[nezlab99]

I took organicI at one school and organicII at another. I always blew the curve for everyone like your doing. Use that. Obviously the professor must know who you are. Get to know him/her, do some research, get a letter.
As for the low class average and high drop out rate, I'm not too suprised. With every school I've seen, whether they'll admit it or not, Organic is a weed-out class. After everyone is scared off by all that, things will come together somehow.

 

[VC15]

Up here in Canada at my school (U of Toronto), the orgo test averages are usually in the high 50's-low 60's. The average in the course ends up being a 65 or so, but I'm not sure how much of it is due to a curve. The fact that lots of people drop the course certainly brings it up. Also, it includes a lab component, which might raise the average slightly.

 

[PTjay]

just wondering what books you were all using for organic. we use mcmurry.

 

[Spongebob]

Thanks for the input! My curiosity has definitly been satisfied! anymore would be great! My professor just does not curve and I wish he did! after hearing how most averages are in the 50's and 60's that makes me feel like my institution is not out of the "norm". Thanks again!

 

[Spongebob]

L.G. Wade..... thats the author of the text... anyone else have it... like it?

do your professors require model kits? mine did not....

 

[lamyers]

I found the Wade book very good and the only thing I ever used the $50 model kit for, was stereochemistry for a week.

 

[TechMan]

We use Solomon's. Class avg. in the high 40's to low 50's for ochem II.

 

[E'01]

Took at Harvard summer session (year of chem in 8 weeks). The mean (somewhere around 40%) was set to an A-

 

[JThomas88]

Originally posted by Spongebob:
•Do most professors out there curve, give extra credit, or have a wacked out grading scale (ie: A>80, 70>B>80, etc.)? I have heard that more often than not these professors are in place.

The Orgo professor I have is new and has never taught before.... needless to say the class is a struggle. 45 started the clas and only 19 survived through the whole Drop/Withdrawl period. the averages for the two tests have been 50 and 59!!!! Amazing huh? I have consistantly scored 35 points above the average, but I am still wondering! Is this just the reality of the situation? Thanks for humoring my query.•

Yeah , pretty much the same here. The weeding out has begun, people are dropping like flies. The 50 below scores are beginning to pile up for some. But as for me i ma surviving and sctually doing pretty damn well.

 

[Doctortobee]

Get this...My organic I class DOES NOT HAVE A CURVE!!!!!!!!

 

[Vasiley Zaitsev]

Originally posted by Spongebob:
•Do most professors out there curve, give extra credit, or have a wacked out grading scale (ie: A>80, 70>B>80, etc.)? I have heard that more often than not these professors are in place.

The Orgo professor I have is new and has never taught before.... needless to say the class is a struggle. 45 started the clas and only 19 survived through the whole Drop/Withdrawl period. the averages for the two tests have been 50 and 59!!!! Amazing huh? I have consistantly scored 35 points above the average, but I am still wondering! Is this just the reality of the situation? Thanks for humoring my query.•

d00d,

organic is supposed to be tough wherever. Stop whining. Out of 150, I was ranked #1, and busted out with 95+'s on the test. Do every HW prob in the book, and that you can get your hands on, and you should be fine.

owcc16

 

[Vasiley Zaitsev]

btw, that post of mine was directed towards the poster above me

 

[UCMonkey]

When I took organic, EVERYONE would have failed without a curve. The professor gave 120 point tests and the mean was usually in the high 30's to low 40's (that's right folks, 25-35%). The prof said he wanted to challenge everybody . This was the same guy who, when the class was at 8:00 AM, held office hours BEFORE class, at 7:00 AM. His excuse there was that he knew that nobody had class at that time. Anyway, I ended up getting just less than half of the total points possible in the class, and got an A. Hooray for curves!!

 

[mpp]

My Organic Chemistry II professor did not curve. The entire grade was based on three multiple choice exams, 90 questions total. On the first exam, five of the questions had errors and were not counted. The class started with 12 people and ended with 7. There were no A's given. B was the highest grade for the class. By the way, this was an accelerated 5-week summer course with lab taken at U of Alaska Anchorage. Even though I didn't get the 'A' that I wanted, I still enjoyed the class immenseley and learned a lot. It was hard work though. The professor also offered to write me a letter of recommendation.

 

[BCgirl]

mpp: You guys only had multiple choice tests in organic? Didn't you ever have to propose mechanisms or anything?

 

[mpp]

Sort of. The questions were all pulled from Organic questions from MCAT review books and AAMC practice tests (I didn't know that at the time or I would have used them to study...I only noticed later when I was reviewing for my MCAT and recognized some of the questions). The professor's thought was that since several of us were pre-meds (at least three of us), we should be preparing for MCAT and this was the best way. He has always taught the course this way. His is also the professor for Biochemsistry for the Alaska WWAMI program of the U of Washington School of Medicine.

He did not teach Organic Chemistry I however. That professor was more traditional with standard short answer, show the mechanism, etc. kind of questions. I got an 'A' in Organic I...thankfully.

 

[Kirk]

My organioc chem professor does not curve. The grades fro the class are >87 = A >77 = B > 67 = C. The class averages come out around 70%... I was worried at first, but he makes the tests realistic, not impossible.