Keep getting B's!

[Kimbee]

Ok, so I am a sophomore. I have taken gen chem, gen bio, and calc 1. I keep getting B's in them. I have straight A's in all my non hard-science courses. I know B's aren't "bad", however they're starting to sink my GPA. Also it's especially annoying because they're all 88-89 %, so I feel like I'm capable of getting an A. I have read a few people on SDN say that the introductory classes are difficult to get A's in compared to higher level biology classes. Have you upperclassmen found that to be accurate? I'm starting my upper level biology classes this upcoming semester. Thanks for any advice!

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[DoctorSynthesis]

Ok, so I am a sophomore. I have taken gen chem, gen bio, and calc 1. I keep getting B's in them. I have straight A's in all my non hard-science courses. I know B's aren't "bad", however they're starting to sink my GPA. Also it's especially annoying because they're all 88-89 %, so I feel like I'm capable of getting an A. I have read a few people on SDN say that the introductory classes are difficult to get A's in compared to higher level biology classes. Have you upperclassmen found that to be accurate? I'm starting my upper level biology classes this upcoming semester. Thanks for any advice!

It varies based on school. I did well in my intro courses and still did well in upper level courses also, however, my grades were lower. Don't think the upper levels will be easy!

 

[KO_TV]

I thought my upper level classes were harder content-wise. However, because of my experiences in my lower level intro classes, I was able to find out how I study and what methods worked best for me. That was what ultimately made me more successful in my upper division classes compared to my intro classes.

 

[darknecrosforte]

Intro is "hard" because the average student is still using high school techniques. Upper division students tend to use Quizlet, Anki, mind maps, lectures at 2X speed, analyzing their professor's tendencies, question banks, etc.

And yes, upper division is much more complex and "hard". Higher standards for grades, even if 85% is the A-, it just means the professor is insane and expects you to show the derivation of the molarity to molality equation.

 

[AlteredScale]

Ok, so I am a sophomore. I have taken gen chem, gen bio, and calc 1. I keep getting B's in them. I have straight A's in all my non hard-science courses. I know B's aren't "bad", however they're starting to sink my GPA. Also it's especially annoying because they're all 88-89 %, so I feel like I'm capable of getting an A. I have read a few people on SDN say that the introductory classes are difficult to get A's in compared to higher level biology classes. Have you upperclassmen found that to be accurate? I'm starting my upper level biology classes this upcoming semester. Thanks for any advice!

I had a hard time getting A's in my lower division courses. For some reason, the material there just didn't click. Once I started taking upper division courses in Immunology, Pharmacology, Mol. Basis of Human Disease, Endocrinology..I was suddenly able to get A's. I would say one thing is that the material is so vague in comparison to upper div classes that for many it's just hard to pay attention and also, classes just seem to be more competitive because you have pre-med, pre-eng, pre-bioeng, pre-chem eng all in the same class which can honestly make it that much harder to hit an A.

Don't get me wrong, the upper div classes were way more complex and the amount of material is greater but I just seemed to click better with the upper divx.

 

[Kimbee]

I'm glad to hear that. Some of my friends and even parents said that upper division can be more enjoyable because the material is much more specific and less vague, hence more interesting.

 

[deleted719840]

I had a hard time getting A's in my lower division courses. For some reason, the material there just didn't click. Once I started taking upper division courses in Immunology, Pharmacology, Mol. Basis of Human Disease, Endocrinology..I was suddenly able to get A's. I would say one thing is that the material is so vague in comparison to upper div classes that for many it's just hard to pay attention and also, classes just seem to be more competitive because you have pre-med, pre-eng, pre-bioeng, pre-chem eng all in the same class which can honestly make it that much harder to hit an A.

Don't get me wrong, the upper div classes were way more complex and the amount of material is greater but I just seemed to click better with the upper divx.

Tritons Pride!

 

[AlteredScale]

Tritons Pride!

You know it! Human bio major as well?

 

[deleted719840]

You know it! Human bio major as well?

Physio & neuro :/

 

[AlteredScale]

Physio & neuro :/

Props to you! I couldn't stand Developmental, Computation, or Systems Neurobio so I decided to jump ship haha.

 

[adrian710]

I agree that intro classes are harder and less interesting than upper division classes. I got B's through majority of college and have to suffer with a 3.2 GPA bc of it!

 

[benzyne]

I thought my upper level classes were harder content-wise. However, because of my experiences in my lower level intro classes, I was able to find out how I study and what methods worked best for me. That was what ultimately made me more successful in my upper division classes compared to my intro classes.

Excellent way to describe it. I got a lot of Bs as well in my intro classes, but I figured out how to study after orgo. Then I started doing really well!

 

[j4pac]

Who wants to learn about re-dox equations and meiosis/mitosis? Not me!!!

Upper level science classes were interesting and I aced all of them.

Cross that re-take bridge when you get there.

 

[Dreamstoo]

I'm glad to hear that. Some of my friends and even parents said that upper division can be more enjoyable because the material is much more specific and less vague, hence more interesting.

The only reason I did better in my upper level bio classes was probably because I was interested in the ones I took (wasn't a bio major, just took a few of them out of interest like biochem and physiology).

 

[Daiichi]

Ok, so I am a sophomore. I have taken gen chem, gen bio, and calc 1. I keep getting B's in them. I have straight A's in all my non hard-science courses. I know B's aren't "bad", however they're starting to sink my GPA. Also it's especially annoying because they're all 88-89 %, so I feel like I'm capable of getting an A. I have read a few people on SDN say that the introductory classes are difficult to get A's in compared to higher level biology classes. Have you upperclassmen found that to be accurate? I'm starting my upper level biology classes this upcoming semester. Thanks for any advice!

Uh, I've never heard someone say upper div courses were easier. My intro sciences courses were a joke, but that was just my school. Show up and you got an A if you paid any sort of attention.

Look, if you get an 89% in a class, and the cutoff for an A is 90%, you need to talk to the professor. I literally changed 3 B's I earned in college into A's because I simply asked the professor. It was really that easy. One was even an 84%, so I wasn't even close, and she still did it.

 

[adrian710]

Uh, I've never heard someone say upper div courses were easier. My intro sciences courses were a joke, but that was just my school. Show up and you got an A if you paid any sort of attention.

Look, if you get an 89% in a class, and the cutoff for an A is 90%, you need to talk to the professor. I literally changed 3 B's I earned in college into A's because I simply asked the professor. It was really that easy. One was even an 84%, so I wasn't even close, and she still did it.

Uhhh what school did you go to?

 

[Daiichi]

Uhhh what school did you go to?

U of MN.

 

[AlteredScale]

Uhhh what school did you go to?

FYI

This type of stuff doesn't fair well in med school. At KCU, if you get an 89.9999 you're not getting an A- you get a B+ and lose those 0.3 GPA points. It's representative of the fact that when you take Step 1, you get the score you get and it's for keeps (no retakes, no asking NBME if you can get your grade bumped).

 

[adrian710]

U of MN.

Lol I'm just laughing at the fact you got an 84% moved up to a 4.0 - that's insane

 

[Avalanche19]

For whatever it's worth I got almost straight B's in the pre-reqs and because I was a business major and only had a few science classes my sGPA was low. I'm now in my second year of med school and getting a B in Physics, Bio and Chem is now the furthest thing from my mind. Just keep going, it's all worth it in the end.

 

[adrian710]

For whatever it's worth I got almost straight B's in the pre-reqs and because I was a business major and only had a few science classes my sGPA was low. I'm now in my second year of med school and getting a B in Physics, Bio and Chem is now the furthest thing from my mind. Just keep going, it's all worth it in the end.

Curious what your sGPA/cGPA was when admitted? I have a lot of 3.0's with sprinkles of 3.5's in some science and mostly 4.0 in non-science/psych/sociology. My sGPA is looking at 3.1/3.2 and cGPA 3.3/3.4. How well did you do on your MCAT? Where do you attend?

 

[Avalanche19]

Curious what your sGPA/cGPA was when admitted? I have a lot of 3.0's with sprinkles of 3.5's in some science and mostly 4.0 in non-science/psych/sociology. My sGPA is looking at 3.1/3.2 and cGPA 3.3/3.4. How well did you do on your MCAT? Where do you attend?

I would have to dig up my transcript / application for the exact numbers but it was in the ballpark of 3.1 for sGPA and 3.5 for cGPA. 26 MCAT (sorry, I'm not sure what that translates to on the new format) and I attend DCOM now. PM me if you have any other questions

 

[yanks26dmb]

I hate to say it, but when it comes to medical school applications, B's are in fact, bad.

 

[samac]

Intro is "hard" because the average student is still using high school techniques. Upper division students tend to use Quizlet, Anki, mind maps, lectures at 2X speed, analyzing their professor's tendencies, question banks, etc.

And yes, upper division is much more complex and "hard". Higher standards for grades, even if 85% is the A-, it just means the professor is insane and expects you to show the derivation of the molarity to molality equation.

You used anki, lectures 2x and question banks as an undergrad?
You'll have a great transition into med school.

 

[Daiichi]

Lol I'm just laughing at the fact you got an 84% moved up to a 4.0 - that's insane

You and me both

It was a bit of an exception, though. I had talked to the professor about moving my grade up to an A and she agreed. Grades came out and I had a B. I asked her what was up and she was like 'Well, I thought you were closer to an A and you only had an 84...".

2 seconds of awkward silence and then "Ok, nevermind, I'll move it up to an A".

Once in a lifetime, I dare say.

 

[esob]

Entry level classes for sciences majors are also designed to be weed out people who shouldn't be science majors.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Entry level classes for sciences majors are also designed to be weed out people who shouldn't be science majors.

More or less. They make the classes significantly harder than they need to be.

Sure, intro needs to be difficult enough so that people without any aptitude are removed. But the reality is that university is become terrible for establishing a general education in science for non-majors. We should be really encouraging more people to study and learn biology than pushing them away, at that very least they'll know not to believe random internet cons like food babe.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Intro is "hard" because the average student is still using high school techniques. Upper division students tend to use Quizlet, Anki, mind maps, lectures at 2X speed, analyzing their professor's tendencies, question banks, etc.

And yes, upper division is much more complex and "hard". Higher standards for grades, even if 85% is the A-, it just means the professor is insane and expects you to show the derivation of the molarity to molality equation.

I wouldn't exactly say that an upper division student needs to do all of that to do well in classes honestly. You're just clearly a tactile learner and you learn through doing things in a more direct way. There are people in medical school who just listen to lectures multiple times and are in the top tier.

That being said, holy crap. If I had to do all of that stuff to get an A in intro bio or chem, I'd probably without a doubt in my mind not be in medical school now. Like it's not that I was lazy when I was younger, but I could honestly say that doing that much would kill the subject for me.

 

[laterbay]

Just like anything in life, you need to stop and reeval why this is occurring, and how you can change this

 

[Has a Heart]

Entry level classes for sciences majors are also designed to be weed out people who shouldn't be science majors.

Exactly why I switched out of Biochemistry, I didn't have the passion for science. Which sounds strange coming from a pre-med but its true, honestly there's different ways of going about this road to med school. If I could do college over again I'd pick something non-science related and then maybe forgo graduation by a couple years to take all the necessary classes, or even just do a post bacc or certificate program. Makes you stand out more anyways, majoring in something different than the typical Bio, Chem, Science majors.

 

[ortnakas]

You and me both

It was a bit of an exception, though. I had talked to the professor about moving my grade up to an A and she agreed. Grades came out and I had a B. I asked her what was up and she was like 'Well, I thought you were closer to an A and you only had an 84...".

2 seconds of awkward silence and then "Ok, nevermind, I'll move it up to an A".

Once in a lifetime, I dare say.

Congrats-- but I'm glad you realize it was once in a lifetime, and I hope other pre-meds reading this do too! It wouldn't work in medical school. At mine, you wouldn't have any luck getting an 89.49% changed into an A.