<p>There's a chance that I'm going to fail my Chem 2046 lab...I really want to go to pharmacy school (at UF), but if I fail..am I pretty much screwed from that? Would it look really bad if I retook it? I'm freaking out here (I can't believe this is what's on my mind after Thanksgiving dinner =/)</p>
<p>before getting too excited…take a deep breath and think about “why” it happened and do not focus on “what” part…
You can never undo the past, but you can learn from it.
Did you just goof off a bit too much?; think it was easy and then got hit with the “not as easy as I thought” bat?; was completely lost and not even sure if the class was taught in a language native to this planet???</p>
<p>Did “you” have an interest in pharmacy or was your real interest something else?
Maybe this is a message that you really are not interested one thing so try another?</p>
<p>You are never “screwed” from doing what you want to do because of a single grade/class; it may challenge you to step up your level of self commitment however ;-)</p>
<p>Do not give in to any doom -n- gloom; do not blame others (common curse of teens)…
accept responsibility for yourself then
think…plan…take action…</p>
<p>46L is a horrible, horrible class. honestly. it is probably the most despised lab class at UF. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, it is “doable” and it is set up to prevent you from failing GIVEN that you put in the work/effort. You even get extra credit opportunities in this class (RARE for a lab).</p>
<p>Before I go further lets clear up a couple things:</p>
<p>How are you failing? Are you behind in assignments/unknowns? Did you get bad grades on your unknowns? Did you get bad grades on your assignments? Were you penalized for points in any way? Have you neglected to turn things in?</p>
<p>If you fail you do not completely screw your chances at PharmD. You WILL, however, have to take the class over and get the average of your retake and an F as your grade. And you would absolutely have to do well in your science classes and upper division laboratory classes.</p>
<p>As far as whether you should be doing PharmD at all; well that is a matter of whether you are doing well in all your other science classes and where your true interests lie. How are your other grades?</p>
<p>I am behind in the labs. Our last session is on Tuesday and I’m on lab 7 out of 9…And I’ve only done one unknown (which I got a 90% on), so I have to spend Tuesday’s lab doing my second unknown…so there’s absolutely no way I can even do my third unknown…and I got okay grades on my assignments…like I got most points. Right now the other classes I need for pharmacy that I’m taking are Chem 2 and Calc, and I should be getting a B- or B in chem and a B+ or A- in Calc.</p>
<p>Get a scope on your TA’s leniency. I realized mine was extremely nice and realized that the labs were idiotic. He didn’t mind if we split our labs up and divided the work and copied each others work. He’d just grin and keep letting us work. If you know your TA is somewhat similar, try to split up the work with someone. Or just straight up copy.</p>
<p>As for your unknowns, you can do a few simple tests to ensure that you get a few of the elements in them correct. If i remember correctly, the CO3 test, and all of the anion tests are extremely easy to do. Also the flame tests take a matter of seconds and are a good indicator of what’s probably in the unknown. Also substance color and consistency can be a good give away. Just try and get some points on them. Dont bother trying to finish out the whole thing. Just pray to god you dont get one of those dam gels. And Unkown A for unknown2 literally takes 15-30mins if you’re good. Also i’m not sure if they allow this, but try and get both unknown 2 and 3 at the same time. Just mark them so you dont get confused.</p>
<p>ALSO. Remember that the end of lab questions are counted separately from the actual labs. So if anything, just copy those down so you can get credit for those.</p>
<p>You may have a bend the rules a bit (remember not to dilute and dont bother adhering to that “use only your stock area” BS). It’s honestly one of the worst labs at UF and you basically dont learn anything whatsoever. Just a big waste of time. If you need help or need some pretty decent scehemes, let me know.</p>
<p>Btw what year are you? I’m in chem 2/lab and calc right now also and considering attending pharm school :p.</p>
<p>Sorry but i keep getting other ideas of adding points to your grade :P. Dont forget about all the extra credit opportunities. TYou may have missed your chance to do the labs, but there’s still that final that can give you an amazing boost. Best part is he actually gives you the answers before hand so all you have to do is rememberize them.</p>
<p>Just remember if you do get a less than spectacular grade in this lab you need to make up for it in all other areas. UF’s pharm school gets over 3000 applicants and there’s only I believe roughly 300 spots (maybe 450 with the 3 distance campuses?). They know good and well that some of these courses are “weed out” courses. They need a way to narrow down over 3000 applicants. Try and get the best grades you can in other classes, start practicing for the PCAT early so you can take it multiple times to get the best score possible.</p>
<p>hsb1104: Wow…pharmacy school seems to be very hard to get into at UF…I’m starting to get scared =/</p>
<p>and axelz165: Hmm thanks for all the advice…Sounds pretty good, I’ll try it out and hope it works. I really haven’t learned anything AT all in the labs, so it’s definitely really annoying. I’m in my second year (I don’t know if that makes my chances of doing pharm school less likely, since I’m kinda behind?), how about you?</p>
<p>I will disregard factors associated with your individual TA for my post:</p>
<p>Being behind was exactly what i suspected was the case. I cannot really give you advice except to say that you knew how much material you had to cover in the 13ish lab sessions in the semester and you should have paced yourself accordingly. Is it even possible to be on assignment 7 without having done unknown #2? I thought they have checkpoints where your TA can’t let you continue without making you do your unknown.</p>
<p>At this point you will have to swallow an F most likely. Isn’t the last lab session only 90 minutes instead of 180? Because you spend the last half of class checking out? You will not finish the regularly assigned experiments in time. Spend this lab session doing your unknown #2 and finishing assignment 7.</p>
<p>Luckily, Dr Horvath loves giving extra credit and the total possible point numerator for 46L is easily over 110% of the denominator in calculating your grade. Take the lab final and try to do as well as you can on it. Talk to your TA and work with him/her to add up grades (including the subjective grade from your TA) to predict a tentative final grade. See if a C is even possible and remember, a C- is not passing.</p>
<p>I hate saying this but you are an unfortunate victim of UF CHM2046L, a class where class grade variation is created by people not finishing the assignments in time or bombing their unknowns. If you had only figured this out in the beginning (you can ‘sense’ this through your TA and the syllabus and it is valuable wisdom passed down by those done with the class) you would have worked faster.</p>
<p>Should you take an F and continue on in pre-pharm just know you will have to retake. Since the pharmacy application system has to take both grades, the ultimate effect on your science gpa is the average of the F and your passing grade over 2 credits. Should you get an interview you almost certainly WILL be asked about it. Since UF pharmacy school is well aware of the intricacies of UF undergrad classes they will probably question your ability to work independetly and effectively pace yourself through class material. Make up for this by getting the best grades you can in the rest of your required lab classes, especially CHM2211L. I would also recommend demonstrating ability in an upper division chemistry lab class such as CHM3120L or CHM4302L to really prove yourself.</p>
<p>Good luck. Take this as a hard learned lesson. Even if you couldn’t help being behind you should have seen this coming a week ago and had the sense to drop the class.</p>
<p>Mystifire made some good points. Why didn’t you drop the class a week ago? Either way; i’m sure if you take some of the “ahem” shortcuts i mentioned you could at least pull a C. Especially with that extra credit final.</p>
<p>Unless you’re trying to do the 2+4 year or the 3+4 year program, then you’re not late at all for pharm school. Just try and have all your pre req’s done by at least jr year and you should be set.</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore too. What other prererq’s have you finished?</p>
<p>I didn’t drop it because I thought I might still have had a chance to pass the class (delusional?) and because since I had never failed anything before and always managed to fix things at the last second, I thought it might work again. Obviously not. So if I get a C- and I retake it, and they average out the two grades, it’ll be an F instead of a C-?</p>
<p>The other prereqs for pharmacy that i’ve taken are Chem2045+L, and right now I’m taking Calc 1, chem 2046+L and public speaking…YOu?</p>
<p>When I took 2046L, the final was entirely extra credit. I had a problem completing all the labs on time mostly because what I needed was always being used by someone else (what a dumb positive feedback system for falling behind, by the way). Before the final, I had a D; after, I had a B, so I wouldn’t sweat it.</p>
<p>I’ve takenCHM2045/L and BSC2010/L. Taking CHM2046/L; BSC2011/l; and calc1. And yea; i’ve talked to a few people and i wouldn’t worry about failing. There’s so much extra credit it’s ■■■■■■■■. lol.</p>
<p>jonjon, no you misinterpreted what I mean’t. C- is not a passing grade because it is worth 1.67 grade points per credit. You need to average 2.0 grade points per credit in a class to pass. Passing means being able to take the next class in a sequence or having the class count towards a major requirement. If you got a C- or lower you would HAVE to retake it to continue. Your retake grade and the original grade are averaged.</p>
<p>Let’s pretend you got an F (or E as it actually is I believe)… that is worth 0 grade points / credit. Then, on your retake you made an B and passed (you can then go on to take the next class), a B is 3.0 grade points / credit. However, when this entire thing is put into your GPA it is averaged… so add 0 + 3 and then divided by 2 = 1.5. So this is 1.5 grade points over 2 credits. The NET EFFECT is as if you took a 2 credit class and made slightly lower than a C-.</p>
<p>Lets pretend you made a C- now and a B on the retake. (1.67 + 3.0) / 2 = 2.33. The net effect is as if you took a 2 credit class and made a C+.</p>
<p>TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Sure, you might be failing and will have to retake the class no matter how it ends this semester. But do not think that the difference between one failing grade and another this semester won’t affect the way your GPA sees your retake. When you can’t drop the class and have to take a failing grade you still have to try to get the best grade you can, whether it is a D or C- or whatever.</p>