Can anyone offer some good advice on passing Micro with at least a B?

Omeggle · Jul 31, 2015

Without knowing how your class is structured it's hard to say for sure, because a lab heavy class will weigh differently than a test heavy class. That being said... I'm good at science and Micro was a difficult course compared to both A&Ps. I got an A mostly because I aced my lab and it brought up my lecture score.

Like you, I also worked full time--overnight shift. Because of this I waited to study until a couple nights before the tests. Don't do that. Just keep studying as much as you can every night and try not to cram the material because it is a lot of information and you really build upon what you're learning. Take advantage of office hours and tutors on campus if you can. Also, if you can find material from other courses online and that material makes more sense to you, use it.

Trust me you can definitely do this!

Samm06, BSN, RN · Jul 31, 2015

The best study technique I can give you is to read the textbook chapters that you are assigned and rewrite any lecture notes you wrote during class. The first time I took Microbiology was in a 90-person lecture class with a difficult lab portion (being there were two different professors and did not communicating well with each other). However, I retook the class during the summer which was a lecture/lab joined class (with only 13 students), so we were in the same lab room for 3 hours, the first half of class was lecture and the second half was the lab portion. This helped a lot because it was the same professor and we met like 4 days a week. In micro don't be upset if you passed with a C (if your college requires at least a C for credit towards your major); it can be a very difficult class if you don't understand concepts. Just rewrite notes, highlight in your textbook, and pay attention to anything your professor says, sometimes they can explain things better than a textbook so whatever info they give you will probably be on your exams.

secquoria, CNA · Jul 31, 2015

Last fall i took micro along with Socio and chem and aced all three. (I took A&P 1 & 2 as solo classes but became lax and left with Bs in both. ) i put the pressure on myself to get those As by recording the lecture so that i could listen to it on my commute before the next class meeting (this helped to remind me of what was last discuss). The night before class i reviewed my notes. Our class also had online features for quizzes and homework along with the textbook. I used the software to practice the material until i got it right. Any wrong answers, i took note of them as added material to my lecture notes for review. I didn't wait for the last minute to study for exams since i habitually looked at the books a minimum of every other day. If you can, see if you can get the same professor for you lab. He/she will be consistent in what is expected for you to pass the course. That semester micro took top priority in my studies, then Socio, then chem . Best wishes!

ScarletJones · Jul 31, 2015

I took micro over the summer in 10 weeks....it was a challenging class because of the amount of material you are required to learn in a short amount of time. Every week sort of builds on the other so it's important to understand concepts. I got A's in lecture and lab but worked my butt off for it. My professors let us record lectures so if that's an option for you I would most definitely do that. I took a lot of handwritten notes and rewrote them over and over to help it sink in my brain. When trying to memorize things for lab I would make charts. I also recorded myself going over key concepts and listened to my audio recording in the car. You need to take some time each night to study....really, because otherwise it will not sink in.

It's challenging, but totally doable! Good luck :)