Substitute general Chem 1b with another class

Started by ChickenFeet
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bad grade medical school substitute class
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ChickenFeet

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Hello! My undergrad university has a quarter system. I received a c- in Chem 1b because of personal reasons (rocky times and well.. It was my fault too) . To my knowledge, medical schools don't accept c- for their prerequisites. But my school doesn't let me retake c- because it's considered passing. I don't want to retake it at another institution because frankly I don't want to be murdered by my parents and I am really determined to do better. Is there a class I can take to substitute the Chem 1b prereq? Thank you =D
 
If you don't mind me asking, which undergrad is it?
If there is a way for you to take separate Chem sequence or series, then that's a way.
Otherwise, if you make a petition to the Dean, you can retake the course.
 
Geo16 said:
If you don't mind me asking, which undergrad is it?
If there is a way for you to take separate Chem sequence or series, then that's a way.
Otherwise, if you make a petition to the Dean, you can retake the course.
Click to expand...

University of California, Riverside

well I'm a biochemistry major so maybe I would take classes that could substitute it. I'm not sure
Regarding making a petition to the Dean, I talked to my advisor and they have strict rules so I would definitely not be able to retake a class that I passed.
 
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I KNEW IT WAS UC. Quarter system and Chem numbering gave it away. But I've been talking about UC and California a lot, so I didn't want to just redundantly guess which school it was.

Remember how in UC, you have to maintain 2.0 GPA to declare your major?
Perhaps you can petition to your dean with two reasons:
1) Major requirement for BioChem
2) Prereqs for Medschool

However, you should make a deal with your professor. Perhaps getting an F is a better way to repeat a course. In UC, you can repeat a course when you have an F. If it's final and can't do anything about it, make a petition to the Associate Dean.
 
Geo16 said:
I KNEW IT WAS UC. Quarter system and Chem numbering gave it away. But I've been talking about UC and California a lot, so I didn't want to just redundantly guess which school it was.

Remember how in UC, you have to maintain 2.0 GPA to declare your major?
Perhaps you can petition to your dean with two reasons:
1) Major requirement for BioChem
2) Prereqs for Medschool

However, you should make a deal with your professor. Perhaps getting an F is a better way to repeat a course. In UC, you can repeat a course when you have an F. If it's final and can't do anything about it, make a petition to the Associate Dean.
Click to expand...
Haha yep the good ol UC system 🙂.

Those are valid suggestions that I thought of too. I asked my advisor and he said that students who get a c- in a med school prereq are sent to take it at another institution and that since I passed, it wouldn't be a problem with the major requirement.

I will try to make a petition but I doubt they would make a special case just for me when they had rejected all the other people before me. I'm not THAAAT special 😛 hahahh.

Oh and that f suggestion is a suggestion I've never heard of before. I thought med schools would prefer a c- rather than an f. But true, retaking at my school would definitely be more convenient

LOL!
 
Taking an F is the last resort I would take; if you can't retake the course anyhow.
If you can retake the course elsewhere, say, concurrently with other UC; then go for it.

But, taking an F is the last resort. If and only if you can't retake the course.
 
Geo16 said:
Taking an F is the last resort I would take; if you can't retake the course anyhow.
If you can retake the course elsewhere, say, concurrently with other UC; then go for it.

But, taking an F is the last resort. If and only if you can't retake the course.
Click to expand...
Ah well I can't take an f because it's too late to request for it anyway. Hmm I wonder if there's another class I can take
😵 but yeah if not I'll have to take it at another school
 
Sure thing. Also, I'm pretty sure there might be a conflict. Since you do have a credit for it.
I'm not familiar with retaking courses after receiving a C. Is this how people retake them?

Did adviser specifically said UC? What did adviser meant by "any" institution?
If you are looking to repeat the course at CC or CSU, don't do it (nooo..).

There are many options too, so you don't have to do it right away.
USC post-bacc
UCLA extension.
 
Geo16 said:
Sure thing. Also, I'm pretty sure there might be a conflict. Since you do have a credit for it.
I'm not familiar with retaking courses after receiving a C. Is this how people retake them?

Did adviser specifically said UC? What did adviser meant by "any" institution?
If you are looking to repeat the course at CC or CSU, don't do it (nooo..).

There are many options too, so you don't have to do it right away.
USC post-bacc
UCLA extension.
Click to expand...
I'm not completely sure. I would have to meet up with him for details when school starts but I had a random thought "what if I could take a higher level Chem to substitute Chem 1b" an hour or two ago and decided to post here.

Why is cc or Csu a bad idea? 😳

I'm an incoming sophomore so preferably I hope I can tackle this issue and not have to do a postbac. If my GPA ends up being too low for med school in the future then yeah I'll definitely do that
 
Taking courses at CC in regards to transfer is okay.
However, backing from UC to take courses at CC can be a serious red flag.

It's like a video game (LOL)
Like resetting your difficulty level back- makes you look less competitive.
However, if you do well in Easy mode, you can go ahead and reset it to Normal mode.
Then after doing well in Normal mode, you are ready for Hard mode- i.e. med school.

You can't Normal mode->Easy mode->Hard mode
But it's logical to Easy mode->Normal mode->Hard mode

😉 😉
 
Geo16 said:
Taking courses at CC in regards to transfer is okay.
However, backing from UC to take courses at CC can be a serious red flag.

It's like a video game (LOL)
Like resetting your difficulty level back- makes you look less competitive.
However, if you do well in Easy mode, you can go ahead and reset it to Normal mode.
Then after doing well in Normal mode, you are ready for Hard mode- i.e. med school.

You can't Normal mode->Easy mode->Hard mode
But it's logical to Easy mode->Normal mode->Hard mode

😉 😉
Click to expand...
That makes sense LOL so yeah with that logic it would be hard to retake it at a different school. I'm pretty sure other UC's have the same policy.

I was reading other posts and they said pchem would be a substitute for gen chem. I'm not completely sure about this tho because I heard pchem is super hard.
 
Yeah. And if you don't mind me asking, will you post your stat as well?
I'm wondering how difficult Chem 1B is.
Just makes me wonder what you've received for 1A.
 
Geo16 said:
Yeah. And if you don't mind me asking, will you post your stat as well?
I'm wondering how difficult Chem 1B is.
Just makes me wonder what you've received for 1A.
Click to expand...
I received an a- for Chem 1A. I think mainly my difficulty was because of family issues. (Same professor for 1a and 1b)
 
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Nice!! I'd assume your previous BCPM gpa was somewhere around 3.7~
It's okay to take Ws, if any problem comes up. A family issue- that's a strong reason to withdraw.
Saving GPA takes guts, like making a decision to withdraw.
Hopefully, you'll do well in your retake. 😀 Good luck OP!
Hope your family issue will not get in your way anymore.
 
Geo16 said:
Nice!! I'd assume your previous BCPM gpa was somewhere around 3.7~
It's okay to take Ws, if any problem comes up. A family issue- that's a strong reason to withdraw.
Saving GPA takes guts, like making a decision to withdraw.
Hopefully, you'll do well in your retake. 😀 Good luck OP!
Hope your family issue will not get in your way anymore.
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot! Well it was really rocky for me. What I noticed is that I'm really soft hearted when it comes to family and each quarter directly showed that.

The quarters I received a few c's in were the quarters where it was really rough. The quarters I did well in was when family was good. I wish I got 3.7 overall. I have probably a 3.0 after I retake an f and that c- (if I can or substitute it) . But I think it'll be good from now on. I'm reaching out to my advisor and he's going to help me prepare for programs so that I can do better from now on even if I end up having family trouble. I need to be stronger for my future. I definitely should have withdrawn before I received that f but it was a summer class and before I knew it, the class ended. Very fast paced. But at least I have 3 more years. Also, Thanks for your encouragement, it means a lot.
 
No problem. Focus on BCPM GPA though. Overall matters, but BCPM comes in as top priority.
GPAs in Biology, Chem (Gen/Org/Bio),Physics and Math will matter a lot. Don't worry, I'm starting my 2nd year too.

Overcoming this adversity and showing a up-trend GPA too, makes you a competitive applicant. Don't focus on what you have currently, but getting above 3.5s in upcoming quarters will matter.
LETS DO THIS!!
 
Geo16 said:
No problem. Focus on BCPM GPA though. Overall matters, but BCPM comes in as top priority.
GPAs in Biology, Chem (Gen/Org/Bio),Physics and Math will matter a lot. Don't worry, I'm starting my 2nd year too.

Overcoming this adversity and showing a up-trend GPA too, makes you a competitive applicant.
LETS DO THIS!!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm going to try to get straight a's from now on! 🙂 LETS DO THISSSSS!! Good luck. You seem like a very bright person and I'm confident that you'll make it.
 
I'm sorry for a differing opinion, but you can retake the class at a CC.

A few CC classes or retakes won't affect your odds of admission whatsoever. There's no "red flag" for someone who retook a single Chem class at a CC.

Just make sure whatever school you're applying to will take CC credit, and, remember, the AAMC will average and not replace the grade you receive.

Furthermore, though I'm not sure about where you live or what you have access to, it's also possible to take 1 class over the summer (e.g. GenChem 1) at a university that is not a CC and not a UC, either. The class will be more expensive this way, but you avoid it not being counted on your future med school app.
 
To be MD said:
I'm sorry for a differing opinion, but you can retake the class at a CC.

A few CC classes or retakes won't affect your odds of admission whatsoever. There's no "red flag" for someone who retook a single Chem class at a CC.

Just make sure whatever school you're applying to will take CC credit, and, remember, the AAMC will average and not replace the grade you receive.

Furthermore, though I'm not sure about where you live or what you have access to, it's also possible to take 1 class over the summer (e.g. GenChem 1) at a university that is not a CC and not a UC, either. The class will be more expensive this way, but you avoid it not being counted on your future med school app.
Click to expand...
Whoa. Really? Taking CC while in 4 years was always known as taboo to me.
Even there are people who are 100% bashing on CC at all.
Never knew someone would disagree. Thanks for sharing your opinion.


I mean, I think it's okay I suppose 🙂 I would have suggested any CSU.
Or just another UC for that matter.
But if you are okay with CC and if taking CC while in 4 year university is okay, then I guess CC would do.

LETS DO THIS!
 
Last edited:
gonnif said:
Premeds lose any concept and nuance and I would agree with the above statement, especially when applied to this OP. Additionally, the OP does not need to have this retake done before applying
Click to expand...
oh do you mean I can apply first and then retake it if they tell me that I need to?

Thanks for your help everyone!
 
gonnif said:
yes you can but i am sure you will need to. take it during glide year
Click to expand...
Okay thanks 🙂

Also, can you send me some encouragement :-(. I've been really depressed over my GPA lately. Have you seen a lot of people get into a decent med school with an f and some c's in their transcript? This just means I have to get straight a's from now on. I hope I can do it
 
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