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<p>This is no guarantee that he mastered the material since there is so much variability in grading. His AP score would be a much better indicator.</p>
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<p>Hate to say it but playing the ‘blame the prof’ card isn’t doing your son any favors. Your S will have instructors that “not good” at all points in educational career. Even in med school. He needs to learn how to be responsible for his own learning. He can start by admitting his own culpability for the C+ in chem.</p>
<p>5 boys - Congrats on the Kenyon ED for the last boy! Did they give him enough FA/merit so he can accept it?</p>
<p>I suspect the gap year, adjustment to the school and new woman in life are to blame. As wowmom said, you really have no choice about the prof you get and you have to put in as much time as it takes to get the grade once you have enrolled in a class. </p>
<p>A kid who had done PCT trail and had experience rescuing people from mountains can do a lot better at school since premed classes need a similar extreme focus. Tell him playtime is over and he needs to get down to business. One semester result is not a career make or break but more Cs in second semester can have repercussions.</p>
<p>He got a 5 on the AP test. He went to a very rigorous private prep HS, no grade inflation whatsoever… it is typical for kids to get B’s in AP classes but 5’s on the test. As far as the “blaming” on bad proof, he wasn’t at all… he knows he has to find a way to succeed no matter the prof he gets… just mentioned that she was a new and young chem prof this year, and was a tad disorganized in her teaching… but he totally gets his responsibility in the matter. Like texaspg mentioned, an 18 year old kid that walked 2650 miles from Mexico to Canada, in adverse conditions, by himself for 4 months, can do anything he sets his mind to… he is just going to have to decide how bad he wants it… I wouldn’t be unhappy at all if he decided against med school. I just want him to be happy and be able to support himself. </p>
<p>Yes Texas… he did get a GREAT package from Kenyon!! Almost, but not quite as good as DS12… but Kenyon’s was all need-based ( no loans)… and SLU’s was a mix of scholarship and need based.</p>
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<p>Indeed, although our super late drop deadline plus no Gen Ed requirements also skews the data a lot and makes it a real apples to oranges comparison to compare us to other schools. No one is forced into a class they don’t want and especially among pre-meds, kids who are staring down a C or a NC often drop the course because the deadline to drop for all classes (and have no mark on your transcript) is the beginning of reading period. In other words you first enrich the class with people who want to be there (and are thus more likely to do well), and then the people who wouldn’t get As are more likely to drop out of the class before the grades are awarded. Basically a double whammy for skewing the distribution towards As, neither of which has anything to do with the difficulty of the material.</p>
<p>Also the grading scales BB posted are arbitrary. I’ve definitely taken classes where an A required much less than a 90 and it showed in the difficulty of the exams (where professors felt that a class average in the 50s or 60s was appropriate). The profs would do this so that they could identify the really exceptional students because you’d get a nice clump of As in the 80s and then there would be a couple kids getting in the 90s who were the real geniuses. I also took at least one course where an A was above a 92. At some places it’s school dependent, at others (like Brown) it’s professor dependent.</p>
<p>I will say though that it definitely does change the class dynamics when at least in theory everyone can get an A vs. your grade being solely based on outperforming your classmates.</p>
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<p>A distinction without a difference, and that is my point. It doesn’t matter if the class mean is 50 or 80, or whether the grading scales is 90-80-70, or something else. Despite the ‘theory,’ there is no way a Prof is gonna make the tests easy enough for everyone to score 90+. It just won’t happen in practice.</p>
<p>Thus, it’s the mean and SD that matter, and where the Prof ‘draws the line’. :)</p>
<p>A distinction without as much of a difference on grades as people like to think. (As I said, where there is a huge distinction is what it does to the class environment and I think this is more important anyway) Unlike a true curve, I knew going into each class what level of knowledge it would take to get an A. Professors would say, “I write my exams such that if you know more than X% of what’s tested, you deserve an A (etc.)” If a class is set up so that it’s 10% A, 40% B, 40% C, 10% NC then all I know is that to get an A I must score better than 90% of my classmates, regardless of whether that means I got a 95 or a 45, and that 10% of my classmates must fail regardless of the fact that they might know a satisfactory amount of material. What an anti-intellectual and unnecessarily competitive way to present grading a course.</p>
<p>Update! DS had a GREAT 2nd semester and really stepped up his game! A in Chem and A- in Bio… And of course A’s in his Humanities classes. So he is still in the game. He became good friends with his Chem prof and he thinks DS will do well in OChem based on his pre- OChem material mastery… I’m sure he is thrilled to have a nice long summer break. He is on his way- via road trip- to Seattle to climb Mt Rainer. Now I’m stressed</p>
<p>“He is also NOT a math kid. He ended up with a 89 in Bio, a 95 in the 2 Humanities classes, and a 78 in Chem. He said that as much as he struggled in Chem, he can’t imagine NOT doing pre-med and NOT being a Dr.”
-This is NOT the reason for derailing your dreams. Apparently he has lost a lot of time. There are no Math vs. non-Math people. There are bad math teachers and / or hesitant students who do not seek help when it is due. However, he can catch up. He needs somebody who can give him clear math instructions. Math is absolutely essential for Ge. Chem. My own D. was hired at her college as Supplemental Instructor for Gen. Chem. prof. Gen Chem is the easiest of all science pre-med classes if it is approached correctly. The correct approach is to use math, not to memorize. D. has instructed successfully very many, her sessions sometime included 40 kids in class. She said that many approached her later stating that she made Chem. so much easier for them. Seh also was told by prof. that she has raised grades in his class. All it is as I mentioned is a correct approach. More hours will NOT
Your S. should not give up his dream. He should also forget that he is not a Math person, there is no such thing. He needs to find a good instructor, first in math and then in chem. Math is also absolutely needed for Physics (more than for Chem.)
On of my biggest concern at this point would be the low grades in Bio and Chem. classes. They will affect your S’s application to Med. School. </p>
<p>Thanks Miami! ^^ My above post was an update…you must have missed that. He is fine at math… Just not his favorite subject. I now think the biggest problem with his lower first semester science grades was the gap year. It just took him a little longer to get his head wrapped around academics. All is well, and he hasn’t given up his dream…yet anyway. He still has a long way to go, and is going to take another gap year, or two, before applying to med school( or PA school if he decides to go that route). </p>
<p>Check out the Mt. Sinai SOM program—Humanities and Medicine. Their premise is that these people may make the best doctors as opposed to scientists. Sophomores apply and, if selected, are promised a place in the corresponding SOM class.</p>
<p><a href=“Department of Psychiatry | Icahn School of Medicine”>http://icahn.mssm.edu/departments-and-institutes/psychiatry/newsletter/humanities-and-medicine-early-assurance-program-at-mount-sinai-accepts-liberal-arts-students-into-medical-school</a></p>
<p>They would answer your question with a resounding “yes”.</p>
<p>He is considering applying… Thanks panhandlegal! It is VERY competitive I’ve heard.</p>
<p>A member of my family applied (but wasn’t accepted) and another young man from his school was accepted…a drawing and painting major…He is in the midst of his residency now. Has nothing but good things to say the program!</p>
<p>My S is a Philosophy major. He is hesitant to apply because he has heard how competitive it is. I think they also look at HS test scores, which his are very high. Not sure what other criteria they base their decisions on. Only 30 are accepted though… so odds are not in your favor. I am trying to encourage him to apply because what’s the worst that can happen? He would love being able to pursue more Humanities based classes in college though. </p>