Drop Orgo... or Take a B Like a Man?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>I'm taking an accelerated Orgo II summer course right now. The problem is, I managed to put myself in a situation where I'll probably end up with an 89, with no chance of getting bumped up to an A.</p>

<p>I found Orgo I to be pretty easy, and I know I can easily get an A during a full-session Orgo II class.</p>

<p>I tested out of a lot of my science pre-reqs (Physics, Bio, Chem), and my schedule is crammed with a lot of required engineering/humanities courses, so I won't have a lot of science classes to balance out my sGPA when I graduate. Even after I take all of my science courses, a B in Orgo II will still drop my final sGPA by .2 grade points (assuming I make A's in everything else).</p>

<p>So my questions are:</p>

<p>Should I just finish out the class and take the B, or drop it and retake it for an A?
Are those .2 grade points worth repeating a course?
What do med schools think about dropping a course (especially an important one like orgo) and retaking it for an A versus taking it once for a B?</p>

2

<p>.2 grade points meaning the difference between a 3.9 and a 3.7? that’s a pretty huge difference, if med schools can’t see that you dropped, you definitely should.</p>

3

<p>There’s nothing wrong with a B. Dropping and retaking, however, can raise a red flag.</p>

4

<p>Med schools can see that you dropped. Frankly, if they see you dropped, they’re going to assume that you dropped because you had a lot lower than a B. I’d take the grade. Are you sure that you can’t get higher than a B? Your professor might surprise you and the grade might get bumped anyway.</p>

5

<p>Wait, I thought that medical schools calculated gpa’s differently,</p>

<p>A(93+) = 4.0
A- (90-93) = 3.7
B+ (86-90) = 3.3
B (83-86) = 3.0
B- (80-83) = 2.7</p>

<p>If I am right, then it may be a .4 difference, from a 3.3-3.7…</p>

6

<p>This does not pertain to your original question, but “I tested out of a lot of my science pre-reqs (Physics, Bio, Chem)” raises a red flag. I have heard it’s not advised that one take credit for too many science pre-reqs. What is your opinion on this?</p>

7

<p>Your grades are not recalculated in terms of your percentage. If a 90 was an A in a class, med schools only care that you got the A not a 90.</p>

<p>GPA is calculated as:
A+ 4.0
A 4.0
A- 3.666
B+ 3.3333
B 3.0</p>

<p>And so on.</p>

8

<p>That’s not quite how it went at my alma mater, nor is that how it goes on AMCAS.</p>

<p>A, A+: 4
A-: 3.7
B+: 3.3
B: 3</p>

<p>And so on.</p>

9

<p>I checked AMCAS and your right. I just assumed that everyone did .333 drops like my uni did, and I never bothered to check AMCAS. Why the heck would the make it like that? I think it makes a lot more sense to have a symmetric grade scale, not one where you have .3 AND .4 drops.</p>

10

<p>There are a lot of pre-meds who would give eye teeth (and other body parts) for a solid B in orgo. Dropping it will imply that your grade was far lower than a B.</p>

11

<p>I agree with CountingDown. Not sure why a B in ochem seems to be bothering you so much.</p>

12

<p>if it were to appear on your transcript that you dropped, that’d be really, really stupid</p>