reassure me!

[tabularasa]

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I posted here a couple months back about my intro bio class about cells and molecules and I found out I got a 2.5. I'm freaking out.

On the one hand I feel upset, since my professor did not scale grades, did not curve any exams, and there was no homework whatsoever. He did not offer any in class reviews, the study guides were from a book and didn't correspond to his exams and there were 3 online labs. He would let us out a half hour early almost everyday and his notes were extremely basic, while his exams were very picky and detailed. His exam average would be a 72% almost every time, except for one case when it was a 67%.

On the other hand, I feel okay since I did everything I could to do well in the class. I studied with a friend, made flashcards, rewrote my notes, recited my notes, read the book, went through the interactive CD-ROM, and did the study guide that I bought. I did not slack off.

Biology was a subject I really loved and unfortunately, my professor destroyed my interest in it. I did not take this class at a CC, I took it at a different 4 yr. university (the credits won't transfer from a CC). It was my first science class, and I don't know if that may have been a factor. I don't know if it was best to take it during the summer where it's extremely fast paced.

Will a med school ask about my performance in this class?

I need some reassurance.

 

[Hassler]

I posted here a couple months back about my intro bio class about cells and molecules and I found out I got a 2.5. I'm freaking out.

On the one hand I feel upset, since my professor did not scale grades, did not curve any exams, and there was no homework whatsoever. He did not offer any in class reviews, the study guides were from a book and didn't correspond to his exams and there were 3 online labs. He would let us out a half hour early almost everyday and his notes were extremely basic, while his exams were very picky and detailed. His exam average would be a 72% almost every time, except for one case when it was a 67%.

On the other hand, I feel okay since I did everything I could to do well in the class. I studied with a friend, made flashcards, rewrote my notes, recited my notes, read the book, went through the interactive CD-ROM, and did the study guide that I bought. I did not slack off.

Biology was a subject I really loved and unfortunately, my professor destroyed my interest in it. I did not take this class at a CC, I took it at a different 4 yr. university (the credits won't transfer from a CC). It was my first science class, and I don't know if that may have been a factor. I don't know if it was best to take it during the summer where it's extremely fast paced.

Will a med school ask about my performance in this class?

I need some reassurance.

Ummm... they probably would. Biology is a prereq for med school admissions and if you can't even get a B for it, then it certainly could be questioned.

Are you sure it was the professor's fault that you didn't score higher than a 2.5? If there are people taking the class getting 4.0's and you're getting a 2.5, then that could just be your problem and not the professor's. You may have studied hard for it, but maybe you didn't retain the information during the exams.

The only way for this not to be a problem is if you take the next class in the biology sequence and get at least a 3.5 for it.....

 

[ssquared]

On the one hand I feel upset, since my professor did not scale grades, did not curve any exams, and there was no homework whatsoever. He did not offer any in class reviews, the study guides were from a book and didn't correspond to his exams and there were 3 online labs. He would let us out a half hour early almost everyday and his notes were extremely basic, while his exams were very picky and detailed. His exam average would be a 72% almost every time, except for one case when it was a 67%.

A 72% average is (depending on your school) a C- or C, which is pretty reasonable. The reality is that you have to deal with crappy professors and learn to teach yourself the material (my understanding is that medical school consists of a good chunk of self-taught material). Will you be questioned on this? If you ace all of your upper level bio classes from here on out, probably not. However, if you don't raise your grades, you will be putting yourself in the position of having to compensate (not really ideal).

But one bad grade is not the end of the world. Deep breaths!

 

[tabularasa]

Ummm... they probably would. Biology is a prereq for med school admissions and if you can't even get a B for it, then it certainly could be questioned.

Are you sure it was the professor's fault that you didn't score higher than a 2.5? If there are people taking the class getting 4.0's and you're getting a 2.5, then that could just be your problem and not the professor's. You may have studied hard for it, but maybe you didn't retain the information during the exams.

The only way for this not to be a problem is if you take the next class in the biology sequence and get at least a 3.5 for it.....

Nobody 4.0ed any of his exams, except for one. Every person on ratemyprofessor has noted that his exams are extremely hard and that it is impossible to 4.0 the class unless you have access to his old exams (or study 23 hours a day). I studied his notes (he told me to study the notes and use the book as reference), but the exam would be full of questions that could not be found in his lecture notes or in the book.

Also, my professor said on the first day of class that if you're not a nursing major, bio major, or engineering major to drop the class. He is the head of the biology department.

It was my *first* science class and I had taken it over the summer where one semester's worth of material was covered in half that time.

The sequencing is different at my university. At my university you are supposed to take the Intro Environmental Biology and then take the Intro Cell and Molecule biology whereas at the other university (where I took the class), it's reversed. The universal grading scale is different at the university where I took the class. They go by 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 etc. , whereas my university goes by 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0.

 

[Hassler]

Nobody 4.0ed any of his exams, except for one. Every person on ratemyprofessor has noted that his exams are extremely hard and that it is impossible to 4.0 the class unless you have access to his old exams. I studied his notes (he told me to study the notes and use the book as reference), but the exam would be full of questions that could not be found in his lecture notes or in the book.

Also, my professor said on the first day of class that if you're not a nursing major, bio major, or engineering major to drop the class. He is the head of the biology department.

It was my *first* science class and I had taken it over the summer where one semester's worth of material was covered in half that time.

The sequencing is different at my university. At my university you are supposed to take the Intro Environmental Biology and then take the Intro Cell and Molecule biology whereas at the other university (where I took the class), it's reversed. The universal grading scale is different at the university where I took the class. They go by 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 etc. , whereas my university goes by 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0.

🙁
Like ssquared said, the reality is that you have to deal with good and crappy professors. Honestly, the 72% average sounds reasonable, but the fact that only 1 person 4.0'ed 1 of his exams is pretty ridiculous.

FYI: At my university, there would be approx 200 students taking an intro biology class, and the class average would be about a 2.8 (i.e. ~100 students would score below a 2.8). There would be about ~15 people getting 4.0's.

 

[tabularasa]

Whoops...I meant to say that on only one of the *exams*, it was 3 people that scored a 4.0. On the other 3 exams, no one received a 4.0. My professor actually showed us the complete breakdown for every exam.

Sorry if you misunderstood my post.

 

[smeagol]

Tell us more about the course. What were the grade cutoffs?

But as many have previously mentioned, a 72% average is quite normal. What were the distributions for each exam like? If the range of scores was terrible (i.e. 68%-76%) then it's a problem. But if you have outliers in the 85+ and 55- areas then again, this is very typical for a pre-professional course.

I think the more important question is this: why did you not do as well as you had hoped?

When you reviewed your exams, how many questions were wrong because of faulty reasoning? In other words, you knew the material, but you didn't logically reason correctly towards the correct answer. Reasoning skills require more time to improve. After all, learning a skill is far more difficult than learning/memorizing statements of established fact.

How many questions were a result of not remembering the material? This is the easiest to improve on. You either didn't study correctly, or didn't study hard enough. Ask yourself, how come those select few kids score so well.

edit: I just wanted to add that if you are using Campbell's Biology book, there are exams on the cds. I don't consider his exams to be a walk in the park either. If you are scoring 90+ on Campbell's exams but ~70% in your Biology I course then yes, that professor is probably rough.

 

[Creightonite]

try retake it from a diff professor. Find out who is better in advance.

 

[tabularasa]

We did use Campbell's book, however, my professor made up his own questions. (Again, he is the head of the biology department).

On the first exam, quite a few people did well (class average was 45/60) but no one got a perfect score. On the second exam the class average was (40/60 which was a 2.1), and the third exam was 42/60. No one 4.0ed the first exam or the second, and on the third exam 3 people 4.0ed it. I have no idea how people did on the final.

Also, the labs were supposed to be easy, however, the only way to find out my grade on those is to email him. He graded the labs after the course ended.

I cannot retake the class because I'm technically behind one year in the sciences. I will be taking Gen Chem I in the fall and Gen Chem II and Gen Bio I in the spring.

(Gen Bio II was Gen Bio I at the university where I took the class, so that's why what I'm taking for the 07/08 school year is a bit sketchy). If you would like to see the ratings of this professor, you can PM me and I will provide you the name and you can judge for yourself whether this professor was tough or not. I thought everyone else was on the money about this prof being way too tough.

 

[sejin8642]

I posted here a couple months back about my intro bio class about cells and molecules and I found out I got a 2.5. I'm freaking out.

On the one hand I feel upset, since my professor did not scale grades, did not curve any exams, and there was no homework whatsoever. He did not offer any in class reviews, the study guides were from a book and didn't correspond to his exams and there were 3 online labs. He would let us out a half hour early almost everyday and his notes were extremely basic, while his exams were very picky and detailed. His exam average would be a 72% almost every time, except for one case when it was a 67%.

On the other hand, I feel okay since I did everything I could to do well in the class. I studied with a friend, made flashcards, rewrote my notes, recited my notes, read the book, went through the interactive CD-ROM, and did the study guide that I bought. I did not slack off.

Biology was a subject I really loved and unfortunately, my professor destroyed my interest in it. I did not take this class at a CC, I took it at a different 4 yr. university (the credits won't transfer from a CC). It was my first science class, and I don't know if that may have been a factor. I don't know if it was best to take it during the summer where it's extremely fast paced.

Will a med school ask about my performance in this class?

I need some reassurance.

Welcome to the college life!! once in a college life, students get Severus Snape for their professor. Did he ever hit your head with some kind of stick?

 

[tabularasa]

Welcome to the college life!! once in a college life, students get Severus Snape for their professor. Did he ever hit your head with some kind of stick?

Nah, he always told silly dad jokes, but I didn't think he was a great professor.

I just feel a bit depressed, that's all. I knew that this class would be hard from the beginning, but I expected to receive a 3.0.

I'm also scared that I'm going to continue to do horrible in my science classes. I always loved science ever since I was little and aced it in high school (even in physics I wound up with the second highest grade or the highest if I don't count the kid who constantly mooched answers off of everyone and the teacher). Science fascinates me and for as long as I can remember, I lived it and breathed it. There was no other subject I liked when I was younger.