Pre-Med in need of advice, Awful at chemistry

[CalFree230]

I never originally in high school thought about becoming a doctor, I always wanted to be a detective, I even got into a school in the top 5% for Criminology. Then reality hit, I found that path not viable. I then decided since I loved helping people so much and helping children especially, I would try and become a pediatrician. First fall term at my large, southern university, I pushed through like all the other pre-meds and did ok in Bio 1 with a B considering it was a weed out class. However, I did net a C in College algebra during the summer C session of my school. I left the fall semester of my freshman year with a 3.045 gpa, pretty awful by Med school standards. I did not let this stop me, believing that I had plenty of time to improve. I am in the spring term of my freshman year and Chemistry 1 comes around, and is consistently destroying me, I never toke a chemistry class in my life (I always believed I would be a detective for high school). I hired a tutor with a pHd in biochem and yet I still feel like I know nothing to prepare me for the tests. I need advice, should I drop pre med if I feel like I will not succeed in Chemistry because pre med is all chemistry, or should I push through it and hope for the best.
Becoming a doctor is something I really want to become, I have already started shifts volunteering at a hospital, I am part of two organizations devoted to pre-health and I have the next 4 years of my college career planned out for my pre med courses. I just dont know what to do.

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[deleted781806]

I understand that it is very easy to be discouraged by rough classes (especially Chemistry!), but you are really just beginning your undergraduate career and have a few years to work on improving your GPA, definitely don't get too bogged down about one bad semester, I definitely had one of those myself (Orgo 1 + Molecular Genetics did not mix well for me). I think that while getting a PhD tutor can be helpful in some ways, I would definitely encourage you to try to find if your university has any undergraduate tutors, people who have recently taken the course and can make things a little more understandable/relatable because they might be able to frame it in a way you can understand it better than Prof 2.0. Because it is such a new topic for you, it will take a little while to acclimate to it.

I don't think that one rough semester is enough to merit dropping pre-med, unless you were really finding out that you were not liking *any* of the classes. But chemistry is a major part of many pre-med programs and will continue onward into medical school. Most undergraduate programs require at least four or five classes in chemistry/biochemistry so working on building a solid foundation in your first course is very important. If you really do want to go to medical school, take a step back from how you are approaching your current course and see where your approach could be worked on. Reach out to your classmates as well! They will probably be your best resource for help in these kinds of situations. It's hard work, but if this is the path that you want to go down, you can bounce back from these set-backs and get on track! "Nose to the grindstone" and all that jazz.

 

[honey0102]

I never originally in high school thought about becoming a doctor, I always wanted to be a detective, I even got into a school in the top 5% for Criminology. Then reality hit, I found that path not viable. I then decided since I loved helping people so much and helping children especially, I would try and become a pediatrician. First fall term at my large, southern university, I pushed through like all the other pre-meds and did ok in Bio 1 with a B considering it was a weed out class. However, I did net a C in College algebra during the summer C session of my school. I left the fall semester of my freshman year with a 3.045 gpa, pretty awful by Med school standards. I did not let this stop me, believing that I had plenty of time to improve. I am in the spring term of my freshman year and Chemistry 1 comes around, and is consistently destroying me, I never toke a chemistry class in my life (I always believed I would be a detective for high school). I hired a tutor with a pHd in biochem and yet I still feel like I know nothing to prepare me for the tests. I need advice, should I drop pre med if I feel like I will not succeed in Chemistry because pre med is all chemistry, or should I push through it and hope for the best.
Becoming a doctor is something I really want to become, I have already started shifts volunteering at a hospital, I am part of two organizations devoted to pre-health and I have the next 4 years of my college career planned out for my pre med courses. I just dont know what to do.

If you want to be a doctor (and from what you are saying it is clear that you do), don't let something stop you...there will always be ways to overcome it.
That said, I really am sorry to hear about the hard time you are going through. I've mentored several students in similar positions and I can understand how it might be.
I think it might be a good idea to take a step back and evaluate your study strategies. What works and what doesn't work? This may involve also consulting with others you know, especially those who have done well in the classes, to see how they studied. Talk to your tutor too-see if he or she has any tips. The course professor, TA or GSI may also be a helpful source of advice. Some schools offer formal mentoring services with older students, see if they have that. Sometimes, the study strategies are the key-and these may even differ by course. Consulting these people can help you understand how to approach the material best.
Along with this I would recommend good pacing (chem isn't something that can easily be crammed) and attending office hours, etc.
Good luck

 

[pseud0]

Orgo 1 is much more difficult than genchem by a wide margin, imo. Youll need to figure out how to study better, thats the most important thing

 

[Turkishking]

I never originally in high school thought about becoming a doctor, I always wanted to be a detective, I even got into a school in the top 5% for Criminology. Then reality hit, I found that path not viable. I then decided since I loved helping people so much and helping children especially, I would try and become a pediatrician. First fall term at my large, southern university, I pushed through like all the other pre-meds and did ok in Bio 1 with a B considering it was a weed out class. However, I did net a C in College algebra during the summer C session of my school. I left the fall semester of my freshman year with a 3.045 gpa, pretty awful by Med school standards. I did not let this stop me, believing that I had plenty of time to improve. I am in the spring term of my freshman year and Chemistry 1 comes around, and is consistently destroying me, I never toke a chemistry class in my life (I always believed I would be a detective for high school). I hired a tutor with a pHd in biochem and yet I still feel like I know nothing to prepare me for the tests. I need advice, should I drop pre med if I feel like I will not succeed in Chemistry because pre med is all chemistry, or should I push through it and hope for the best.
Becoming a doctor is something I really want to become, I have already started shifts volunteering at a hospital, I am part of two organizations devoted to pre-health and I have the next 4 years of my college career planned out for my pre med courses. I just dont know what to do.

I'm a chemistry major, and love chemistry. Here's a little trick.. Repetition is key for genchem. Besides, Genchem 1 is not bad at all. You need to do practice problems to the point where you see them in your dreams. Well that's what happened with me, and understand concepts, and memorize little facts that may be thrown on an exam. Chem 1 and 2 is not difficult.

I took chemistry in HS, and passed with a 67.5. And my chemistry teacher laughed at me when I said I was thinking of chemistry as a major.

 

[PreMedMissteps]

pushed through like all the other pre-meds and did ok in Bio 1 with a B considering it was a weed out class. However, I did net a C in College algebra during the summer C session of my school. I left the fall semester of my freshman year with a 3.045 gpa, pretty awful by Med school standards. I did not let this stop me, believing that I had plenty of time to improve. I am in the spring term of my freshman year and Chemistry 1 comes around, and is consistently destroying me, I never toke a chemistry class in my life (I always believed I would be a detective for high school). I hired a tutor with a pHd in biochem and yet I still feel like I know nothing to prepare me for the tests. I need advice, should I drop pre med if I

When you say that chemistry is destroying you, do you mean that you're getting Ds and Fs? Or what? If you escape with a C, your GPA for the year will be what? It's not easy improving a GPA from a 3.0 (or worse) to one that med schools expect from a traditional applicant. It's doubtful that you'd suddenly get A's in gen chem II and both orgo classes. And, then there's physics....

From what you wrote, I don't think you'll succeed as a premed. I think you've taken your interest into helping others and came to the conclusion that becoming a physician is the answer. There are many other professions that "help others" inside and outside of the medical world.

What is the "college algebra" class that you got a C in? From what you wrote, it doesn't sound like an upper-division math algebra class. It sounds like a class that is below pre-calculus, or am I mistaken?

How are you doing in your other classes this semester? Are you taking Bio II?

 

[BeddingfieldMD]

Not to be arbitrarily discouraging, but you need to realize that the average overall GPA of accepted students to American med schools is currently around 3.7--even higher for the science GPA. That means you need to earn nearly all As in all your classes, with occasional Bs--and hopefully few or no Cs. Otherwise, it's going to be an uphill battle for you, and Caribbean schools will likely be your only real chance.

Also realize that the MCAT depends largely on at least a decent command of chemistry. The average score of accepted students to US medical schools is about 509. Scoring much lower than that--especially with a GPA much lower than 3.7--will make the uphill climb even steeper.

Ability to understand and do well in the sciences does not stop at acceptance to med school. It continues throughout one's career as a physician.

You *do* still have a shot of becoming a physician--and it sounds like your heart is in the right place. But you need to perform a very honest self-assessment right now and figure out what's going wrong. If you continue throughout the remainder of college with the type of academic performance you are describing, you most likely will not be accepted to any American medical school.

As others have stated, there are many ways of "helping people" that don't require command of the sciences--which medicine does. Should you consider alternative careers? Or do you just need to change your study habits? Something needs to change, because currently there is incongruity between your goals and reality.

Why are you "awful" at chemistry? How are you at biology and physics? What about other subjects? Is there something specific about your chemistry class that is troubling you? These are the things you need to figure out now rather than later.

Good luck!


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