Retake classes....

[NickNaylor]

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The word ORGO is the visual equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard

From everyone I've talked to this stupid contraction seems to be somewhat limited to the New England area.

 

[binko]

From everyone I've talked to this stupid contraction seems to be somewhat limited to the New England area.

Some people say it in Ohio too. I used to say O-chem when I was at Ohio State but down at OU no one knows what I'm saying so I started saying orgo.

 

[cgk]

Do you think that you can do better if you take it isolated during the summer vs during the regular semester year along with other classes , or don't you think it really matters?

 

[Revilla]

From everyone I've talked to this stupid contraction seems to be somewhat limited to the New England area.

I'm in Florida and we say Orgo. I never heard it called O-Chem (or O=Chem) until I started reading this site.

OP, a W looks a lot worse than a B. By taking a W, you could leave an adcom with the impression that you were failing the class and decided on a W instead. A B is a good grade and, on its own, it won't preclude you from getting into any school.

 

[Klemptor]

Here in Philly we call it Orgo as well. Never heard it called O-Chem before...that sounds weird to me. 😉

 

[Carlin]

We call it orgo in Virginia. My friends back home in Michigan call it orgo too. Never heard it called O-chem except on these forums...

 

[dw2158]

in NYC it's orgo.

and OP, calm down and stay in the class. the W will look much worse than the B.

 

[Arjuna]

I got a B in orgo I (and a few other BCPM classes as well) and got interviews at the three Top 5 schools I applied to (so far: accepted, waitlisted, and decision pending). Since the average GPA at even the most competitive schools is around a 3.8, and there are students being accepted with 4.0s, there are obviously students with more than a few Bs on their transcript being admitted to competitive medical schools. Do the best you can this semester, dust yourself off, and work on making a complete application instead of focusing on one or two grades.

Thanks for the encouragement! What do you think was your hook, that helped adcoms overlook so-so grades in prereqs?

 

[GoSpursGo]

Thanks for the encouragement! What do you think was your hook, that helped adcoms overlook so-so grades in prereqs?

I would imagine it was the A's in most of the other pre-reqs.

I got a B in Gen Chem 2, and several B's in upper division science classes and still got into a top 10-15 school, and I was one of the first 50 or so people they accepted. That grade doesn't matter because the total body of work is much, MUCH more important than any individual grade- in fact, I guarantee you will never be asked about it. When determining your competitiveness, a school is only going to look at your cGPA and BCPM; as long as those are high enough, they're not really going to scrutinize your individual grades.

Don't sweat a B here and there. Essentially every pre-med gets them; you should spend your time worrying about things that actually matter.

 

[Arjuna]

I would imagine it was the A's in most of the other pre-reqs.

I got a B in Gen Chem 2, and several B's in upper division science classes and still got into a top 10-15 school, and I was one of the first 50 or so people they accepted. That grade doesn't matter because the total body of work is much, MUCH more important than any individual grade- in fact, I guarantee you will never be asked about it. When determining your competitiveness, a school is only going to look at your cGPA and BCPM; as long as those are high enough, they're not really going to scrutinize your individual grades.

Don't sweat a B here and there. Essentially every pre-med gets them; you should spend your time worrying about things that actually matter.

Thanks a lot for your response! You are definitely a calming source of information for me; my parents and my premed counselor have been pestering me lately to improve my grades, and yet I am only a freshman; I think I still have time to keep improving. So Spurs, I guess the unanimous opinion is to keep pushing in this course, instead of dropping and retaking in the fall?

 

[GoSpursGo]

Thanks a lot for your response! You are definitely a calming source of information for me; my parents and my premed counselor have been pestering me lately to improve my grades, and yet I am only a freshman; I think I still have time to keep improving. So Spurs, I guess the unanimous opinion is to keep pushing in this course, instead of dropping and retaking in the fall?

Absolutely. Just keep everything in perspective; hardly anyone manages to get through the gauntlet with a 4.0 intact, and obsessing over that will only cause you undue stress and possibly distract you from the other things you need to do as a premed like clinical volunteerism.

Good luck!

 

[Podalarius]

Thanks for the encouragement! What do you think was your hook, that helped adcoms overlook so-so grades in prereqs?

As Spurs noted, individual grades don't really matter as much as the aggregate. If your transcript is solely filled with Bs and Cs, you might have a tough time at the most selective schools, but I know from my own experience that individual course grades don't matter to the final outcome.

As for a hook... I'm a strong advocate of doing what you enjoy instead of what you think the adcoms will like to see. Yes, you will have to jump through some hoops, but for the most part, you're not going to have anything that especially stands out on your resume unless it is something that you are willing to dedicate time and energy to. In my case, that meant my activities included captaining a club sports team, being involved in politics and debate, and lots of basic science research. Admissions officers have seen tens of thousands of applications, and there is likely very little they haven't seen before - I would imagine they are more interested in your ability to dedicate yourself to something and demonstrate the leadership and compassion that are essential to succeed in medicine than any particular activity. Medicine is a complex profession, and the range of scientific and personal skills required in the field can be gained/demonstrated through a variety of activities, some of which are only tangentially related to health care.

 

[Arjuna]

Your overall GPA is above 3.9 and your BCPM is around 3.9? This is after repeating the course with the B+ in addition to taking even more advanced courses in the same sequence...

 

[ksmi117]

Your overall GPA is above 3.9 and your BCPM is around 3.9? This is after repeating the course with the B+ in addition to taking even more advanced courses in the same sequence...

DO NOT retake a B+.

 

[Teneo]

Will it affect it? Yes.

Will it affect it much? Not really.

I wouldn't stress about it; that B+ probably still wouldn't stop you from getting into an excellent school if your MCAT is high enough.

 

[vickpick]

dude, a B+ is better than a B... even more so than a C... there's no reason in retaking it, its not going to help your GPA substantially.

 

[ksmi117]

Will it affect it? Yes.

Will it affect it much? Not really.

I wouldn't stress about it; that B+ definitely wouldn't stop you from getting into an excellent school. Period.

There. I fixed that for you. 🙂

 

[vickpick]

There. I fixed that for you. 🙂

haha 😀

 

[GoSpursGo]

The answer to this question has not changed since you asked it the first two times. In fact, I think originally you were asking about retaking or dropping classes when you had a B in them.

No med school averages a 4.0 GPA. I had lots of B's in science classes-LOTS. Do not retake anything unless you got lower than a C.

Go to sleep and stop worrying.

 

[Teneo]

There. I fixed that for you. 🙂

You're so kind. The spirit of doctoring is already upon you. 😀

 

[FrickenhugeMD]

threads like this make baby jesus cry

 

[not so calm now]

Thanks for never disappointing me, pre-allo

 

[Conky]

What is this weird mark next to my A?

 

[MDman87]

What a joke. Seriously? A B+?!

 

[gumbyj]

 

[genswim24]

Your overall GPA is above 3.9 and your BCPM is around 3.9? This is after repeating the course with the B+ in addition to taking even more advanced courses in the same sequence...

You retook a class with a B+ in it? Was this at the same school? I didn't even know that was possible, my school locks you out of any class you get a C or higher in.

 

[circulus vitios]

What is this weird mark next to my A?

Neuroticism never ceases to amaze me.

 

[RySerr21]

Your overall GPA is above 3.9 and your BCPM is around 3.9? This is after repeating the course with the B+ in addition to taking even more advanced courses in the same sequence...

the problem isnt that you got a B+........its that you retook a class that you got a B+ in.

 

[HPSPpayissues]

get used to it. There is going to be a lot of people in med school complaining about their 97%, when you and most of your peers ONLY made 80's, haha.

 

[JennaQ]

The answer is you're screwed. Doctors should only be smart people and you really ****ed it up by getting a B+. Now no medical schools will accept you and your dreams are shot forever. A B+ is so notoriously bad, that even the Caribbean Schools will be a reach for you. You will probably have to become Benevolent Pirate Arjuna in order to show that you have a diverse and unique extracurricular activity and pillage Medical Schools of their money and give them to suffering interns across the East and West Coast of the United States. You will face discrimination, hardship, and be the parent of the Kraken, a large sixty foot octopus that preys on virgin naiive souls all at the same time while you try to pursue your medical education. Your patients will question the scar you received while battling ninja pirates and your parents will wonder why you've decided to abandon being a pirate. You will feel like a soulless underserving waste of mass until you die, questioning your priorities and abandoning your loyal pirate crew in order to get into Medical School. In fact, while you're performing endoscopies or various other medical related practices, your vengeful pirate crew will crash in through windows and ninjas will ambush you from ceiling tiles in order to sabotage you as revenge for abandoning them. And all of this is because you got a B+. Way to go.

 

[orrghead16]

A B+ wont hurt at all, but being a tool will. Med schools don't like that.

 

[witness23]

hah, I had a friend who got D's or F's his first year, except for one science class that he randomly got an A in (he stayed for a couple of extra years and had like 5 years of 4.0 to bring his GPA up, along with near perfect mcats, perfect GRE and GMAT). At his interviews, he was asked about that random A



anyway how's that PI doing?

 

[Kaustikos]

A B+ wont hurt at all, but being a tool will. Med schools don't like that.

In residency it won't

 

[bobdogsam43]

What is this weird mark next to my A?

LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

 

[AlbaMD]

If I were your interviewer and after looking through your AMCAS saw that you retook a class in which you got a B+, I would seriously doubt your sanity. Which wouldn't be very good for your admission chances...

 

[Arjuna]

hah, I had a friend who got D's or F's his first year, except for one science class that he randomly got an A in (he stayed for a couple of extra years and had like 5 years of 4.0 to bring his GPA up, along with near perfect mcats, perfect GRE and GMAT). At his interviews, he was asked about that random A



anyway how's that PI doing?

So what youre saying is my dream school is still within reach? Kay. I am still retaking that B+ just so that I can show them it was a fluke. Hopefully that isnt too crazy. PI? Uhm shes fine. ahem fine. 😎

 

[Arjuna]

If I were your interviewer and after looking through your AMCAS saw that you retook a class in which you got a B+, I would seriously doubt your sanity. Which wouldn't be very good for your admission chances...

Nooo.. Alba you must assuage my fears, for I am hell bent on doing the retake. I mean it couldn't hurt, could it?

 

[htownpremie]

troll. or just bored. or both.

if you're not, then i'm just worried about your ability to exercise good judgment. which is something that THEY are looking for. which is not something you demonstrate by retaking a course in which you made a B+. worse still is that you've felt the need to even ask. to you.

 

[witness23]

it can. it probably won't. they won't notice.

it will not help as much as volunteering that time or using that time getting paid or getting laid. i just know that i'm getting one and the other is getting away.

you probably won't have to study that much this time around though.

 

[ksmi117]

Why are you so adamant about retaking a B+? If I was on the Harvard adcom, I would not want to admit someone who retook a B+. It shows that you are not capable of dealing with "failure" (not like a B+ is even close to failure anyway). Everyone screws up something, grow up and learn to deal.

 

[0Complications]

Hi all, I am going to be repeating a couple credits soon, and I had a question: How does this get calculated in the AMCAS? Do they count both the credits and the quality points, or just the quality points; what do they average exactly? I am really confused about this-at my school they just replace the old grade with the new one up to the first couple credits, so I will have no impact of the older grade, but my counselor informed me that AMCAS averages the two; how exactly does it do this, and if it does, is it beneficial, or harmful? Thanks for all the replies!

I don't think you should waste your time retaking these classes. Move on.

As far as repeating the courses and AMCAS, you just need to report what is on your transcript. If your old grades are still going to be on your transcript you will need to report them. If not, you don't but you will need to report the W or whatever replaces the grade.

 

[987]

Nooo.. Alba you must assuage my fears, for I am hell bent on doing the retake. I mean it couldn't hurt, could it?

Yes it could hurt!!!! There are ton's of applicants that have B+'s and get into top schools. What it is going to do is make you look insane becuase you think you have to be perfect. These schools look for people who are REAL people that make mistakes and are not perfect! If you can't accept that you are a real person they may not want you because of this. I know several people that went to ivy league colleges and were denied fromt their dream school or top choice residency becasue the were TOOL's!!! Just accept it and move on like everyone else in this thread has told you. Believe me that will serve you much better then retaking the class.

 

[sling787]

No - AMCAS will convert all grades to the B+/A-/A format with 3.3, 3.7 and 4.0 gpa format respectively. If your grades are already like that, then nothing will be changed.

This isn't true. In fact I've spoken with my pre-health advisor and an AMCAS rep. Both said that it depends on your school's grading system. If your school has a half step grading system (A/B+/B/C+/C) than they use (4.0/3.5/3.0/2.5/2.0 respectively).

In fact it's on their website. They have different numerical values for different grading systems.

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/2009conversionguide.pdf

 

[ChemTA3788]

So I finished up a semester as a freshie, and I didnt do so hot. Now I am considering registering for retakes as the school erases your previous grade. (I know AMCAS averages the two, but either way I should have a better GPA) I took ALL Sophomore/Junior level classes due to my insane AP credit. Ok so I know some of you might get pissed at this, but I didnt get anything lower than a B+ in my major courses. But I am considering retaking a B I got in an arts class and a B+ in Orgo. I am still pissed about that last one. I got it only because I freaked out on the final. Anyway, I am doing pretty well right now with even harder classes....so what do you guys recommend? I took 15+ credits of intense BCPM courses only.

You're lucky. At least you can retake classes if you get Bish or whatnot- and replace that grade.

Here you can only retake a C- or below course and when you do retake it...you get GRADE AVERAGED. Not replaced. My school really screws students over -_-

 

[ksmi117]

You're lucky. At least you can retake classes if you get Bish or whatnot- and replace that grade.

Here you can only retake a C- or below course and when you do retake it...you get GRADE AVERAGED. Not replaced. My school really screws students over -_-

That's what AMCAS does. Even if your school has a forgiveness policy, med schools don't.

But what we should all take out of this thread: Do not retake a B.

 

[0Complications]

That's what AMCAS does. Even if your school has a forgiveness policy, med schools don't.

But what we should all take out of this thread: Do not retake a B.

This isn't true globally. Some schools actually replace the old grade with a W or NC, in those cases AMCAS Doesn't calculate them, because they are not on your transcript.

But the point still stands, if the OP retakes a B+ He is wasting his time and med schools will see it this way as well if they happen to catch it.

 

[GoSpursGo]

This isn't true globally. Some schools actually replace the old grade with a W or NC, in those cases AMCAS Doesn't calculate them, because they are not on your transcript.

No, it is true globally. The schools still have to report your old grade to AMCAS, even if the school views it like a W or NC. Then AMCAS will just re-average your GPA including the original grade, and you look like a tool for re-taking a B+.

And even if theoretically they didn't (and they do), you'd still be wasting a monumental amount of time raising your GPA a miniscule amount.