just failed my first college class

<p>Failed organic chemistry (chem210) this first semester. I'm <strong><em>ED!!!! How bad does this look on transcript? my other grades were B+, A-, and A.. and my GPA is now a 2.53. Which means I am super *</em></strong>ing screwed because my huge out-of-state engineering scholarship maintains that I require a 3.0. *** **** ****. I know I can pull it up next semester but I'm thinking of applying to med schools and this just looks BAD.</p>

<p>My schedule is already full for next semester.. so I cannot retake it right now. I'll either have to do it over the summer or first semester sophmore year. Anyone know how the policy works for retaking failed classes?</p>

<p>Well, that sucks. I don't think your scholarship will be taken away immediately though - they'll make you meet with them and probably put you on probation or something for next semester. It's not an absolute requirement that you get a 3.0 or lose your scholarship. That said, maintaining a 3.0 is not at all difficult, so you'd only have yourself to blame. It's not like you couldn't see this coming - failing a class is generally pretty hard to do.</p>

<p>Two problems in one: </p>

<ol>
<li><p>The Michigan Scholarship Committee.</p></li>
<li><p>Your transcript and Med School.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>The first one you can fix next semester by buckling down, learning to foresee problems ahead of time and if you are certain to risk failure, drop the darned class before you get burned again. </p>

<p>The second one could in theory be fixed anywhere by taking the class over the summer at another school, even a community college. But of course that might interfere with Michigan's Committee, their school policy about allowing other courses from other institutions to appear on your transcript etc. My suggestion is take it ALONE next summer, or drop a class next semester and retake it then. </p>

<p>Chemistry in College is notorious as being wicked hard and its a shock even for kids who got A's in Honors Chem or AP Chem in high school. I have heard this over and over and many, many colleges. Don't freak. Just fix it and move on. Stuff happens. You learned a valuable lesson. Good luck.</p>

<p>Now c'mon. Organic chemistry is a very tough class for many. That being said, you might not be med school material. Don't worry, most people aren't.</p>

<p>I would say that ends your chances at med school. The same thing happened to me where I had high grades in my three other classes and a much lower grade in Organic Chemistry. After that, I decided to face the music and ended my science career.</p>

<p>I hope you aren't advancing to Organic Chem II next semester... you should retake OC I instead if this is the case.</p>

<p>Ouch... I am very sorry...</p>

<p>The original poster's concern is a failed class. The suggestions, if I understand them correctly, are to retake the class either at UM or elsewhere to improve the GPA.</p>

<p>Does anyone know if it is possible to cancel out a "C" in this class by retaking it with a better grade at UM or elsewhere? A "C" in organic chemistry probably does not look to good on an application to med school even if it is technically not a failed class.</p>

<p>Haha wait gellino, are oyu kidding me? You ended your science career off of one class? I know I can bring up my GPA a ton but still. This is just a huge crush. </p>

<p>By the way, I am in engineering and if I recall, they said if your GPA drops, they give you a semester to bring it up. So yeah next semester's gonna be riding it all lol.</p>

<p>I don't have any advice; I just wanted to say I'm sorry. It's a sucky way to end the semester. I hope you're proud of the other grades you earned, though--you really should be.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Does anyone know if it is possible to cancel out a "C" in this class by retaking it with a better grade at UM or elsewhere? A "C" in organic chemistry probably does not look to good on an application to med school even if it is technically not a failed class.

[/quote]
You would need to check with your school for their policy. At my daughter's school you can retake a certain number of Ds or or Fs and only the new grade will be computed into the GPA. But the original grade will appear on the transcript with the notation "retaken - not included in GPA". If you retake a C at her school both the C and the new grade are computed into the GPA. Not sure why - to discourage retaking Cs I guess.</p>

<p>Medical schools (or AMCAS - the organisation you submit med school applications through) will recalculate the GPA and include* all* the grades acheived in the class whether the undergrad school does or not. So a D or an F will be included in the science GPA that medical schools see.</p>

<p>Predator - I would suggest taking as easy classes (gen eds requirements for instance) as possible this upcoming semester in order to try and bring your GPA up to save your scholarship. The catch 22 with a lot of merit scholarships is that the GPA requirement is often not met in that freshman year. I have known several very smart kids lose scholarships because the adjustment to college level classes causes less than expected GPA. And being smart kids, who have often sailed through high school classes, they often load up with hard classes first semester. Talk to your adviser and see what he or she recommends. Good luck.</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice swimcatsmom. I know some schools like MIT have a policy where if you fail a class first semester, it disappears off your transcript. But Michigan does not seem to have any kind of "academic forgiveness" policy such as that...</p>

<p>Predator I feel your pain. My daughter just took Orgo at Michigan and she said that it was a real bear. Granted she studied a great deal, once sending us a text message that she had passed the 12 hour mark in the library. She managed to do okay in the class, but she lived in the library. Her sorority sisters had forgotten what she looked like! One comment about taking summer classes. My DD took Physics last summer at our local state university. She got a great grade, but Michigan did not add it to her overall GPA. They gave her credit for the class and the lab, and later when she applies to med school, she will need to send the transcript from that school with her application and the med schools will see her grade. However, it has no impact on her Michigan GPA. This year she is staying for Spring term at UMich and taking PChem so it will be factored into the GPA. Also, check before you take a class at a community college. My DD had to have her Physics syllabis approved by Michigan before they would give her credit, so they might not give you credit for a CC class. You need to meet with your counselor and discuss all your options.</p>

<p>Wow, is this class really as rough as I hear?
Is it possible to do well in the class if you put enough time and effort into it (even if you are not a science/math genius)?
As a nursing major, I have to take it too...</p>

<p>that's sad to hear predator, but one thing an upperclassmen told me was to never give up on the med. route because of one class. You should ask your adviser about the policy to retake the course at another time. That said, all you need is a 3.5+ next semester to maintain your scholarship which is definitely feasible.</p>

<p>Nurses don't take Organic. They do take an abbreviated form of Biochem though.</p>

<p>^^I'm a nurse and i had to take a semester of organic chemistry.</p>

<p>I was referring to the nursing program here at the University of Michigan. It may be different elsewhere.</p>

<p>Be very careful with CC classes. Engineering is especially tough on transfer credits.</p>

<p>As to the rest, I was going to be pretty harsh, but over dinner figured out it was your first semester. You have a lot of time to try and overcome this grade. If this was your second year of school and you had failed, I would tell you to pick out a new degree in LSA. But as a freshman engineer taking Orgo, ok, you probably tried to do more than you were ready for. Work hard and hope for the best in the future. Whatever you decide with regards to future classes, better that this happened now than after you have been here for two years.</p>

<p>And let this be a lesson to the incoming freshmen reading this...don't try and bite more than you can chew. GPA is just as important as they say it is. Don't put yourself into a GPA hole first semester of freshman year.</p>

<p>In my opinion, you are much better skipping the AP credits and rocking the intro classes. Not only will that high GPA give you a cushion when you hit the more advanced classes, but you'll also get first dibs on internships, etc. This is especially relevant if you are an engineer. Engineers should be able to find an internship after first year. Maybe not at NASA, but at the least, earn a solid GPA and you should be able to find an internship that pays at least $15/hour or so. More than the $9/hour you'll make at a "high school" job, and it will be full-time, and you get to put that experience on your resume.</p>

<p>Just my opinion...i figure that you are competing against the kids that enter school the same year as you do. Recruiters look at gpa on transcripts a whole lot more than the titles of classes. And you'll still have the same class on your transcript, but instead as a sophomore or junior. By then, you'll have a much better idea of how you need to study in order to get good grades. Coming into U of M, I only took credit for Calc I. Really wish I would've just aced it. And with classes like Gen Chem, Engin 101 where I had been doing this stuff since ninth grade, I still had trouble with a lot of the subjects taught at the end of the courses.</p>

<p>"In my opinion, you are much better skipping the AP credits and rocking the intro classes. Not only will that high GPA give you a cushion when you hit the more advanced classes, but you'll also get first dibs on internships, etc."</p>

<p>A bit untrue. Having AP Credits can be beneficial. Someone who comes in from highschool without any credits is required to take almost 17 credits EACH semester to graduate from the COE. Come in with 20 credits and you can make that an average of 15. I would say that is better than trying to fulfill all your credits in college and straining each semester to take 17 in order to graduate in time. *also note that in order to graduate in 4 years, you can't drop any classes if you don't have AP credits. </p>

<p>also, Predator: its ok that organic chemistry did not go well. Although you should have dropped the class before it got worse, your situation is common. The Average in the class was most likely a C+ this semester especially due to that third test (i took it too). Take easier courses this semester and bring that GPA up. although you may end up taking summer courses to catch up, its still better to keep your scholarship funds. You can definitely get into Med School if you try hard and get a good MCAT score. Med school does not simply look at one score as your true potential. Study hard, raise that gpa, and volunteer and you'll definitely get into a med school.</p>