Orgo with Bio

[Roquefort]

I'm a sophomore at Tufts and I'm trying to figure out when to take orgo. I took gen chem last year and struggled with it. I ended up with a B in chem 1 and a C+ in chem 2 (although part of the reason was because I somehow idiotically skipped two pages on the final). I'm currently registered for Bio 13 (the intro bio class at Tufts) and Orgo 1, both with lab, as well as an English class and a French class.

The bio class is notoriously difficult, but I usually like bio a lot more than chem. I spoke with the pre-med advisor at my school and she said I might consider taking orgo next year with physics, but I'm typically pretty bad at physics, so I'm not sure how that will turn out. Does anyone have any advice on what to do? Should I drop orgo and take it with physics next year? I really need to do well in the rest of my sciences, considering I didn't do that well in chem last year.

Thank you for any advice anyone can offer!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[JowellHollyBuddy33]

Take them in the way you feel most comfortable and know that you can ace them. I'm sorry but B's and C's in prerequisite courses will not get you the MCAT score you want or get you into medical school. You just need to get organized and find some strategies that work better for you


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Johnny Appleseed]

I took orgo in the summertime. It was my only class in the summer which allowed me to give it my full attention.... got B+ in I and II. I think I would've done worse had I taken it during the semester with other lab courses...

 

[Terry Toma]

One thing I'd say is just don't assume that you'll struggle with O chem because you struggled with gen chem. They are quite different, and many people who struggle in one do well in the other.

I know this isn't really addressing your question, but don't go into orgo with a defeatist attitude just because you had a rough time with gen chem.

 

[hellocakes]

I took Orgo II with Physics I and I found that to be more difficult than taking Orgo I with Genetics and Cell Biology. I really think it boils down to personal preference. If I were you, I would take the biology class with Orgo. Like the person said above, don't assume that you will do terrible in orgo because you didn't receive an A in Chemistry. They are both fundamentally different. I would suggest beefing up your studying skills. Buy a whiteboard and repeat mechanisms over and over until you finally understand (not just memorize) the mechanics of the reactions. Good luck, OP.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[kopftonmd]

As above posters have mentioned, doing poorly in Gen Chem doesn't always equate to a poor performance in Organic - they are very different. As for taking it with bio or chem, it really comes down to whether you feel one will be harder than the other, and taking Organic with what you deem the easier course (keeping in mind you may end up taking biochemistry, too). For what it's worth, though, I found taking Organic and Bio concurrently helped me understand both better, because you can look at the reactions you need to know and make sense of them, reinforcing both subjects.