Your first undergrad chem class grade...?

[flyingbridge]

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OK, so, if you are now in med school and you got a B or less in one or more of your chem classes, particularly your first chem class, as a college undergraduate, please 'fess up here.

Why am I asking you ask? Need you ask? 🙁

 

[LT2]

don't stress... i'm not in med school yet, but i've been accepted at two schools (and still waiting to hear back from a bunch) and my ug chem grades were atrocious by any pre-med standard. just do your best to pick things up from here! 👍

 

[orientedtoself]

Don't sweat it. I flunked my first calculus midterm as a college freshman, as in F-, bottom of the curve. I made it up on the final, and it was fine. Also, I only got a B average in organic chemistry, and I still made it into med school. (I'm a fourth year med stud). Good luck. Study hard, but not so hard that you don't have a life. Oh, and enjoy your nights and weekends off! 🙂

 

[flyingbridge]

Thanks, orientedtoself and LT2... that helps some. Sorry to sound like a pest or a whiner, but I am "alone" where I am in that it appears that I am the only nontrad here currently at this school trying to do med school pre-reqs and so it is hard to get some bloody sense of things. And wow you haven't been humbled until you watch a veritable child (5' 2", maybe she was 19 YO, no wrinkles, etc.-- I could in fact be her father, had I had kids at age 18) just walk up to a marker board during a study group class and bat out the answer to some chemistry question that I did not even have sorted out to start with by the time she was done with it! Worse yet, in full knowledge that after reading the question through (by this time the study group leader was on to the next question), I realized I could not have answered it anyway. And it isn't like I am not studying, for goddsakes! Am I just dumb here or is high school a lot more rigorous for the college-bound crowd these days as compared to when I went??

Whew, OK, I just have to catch my breath here and stop ranting some... I need to act my age! 🙂

What are your backgrounds if you don't mind sharing that with me (Pm is fine if you don't want to post)? I would like to know where I may fit in with the less-GPA'd crowd. I have been in I.T. work as a programmer for 10+ years and have an MS in Info Systs. My BA was in History.

 

[yellowcat322]

I;ve had chem and orgo grades of B+ and got C+ in physics (at that point I felt I wasn't going to ANY med school) and still ended up in a pretty highly ranked med school. Make sure to ace the chem section of the MCAT (which is way easier to do than to actually do well in college chem), so that you can say later on that "yeah I messed up my freshman year, but look-- I learned from my mistakes, worked hard and got it together in the end." It worked for me. Also, make sure to do well in your other science classes to even out your sciene GPA. Trust me, a B in chem DOES NOT mean you're out of the running for a decent med school.

 

[quideam]

I know it's tough to relax, but definetely chill out about the grade. I got a B in both semesters of chem, and had no problems at all w. getting into med school. Rock bio, orgo, and take a few upper level sciences (biochem, genetics, physiology) to round out your education and grades - and you'll be fine.

 

[sb3ez]

Yeah, I got B's both semesters in orgo and C's both semesters in orgo lab; I still got into UVa, VCU, and EVMS. They didn't even ask me about those grades in the interviews and my advisor told me that schools were starting to "generally care less" about your orgo grades in particular. Keep your chin up: if you're thinking about all this now and posting on this site, chances are you will be a well-prepared applicant and have little trouble wowing some committees.

 

[organichemistry]

... you haven't been humbled until you watch a veritable child (5' 2", maybe she was 19 YO, no wrinkles, etc.-- I could in fact be her father, had I had kids at age 18) just walk up to a marker board during a study group class and bat out the answer to some chemistry question that I did not even have sorted out to start with by the time she was done with it! Worse yet, in full knowledge that after reading the question through (by this time the study group leader was on to the next question), I realized I could not have answered it anyway. And it isn't like I am not studying, for goddsakes! Am I just dumb here or is high school a lot more rigorous for the college-bound crowd these days as compared to when I went??

What are your backgrounds if you don't mind sharing that with me (Pm is fine if you don't want to post)? I would like to know where I may fit in with the less-GPA'd crowd. I have been in I.T. work as a programmer for 10+ years and have an MS in Info Systs. My BA was in History.

Okay, you aren't dumb. You may be right that the high school curriculum is more difficult than it was 20 years ago. I know I went to a huge public high school and took AP courses (chemistry included) which would obviously give me a heads up on a nontrad like yourself. I could have taken my Chem I and II final exams the day I set foot on campus and probably made >85% on them... so to you, I would look like a genius. In reality, I was in essence repeating a class.

Don't sweat it. There are tons of people out there without top of the line GPAs in medical school... and I imagine nontraditionals are cut even a little more slack than the average 21 year old applicant in terms of grades because ADCOMS realize that you may have a mortgage to pay, kids to feed, and other obligations rather than just keeping a 4.0.

Do the best you can do and I'm sure everything will work out for you. 👍

 

[gary5]

I got a B (maybe C+) for general chemistry one semester. What it means is that you've got to invest much more time into your studies, especially MCAT-related courses. Also, get advice about how you study. Maybe ask your teacher for study advice.

 

[myodana]

chill.
there's nothing wrong with a B in chem. i got consistent B+ to B- in all my chem courses... i think i only got 1 A, in like the second half of general chem. if you want to see all my stats just click below... don't sweat it... just get some good study partners - teach each other the material and power through it until everybody's on the same page. if you don't understand something - KEEP AT IT until you've got it. check several different texts if you have to - good luck!

 

[beep]

C-, and i'm an ms1. it'll be ok.

 

[Pinesinger]

I think I got a C+ and B- in my two semesters of orgo, I'm an MSIII at a fairly highly ranked med school. I also got C+ in both semesters of calculus. You'll get in somewhere, don't worry 🙂