Would my possible Botany Lab grade effect me?

[MedicinePunkin]

Hello everyone, I just thought that I would drop in and ask for a little advice. I am currently taking a Botany Lab course and I think I may end up having a 'C" (probablly a 74-77). I have faith that I will pass all of my other four clases with A+ with having possibly two 100s. I am a freshman and I am wondering how bad would this "C" look on my transcript and moreover how do you think this will be judged by medical schools? The reason why I might have done so bad in this course is probablle because I found it to be really boring because all we ever did was draw plants.... which are subjects that don't spark much of a curiosity in me. Anyone with some reasonable advice on how and in what ways I can mange to overcome this slight hurdle in my grades and be the competent candidate for medical school? I would really appreciate the advice.

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[DW]

try as hard as ya can to bring it up to a B-ish. but, no, a C or two will not preclude you from getting into med school. you'll have plenty of time to make up for it.

first off, ya have to learn to work as hard in "boring" classes as you do in interesting ones. comes with the territory. wait till you get to physics

 

[MedicinePunkin]

Also I will be applying to top ranked schools as well as lower tier ones. How do you think say a school like Duke or Johns Hopkins will look at that "C" on my trancript. I know this may be stupid to worry about being that I still have about three more years before I start applying but what do you think?

 

[relatively prime]

Originally posted by MedicinePunkin
Also I will be applying to top ranked schools as well as lower tier ones. How do you think say a school like Duke or Johns Hopkins will look at that "C" on my trancript. I know this may be stupid to worry about being that I still have about three more years before I start applying but what do you think?

You should always worry about Cs. Getting one or two Cs your first year of college is ok... you'll still get into med school (assuming your overall gpa turns out ok).

However, it's silly to worry about how Hopkins or Duke are going to look at a C. If you have your heart set on a top five school, you should be worrying about getting Bs. Seriously, the average gpa at Hopkins is a 3.88. And at Duke it's a 3.75. That's mostly As and a few Bs.

 

[DoubleDoctor]

I agree with Relatively Prime that you should be concerned and whatever you do, don't tell an interviewer that you got a poor grade because you found the class boring because many aspects of medicine are tedious and somewhat boring. An entry level botany class should be fairly simple so there is really little excuse for a poor grade, if you don't care for botany then take something else. Having said that, a "C" in a lab probably won't hurt you that much (GPA wise) unless it is a 3 hour course. The thing that you have to realize is that it is very easy to fall into the "ok, I got a C here but I'll just get all A's from here on out and I'll be fine" frame of mind. Classes get exponentially harder as you progress and you may find it extremely hard to get an A. I have no idea what your major is but every major has classes that are real bears. I was a biochem/micro/molecular major and physical chem for chem majors was required for a whole year and there were no "A's" in our class one semester. The class averages on the exams ranged from in the 40-65% range. I managed to pull a B+ but only because I consistently had the highest grade. The bottom line is that what's done is done and you can't change it but do not use up your lower grades on simple courses because you WILL most likely need them later on when you get to the difficult stuff.

I ended up with one "C" the year that my Grandfather was dying of cancer and a couple of B's and my GPA still ended up at 3.8 so it is not that big of a deal. When the interviewers ask about the "C", I told them the truth, that we were taking care of my grandfather at home who was dying and I wasn't getting any sleep, I was missing too many classes, and school was not my first priority that semester. I made no apologies for it. They were fine with that. I also told them that now in hindsight, I should have taken a LOA that semester but at the time, I too stupid and proud to admit that I couldn't do it all without something suffering.
They actually commented that my honesty was refreshing and they like it when students admit mistakes rather than come up with excuses.

 

[vm26]

I received a C in the first college class I took, happened to be a 5 week summer calculus class, bad idea, anyway, I took it over again got an A, and so for gpa purposes it was replaced. Pretty much forgot about until the AMCAS aplication because it lowered my science gpa by .17 which isnt horrible, I would recommend retaking it but considering that it'll never totally go away, not sure if theres a point, just try to have a positive upward, trend in your overall record

 

[MedicinePunkin]

Thanks for the responces and advice It was very helpful and reassuring.

 

[silver_eyes]

Originally posted by DW
wait till you get to physics

i feel ya

 

[MedicinePunkin]

DoubleDoctor, right now I am a Biology major but later it is going to change to Molecular Biology with a minor in English. I do agree and understand what you explained about the (C>A mentality) and I truly do not think on those terms. I took this course because it was required. The ironic thing is that I am doing well in Botany Lecture. I think the main reason why my grade in Botany lab was so low was because I didn't find drawing plants too interesting and I skipped a couple of labs but today I talked with my Lab TA and he told me that there may still be a slight possibility that I could manage to pull a B out of the class if I ace the next two practicals 100%. A "C" is not representative of my full potential so I guess that if I am going to be sucessfull through college I am going to have to use my full potential to the best of my ability thanks for the advice .

 

[MedicinePunkin]

I'll be totally prepared and ready for physics when I get there trust me.

 

[MedicinePunkin]

DW

 

[Gumshoe]

No way are you getting into Med school now. A "C"? You might as well pack it up and just go be a bio teacher. Hahaha.

Of COURSE it's OK. Just do your best and that's all you can do. One grade here, one thing there, it doesn't matter. Just work to get a GREAT OVERALL app. That is what gets you in.

PERIOD.

I have spoken,

Gumshoe

 

[silver_eyes]

Originally posted by Gumshoe
No way are you getting into Med school now. A "C"? You might as well pack it up and just go be a bio teacher. Hahaha.

Of COURSE it's OK. Just do your best and that's all you can do. One grade here, one thing there, it doesn't matter. Just work to get a GREAT OVERALL app. That is what gets you in.

PERIOD.

I have spoken,

Gumshoe

k i got a C- in g. bio, a C in g chem.....that si hella bad huh???? man im DEAD.

oh i took my practice MCAT today,...not as bad as i thought.....i didnt know most of the bio questions, b/c they somehow stuck organic chemistry questions in there which i didnt take yet.

 

[DoubleDoctor]

Silver, just thought I would let you know that O Chem, A and P, and Bio (and genetics too, if I am remembering right) are all on the Bio portion of the MCAT. As far as your C's in gen chem, really try to get A's on the O Chem when you take it. God, I think I am mentally blocking out the MCAT. You know, after a woman has a child, she can remember that she was in great pain, but there is some sort of psychological amnesia effect, so she really doesn't remember it vividly, I think the MCAT has the same effect

 

[silver_eyes]

Originally posted by DoubleDoctor
Silver, just thought I would let you know that O Chem, A and P, and Bio (and genetics too, if I am remembering right) are all on the Bio portion of the MCAT. As far as your C's in gen chem, really try to get A's on the O Chem when you take it. God, I think I am mentally blocking out the MCAT. You know, after a woman has a child, she can remember that she was in great pain, but there is some sort of psychological amnesia effect, so she really doesn't remember it vividly, I think the MCAT has the same effect

ye ai mean the conceptsn of bio were on the practice mcat, but it was like name the structure o fthe enzyme blah. i wa slike uhh.... the bio questions all had o chem incorporated into them