<p>I've gotten C+ (ugh, I know) in both Gen Chem 1 and Gen Chem 2. I now have a C in ochem 1 and the ACS final is tomorrow. I've gotten Ds on every test and the only reason why I have a C now is because of nomenclature extra credit and that's about the only thing I can do well in the class. I've gone to tutoring, SI, contacted the professor for help...everything. In SI I do well. Surprisingly so. Get to the test and It's "W.t.f?" after question one. Apparently chem doesn't click with me. I went to tutoring for gen chem as well and only managed Cs.</p>
<p>Anyway, I really want to go to graduate school. I'm a biology major and I'd either want to go for immunology, pathology or environmental science. I want to study, basically, the role pollutants and the changing environment affects people's health (inspiration was a documentary about people in Nigeria and their health after Shell started drilling for oil in Africa). I have gotten a C in a bio class before (TOTALLY my fault, I should've studied more...no excuses) but I'm acing bio now. I have lab experience since freshmen year and can get excellent LoRs. Chemistry is just kicking me in the butt. I can't seem to get a grasp on it for the life of me. Basically, if I don't get at least a C on the final, I need to retake the class. And truthfully even if I did manage a C, i would consider auditing it again before taking ochem 2.</p>
<p>Sorry for rambling, I'm just worried that my grad school chances are shot to all holy Hell. I want to work for a year or two before grad school in a research lab to hopefully get some type of publication, but am I screwed? I'd want to get a Masters before committing to a PhD but funding prospects worry me so I'd at least like to apply to one or two PhD programs.</p>
<p>Sorry for the looooong post, but I'm just freaking out. Damn dream-killing ochem.</p>
<p>Once upon a time, I was an engineering student, getting C’s, D’s, and low B’s in classes like Calculus and Physics and Differential Equations. After the first quarter at UC after transferring from JC, the dean called me in and invited me to find another major, no hurry as long as I did so by 3pm.</p>
<p>In retrospect, while I loved Science & Technology, it was painfully obvious that I would have been a terrible engineer who could maybe be mediocre at best if I had struggled through. And that was just getting through a Bachelor’s degree.</p>
<p>My suggestion is to take stock, step away from the rat race of your studies when you can, and figure out what is that really interests you <em>and</em> that you’d be really good at. If you’re getting those grades undergrad, the probability of you surviving grad school, even if you were to gain entry to a not-great program (and why bother in that case?), is 1/x where x is exceedingly large.</p>
<p>I’ve considered changing my major many-a times. When I was in high school (I graduated in 2009), I really wanted to major in political science/urban studies and English. My guidance counselor and my mother basically convinced me that it would lead me down a road to poverty. Ever since I was in the fifth grade, I’ve always wanted to do something in politics and the 2008 election (the first one where I was old enough to understand/care what was going on) really inspired me to do something in the way of politics. Outside of the Obama/McCain stuff, it really made my ears perk up to be able to catch some analysis of something on CNN and things like that. But, like I said, I was talked out of it. It was just the first time (outside of my HS biology class, ironically) that I had felt so passionate about something. Fire in belly, twinkle in eye, all that stuff.</p>
<p>Every time I hear of some fascinating story in the news, read about something good/bad happening in the world or in my history class a good part of me still wishes I had tough enough skin to stand up to people telling me no three years ago. My Urban Studies and Recent American History classes really inspired me. But…idk. I even read about Supreme Court rulings in my spare time online. I even try to add something history/political science/English to my schedule every semester or so if I can squeeze it in. It’s fun. Chemistry’s not. At all. I even wanted to be a writer at one point in time. But every teen/young adult with a diary or Microsoft Word feels that way it seems. Gah.</p>
<p>I’m good in biology. It makes sense and I understand it readily and easily. The lowest grade I’ve gotten in anything bio-related this semester was a B on an exam because photosystems confused me (truthfully, plant bio just doesn’t interest me that much). Lord knows I’m not meant to be a chemistry major or anything of the sort, but if I couldn’t woman up and declare an urban planning major, biology was my next best bet. I’m good in labs (even in chemistry labs, surprisingly…) and that makes sense to me, too. I’d have people asking for my help in labs all the time. It’s so serene taking a specimen and looking at it under a microscope and to be able to see its chromosomes. There’s just something about it… </p>
<p>I’m a sophomore by years/junior by credits and it’s really too late to go back and switch to something non-science related because I’d be in school at least another year. And I do want to continue studying (micro)biology but I definitely feel pulled in both directions, clearly. That’s probably why I have a hard time sticking to one field I want to study in graduate school; path…immuno…environmental science…back to path…no grad school at all. It’s all really a clusterfu(c)k to be honest. One minute I know what I want to do and the next, I can’t make heads or tails of what I want to do five months down the line, let alone by the time I graduate.</p>
<p>It’s all just a bit confusing at this point, as you can see.</p>
<p>Just re-read my above post and in my self pity (as I’m taking a study break from my headache-inducing marathon to learn ochem), I feel I made it seem like I don’t like science. I change my mind a lot about what I want to study, I don’t want to give the impression that science is second fiddle to the humanities. If I was an English major or poli-sci major, I’d probably be wondering if the grass was greener on the STEM side, as well.</p>
<p>Chemistry just frustrates me because this is the only subject I’ve ever taken that’s so hard for me to grasp and I don’t know how to fix it.</p>
<p>I did very well in Physics and enjoy it immensely. Chemistry, General and Organic, were horrible and humiliating experiences. If you are like me when it comes to Chemistry I am afraid that the problem is almost certainly not one that is fixable.</p>
<p>This says it all. Chemistry was actually my favorite subject in college. It is necessary to have a solid foundation in the underlying chemistry to be a good biologist. In fact, it adds a very important layer of context to anything one does in biology. </p>
<p>So I agree. If the OP has a poor handle on it, he/she should do a real honest self-assessment. The best scientists are comfortable or can understand ALL of the branches of science since they are ALL interrelated. The mediocre ones will be limited with tunnel vision.</p>
<p>I think you need to stop thinking about grad school when you don’t even have undergrad nailed down satisfactorily. I changed majors at the beginning of my junior year, still graduated in four years, on time, though it took pinpoint scheduling. One extra term wouldn’t kill you if it came to it. I went from Engineering to Political Science and my first job out of school was as a clerk on a US Senate staff. Due to my undergrad studies, I still understand polls and how Congress works better than a lot of so-called journalists.</p>
<p>Oh yeah…I <em>did</em> become a writer. Worked as a full-time freelancer (non-fiction), have published a double handful of short stories, and should be writing a few paragraphs on my second novel right now. </p>
<p>You should <em>never</em> let someone talk you out of the fire in the belly, twinkle in the eye, kinds of stuff. The folks who tell you that don’t see any jobs outside of STEM or law…there are plenty.</p>