Retake Organic Chem?

[nonzerosum]

Hi

 

I just finished my 1st year of undergrad at University of Toronto and my Organic chemistry I course was my lowest mark 65%. I am planning to apply for pharmacy this year and I don't know whether I should

 

1) Retake Organic chemistry I (problem is retaking is looked down upon and costs money and time, also it won't count towards my BSc)

OR

2) Take Organic chemistry II (but it is NOT a required course and less emphasis maybe placed on it by pharmacy admissions)

OR

3) Transfer universities and retake all chemistry courses (lots of work and uncertain whether I can do well, !!!EDIT: I just heard that you can forfeit credits if you transfer to another university, does this mean that my poor chem mark would be removed??!!!)

OR

4) Do not take o-chem again

 

-Also, I want to say that partly the reason I did so poorly in o-chem is because I am very bad with tests wherer very specific " details are asked or when the material is FAR beyond the textbook (final exam contained a rxn worth 8% of final that was non-existant in the textbook). I am afraid this same problem might occur in 2nd year.

 

I am applying to UBC and U of T pharmacy next year.

 

Thanks for any advice

[NewfieMike]

Hi

 

I just finished my 1st year of undergrad at University of Toronto and my Organic chemistry I course was my lowest mark 65%. I am planning to apply for pharmacy this year and I don't know whether I should

 

1) Retake Organic chemistry I (problem is retaking is looked down upon and costs money and time, also it won't count towards my BSc)

OR

2) Take Organic chemistry II (but it is NOT a required course and less emphasis maybe placed on it by pharmacy admissions)

OR

3) Transfer universities and retake all chemistry courses (lots of work and uncertain whether I can do well)

OR

4) Do not take o-chem again

 

-Also, I want to say that partly the reason I did so poorly in o-chem is because I am very bad with tests wherer very specific " details are asked or when the material is FAR beyond the textbook (final exam contained a rxn worth 8% of final that was non-existant in the textbook). I am afraid this same problem might occur in 2nd year.

 

I am applying to UBC and U of T pharmacy next year.

 

Thanks for any advice

 

retaking courses means they don't count towards your degree? that's lame as balls. it seems that you don't want to do that. but your other options also suck for you as well.

 

here's my advice:

 

if you REALLY want to get into pharmacy, **** the B.Sc and take O-Chem 1 again. If not, cut your losses and move on. I wouldn't transfer universities.

Also it really seems that you're blaming the course for you doing bad? Do you know what the class average was (I'm honestly just curious)

[xi88]

Hi

 

I just finished my 1st year of undergrad at University of Toronto and my Organic chemistry I course was my lowest mark 65%. I am planning to apply for pharmacy this year and I don't know whether I should

 

1) Retake Organic chemistry I (problem is retaking is looked down upon and costs money and time, also it won't count towards my BSc)

OR

2) Take Organic chemistry II (but it is NOT a required course and less emphasis maybe placed on it by pharmacy admissions)

OR

3) Transfer universities and retake all chemistry courses (lots of work and uncertain whether I can do well)

OR

4) Do not take o-chem again

 

-Also, I want to say that partly the reason I did so poorly in o-chem is because I am very bad with tests wherer very specific " details are asked or when the material is FAR beyond the textbook (final exam contained a rxn worth 8% of final that was non-existant in the textbook). I am afraid this same problem might occur in 2nd year.

 

I am applying to UBC and U of T pharmacy next year.

 

Thanks for any advice

 

 

Your choice 3 does not work. When you transfer to another university, U of T has recently signed agreements with most Canadian Universities so that all marks transfer over as actual grades instead of just transfer credits. Furthermore, when applying to professional programs (whether pharmacy or medicine), you will be required to submit all undergraduate transcripts. So, the adcom will see that you've taken it twice anyway.

[switcheroo]

Hi

 

I just finished my 1st year of undergrad at University of Toronto and my Organic chemistry I course was my lowest mark 65%. I am planning to apply for pharmacy this year and I don't know whether I should

 

1) Retake Organic chemistry I (problem is retaking is looked down upon and costs money and time, also it won't count towards my BSc)

OR

2) Take Organic chemistry II (but it is NOT a required course and less emphasis maybe placed on it by pharmacy admissions)

OR

3) Transfer universities and retake all chemistry courses (lots of work and uncertain whether I can do well, !!!EDIT: I just heard that you can forfeit credits if you transfer to another university, does this mean that my poor chem mark would be removed??!!!)

OR

4) Do not take o-chem again

 

-Also, I want to say that partly the reason I did so poorly in o-chem is because I am very bad with tests wherer very specific " details are asked or when the material is FAR beyond the textbook (final exam contained a rxn worth 8% of final that was non-existant in the textbook). I am afraid this same problem might occur in 2nd year.

 

I am applying to UBC and U of T pharmacy next year.

 

Thanks for any advice

 

False. If switching universities provided students with a clean slate, don't you think everyone would be doing it? You can never get away from your bad marks. The best you can do is make up for them by doing really well in other courses.

[deeman101]

If I were you, I'd petition that 65%. I'm not sure how your uni. runs but at UofT the students that actually know what goes on behind the scenes know that anything is petitionable. I've had marks changed on my transcript 3 months after they went officially on it. At the very least, I'd try to review the exam and find something or other to petition about and get an extra 5% to make it to a B-.

 

Don't other uni.s have course drop dates? Whereby you can drop a course by a certain date (~1 month before final exams for UofT) and nothing will ever show up on your transcript. If you're doing bad in a course its best to drop it and lose the cash instead of taking the hit on your GPA. Then you can retake it again if necessary without any problems. Doing this last semester single-handedly saved my application from being uncompetitive for the next cycle.

[nonzerosum]

If I were you, I'd petition that 65%. I'm not sure how your uni. runs but at UofT the students that actually know what goes on behind the scenes know that anything is petitionable. I've had marks changed on my transcript 3 months after they went officially on it. At the very least, I'd try to review the exam and find something or other to petition about and get an extra 5% to make it to a B-.

 

How would I go about petitioning my grade?? Do you have any exams of things that are petitionable?

 

Thanks

 

 

I didn't drop before hand because I was doing ok with low 70s before the exam, it was really the exam that killed my grade even though I studied 2 weeks for that one test.