<p>Question:
I have had one semester of Chem 141 that was not so good...ended up with a B- despite doing GREAT on the final. However, it was not enough to overcome the other test grades that brought the overall average down.</p>
<p>Anyway, next semester I am signed up for a foreign language class, intro to ethics, bio 142 and chem 142. This, in addition to Work Study, might mean I have too little time to devote to each class. My question is, is it possible to do well with such a workload? Also, for a pre-med, does it look bad for a person to just take three classes given that two of them are sciences (in the latter scenario I would not take the ethics course).</p>
<p>Any advice would eb appreciated.</p>
<p>I do not think you are “ready” to double up on lab science classes if your grade in chem 141 was a B-. That type of grade is unsatisfactory for admission to medical school. Did you take chem and bio together last semester? It never looks good to take 3 classes in a semester. The medical school admissions committee understands you have a “busy” work schedule, but this has a purpose as the medical school curriculum is MUCH busier than any premed schedule you could possibly devise.</p>
<p>I would recommend concentrating on chem next semester (which includes going to all SI sessions as well as prof office hours), and sign up for 4 classes next semester (but be very selective in which classes you sign up for through liberal use of class comments to determine the difficulty of the electives). Unless you are a bio/chem/physics major I have never understood Emory’s advice in doubling up on sciences as a freshmen. Even then, it does not provide a benefit if you are willing to spend a summer at Emory completing bio/chem/orgo/physics and doing research. Medical school admission is primarily based upon a minimum GPA and a minimum MCAT score which must be obtained to secure admission.</p>
<p>My son is a chem SI and it is a well known fact, SI students score much better on chem tests as the each prof emphasizes the SI material they feel is important for testing.I hope this was helpful.</p>
<p>Okay, I’m not pre-med and have never been it but do not count people out because of a B-. People recover from B-s, even as a freshmen. I had orgo. and bio freshmen year and got a B- in bio and a B+ in orgo. And then I got A- in both second semester without choosing the easiest bio section (in fact it was the hardest). By second semester one has the experience to make it work out better. I was really nervous going into 142 given that I had made a B- in 141, but I buckled down and did well. And freshmen orgo. with Soria is always hell, it was nearly as hard as Weinshenck’s (and Soria’s finals are far worse than anyone else’s) and now it’s effectively harder (Soria’s class is far more difficult then when I took it 2 years ago though), especially the 2nd semester. The best idea would be to perhaps stay in your chem. section if it’s available because you are used to the testing style. Bio 142 is not that hard no matter who you choose if you put a reasonably amount of time into it. I think it’s possible. Plus many people dramatically recover from freshmen year, because most upperlevel courses that pre-meds take don’t necessarily build on intro. courses. Like one can do extremely well in orgo. without having done so well in gen. chem. And most upperlevel bios have relatively high averages, so many/most will do better than they did in bio 141/142. Another success story is my friend who got C+ in bio 141, but A- in 142. And she has received A- or higher in every upperlevel since. Unless you are like me and purposely choose tougher courses (again, not many pre-meds will do this) just to get exposure to topic matters, Emory is a very stereotypical school where most upperlevels will not be weed-out courses and in fact will be curved if the average drops below like an 80. This is mainly what happens in the bio dept. (this is kind of unfair since chem. is willing to let it be in the 60s or low-mid 70s without a consideration of a curve).</p>
<p>As for the 3 classes, I have no idea. I had 4 classes each semester.<br>
But I’'m thinking along the lines that this student can recover if they get like a legit study plan for chem. Perhaps like 1-1.5 hours a day just reviewing without doing the “Aries” problems or SI until finished. </p>
<p>I really don’t think Emory’s intro. courses are “rigorous” enough to discourage students who believe they can do it from doubling up. I think the intros. will be challenging or hard to most, but you have plenty of time to study and prepare for exams. Most classes don’t grade lots of homework assignments. Normally one is due like every week in chem. and physics. The rest (SI and book-problems) are what you do on your own time. And you know you are behind if you miss a week’s SI so you can use your ability to complete non-mandatory p-sets on time as a way of measuring where you stand. You aren’t constantly doing graded homework assignments so that you have no time to study for exams. In fact most people just rush (or even “cheat”) on the homeworks (which are online, so you don’t need to show work), and thus don’t get an understanding at that point. So SI and recommended book problems function as saving graces. However, I feel bad for those who go to SI to simply copy answers without making an attempt to complete them. I did freshmen orgo. mentoring sessions last year, and I try to make the students propose solutions, and that way you can tell who is their taking up space. The more proactive students were normally the stronger students.
As for B- being unsatisfactory: I really don’t get med. school admissions and after hearing that, I’m glad that I won’t have to deal with it. that’s BS in terms of classes that are not curved. A person who gets a flat 82 in gen. chem, will get a B-. Period. Where a person who gets 82, let’s say at Georgia Tech, will get a B. Not only that, but the Tech student will get more respect b/c the school is more rigorous overall, even though their chem. exams were certainly easier (I’ve seen them, Emory’s require a greater command of material). Now, if the student got B- in orgo., you pretty much know they did not get a grade in the 80s, especially at a private school. The student probably got 65-70. This would be cause for alarm. It seems that med. schools just look at the numbers without considering their meaning and that sucks for pre-meds 
.</p>