Hello all. Need some advice on retaking Organic I again. I got a C+ the first time around, that will teach me not take 16 credits while working full time. I was at the AMSA conference a couple weeks ago where several med school deans recommended not retaking a class for a C, instead taking a higher level class and doing well to demonstrate you can handle the material. Makes some sense, however they were all from allopathic schools where the grades would be averaged, not osteopathic schools where the grade would be replaced. I’m confident I can pull an A as I am doing well in Org II now that I quit my full time job( so helpfull to have a supportive spouse.) Any advice as to how I should proceed? I register for the fall next week.
Thanks.
You got it directly from several med school deans to not retake the course! Listen to what they say! Take that higher level class, kick ass, and get a good grade to show you can handle the material. You got your answer in your post. 
Good luck!
I’m going to both agree and disagree with Geoff and suggest you do the re-take, but also plan on taking upper level courses and do well. Osteopathic schools will indeed substitute the newer grade, but they will see the older grade.
Just to get your application in the door, you’re going to need a certain GPA–2.75 at some schools, 3.0 at other schools, 3.2 at yet other schools. So, in the osteopathic world at least, it’s very helpful to replace a C with an A just to get your application on someone’s desk.
Once it’s there, of course, you need other stuff to bolster it especially if your transcript has any C’s, W’s, F’s, etc. A good, solid MCAT score will help a lot, too.
The most important thing is not to bite off more than you can chew. Many of us have been in that situation. From here on out, be very careful and plan ahead how much time you can allot for studying. Best of luck,
I did both, repeat organic chemistry and take a higher level class. But in both cases, with failed results. The best I could do in OChem was a B on my 3rd retake, but I got a C in the higher level advanced Ochem class. I am going to repeat that class, although I am debating on whether or not to repeat Ochem from the very beginning and try for A’s again. I know that allopathic schools just average the grade, but I’ve reached the point where getting a decent grade is more important to my pride than my grade. Besides, with my GPA, I won’t get into any med schools anyway.
I’m looking for some advice. I’ve done the ochem thing twice. First time I got a D (there were other circumstances, that were not very fair…but such as life). The second time I got an F, but take full responsibility since I was silly for doing it in the summer while working nights.
Any study tips on how to think o-chem? I’ve done the whole flash card thing and that didn’t do it for me. The models didn’t help too much either, which is strange considering I am a very kinesthetic learning. Any advice is appreciated.
- PAtoDoc1985 Said:
Any study tips on how to think o-chem? I've done the whole flash card thing and that didn't do it for me. The models didn't help too much either, which is strange considering I am a very kinesthetic learning. Any advice is appreciated.
The only way that works for organics is... spending lots of time on it! It means not taking it in the summer --> especially if you've done it once and it hasn't worked; not working night shifts while taking this class, and making sure you understand the concepts! If you don't know why something is happening, even if you do flash-cards for hours every day and get it right, the chances are you're just getting lucky, and don't really know why things work this way. You have to understand this stuff, and it may take hours!
Kasia
- PAtoDoc1985 Said:
Any study tips on how to think o-chem? I've done the whole flash card thing and that didn't do it for me. The models didn't help too much either, which is strange considering I am a very kinesthetic learning. Any advice is appreciated.
"Active" learnig works best for me and that means write the reactions out.
Agreed. When I was studying o-chem, I preferred to sit at my desk at home, in a far corner of the house away from everyone else, so that I could talk to myself. Seriously. I would write out a reaction and I would narrate the whole thing in sort of anthropomorphic terms: “OK this carbon wants to go here, but there isn’t any room unless these guys move this way, and so…” I literally narrated each reaction as I was drawing it out. And then I would talk through the whole thing again, every time I came back to that (large) index card. (I put the reactions on the big 5.5x8 inch index cards.) You have to be able to explain it to yourself and to someone else, out loud, in real time. If you can’t do that, you are not going to “get” o-chem. Good luck!
Mary
HELP!!!
I have a couple of questions (free cookies to whoever can answer). I keep hearing that Osteopathic schools are very forgiving in that you can repeat a class and only keep the new grade, but where is this coming from? I searched through the aacom.org website but couldn’t find anything. Is there anything out there to reference this?
My second question has to do with how DO schools actually calculate GPA: Suppose your transcript shows that you’ve taken Chem three times, the first two times you got a ‘D’ and the third time you got an ‘A’. Now in your transcript it will show that 9 credits have been attempted (supposing Chem is 3 credits) and you will have accumulated 18 quality points (3 each for the D’s and 12 for the A) this results in a cumulative GPA of 18 quality points/9 credits = 2.0 Now how would a DO school interpret these grades if you were indeed allowed to replace the ‘A’ for the 2 'D’s? If the ‘A’ simply replaced the ‘D’ then your hours attempted would decrease to 3 and you would have 12 quality points, which would be added to the rest of your transcript. Is this how one would calculate a GPA when applying for DO schools? As you can see, replacing a grade in this case will have HUGE positive effect on ones GPA because you are eliminating 2 classes you did very poorly in, and reducing the number of overall hours attempted. Any help on this is greatly appreciated, all of this is very important as to what my DO school GPA would look like as I’m trying to bring it up to a respectable number.
- kkhosla Said:
I have a couple of questions (free cookies to whoever can answer). I keep hearing that Osteopathic schools are very forgiving in that you can repeat a class and only keep the new grade, but where is this coming from? I searched through the aacom.org website but couldn't find anything. Is there anything out there to reference this?
I believe that on the AACOMAS application there is a spot where you will list both the original class and the retake. The actual calculation is done via AACOMAS. They will take the new grade, but they will still see that you have retaken the class...so whether or not it will come up again, I can't say.
My second question has to do with how DO schools actually calculate GPA: Suppose your transcript shows that you've taken Chem three times, the first two times you got a 'D' and the third time you got an 'A'. Now in your transcript it will show that 9 credits have been attempted (supposing Chem is 3 credits) and you will have accumulated 18 quality points (3 each for the D's and 12 for the A) this results in a cumulative GPA of 18 quality points/9 credits = 2.0 Now how would a DO school interpret these grades if you were indeed allowed to replace the 'A' for the 2 'D's? If the 'A' simply replaced the 'D' then your hours attempted would decrease to 3 and you would have 12 quality points, which would be added to the rest of your transcript. Is this how one would calculate a GPA when applying for DO schools? As you can see, replacing a grade in this case will have HUGE positive effect on ones GPA because you are eliminating 2 classes you did very poorly in, and reducing the number of overall hours attempted. Any help on this is greatly appreciated, all of this is very important as to what my DO school GPA would look like as I’m trying to bring it up to a respectable number.
Wow, I don't know that I can answer this. Unfortunately, the fact that you took this class twice and got a D both times before taking it for the third time might be a real red flag even for a DO school. There will definitely be questions. Maybe someone else might have some more direct experience with this.
Hello to all the soon to be successful OChemers!
Just wanted to echo some advice that I have picked up on in reading other OPM posts over the last 1-2 years. I think it was Richard B, and probably others that have also done well by this book…
For anyone taking OChem 1 this Fall, spend the small amount of money and time on this short book “Organic Chemistry As A Second Language” by David Klein.
It gets straight to the point of focusing on the skills and concepts that one needs to master the OChem material, such as how to calculate FC, drawing and assessing resonance structures, nomenclature, stereochemistry…and each chapter’s sub-section has plenty of relavant practice problems (with answers in the back).
I wish I had the book under my belt before withdrawing (defeated and a bit demoralized 8 weeks later) from the course last semester.
Having earned mostly As to this point in my pre-req science course, I think this was one of those existential moments that many of the wisened OPMs have warned us green horns to prepare for… 
I am about half way through reading the book and working the problems, and can honestly say that I have overcome (nearly all) trepidation and am actually looking forward to how good it’s going to feel to see an A (or something close) on that first exam. 
Best of luck to all!
Neil
- neilc Said:
For anyone taking OChem 1 this Fall, spend the small amount of money and time on this short book "Organic Chemistry As A Second Language" by David Klein.
Best of luck to all!
Neil
I second this book!
Are there any books like this for Gen Chem that I could look into?