What did you make in Organic?? Did this determine your med school destiny??

[JimmyG]

I have heard rumors about Organic and what it means to adcoms. I want to hear from the horse's mouth how true it is that you must have an A or at the very least, (the tales I hear...) a B, in Orgo I and II to be accepted. If you have any personal stories that a lower (a C) Organic grade still allowed you to be accepted to a medical school, I want to hear!! Shout out loud!!!

Also, tell if you are applying, accepted, waitlisted, or rejected..

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[scotte8]

I got a C+ in Org I and a B in Org II. I've recieved 8 interviews and 4 acceptances. It's been stressed a lot on this forum that grades are important but the overall application is what matters.

 

[JimmyG]

A reason I am posting this poll is that I have been told that even a B in Orgo II will keep me out of medical school, since I got a B in Orgo I.

Please help me believe this is a ridiculous idea!

 

[Centinel]

I got a C+ in Org I and a B in Org II. I've recieved 8 interviews and 4 acceptances. It's been stressed a lot on this forum that grades are important but the overall application is what matters.

Nobody cares about a B in Orgo unless the rest of your grades are no better.

 

[NehsNairb]

I have heard rumors about Organic and what it means to adcoms. I want to hear from the horse's mouth

if you want to hear from the horse's mouth, it might be better to ask one of the adcom members on the forum, either BigRedZippo(at least i think he's an adcom member) or adcomm

i got B- in Orgo I, A in Orgo II, IMO i doubt it really matters unless you got like 2 C's

as long as your BCPM GPA is around 3.5 and BS on MCAT is 10, you'll be fine

 

[DrKitty]

I had a C- in Orgo I, and C in Orgo II. I am accepted.

 

[tacrum43]

B+,C, B (my school is on the quarter system). I am currently waitlisted. Times 3. I don't think that's because of my organic chem grades though, because none of my interviewers said anything about them.

One did ask what my biochem professor's name was. He didn't ask about my grade for class (which was actually an A). Kind of odd, but it was a student interviewer, and I think maybe he had a friend who went to my school or something?

Anyhoo, I don't think you can really judge an applicant based on just one grade. A C in organic isn't that big of a deal, especially if it's only for one semester/quarter.

 

[BerkeleyMD]

Ochem 1 got an A- (5units)
Ochem 2 got a B+ (4units)

adcomms only look at BCPM and AO

 

[-Goose-]

A, B... accepted. I was scared that my "downward" trend in organic chemistry was going to screw me over... so far it hasn't.

 

[-Goose-]

in retrospect, why is there such an emphasis (and supposed link) on organic chemistry and med school applicant success? If its so important why does it barely seem to be on the MCAT?

hmmm....

 

[JayQuah]

I got a C in the second quarter (equivalent of the beginning of the second semester, i think), but I retook it later and got a B. Does that count?
I have interviewed at 9 places with one acceptance so far.

 

[LucidSplash]

I received a B- in Orgo I and a B in Orgo II. I missed the first three weeks of Orgo I because I had my appendix out; then I spent the rest of the semester playing catch up. IMHO, lower grades in Orgo certainly do not make it easier. The whole package can make up for it though: I've been offered 3 interviews and as of yesterday I have one acceptance. Its not a forgone conclusion you won't get it, but you'll definitely have to prove you're up to snuff in other ways.

 

[odrade1]

A reason I am posting this poll is that I have been told that even a B in Orgo II will keep me out of medical school, since I got a B in Orgo I.

Please help me believe this is a ridiculous idea!

I personally know people who made it into professional school with Bs and Cs in Orgo.

The rest of your application had better be worth it.

p.s. of course the adcom knew that the people from my school that year had an O-chem teacher who gave <10 A's (out of 5 semesters of 180 students per class) in his 2.5 years before he got fired for failing too many students. My partner was one of those people. His class: 180 started Ochem1, 60 took the final, 0 got A's.

 

[Dov]

I got A's both semesters.... I got A's in all my pre med classes and I HAVE NOT and likely WILL NOT be accepted anywhere this year

 

[Dave_D]

I got A's both semesters.... I got A's in all my pre med classes and I HAVE NOT and likely WILL NOT be accepted anywhere this year

Wow, I'm in a similar boat. Got A- and A in I & II respectively. The only B in a prereq I've gotten was in english. Everything else were all A's(Including calc and physics.) and I haven't even gotten an interview.(Of course in my case I'm a post bacc that had a horrible undergrad experience which does drag down my gpa.) I know, should have applied to DO schools.

 

[WestTexasRambler]

I got A's both semesters.... I got A's in all my pre med classes and I HAVE NOT and likely WILL NOT be accepted anywhere this year

Grade inflation........









'Rambler

 

[stiffany]

I got A's both semesters.... I got A's in all my pre med classes and I HAVE NOT and likely WILL NOT be accepted anywhere this year

From what I've learned from this very forum and my own putzing around, I think your lack of "success" as far as what shows on your mdapplicant profile has nothing to do with your actual progress and probably a lot to do with the fact that you applied to only really hard core schools with a late application (at least what, November?). You have excellent stats and while I certainly wouldn't die for them (that cliche has always seemed silly to me), I'm definitely jealous! Plus, don't some decisions for the top tier schools (like Penn) come out in midMarch?

 

[Orthodoc40]

What you DIDN'T leave as an option, is someone like me, that got A's both semesters, and only 1 interview, no acceptances yet.

 

[JimmyG]

Orthodoc---good luck to you. I know your time will come...

Thanks, guys, for the responses. I had a difficult time on my first organic II test (granted, for all who know, I took organic I 8 years ago..so it's been a challenge to review this stuff...) and sat in my professor's office yesterday to get some pointers on how to better study next time. Although my test wasn't great, getting a B in the class is an attainable goal. However, my prof looked me straight in the face and said, "you cannot get into medical school without getting an A in this class". It floored me so I decided to come to SDN because I knew you would give me straight answers.

Good luck to all. And congrats to all of you getting As in orgo...wish I could do as well

 

[PittMedicine]

What do you think of someone who got a C in ochem 1, a D in ochem2 (but retook it and got a B), and a 31MCAT (11B, 9PS, 11VR)?

 

[ladydoc2be]

I have heard rumors about Organic and what it means to adcoms. I want to hear from the horse's mouth how true it is that you must have an A or at the very least, (the tales I hear...) a B, in Orgo I and II to be accepted. If you have any personal stories that a lower (a C) Organic grade still allowed you to be accepted to a medical school, I want to hear!! Shout out loud!!!

Also, tell if you are applying, accepted, waitlisted, or rejected..

Well I got C's in both Orgo I and II. I got 7 interviews out of the 16 schools I applied to, and went to 4 of them. Out of those 4, I got accepted at 2 and waitlisted at the other 2. Every interview asked me to explain my grades. It's defintitely possible to get in if you have other strengths on your application. Also, you might not get into a top school, but you should be able to get in somewhere.

 

[ladydoc2be]

What do you think of someone who got a C in ochem 1, a D in ochem2 (but retook it and got a B), and a 31MCAT (11B, 9PS, 11VR)?

Your MCAT is pretty good and the fact that you retook and got a B will definitely be in your favor. If you have great extracurriculars and a decent gpa you should be fine. Just make sure you apply to a range of schools (not all the top schools) because that will increase your chances.

 

[Rafa]

I got A's both semesters.... I got A's in all my pre med classes and I HAVE NOT and likely WILL NOT be accepted anywhere this year

Don't lose hope. But why did you withdraw from so many schools post-secondary?

 

[baylormed]

Don't lose hope. But why did you withdraw from so many schools post-secondary?

Funny enough (and scarily enough) my lowest grades are all in chemistry. Everything else, straight A's.
I did get an A in orgo lab, and B's in chem 2, chem lab, and ochem1. The other two are C's.
I'm not too worried though, because the C's are from freshman year.
Just be confident, trust in yourself and enhance the rest of your application.
A few C's are NOT the end of the world, despite what many SDNers might think.

 

[Orthodoc40]

Orthodoc---good luck to you. I know your time will come...
QUOTE]

Thanks JimmyG - that's kind of you! Well the consensus here is that not getting A's won't kill you if everything else is pretty good. And also that getting A's doesn't guarantee anything. So don't worry! You'll get there!

 

[AStudent]

3.0 first semester
3.5 second semester

I thought my first semester GPA would kill my application but after speaking to a number of different schools they liked how my second semester GPA went up, showing improvement and harder work.

(but orgo 2 was WAY easier for me, just don't tell them....shhhhhh)

So using A=4.0, A-=3.66, B+=3.33, B=3.0

I averaged B-B+