Scared of Ochem un-curved B-

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Was your Ochem grade curved?

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paul2752

paul2752

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Hello, I am a college freshmen with Chem. E major.

so I ended up with non-curved B- in Organic Chemistry after lots of all-nighters(and did actually better for final test) and extra works, but

I asked several guys who are in med school after graduating my UG, and they said they got A in Organic Chemistry only because of the curve, and would have gotten B without curve.

He told me not to worry about B- in Ochem because many people would kill for get it, but I was also told that many Ochem professors, unlike mine, curve the grades.

Would my non-curved B- in Ochem look much more unimpressive than curved A in Ochem when I apply for med school? Would med schools just assume that my B- is curved even though it is not?

Thanks so much. I am glad that I didn't get a C or something,but I just can't helping disliking this professor..
 
your grade is seen by schools as it appears on your transcript, regardless of curve.
 
"regardless curve"?

How does the med school know if the grade is curved or not?
 
paul2752 said:
"regardless curve"?

How does the med school know if the grade is curved or not?
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They don't. They only see the grade reported. Honestly, don't sweat it. It sounds like you put forth an honest effort in the class and that result was a B-. It won't destroy whatever professional school dreams you may have(speaking as someone who got a B- in O-chem 1).
 
Thank you.
I just wished that my professor had curved it just so that I could have 4.0 for my...pride?
 
Thank you. Being a first year student at UG, I was very concerned.
 
paul2752 said:
Thank you. Being a first year student at UG, I was very concerned.
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Yeah I remember being like you. I remember when I withdrew from my first class, I called a few medical schools shortly after and asked how it would be viewed.

I can't believe I did that.
 
You're fine. Take it in stride and do better next time.
 
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B-?!?!?

You are totally never going to be a doctor...


Jkjk, chill out dude - I had a few F's and its fine. Though it wasn't in my sGPA. I believe I did have a C in my sGPA or something.
 
We had a curve. That said, our class average was a 65%. Our final exam average was a 55%.

If the average was a B-/C+ (78-81%) there would have been zero curve.
 
No curve, however I think my organic class was easier than the norm. We focused heavily on mass amounts of reactions rather than detailed mechanisms and such. Really coming back to bite me now that I'm studying for the ACS.
 
I envy people at schools where professors will curve classes. My biology professor for the semester laughingly informed us that her class average is typically around 65%.
 
blackroses said:
I envy people at schools where professors will curve classes. My biology professor for the semester laughingly informed us that her class average is typically around 65%.
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I am always so, so skeptical that profs fail over half their class at these legendary schools with no curves.

Every case I've encountered this it turned out there was a sort of curve, just not the true classical curve with performance measured as +/- z scores or top X% getting an A (eg. there's a predictive curve against past students where based on previous year's performance, an average of around 65% is expected and grade cutoffs set up accordingly with 55-75 the B- to B+ range). I have yet to hear of a class with median grade in 60s or less and actual uncurved grading (90+ A, 80+ B etc) so that half the class fails.

Anyways @paul2752 what numerical percentage did you have that translated to a B-/2.7? Unless it was a raw 80-82 there was some sort of curve, just probably like I described above with the cutoffs set based on prior students' performance. And if it was a raw 80-82, how did that compare to the class median grades? At some places the test averages are in the 30s and an 80 should be A+ high score material, while at others that's like 5 points above the mean and deserves a B- if a high C is being used as the average.
 
You're getting a B- (2.7) in O Chem? Probably should be posting in the pre -DO forum. You probably burned your MD chances
 
Please don't listen to that guy above me. You don't necessarily have to go DO just because of a single B (-). I sincerely hope he's joking.

What you should do though is make sure to include it somewhere in your application to med school that this is an UNCURVED B (-). Like others have said above, med schools will have no way of knowing that, and when they see your B (-), they will undoubtedly assume you had a low C that was curved up. You could either list it as a hardship that you've had to endure, or (what I would recommend), is spending a significant portion of your personal statement on it.

Of course, admitting this means you do take a risk of letting adcomms know that you didn't research the ochem professors before taking the class so that you could take the one who has the highest curve/most lenient grading scheme. This could be seen as a lapse in judgement and might get your application immediately thrown in the trash. I suggest you apply broadly to a lot of lower ranked schools and you might be able to find an interview or two.
 
^ this is either the most brilliant piece of believable irony since A Modest Proposal or some of the worst legit advice given on these forums
 
cj_cregg said:
I don't really agree with this. I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill here. As other posters have said, a single B-, as long as it's not a trend, is NOT a big deal. I had at least one B per semester on my transcript and got into 5 MD schools coupled with a mediocre MCAT and excellent ECs and essays. I would be pretty surprised if adcoms even cared to know whether grades were curved or not - unless you specifically mention it, there's no way of them knowing, and it probably doesn't make a huge difference in the grade anyway. I would guess that OPs friends who got their grades curved also had a much harder professor/class and happened to significantly better than the rest of the class - perhaps OP would have gotten a worse original grade in the other class, and his friends would have done just as well in his class.

Also, having an uncurved organic chemistry class is not something I would discuss in a PS and especially not a as a hardship/challenge. The hardship/challenge essays are for things like deaths of friends/family, having to support yourself or your family through college and working three jobs while you're in school, having a significant/debilitating illness, dealing with racism or immigrating from another country, etc. Writing "I had an uncurved orgo class" will look pretty ridiculous compared to those essays. And your personal statement should be focused on why you want to be a doctor and why you would make a good doctor - making excuses for extremely minor details like this is a waste of the little space you have.

That said, I'm not an adcom, so I stand to be corrected by anyone with more knowledge/experience than I have.
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Yeah I read his comment again...it's clearly some brilliant irony, the fact that yours is the initial reaction is being used to point out how ridiculous it is to care this much about a B-
 
chemical engineering majors have much harder classes than orgo. that's what i'd be worrying about if i were you
 
Donald Juan said:
Please don't listen to that guy above me. You don't necessarily have to go DO just because of a single B (-). I sincerely hope he's joking.

What you should do though is make sure to include it somewhere in your application to med school that this is an UNCURVED B (-). Like others have said above, med schools will have no way of knowing that, and when they see your B (-), they will undoubtedly assume you had a low C that was curved up. You could either list it as a hardship that you've had to endure, or (what I would recommend), is spending a significant portion of your personal statement on it.

Of course, admitting this means you do take a risk of letting adcomms know that you didn't research the ochem professors before taking the class so that you could take the one who has the highest curve/most lenient grading scheme. This could be seen as a lapse in judgement and might get your application immediately thrown in the trash. I suggest you apply broadly to a lot of lower ranked schools and you might be able to find an interview or two.
Click to expand...
This is probably my favorite SDN comment ever. Nailed that hyper-firstworld problem, neurotic grade obsession seen so much on SDN, and done with a beautiful understated irony that even baited an outraged counter. Bravo man
 
Apparently trolls are everywhere, even in a website like this...don't they have life?

Anyway, just to clarify, this is how grading works in my school:
A+: 4.33 A: 4.00 A-: 3.67
B+:3.33 B: 3.00 B-: 2.67..and so on and on

Now, my Ochem professor grades like this:
4 exams with 100 points each
100 points worth homework
200 points Final exam, and final exam percentage replaces one of the lowest unit exam scores.
How hard was the class in average? The 4th unit exam was average 68% and I got exactly 68. On my final, I got 83 after putting much more effort than I had done for previous exams.

So, I ended up with 80%, which is B- in my class. I m not sure replacing the lowest unit exam score with the final exam score counts as "curve", but AFAIK, it doesn't. Plus, she was the only person teaching on this semester
 
paul2752 said:
Apparently trolls are everywhere, even in a website like this...don't they have life?

Anyway, just to clarify, this is how grading works in my school:
A+: 4.33 A: 4.00 A-: 3.67
B+:3.33 B: 3.00 B-: 2.67..and so on and on

Now, my Ochem professor grades like this:
4 exams with 100 points each
100 points worth homework
200 points Final exam, and final exam percentage replaces one of the lowest unit exam scores.
How hard was the class in average? The 4th unit exam was average 68% and I got exactly 68. On my final, I got 83 after putting much more effort than I had done for previous exams.

So, I ended up with 80%, which is B- in my class. I m not sure replacing the lowest unit exam score with the final exam score counts as "curve", but AFAIK, it doesn't. Plus, she was the only person teaching on this semester
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Lol you are the troll. 0/10 go home now
 
You had grade replacement and you want a curve on top of that? Your grade was scaled up based on your effort and improvement in the class. What are you complaining about? You should be thankful you had the grade replacement at all.

Not everyone's professor is that forgiving. Mine wasn't. The grade you earned was the grade you got.
 
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I m not the troll :-( Well at least that's what I heard from other students who had told that other professors do almost exact grading except they add curve..or something.
Maybe using final exam percentage to replace the lowest test score was a curve?
 
Donald Juan said:
Please don't listen to that guy above me. You don't necessarily have to go DO just because of a single B (-). I sincerely hope he's joking.

What you should do though is make sure to include it somewhere in your application to med school that this is an UNCURVED B (-). Like others have said above, med schools will have no way of knowing that, and when they see your B (-), they will undoubtedly assume you had a low C that was curved up. You could either list it as a hardship that you've had to endure, or (what I would recommend), is spending a significant portion of your personal statement on it.

Of course, admitting this means you do take a risk of letting adcomms know that you didn't research the ochem professors before taking the class so that you could take the one who has the highest curve/most lenient grading scheme. This could be seen as a lapse in judgement and might get your application immediately thrown in the trash. I suggest you apply broadly to a lot of lower ranked schools and you might be able to find an interview or two.
Click to expand...
No one really cares about a single B- in a prereq. It's not like he just burned his app down and they're going to question his judgement and abilities because he got a B- on the hardest course a premed has to take lol.
 
paul2752 said:
I m not the troll :-( Well at least that's what I heard from other students who had told that other professors do almost exact grading except they add curve..or something.
Maybe using final exam percentage to replace the lowest test score was a curve?
Click to expand...
It is a curve of sorts, or, moreso, a way of providing students with a second chance. A lot of kids would have loved something like that in my ochem class- there was no grade replacement, there was no curve, your grade was your grade. You're actually really lucky to have had a professor that was that lenient.
 
paul2752 said:
I m not the troll :-( Well at least that's what I heard from other students who had told that other professors do almost exact grading except they add curve..or something.
Maybe using final exam percentage to replace the lowest test score was a curve?
Click to expand...
Judging by your picture, low post number and this thread: yes you are a troll.
 
Oh okay...seems like I had some wrong ideas about curve. Thanks for the info. Hope I get A on next Ochem II.(my Ochem 1 was horrible)
 
paul2752 said:
That's because I JUST joined YESTERDAY
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Lol and now you changed your picture right after being called out.
👎👎:laugh::laugh:
:troll::troll:
:troll::troll:
:troll::troll:
 
Anyways, thank you so much for your inputs. I will take that in mind. Now that I know there are people who don't get curve, not even nontraditional curve like mine, I am starting to appreciate my professor. Oh and don't worry, I would never say "getting B- is my hardship" in my PS, because I have way more other things to deal with in my life right now.
 
efle said:
I am always so, so skeptical that profs fail over half their class at these legendary schools with no curves.

Every case I've encountered this it turned out there was a sort of curve, just not the true classical curve with performance measured as +/- z scores or top X% getting an A (eg. there's a predictive curve against past students where based on previous year's performance, an average of around 65% is expected and grade cutoffs set up accordingly with 55-75 the B- to B+ range). I have yet to hear of a class with median grade in 60s or less and actual uncurved grading (90+ A, 80+ B etc) so that half the class fails.

Anyways @paul2752 what numerical percentage did you have that translated to a B-/2.7? Unless it was a raw 80-82 there was some sort of curve, just probably like I described above with the cutoffs set based on prior students' performance. And if it was a raw 80-82, how did that compare to the class median grades? At some places the test averages are in the 30s and an 80 should be A+ high score material, while at others that's like 5 points above the mean and deserves a B- if a high C is being used as the average.
Click to expand...

In my school, B- is translated to 2.67~2.7, and 80% count as B- in my ochem class. She didn't post any median grade so I have no way to know how well or bad other students did other than they were struggling like I was. Also, about half the class failing, it was something I hard from my acquaintance who took Ochem 1 from her 2 years ago. He could be wrong, maybe
 
paul2752 said:
In my school, B- is translated to 2.67~2.7, and 80% count as B- in my ochem class. She didn't post any median grade so I have no way to know how well or bad other students did other than they were struggling like I was. Also, about half the class failing, it was something I hard from my acquaintance who took Ochem 1 from her 2 years ago. He could be wrong, maybe
Click to expand...
Sounds like she kept the traditional grading (90s As, 80s Bs). I imagine this means the class average after replacing lowest grade is about a C. Reasonably fair, and the same as schools where you score in the 30s and get curved to a C median.


Mad Jack said:
No one really cares about a single B- in a prereq. It's not like he just burned his app down and they're going to question his judgement and abilities because he got a B- on the hardest course a premed has to take lol.
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I believe he was being brilliantly ironic.
 
I got a B in OChem and got into (multiple) Top 10 medical schools (White male here). Just do well in your other prerequisites and some upper level science courses and you'll be fine. Adcoms know OChem is difficult. And, honestly, is probably the least relevant prereq in relation to what you actually learn in medical school. I'd be much more worried about your Bio and Gen Chem classes.
 
Thanks for the information and encouragement. I just hope to do better for Ochem II. Fortunately, I have heard very good reviews about the next instructor.
 
efle said:
I am always so, so skeptical that profs fail over half their class at these legendary schools with no curves.

Every case I've encountered this it turned out there was a sort of curve, just not the true classical curve with performance measured as +/- z scores or top X% getting an A (eg. there's a predictive curve against past students where based on previous year's performance, an average of around 65% is expected and grade cutoffs set up accordingly with 55-75 the B- to B+ range). I have yet to hear of a class with median grade in 60s or less and actual uncurved grading (90+ A, 80+ B etc) so that half the class fails.
Click to expand...
I can't tell you anything other than what my experience has been. I'm currently at one of those legendary schools with no curves. It's a tiny, no-name school.

And this professor is not doing any sort of curve, classical or otherwise. The class average is typically about 65% and the score you get is your grade, period. About half the class does in fact fail every year.
 
I got an A in Ochem only because of the curve. My UG usually requires 93% for an A but few actually achieve that in Ochem. I had enough for an A- without the curve.

A B- in Ochem isn't terrible - but schools won't see that it was uncurved and unfortunately, you will be competing with others who got A's because of curves. Just need to do your best in your other classes.
 
Sorry if my earlier post confused anybody. I wasn't trying to troll, and I forget sometimes that SDN is legitimately hard to tell (I've read entire threads not sure if it was a joke...and it wasn't).

It was my way of saying: don't sweat that B (-)
 
blackroses said:
I can't tell you anything other than what my experience has been. I'm currently at one of those legendary schools with no curves. It's a tiny, no-name school.

And this professor is not doing any sort of curve, classical or otherwise. The class average is typically about 65% and the score you get is your grade, period. About half the class does in fact fail every year.
Click to expand...
PM me name of school?


Donald Juan said:
Sorry if my earlier post confused anybody. I wasn't trying to troll, and I forget sometimes that SDN is legitimately hard to tell (I've read entire threads not sure if it was a joke...and it wasn't).

It was my way of saying: don't sweat that B (-)
Click to expand...
Don't you dare apologize. It was a thing of beauty
 
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