Retake Ochem/DO still possible

[Oxigen]

Hi all,

I have a couple of questions that I was wondering if I could get some feedback about. I mostly need some advice whether or not I should re-take organic chemistry 1 before moving onto organic chemistry 2. Thus far, the chemistry's have been difficult for me due to various reasons each time. I am a junior just starting out my organic chemistry sequence so I'm sort of running out of time to retake classes. With organic chemistry 1, i've consistently made many small mistakes from which I learned from and could easily pass the class with an A the second time around. Aside from chemistry, I've been consistent with getting some A's and mostly B's for biology/upperlevel biology/gen-ed's. (Upward trend in my upper level bio classes so far). The only other C's are from Genetics (C+), Calc 1, Cell Bio Lab, Bio 2 Lab. I've kept up with my EC's during the summer/on breaks by shadowing physicians, volunteering within my community, and continued to run EMS calls as an EMT-B. Is getting accepted to a DO school still possible? Due to my history with chemistry/other grades, should I retake O-Chem 1 before moving on to O-Chem 2? (My school allows retakes for any grades received)

General Chem 1 - C
General Chem 2 - D+, C-, B+ (Embarrassing that I had to retake it so many times)
Organic Chemistry 1 - C or possibly a C+

Sorry for the long post!

Thank you

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[pseud0]

Whats your cumulative gpa and science gpa

 

[Oxigen]

Cumulative gpa is a 2.97 and will be above a 3.0 after this semester (Ochem lecture being the only "bad" grade)
Science gpa is a 2.52 (will also go up after this semester due to A's in upper level bio)

 

[pseud0]

It's possible, especially because of grade replacement (that you already have done on GChem2) but it will not be easy. If you keep trudging you'll get it. A C+ probably wont kill you...i honestly have no idea if you should retake it immediately or not. Don't wanna give bad advice

 

[gamieg]

to address your main question of whether you should retake organic chemistry I before moving into II, what are the many small mistakes you've made that you believe you can fix? organic chemistry is mostly based on conceptual understanding, and it's hard to move onto deeper levels of understanding if your foundation is weak. but if your foundation is solid, moving on wouldn't be the worse thing.

if you do retake for osteopathic schools in the future, make sure you get a solid A. the inorganic chemistry retakes have already raised a concern that you're retaking courses and still not doing well in them, which doesn't reflect well.

keep up that upward trend. your GPAs currently aren't competitive, but a strong positive trend will help a lot, especially if you haven't taken a lot of science courses thus far. good luck.

 

[Alienman52]

DO is still possible with a LOT of work. I would retake Ochem I just to solidify your knowledge of the foundational concepts; Ochem II really will utilize these concepts. Unless you know you're 100% A-ok with all the material from O-chem I, I would re-take just to avoid another bad grade.

Good luck to you OP.

 

[Oxigen]

Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it! I don't want to make the same mistake of moving on without a strong foundation which increases my chances of two bad grades (Since that happened in General Chem). Although, each time I studied I felt like I had a solid understanding of the material. I understood each mechanism and reagent (my strong point) perfectly. I understood each individual concept - I just didn't realize how to put all the pieces together until the end of the semester when it was too late to save my grade.

 

[radian313]

Got a C- first time in Organic. Came back, got A's in all my labs and lecture for organic. Here I sit in medical school. So as long you learn from it, and show you learned from it and you have an upper trend.

 

[Oxigen]

Hey all, heres an update:

I ended the class with a C+ (1% from a B-). I could either retake it and stay an extra semester, or move on and have to take 18 credits for 2 semesters to graduate on time. (One semester will be Physics 1, Biochem, Upper level Bio Class plus 2 gen ed classes if I decide to move on to graduate on time) Any advice on what to do?

1. Retake Ochem and stay an extra semester
or
2. Move on and trudge through two 18 credit semesters to graduate on time

Thanks

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Your odds are very much against you. At this point doing a masters with a linkage is better than to be retaking classes. 2.5 in the sciences, especially after retaking general chemistry 2x for a B+ is very grim.

 

[miniginger]

I know it's sometimes frowned upon but is there any way you could retake O Chem (and maybe add another science) over the summer so you can still graduate on time? Or are you planning on graduating Spring 2017?

Edit: Also, 18 credits really isn't so bad imo.

 

[Oxigen]

Yes there is a possibility of me being able to take summer courses. I'm originally planned to graduate Spring 2018. I could retake ochem 1 spring semester followed by taking ochem 2 over the summer (Plus a gen-ed since no upper level science courses that I need are offered at my school during this time).

 

[psu228]

Hey man,

I got a C+ in o chem 1 due to slacking off and studied my butt off from PR's mcat o chem review and was able to get an A in o chem 2. A c+ obviously isn't great but I don't think it sinks your application either.

Ultimately however your science GPA is way too low for admission at this point. You have time to boost it but I would definitely retake that C in gen chem 1 somewhere over the summer. I got a C in gen chem 1, retook it a a CC and got an A. It made a HUGE difference for my science GPA and more importantly for my understanding of gen chem for the MCAT.

You can still salvage your application but you really gotta work hard from here on out. You need some A's to offset any raised eyebrows you may get from your Cs thus far. Change your study habits if you have to. I find the khan academy videos to really help augment whatever is taught at that time in class.

Good luck!

 

[Shotapp]

@psu228

Did you retake the C+ you received in O Chem I? I don't want to deal with retaking O Chem II (C+). I rather take more upper level sciences. What do you think about taking more upper level sciences?

 

[Oxigen]

If you have A's in your other classes then I wouldn't retake the C+ in Ochem II. I only made this post because I'm not sure whether or not a c+ in Ochem I gives me a solid foundation to move on to Ochem II.

@psu228, did you end up retaking Ochem I as well?

 

[Magic :D]

If you have A's in your other classes then I wouldn't retake the C+ in Ochem II. I only made this post because I'm not sure whether or not a c+ in Ochem I gives me a solid foundation to move on to Ochem II.

@psu228, did you end up retaking Ochem I as well?

I'm not sure if this helps you or not. You should purchase some of the MCAT books and study them alongside your classes. Because then, not only will you prepare yourself for the MCAT, but it may helped you in better understanding the material. Also, the books are great for introducing the broad concept.

Also for me, Organic I was hardier than Organic II. For Organic II, I felt like I had to memorize alot of the reactions. However, each university is different.

 

[psu228]

@psu228

Did you retake the C+ you received in O Chem I? I don't want to deal with retaking O Chem II (C+). I rather take more upper level sciences. What do you think about taking more upper level sciences?

I did not retake the c+ in o Chem one. Yes, any c is not great but I got an A in o Chem 2 so demonstrated that I could do the work. If you take care of business from here on out I don't think you will have to retake it either.

 

[Oxigen]

I unfortunately will have to retake ochem 1 since any C will affect my gpa too much to be competitive :/

 

[Ulgarmoose]

If you truly did understand the material in Ochem 1 and feel confident going into Ochem 2....well, I think you need to retake Ochem 1 anyways for the sake of your GPA. You really need to nail those remaining science courses, especially the easy ones like Physics 1. On the bright side you have a gchem 1 retake you could do for a relatively easy GPA boost too.

 

[Dr. Premed]

Well I can say that getting Cs in Ochem will not alone prevent you from medical school. If you at least improve in all of your other classes (gen Chem, Bio, physics, etc) and do well on the P/S section of the MCAT you should be ok

 

[Oxigen]

@Ulgarmoose Exactly my thinking. With my situation I will need to retake Ochem 1 only to improve my GPA. I'm only able to retake Gen Chem 1 at a community college since I can't retake it at my university due to already moving on to upper level courses. Theres a possibility I could retake Gen Chem 1 at a community college - but how does grade replacement work if a retake is done at a community college instead of my university? Will the grade replacement show up on my university transcript?

 

[Ulgarmoose]

@Ulgarmoose Exactly my thinking. With my situation I will need to retake Ochem 1 only to improve my GPA. I'm only able to retake Gen Chem 1 at a community college since I can't retake it at my university due to already moving on to upper level courses. Theres a possibility I could retake Gen Chem 1 at a community college - but how does grade replacement work if a retake is done at a community college instead of my university? Will the grade replacement show up on my university transcript?

Retaking at community college would not affect your university transcript in any way as it would be on a separate transcript. However it would replace the grade for your AACOMAS GPA calculation in the exact same way. Grade replacement doesn't remove old grades it just makes them seen as 0 credits so they're not factored into GPA. Retaking gen Chem 1 at CC seems ideal to me though given the money saving.

 

[ilovepita]

had similarish grades. had to retake c+'s in anatomy, intro bio, orgo 1, physics, biochem. just be positive. i know it's frustrating to get bad grades

i retook all of them at my local state school cuz it was much cheaper. make sure you're motivated. retaking classes sucks but it's way cheaper/less time taking than a postbac

retake whichever classes you know you can do better on

 

[Oxigen]

Thank you everyone for the advice and words of positivity, I greatly appreciate it!

@ilovepita Glad to know someone else was in a similar situation as me and knows the feeling of bad grades. I'm not looking forward to retaking the class whatsoever but maybe this time around it won't take so long for it to click in my mind lol. How did you do your second time around with Ochem 1? Do you have any advice when retaking it? Lastly, do you think its worth to retake a lab in which a C was earned?