Your thoughts and a question

[Coy]

This is my 1st year in undergrad pre-med, I took biology 100 this semester since I've been out of high school for 11 years now. I felt it would be a good foundation to acclimating myself back into science. Here is my issue, my instructor is poor at best in her teaching skills, and I will be lucky to pull a C or C- out of the class. In addition to this, my physician suspects I may have sleep apnea, which is probably contributing to my memorization issues resulting in the grade I'm getting in Bio. My question to you is should I withdraw from the class now or take the C or C-? Since it’s so close to the end of the semester I don’t know if I can bring up my grade. My physician will more than likely provide my university with a statement regarding my medical issue.

My next question, does anyone know of a website where one can purchase videos on prerequisites classes i.e. bio, chem., math etc?

Thanks!

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[lord_jeebus]

I would withdraw; I see no advantage to continuing and if you're asked about the W's down the line, you can say they were due to "a medical issue, now resolved."

 

[AnEyeLikeMars]

Here is my issue, my instructor is poor at best in her teaching skills, and I will be lucky to pull a C or C- out of the class.
Thanks!

I really don't think that's an excuse at all.

I also don't know about the sleep apnea thing. I try to generally be understanding about things like this, but if disrupted sleep is going to cause you to get a C is bio 101, it's going to be a long road ahead.

Is this the only class you're taking? Maybe you should drop and start again when you're ready.

Sorry, I've been on a personal responsibility binge recently.

 

[Law2Doc]

I also don't know about the sleep apnea thing. I try to generally be understanding about things like this, but if disrupted sleep is going to cause you to get a C is bio 101, it's going to be a long road ahead.

That's a fair point -- medicine is a career where functioning on insufficient sleep is simply part of the program.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Sleep apnea is not simple insomnia and is more serious than many people think.

If he has genuine OSA, improvement of functioning with treatment should be substantial.

In any case, I don't think he's obligated to divulge the details of a past medical problem that has been successfully treated.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Oh, and don't get in the habit of blaming your instructor. You will get poor teaching now and then for the rest of your life. You need to figure out how to learn things on your own as needed.

 

[WantsThisBad]

This is my 1st year in undergrad pre-med, I took biology 100 this semester since I've been out of high school for 11 years now. I felt it would be a good foundation to acclimating myself back into science. Here is my issue, my instructor is poor at best in her teaching skills, and I will be lucky to pull a C or C- out of the class. In addition to this, my physician suspects I may have sleep apnea, which is probably contributing to my memorization issues resulting in the grade I'm getting in Bio. My question to you is should I withdraw from the class now or take the C or C-? Since it’s so close to the end of the semester I don’t know if I can bring up my grade. My physician will more than likely provide my university with a statement regarding my medical issue.

My next question, does anyone know of a website where one can purchase videos on prerequisites classes i.e. bio, chem., math etc?

Thanks!

People who blame their grades on the professor not being able to teach are just wrong. Your Bio professor doesnt have enough time in the day to teach you the material for that class. In biology you must teach yourself majority of the information. If you find that you need extra help then seek a tutor. If you cant self direct your own studying then med school will be a big suprise.

 

[ggman]

People who blame their grades on the professor not being able to teach are just wrong. Your Bio professor doesnt have enough time in the day to teach you the material for that class. In biology you must teach yourself majority of the information. If you find that you need extra help then seek a tutor. If you cant self direct your own studying then med school will be a big suprise.

Yeah, i'll second this. I've probably done 90% of my undergrad learning by myself in my room. Everyone has ****ty professors, but you have to be able to deal with it in college, as well as in med school, not to mention that once you become a doctor you will have to keep learning stuff on your own with no professors at all... I don't know much about sleep apnea, but you should definitely try to improve your studying regimen and rely more on self directed learning. Good luck

 

[Coy]

Point taken regarding blaming the instructor - Regarding the sleep issues the doc thought I may have sleep apnea. As far has sleep deprivation goes, that certainly isn't the issue here. I work full time in a 911 center (12-14 hour shifts) plus school full time. In terms of my study habits, I do very well; in all my classes other than the bio I have A's. I just don't want the adcoms to see the W as a failure.

 

[foofish]

Sleep apnea is not simple insomnia and is more serious than many people think.

If he has genuine OSA, improvement of functioning with treatment should be substantial.

Exactly...sleep apnea isn't just about getting disrupted sleep, it's disrupted sleep because you repeatedly *stop breathing* throughout the night....and lack of oxygen to the brain doesn't exactly help with memorization or normal daily functon. OP: get yourself diagnosed and treated...sleep apnea can lead to some really scary **** when left untreated, and a pap machine can do wonders (my dad had sleep apnea).

But I will agree with the other posters about blaming poor performance on a bad teacher...you're going to have to learn how to teach yourself and deal with bad teachers.

 

[jmart]

Point taken regarding blaming the instructor - Regarding the sleep issues the doc thought I may have sleep apnea. As far has sleep deprivation goes, that certainly isn't the issue here. I work full time in a 911 center (12-14 hour shifts) plus school full time. In terms of my study habits, I do very well; in all my classes other than the bio I have A's. I just don't want the adcoms to see the W as a failure.

why even take that class for credit. I mean for medical school you wil need more advanced bio. At my college if you take the 101 level you are not allowed to take the next level u which is the what the pre-meds takes.

 

[lord_jeebus]

why even take that class for credit. I mean for medical school you wil need more advanced bio. At my college if you take the 101 level you are not allowed to take the next level u which is the what the pre-meds takes.

Chances are he does not attend your college.

 

[tigerfan2007]

It being your first year in pre-med and assuming you will do very well in the rest of your undergrad science courses, I don't think 1 W or C will make a big difference. I know plenty of students accepted to med school that went crazy their first semester of college and had their grades suffer because of it. They were able to pull it together afterwards. Some people can get in regardless of poor first semester grades if they have a long trend of all A's after that.

You are in a different boat. OSA is a serious condition that causes daytime symptoms different and worse than just normal sleep deprivation. This is a legit excuse (I must agree blaming your teacher is not) and I think it will make a W or C your first year matter even less.

I've heard wonderful success stories from CPAP patients, by the way.

 

[tigerfan2007]

I would check Amazon.com for the videos or ask the professor about where to get supplemental information on your courses.

 

[Kfire326]

This is my 1st year in undergrad pre-med, I took biology 100 this semester since I've been out of high school for 11 years now. I felt it would be a good foundation to acclimating myself back into science. Here is my issue, my instructor is poor at best in her teaching skills, and I will be lucky to pull a C or C- out of the class. In addition to this, my physician suspects I may have sleep apnea, which is probably contributing to my memorization issues resulting in the grade I'm getting in Bio. My question to you is should I withdraw from the class now or take the C or C-? Since it's so close to the end of the semester I don't know if I can bring up my grade. My physician will more than likely provide my university with a statement regarding my medical issue.

My next question, does anyone know of a website where one can purchase videos on prerequisites classes i.e. bio, chem., math etc?

Thanks!

thumbdownthumbdown

Oh, and don't get in the habit of blaming your instructor. You will get poor teaching now and then for the rest of your life. You need to figure out how to learn things on your own as needed.

People who blame their grades on the professor not being able to teach are just wrong. Your Bio professor doesnt have enough time in the day to teach you the material for that class. In biology you must teach yourself majority of the information. If you find that you need extra help then seek a tutor. If you cant self direct your own studying then med school will be a big suprise.

Actually, in all sciences, as far as I'm concerned...

...But I will agree with the other posters about blaming poor performance on a bad teacher...you're going to have to learn how to teach yourself and deal with bad teachers.

 

[Mastac741]

If you can't pull an A in an intro Bio class, you're not going to make it to med school man. Get your butt in gear and learn about all that stupid phylum stuff that you'll never use again.

 

[LolaGene]

This is my 1st year in undergrad pre-med, I took biology 100 this semester since I've been out of high school for 11 years now. I felt it would be a good foundation to acclimating myself back into science. Here is my issue, my instructor is poor at best in her teaching skills, and I will be lucky to pull a C or C- out of the class. In addition to this, my physician suspects I may have sleep apnea, which is probably contributing to my memorization issues resulting in the grade I'm getting in Bio. My question to you is should I withdraw from the class now or take the C or C-? Since it’s so close to the end of the semester I don’t know if I can bring up my grade. My physician will more than likely provide my university with a statement regarding my medical issue.

My next question, does anyone know of a website where one can purchase videos on prerequisites classes i.e. bio, chem., math etc?

Thanks!

You should do a sleep test and get a machine to sleep with at night. My dad has sleep apnea and says that machine gives him the best sleep in the world. It really doesnt have to affect your life

 

[TheAmazingGOB]

It's hard to sugar coat this, but unless you can get your sleep apnea under control, you're in for a long road as the memorization you have to do in beginning bio is nothing close to the kind of memorization you have to do in upper division biology. And most of medical school is memorization.

As far as your professor being horrible, you can't blame your performance on his/her teaching ability as there are students in the class that are getting A's. As people above have already said, you can't let someone's poor teaching style affect your own performance. Whenever I had a horrible professor, I assumed I'd be teaching myself and he/she would be there to answer questions. Try to get help from the TAs as they can sometimes clarify points the professor struggled to get across, especially in beginning bio.

 

[AnEyeLikeMars]

Point taken regarding blaming the instructor - Regarding the sleep issues the doc thought I may have sleep apnea. As far has sleep deprivation goes, that certainly isn't the issue here. I work full time in a 911 center (12-14 hour shifts) plus school full time. In terms of my study habits, I do very well; in all my classes other than the bio I have A's. I just don't want the adcoms to see the W as a failure.

Are the sleep apnea memorization problems specific to bio? You're doing well in other classes.


EDIT: I know I'm not being polite...but come on...

 

[Law2Doc]

Exactly...sleep apnea isn't just about getting disrupted sleep, it's disrupted sleep because you repeatedly *stop breathing* throughout the night....and lack of oxygen to the brain doesn't exactly help with memorization or normal daily functon.

While you are correct in your definition of sleep apnea, if the OP had such brain hypoxia that he was unable to do decently in biology then other aspects of his life would be affected as well. Probably not the case as the OP apparently is doing well in other classes and holding down a job as well. Thus I still maintain that that prior poster was correct that the most likely impact we could realistically be talking about is the sleep disruption component (both due to the apnea awakenings and the long houred job -- if you are too tired, you might flub a fact oriented test or two.)

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

Withdraw and retake. A C hurts in a prereq class, and nobody cares about a W here and there.