Hi everyone,
Huge FUD happening at the moment. About to graduate with my BA (I’m 34) with a 3.8 GPA in Psych. Have 200 hours of ER volunteer work and will start research with a professor, helping her with her neuroscience work this summer. Bad news, my science gpa is at 3.2 and I’m about to get another B in Chem. I’m a working adult (true career – pays very well, I travel, lots of responsibility, etc.,). I am the main breadwinner for my family so I cannot reduce hours/quit, etc. And, the income is what will help facilitate the career change. So, the mostly Bs I’ve received in the science classes are due to one thing: lack of time. I go to school every night of the week, so I’ve had to complete everything on the weekends. That just doesn’t work to get As in the science classes.
Anyways. I’m thinking about only doing one class a semester starting in the fall. That will free up three work nights for studying and homework. I will continue to do research and volunteer (and it’s possible the research will lead to a publication). It will take longer, but I’ve got to bring my science gpa up. Is this a good strategy? Or do I take two science classes and risk more Bs?
I’m usually pretty good with the FUD but it’s getting to me today.
Appreciate your thoughts and comments.
I’ll be honest. You don’t have enough time to study for two classes if you’re working full time and volunteering. I did that one semester and made that mistake. After that, I started taking one class per semester.
I say this because if you haven’t taken Organic Chemistry yet, it’s going to suck every available hour you have.
Sorry to sound so depressing. Hang in there though, you’ll get through this!
Drop to one class per semester. Speaking from experience; the more you put on your plate the more prone you may become to burn-out; and you haven’t even started applying to schools yet.
I tried to do the work, school, volunteer thing during the fall and summer. Result: I ended up with Ws on my transcripts.
They say slow and steady wins the race for a reason. Just remember by your volunteering and research experience alone should show your passion for this career change.
Don’t let it get to you that it will take longer. That’s something that we all deal with; we want to hurry up and get these science pre-reqs out of the way. Don’t fall into that trap…
Food for thought, a good friend of mine once told me a very basic principle yet deeply profound. He said that the body does not like anything done to it quickly. Strange but think about it…whether you’re losing weight, prepping for a marathon, eating, drinking, learning. Anything to do with steep increases or decreases (the all common “quick fix”) is no bueno.
Remember take your time and do it right this time around.
Drop to 1 class per semester. Marathon not a race…sometimes it’s an ultra marathon… 
- syr_eng2md Said:
+1,000
It's not that organic is hard, it is not. It just takes oooooodles of time to work every problem and understand WHY the electrons are moving the way they are and HOW new molecules are formed.
Grouping reactions, reagents, mechanisms, and products into groups on flash cards just helps when synthesis (the absolute bowel of organic) comes along. Master the first four groups and synthesis is easy/peezy.
It just takes lots and lots and lots of time. People thought me strange when I'd sit at dinner out with my son and he'd be quizzing me. Seriously. In my purse at opera during breaks,... okay, not that bad
Thank you everyone for the support - one class per semester, starting next year 
Slow and steady…!
It may sound weird but I actually enjoyed organic once I figured out how to study for it and got the hang of it. It takes more time then most classes but it is very rewarding to learn something that 50% of you class will never put the effort into.