<p>Hey guys I just have a quick question. I am enrolled in an organic chem and a cellular biology class. Both classes do not curve much bio an A is a 90 and chem an 88 is an A. I am worried that I will not be able to handle this with my two other class, my internship, and my job. </p>
<p>My question is what if i get a bad grade in the class....... I have been hearing that MD schools will average the grade and DO schools will just replace it, is this true?</p>
<p>And what if I get a C in the class can I re-take the class and have it replace/average the C?</p>
<p>*its not to late to drop the classes without a W</p>
<p>I think you should really put a lot of time and effort into getting A’s in those classes. Med schools like to see that you can handle a huge load of coursework in addition to EC’s. Dropping those classes basically show that you cannot handle the pressure. Once you are in medical school, you will be doing about 18-20 credits of legit difficult courses.</p>
<p>Have you already taken your first exams? I am currently also taking Organic Chem 1, Cell Bio, Stats 2, and Vertebrate Zoology. I just got a new job and will be working ~30 hrs a week plus I volunteer ~8 hours of week. I am also into fitness…so I understand where you are coming from and the stress. I am definitely going to do it. If you really don’t believe you can, then drop the courses. Otherwise, I wouldn’t.</p>
<p>If you drop to below 15 credits/semester, med schools might look askance at that. They want to see that you can handle a full courseload schedule. (Med school schedules are brutal so they want to see some evidence you’ll be able to handle it.) Can you cut back somewhere else? At the internship maybe? Or fewer hours at your job?</p>
<p>MD schools do not allow grade replacement. You must report all grades. If you retake a class, both grades will be listed and included when calculating your GPA.</p>
<p>DO school do allow retakes. Only the retaken grade is reported and is included in your GPA calculation.</p>
<p>If you get C, my advice would be NOT to retake the class, but to go on to take the next course in the sequence and do well in it. (Assuming you understand the material, that is, and just need better time management skills.) One of the reasons I suggest this for allopathic applicants is that a retake puts a student in double bind–if you get an A in the retake, the grade gets discounted because you’ve had the material before. If you get anything besides an A, it looks like you can’t master the material no matter how many times you take the class.</p>
<p>thanks guy for the advice. its not that im worried i wont be able to handle it, im just worried about a B or a C bringing down my sgpa. I was considering dropping chem but keeping bio.
i understand your point of the large amount of units taken in med school but wouldn’t a higher gpa look better than an average gpa? </p>
<p>we haven’t taken any exams or quizzes I am just looking at my teachers lectures and how strict she is (chem).
i outlined and read the first 10 chapter before the course started but I know how I am i get burnt out in the middle and my solid A usually drops to an A-.
i am still undecided but thank you for all of your input and letting me vent :)</p>
<p>And @atschiggfriee holy cow that’s a lot to handle
@wayoutwestmom thanks for the advice I can cut back on work but not the internship</p>
<p>seeing as atschiggfriee isn’t a med student, take anything he says with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>Coming from Brown I don’t really understand credit hours because we didn’t use them but for perspective, I never had more than 2 or 3 hours of class/section per day while at Brown with occasional semesters having one 4 or 5 hour lab per week. In medical school the shortest average day is about 4-5 hours of class with there being periods with as much as 8 or 9 hours per day of stuff. The classes also move at a much faster pace than any of my undergrad classes did.</p>
<p>“Have you already taken your first exams? I am currently also taking Organic Chem 1, Cell Bio, Stats 2, and Vertebrate Zoology. I just got a new job and will be working ~30 hrs a week plus I volunteer ~8 hours of week.”
-As a reference, these definitely would be way too much. But some people require less sleep than others and yet there are other who are geniuses. For the rest of general population regular straight A folks, it would be way way too much as Stats is the only easy class here, too heavy on very challenging and very time consuming classes + working almost full time. In my whole life while working full time, I had only one instance of taking 3 classes as a total, I got my only C and never repeated this mistake. I stick to taking only 2 classes. None of my classes were at the level of diificulty mentioned here either as I was in business school. Believe me, Business is NOT challenging, not anywhere close to these classes. I would drop significantly the work hours. Or take it easy and take longer time in UG.</p>