I am failing Organic Chemistry.
I calculated my grade so far (our professor doesn’t post our grades), and if I am not mistaken, I will be getting a D for this course. There’s only two weeks left, all of our tests are done, and the final exam is the only hope that remains.
Should I retake Organic Chemistry 1?
I am registered for Organic Chemistry 2 next semester with a different professor.
Do I still have hope in getting in to medical school?
Yes, you must retake Ochem 1 for 2 reasons:
Med schools require a grade of C or better in a pre-reqs class in order for it to fulfill med school admission requirements
It doesn’t matter who the professor is next semester. A grade of D says you lack fundamental understanding of the material. Moving on to Ochem 2 with serious knowledge deficits will pretty much guarantee you won’t pass Ochem 2.
Drop Ochem 2 from your spring schedule. Retake Ochem 1 either in the spring or some future semester. After you have mastered the material in Ochem 1 --and earned a much better grade-- only then sign up for Ochem 2.
I strongly suggest you you visit your college’s academic support center. The way you’re currently studying for Ochem clearly isn’t working and you need to find another approach. Are you using additional study materials? (Additional texts, extra problem sets, youtube instructional videos, 3-D molecular model kit)
While a D in Ochem isn’t a good thing, and this grade has hurt both your GPA and sGPA, this isn’t necessarily a fatal blow to your med school ambitions.
However, you cannot afford any more Ds (or Cs for that matter) in your core science classes. Get tutoring. FInd a study group. Go to office hours. Do whatever it takes to become a successful science student.
Because of your setback, plan on only applying to med school after college graduation and taking one or more gap years. You’ll need to extra time to strengthen your GPA.
Have you been to the professor’s office hours? If you have a problem in the subject, I strongly suggest you should attend professor’s office hours.
Can you do a withdraw? A W is way better than D. Certain colleges (including some Ivies) allow withdraw up until final exam on orgo.
It seems that you have been falling way behind in all the tests and typically there is no way you can catch up this late. Go talk to the professor to see where you stand and see if W is feasible.
Organic chem is a tricky subject where if you fall behind on 1st test, you’ll almost certain no way to catch up later for an A. It is the top weeding class among all the pre-med courses. It is the top killer for those who think they can cram everything into their brains the night before the test. You’ll need to put in time EVERY week to understand and do lots of practice in order to “get it” in your head.
Withdraw if you can. Find out if it’s too late to formally withdraw.
If it’s too late, then do the best you can on the final. In the meantime, remove orgo 2 from your schedule and sign up again for orgo 1. Hopefully there’s a better prof available.
Over winter break, go over your orgo book. And buy and read, “Organic Chemistry as a Second Language”. Available on Amazon.
You 100000% have to retake Organic Chemistry I if you got a D. You really want an A for medical school, but at least a B. Most schools require you to have C/C- in Orgo I before you can even go onto Orgo II. Second of all, if you get a D then it shows you really don’t know most of the material, so you will struggle tremendously if you were allowed to go on without retaking it. Medical schools want to see upward trends. You need to retake it and shoot for an A and continue to get stellar grades throughout your undergraduate career. What were you scoring on the exams all semester? If you have a D, then I’m going to assume you’ve done poorly all semester. Have you gone to office hours, tutoring? Have you studied efficiently and in different ways? Perhaps you need to review how you are studying the material. Organic Chemistry requires a significant amount of time outside of class. Always keep the withdrawal deadline in the back of your mind. I feel like you could have withdrawn halfway through the semester and spared yourself from the D. Also, I agree with the above poster. Organic Chemistry As a Second Language is a great book to use as supplemental reading. Review the topics over break and practice old tests/quizzes. The material will be fresh in your mind as you retake Organic I next semester. You want to be ahead and on top of your game. If you need any help or advice, feel free to message me! Good luck and hang in there! You’ve got this.