Should I withdraw from CHEM 1?

[Futuredoc0614]

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Hi All,

Nontrad here, 28 YO married with 2 kids.. Just started chem 1 and bio 1 with labs. Doing well in BIO but I just failed my first CHEM 1 exam.. there are no other assignments in the class, just 4 exams.. Honestly, not only did I totally bomb the test, I'm completely lost in class and don't know if I can learn what I failed to learn before test 1 and still keep up with the course..I'll be honest, I totally misallocated my time and missed 3 classes due to Jewish Holidays..

My question is as follows: does a withdrawal look bad in the eyes of med schools if I do well next semester? Or should I push through and strive for a C or B and then do better in Chem 2 to show that "upward tend" everyone talks about..

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[esob]

Hi All,

Nontrad here, 28 YO married with 2 kids.. Just started chem 1 and bio 1 with labs. Doing well in BIO but I just failed my first CHEM 1 exam.. there are no other assignments in the class, just 4 exams.. Honestly, not only did I totally bomb the test, I'm completely lost in class and don't know if I can learn what I failed to learn before test 1 and still keep up with the course..I'll be honest, I totally misallocated my time and missed 3 classes due to Jewish Holidays..

My question is as follows: does a withdrawal look bad in the eyes of med schools if I do well next semester? Or should I push through and strive for a C or B and then do better in Chem 2 to show that "upward tend" everyone talks about..

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Talk to your professor and see what the realistic chances of you pulling a B or greater are. Many profs will drop a bad test if you do well on the others, etc. What part of Gen Chem are you having troubles with in particular?

 

[Futuredoc0614]

Talk to your professor and see what the realistic chances of you pulling a B or greater are. Many profs will drop a bad test if you do well on the others, etc. What part of Gen Chem are you having troubles with in particular?

I just spoke with my prof last night.. he said only 20% of those who get less than a 50 on the first test pass the course. He advised me to withdrawal so I wouldn't have this pressure as it could effect my other classes.. but the bing is I have a B in the lab right now.. and would hate to lose this as well. In my school, if you drop the lecture, you drop the lab as well.

in terms of my weaknesses in chem, it started with stoichiometry and all those word problems that go with it. We are now up to redox reactions and I couldn't be any more lost than I am now.. I have a tutor, but don't think it's really helping much..

 

[Blanky]

Drop it. Get your act together in the future and don't miss classes.

 

[Dullhead]

...but the bing is I have a B in the lab right now.. and would hate to lose this as well. In my school, if you drop the lecture, you drop the lab as well.

in terms of my weaknesses in chem, it started with stoichiometry and all those word problems that go with it. We are now up to redox reactions and I couldn't be any more lost than I am now.. I have a tutor, but don't think it's really helping much..

Keeping the class and ending up with a D or F because you wanted to hold on to a B in the lab is not a smart move. That would be a penny wise pound foolish type of situation. Drop the class.

 

[Futuredoc0614]

Thank you for you all your advice. I am leaning towards withdrawing.... rather lose this battle and win the war at the end.
Does anyone know how Withdrawals are weighed with regards to med school admissions? Obviously getting a D or F in the course is the worst thing I could do, but would they see the withdrawal as a "negative" as well? I had to use a medical withdraw for an entire semester in the past from a different school barbecue my wife got into a car accident and couldn't work while she recovered...

Though I can explain the MW, how would you explain a regular W? or maybe I won't have too?

 

[Dullhead]

Though I can explain the MW, how would you explain a regular W? or maybe I won't have too?

Anecdotally, based on user posts on this site, plenty of people get in with one or two or three, sometimes more Ws. Must not make it a habit though, and a W every single semester would suggest a bad pattern. One W here and there randomly would suggest that life happened, nothing more. JMO.

 

[etp123]

If you're sure you're going to get a D or F then I would definitely Withdraw because it is so much harder to come back from one of those GPA dampers than just having a W... as long as it is not among many other Ws. They may ask you to explain it but hopefully the rest of your app will have strong enough factors to outweigh doubts of your reliability to get through rigorous academics.

 

[Futuredoc0614]

Thank u all for your insight. Seems like there is a consensus here. I think I'm going to withdraw, study my butt off now and take it again next semester and strive for the higher grade next time around

 

[esob]

Yep, in light of your latest info, you should drop it. Then you should try to self teach yourself and decide if you just have a bad prof or if you really can't comprehend the material. If you can't get your head around it, everything else moving forward will be unbearable. You need gen chem to understand Ochem, and you need Ochem to understand biochem, and without understanding biochem, you likely won't score high enough on the MCAT to ever get an acceptance.

 

[Futuredoc0614]

Sorry to make a long thread out of such small situation... But here’s the latest on my predicament. I approached my advisor about dropping Chem lecture... She said that I am in a very precarious situation and that I have two major problems: #1) She said that I'll need to drop the chem lab as well if I withdraw from the lecture because they are "linked". I currently have a B+ in the lab and can easily bring it up to an A. I would hate to lose this grade. #2) Apparently in most FL schools Chem 1 is a co-requisite for BIO 1 and BIO 1 lab... meaning that normally they advise students to take Chem before BIO, however if you can register for both classes at the same time (like I did). The bad thing about doing this is if you withdraw from one class, the system automatically withdraws you from the other.


So, in essence, If I withdraw from Chem 1 Lecture, I'll lose the chem lab and my entire BIO class as well which I am doing well in. I have approached the deans from the BIO/Chem departments about 'bending the rules" since I am doing well in both labs and bio lecture, but he said he highly doubts that he can get it approved. They recently voted on this new policy and he said he voted against linking classes for this exact reason, but unfortunately, he was outvoted.

So, I may need to power through this chem lecture and strive to pass with a C and then do really well in Chem 2. My school does do grade replacement, which will help my GPA, but I understand that MD schools do not and DO school no longer will do grade replacement starting 2018. So basically, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place...

 

[DSM_302.0]

I would still withdraw! The path to medicine is long and laborious and so competitive. Bad grades can keep you out, and chem is fundamental to understanding a lot of the other courses. I found khan academy super helpful for making it through all my chem courses. And AK Lectures. Best advice I have to offer is to talk to other students to figure out who are the best teachers to take it with. Your current chem prof sounds kind of like a hardass (as does the dean...) (is there another place you could take classes? This program doesn’t seem supportive of nontrad students and their unique needs ..)

 

[WGSgrad]

1) Withdraw from the chem class.

2) Petition to stay in the bio class; you really don’t need chem 1 to do bio 1...if you were taking biochemistry this would be different. Write and effective petition and get your bio professor to write in support of you remaining in the class.

2a) “The bad thing about doing this is if you withdraw from one class, the system automatically withdraws you from the other.” This sounds super unlikely for this point in the semester. Go see the registrar.

3) Don’t be pressed to keep the Chem lab grade; you should be getting an A. I know that sounds harsh but it’s not. If you aren’t getting an A in lab it’s because you aren’t putting in the work.

4) Get your ish together. If you are only taking two classes and struggling academically, you need to resolve whatever it is that is preventing you from killing it. Because at the moment, you sound like someone who is probably smart enough, and has a good enough memory, to do well without a lot of effort...which is why you’re doing well in biology. However, chem is work and for whatever reason, you aren’t committed yet.

I wish you the best.

 

[Futuredoc0614]

Hi All- Just wanted to give an update on my final decision: I pushed the Deans of the Chem/Bio departments and they agreed to let me Audit the Chem lecture. By auditing the class I would be required to attend the class and do the exams but will not get a letter grade for the class. However, this will afford me the opportunity to keep learning the subject and practice on real exams. In addition, the audit allows me to stay in my co-requisite BIO lecture/lab as well and I can even keep the Chem Lab. My transcript will show an Au on it instead of a W and I will not lose out on any other coursework I am taking.

Thanks again for all your advice. Best of luck to all

 

[Blanky]

Sounds good