I REALLY Need Info About Online Organic Chem Courses

ConfusedPreDoc · Nov 9, 2008

Anyone?

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Nov 9, 2008

Anyone?

You're going to have to be patient for responses; you aren't asking a general question but rather a very specific one about a specific school and specific course there.

If someone has experience with this program, I'm sure they'll answer :)

Tait, MSN, RN · Nov 9, 2008

I have never taken said course, but I have always found online courses to be a LOT harder for me then hands on courses. However I am very visual/kinesthetic so if it were me, and I had to take the course over anyway, I would do it in the school and get a tutor.

?

Best of luck!

Tait

Jarnaes · Nov 9, 2008

I know UC Berkely offers a Bio-chem course online, they also have an organic chem course... Good luck.

http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/cat/course379.html

Nurse2Doc2008 · Nov 9, 2008

I'm not sure if this has changed at all since I applied, but I was STRONGLY discouraged from taking required pre-med courses even at a community college at my home over the summer. My advisor said this would look bad to admissions committees, as if you were trying to take the easy way out. I would imagine (I don't KNOW), that online courses are viewed even more negatively. And what about organic chem with lab 2? That's just as challenging, at my school anyhow, as organic chem 1. And a lab online? I'm not sure exactly how that would work, but I question whether any med school would accept that as fulfilling the admissions requirement when your fellow applicants are spending time in an actual lab.

A lot of people have trouble with organic chem, and if the average is in fact a 55, you're in good company among your classmates. If I were you, I'd talk to your school's pre-med advisor or an advisor in bio/chem department who has seen other applicants go on to med school and see what they say. If the average kid is failing orgo, they almost certainly will have had this discussion before. Also, talk to the instructor--perhaps s/he can help you or set you up with a tutor. And maybe the 55 average is going to be curved so the average kid gets like a C or whatever. Lastly, try to figure out why you're doing so poorly--are you putting the time in? Are you doing practice problems? Are you attending class? Etc. Again, perhaps the instructor can help you figure this out. You could even take your exams in to him/her and go over it, so you'll at least understand before finals. And organic chemistry is going to come up on the MCAT, so it's not as if you'll never have to think about it again after this class, so trying to understand it well is time well spent, in my opinion.

Whatever you do, I think it's important not to just give up and say, "it's too hard...." and try to find an easier class. Are you absolutely certain you will fail? I'd imagine you have a final, which I'm sure counts for at least SOME portion of your grade. How about if you do extremely well on it? I know there are professors who reward upward trends in grades, as in if you failed the first two tests or whatever, then went in to see him, worked your tail off, etc, and aced the final, you'd end up with your grade "rounded up" a little. (As in rather than that averaging to a D+ or whatever, you'd get the C.) And even if you do fail, I think taking the course over at YOUR school would be far preferable to taking it over online. Just my opinion.

BabyRN2Be · Nov 10, 2008

Hi!

I don't know if I can't help that much, but you mentioned that the course is just way too hard at your school. If it was only one or two people getting a 55% it would be different, but if the vast majority is getting a 55%, then that indicates a problem with the teaching. The teacher's not good enough, and I've found that out in my own situation.

Secondly, if you can, I know that it's expensive, but if you can take it at a 4 year university, they may have better teachers and you may have a better experience. That's a class that you may want to take at a 4 year institution rather than a 2 year institution.

I hope that this was a little help to you, and best of luck in your studies.

:twocents:

Ruby Vee, BSN · Nov 10, 2008

anyone?

you might get the specific responses you're looking for if your title was a little less general!

moderator note: thread title was changed to make it more specific to poster's inquiry.

hearts895, RN BSN · Nov 10, 2008

Hi!

I'm so sorry to hear what a hard time your having! Chem. is so hard. So is being pre-med (I know people who are Pre-med, and its not easy!). Keep up the hard work, you'll get there! :yeah: The only link I was able to find (besides U. of N.E., which you already found) is posted below. I hope this helps and I wish you tons of luck! :)

http://online.northcarolina.edu/search.php?searchbutton=course&q=chemistry

Also, you could do a search on Allnurses for the University of New England and if a member comes up as having gone to school there, you could send them a polite PM asking them if they've taken the Chem. course your talking about and if they have, what their thoughts are. Check RateMyProfessors.com to see what the teacher for the particular Chem. course you want to take at U of N.E. is like too. Teachers make or break a class! :)

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Nov 10, 2008

Since this is a course whose content you need to know inside and out, I recommend a tutor from your own school. I also recommend talking to the Dean of that department for assistance (try not to blame it on the teacher as the Dean is smart enough to figure that out). Something that helped me with new concepts was to go to the public library and look at the topics in the areas for high school or Jr. College or general public. If someone can make a concept simple enough for lower levels of education, then they know the subject. I could scan their work then have a grip on what I need to know from my own text. So sorry you feel frustrated. Ask for help!