Retaking Organic Chemistry After Masters

[premedsa]

I'm currently completing a special masters in at Penn. I have a 4.0 in the program. I graduated from undergrad about 2 years ago. I did poorly in Organic Chemistry 2 though. I got a C- in the class. I did better in my upper-level science classes though. And maintained As and B+s during my last year.

I've been talking to a few medical school admissions counselors and they've suggested that it might be a good idea for me to retake Organic Chemistry 2, as it is a pre-med requirement and a C- is considered failing to certain schools. In my opinion, I thought having an upward trend and doing well in my masters would override my one bad grade. What do you all think? And if I do consider retaking Organic Chemistry 2, can I do it at a community college, or will admissions counselors look down on that?

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[Bonne Nuit]

Are the admissions counselors independent advisors, or are they admissions staff at medical schools? If the advice is coming directly from medical school staff/faculty, then you should retake or else you shouldn't apply to their programs. If they're unaffiliated, then you can interpret their recommendation as general advice.

The blanket guideline is to retake anything lower than a C/2.0 for the same reasons the admissions advisors told you, and 4-year university coursework is always the safer option compared with CC. This is because 4-year credits are accepted everywhere, and some schools may consider retaking a 4-year course at a CC as opting for the "easier" route.

In reality, most programs will probably be willing to overlook your C- in light of your perfect SMP performance, but it's impossible to predict how every school will react. There may be some that will consider your C- as a "failed/missing" prerequisite and disqualify your app for not meeting their minimum requirements. Some schools are stricter than others about granting exceptions to their required coursework, even for applicants with otherwise amazing stats, so I think you're going to have to do some more research.

I recommend reaching out directly to the admissions offices at your state/target/dream medical schools to explain your situation and see what they have to say. If everyone's like "great job on the postbac, NBD about the organic chemistry" then you're probably fine to proceed. If any of them (ESPECIALLY your state school(s)) seem iffy, then just retake it at a 4-year unless that poses a major difficulty for you.

 

[deleted367183]

Just speaking personally, I would retake it so that you don’t unnecessarily limit yourself. Is there a legit online 4-year option you can dig up? I would do that over a community college. The lab may or may not be required. Looking at the fine print, a lot of places do not require orgo 2 lab.

I myself got a C in organic 2, but it was my only grade lower than a B+, so I didn’t retake. I sort of wish I had, just for personal honor, but I was under a ton of pressure at work during that time, so I didn’t. Laughably, considering my lab skills, I think I got an A in the lab.