Want to drop o-chem

[Ochempwnsme]

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[Mithril]

Non-traditional older pre-med who already has credit for Gen Chem I and II. Currently taking physics I, o-chem I and general bio I-zoology/ecology at the university level. O-chem I is sapping my time. The professor's teaching style doesn't mesh with my learning style, and a lot of my classmates feel the same.

Welcome to university.

Example: My prof hasn't taught us Sn1 and Sn2 yet but he's taught us dehydration E1 and E2 and he doesn't plan on covering stereochemistry until the second semester of organic chemistry. Not much can be done about that.

The internet is filled with resources.

Another example: Our professor required us to buy Paul Carey's Organic Chemistry Eighth Edition for this class. He hasn't referred to it once. When I asked him what chapters we were covering or what problems I should do for practice, he told me that I should figure it out myself because he wasn't going to teach from the book. He teaches every class off the top of his head and never brings any notes with him. He also generally refuses to answer questions in class.

Again, welcome to university. Some professors will not give you assigned readings or questions from the textbook. It's up to you to look up the relevant questions and chapters. That's how it was in my organic chem courses and I didn't complain. Also, some professors are pressed for time because of the amount of material they have to cover (especially in organic chem), so I'm not surprised that he doesn't answer questions in class. If you want to ask questions, ask after class, in his office hours, or through email.

My first exam was three weeks ago, and it covered a little bit of gen chem along with conformations. I received a score of 63, which is approximately a B- on his grading scale. He doesn't curve the exams based on performance -- rather, the grading scale is pre-set. An A is an 84, a B is a 70, a C is a 55, a D is a 46, and an F is a 35.

He doesn't curve. What's your point? I know many people who took non-curved organic chem courses.

My plan as of right now is to go into the exam tomorrow and take it. If I do really great on it somehow, I'll stay in the course. If I don't do great on it, I'm going to drop it. I have to think that taking it over the summer and getting A-'s or A's looks better than taking it along with other courses and getting a C+ or B-. But let me know what you think. Thanks for reading guys.

You should take it in the summer then, but you should check with the individual schools whether or not they accept prerequisites taken in the summer. If you think that you will do better, then go for it, but don't make excuses if the organic courses at this other school give you the same mark.

 

[Chevy Chase Fan]

poor baby

"that mwean old pwofesswa is why I'm not doing gwood."

how about admitting that you took on more than you could handle rather than blaming the teacher? weak.

 

[gravitywave]

med schools will not look down on orgo taken over the summer

that said, if you think what you've got going now is tough.... you could easily end up spending 60 hours a week on summer orgo, because the whole year is condensed into eight weeks.

 

[Frazier]

I didn't read your post, but agree with the intrinsic message of your title.

I had an O-chem exam today. It blew.

 

[Ochempwnsme]

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[gravitywave]

The university that I'm enrolled at is higher ranked than the college I'd be taking it at.

^ ^ making sure you understand that this means zero, zip, zilcho.

your prof is not a good one, and i think we can say that independent of whether or not you gel with him. You should be getting recommended practice problems from chapters, and weekly problem sets so you can have an idea of what the exams will look like.

having exams on the same day does blow, but summer orgo will routinely give you an exam on the same day you have lab. this will happen pretty much almost every week. But i get it about enjoying only having your brain in one thread at a time. at my school we only take one class at a time and i really prefer it to having to juggle a set of differing expectations.

 

[gettheleadout]

I didn't read your post, but agree with the intrinsic message of your title.

I had an O-chem exam today. It blew.

o rly? tl;dr?

 

[Frazier]

o rly? tl;dr?

 

[Ottovon]

I hope it fills your guys ego to be condescending to a person who just wants advice. Your internet ego must be so nicely shaped. 🙂

 

[jvesco22]

I hope it fills your guys ego to be condescending to a person who just wants advice. Your internet ego must be so nicely shaped. 🙂

 

[orthomyxo]

I hope it fills your guys ego to be condescending to a person who just wants advice. Your internet ego must be so nicely shaped. 🙂

Honestly, premeds never fail at making others feel like crap. Nine out of ten people in OP's situation would drop the class, but apparently 90% of the posters in this thread want to play internet toughguy and tell him to suck it up. I love SDN.

My class has only had one exam so far, but our professor said that last fall's final class average was 59. That's a significant difference.

That's pretty much how it should be. Orgo is a hard class, plain and simple, and anyone who tells you otherwise is bull****ting you. I don't care if they got a 100 average, they still had to work their ass off for it.

 

[Stewie32]

1) Your school's drop without a W policy is very generous. I'm incredibly jealous. 2) Your plan (good grade = stay in course, bad grade = drop) seems pretty logical. Just know that O-Chem in the summer is going to be very intense.

 

[ap594]

Is this digit from the dian fosse movie?

 

[Ottovon]

1) Your school's drop without a W policy is very generous. I'm incredibly jealous. 2) Your plan (good grade = stay in course, bad grade = drop) seems pretty logical. Just know that O-Chem in the summer is going to be very intense.

Yeah, I'm surprised your school doesn't allow a W. Honestly, by all means if you feel you aren't doing well then you could drop. If you take it over the summer just make sure you're mentally prepared and you have done some reading ahead for it. Either way I don't think you are in a complete lose-lose situation.

 

[Ochempwnsme]

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[Ochempwnsme]

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[orgohacks]

I don't think this is unreasonable.

OP is doing all the right things, studying 20-30 hours per week, getting help, doing relatively well in the course, but not going to be in a position where transcript grade will reflect this due to idiosyncrasies of professor.

It's a give-and-take market - prof is entitled to set course, exams, policy, but students are free to go elsewhere if absolutely desired. If OP was a chemistry major I'd say stick it out, but in a situation where your transcript will be in front of a committee along with many other competitive applicants this is not a bad decision.

 

[princessBP]

Okay...im one of the few people I guess who LOVED organic chemistry BUT I also had an amazing professor. And I can understand that I probably wouldn't have done so well or liked ochem as much if I would of had other professors at my university. So I understand where you are coming from. However, you got a B- on the first exam right? Getting a B in ochem isn't bad!

But really you should just go with your gut feeling here. If you want to drop the course and take it in the summer then do that. Med schools aren't going to care at all. This is really something you have to decide, people on here aren't going to be much help.

 

[Chevy Chase Fan]

85% average cannot be right. I've never heard of that in any science class, much less organic chemistry.

 

[Double Bonded]

Again, not disputing o-chem is difficult. Simply pointing out that if the avg exam score at my school is typically under 60 and it's 85 at another college with comparatively intelligent students, then the grading must be easier at the other college and I would be better served taking it there imo. 🙂

ochem is a lot of work. it's not hard but it's work. stop complaining and get to work.

But I'm digressing, sorry. So the exam is tomorrow evening,

why did you write that entire essay if you had an exam the next morning?

 

[orthomyxo]

85% average cannot be right. I've never heard of that in any science class, much less organic chemistry.

Yea, come to think of it I've never seen an average higher than like 75 for even intro science classes. What is it, Little Tykes Organic Chemistry? I'd rather do average in a hard organic class than sail by with a A in some remedial crap. You'd probably learn a lot more.