Question on withdrawing

[pirateslayme]

Hi all,

So I am new to this prevet forum. I recently graduated with a BA degree and now I am going back to school to get my pre-reqs for veterinary school. I have always loved working with animals and being a veterinarian is my dream.

The question I have concerns withdrawing and how that might look on a transcript vs getting a C or possibly worse. Right now I am taking my first term of general Chem and am working really hard, sometimes putting in 12 hour days just to do well. Unfortunately it does not seem to be working as my past two exam scores were just terrible. This is really deflating for me especially in terms of the last exam where I felt really confident with the material. I got exactly the class average, not above and not below it. The class average was 54 by the way. A score I am not ok with.
I could potentially still get a C because I have done well on my labs but I feel as though there is a possibility I could get worse than a C.

I was just wondering if you would recommend I withdraw from the course? I heard that withdrawing is not as bad as taking a hit to the GPA. Unfortunately this is my first science class so I do not have any others to back me up right now. Another thing is that I already have one W on my transcript. Does this look really bad? Would you recommend I withdraw or stick it out?

Being a veterinarian is my absoltue dream and I don't think I should give up due to a general chem course. What would you do? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you so much.

Chloe

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[PrimalMU]

If the class average was 54, then I wouldn't be worried. Most professors will scale the grades so that they represent a "normal" range (a prof probably wouldn't last long if he failed 75% of his class every semester). My recommendation would be to tough it out, because you may be pleasantly surprised when you see what you actually get in the class at the end of the semester.

 

[deleted266066]

I personally haven't heard of any general chemistry courses in college where the averages on exams were over a 60 (the averages in my course were... 32 to 57. Oh the agony...!!!). But PrimalMU is right, the prof will have to scale it, and that's just how it always goes in gen chem. Depending on the prof and school, the mean or median is turned into anything between a C and a B.

If you are doing anywhere around average (or even better than maverage?) you should be quite okay in terms of your GPA so far. If you are curious where you stand amongst your classmates (and thus where on the curve your grades are, and what letter grade that equates to), you could go to a TA's office hours or the professor's office to discuss that with them.

So... don't freak out just yet. Discuss it with the prof to find out what your number score actually equates to (approximately) so far, then go from there.

 

[pirateslayme]

Thanks for all the great advice! Here is what I know so far. Right now I am getting a D in the class....not good! And this does not include my lab score which I have been doing way better in. The lab I know is curved but I have a different professor for lecture and I know she does not like to curve. However I do believe the grading scale is normalized where a 85 is an A, 75 is a B, 65 is a C and 55 is a D. I believe that is how the grading system works but there is no curve dependent on the class average or anything. I am going to talk with her to get more of an idea on what I should do or if there is anything I can do to boost my score.
Right now I am feeling really deflated.

 

[168135]

My profs have mentioned at the beginning of classes if they scale or not. The class averages for my chem classes have been in the 50s and they never scaled. I was in a biology course too, where the average for his second midterm was a 40-something.