What if I Bomb a BCPM Course?

I know I’ve mentioned in a previous post how organic chemistry was not my friend. But God was determined to make us get along, so He blessed me to take it twice. From repeating it, I learned a few valuable lessons, which I’ll share here.

It’s not an automatic disqualification from your white coat…

I’m living proof of that. BCPM courses are tough, they’re supposed to be. Whether it’s fair or not, medical school admissions committees use them to determine if you’ll be able to do well in the fundamental science coursework in medical school. If you don’t do well in one BCPM class and have to re-take it, it’s not the end of the world. It’s something you will have to come back from, but it’s not the end of the world. I say that because, when I saw my orgo grade, I was initially devastated and thought there was no way I could be a doctor with that grade. Luckily, a pre-med friend who was a year ahead of me (that I wasn’t too embarrassed to tell that I’d bombed the class) gave me the pep talk of a lifetime and reminded me that I could re-take it and knock it out of the water. And that’s exactly what I did.

You are in control of turning it around…

If you happen to do poorly in a BCPM class, you can re-take it. If you do, you’d better do well in it. You can consider taking it at a time when your schedule is lighter so you can put all of your focus on it, like in the Summer, or the very next semester/opportunity you get. When I had to re-take organic chemistry, I took it that next Summer and the professor teaching it, without knowing it, basically became my new best friend. I sat on the front row for every class. When she was in her office for office hours, I was in her office. When she offered extra review sessions before exams, I was right there. In that Summer, I learned as much about her kids and husband as I did organic chemistry…and that was alright with me. In addition to my A in the class, she came to know me well enough that I didn’t hesitate to ask her to write a letter of recommendation for me. And though I didn’t read it (because you need to waive your right to read your LORs!) I know that she explained my poor grade the first time around and how I’d worked so hard in her class that Summer and that the admissions committees should not hold the first grade against me because I’d proven I could do the work. This, friends, is how you turn it around and make that negative a positive. I had more than one person during an interview who commented on her strong LOR in support of me. So while it will sting initially, you have the power to turn that poor grade into something that positive.

It can be avoided…

Don’t let kickin’ it, pledging, and courtin’ (as my grandma calls dating) be the reasons you bomb a course and don’t get your white coat or have to delay getting it. There is a delicate balance to having a life and being pre-med and you have to figure out how to walk that line. Make good study plans (and stick to them!), get help from the professor or a tutor if you need it, go to the professor’s office hours, and do whatever else you have to do to be successful. This may mean you have to say no to some things you really want to do; that happens on the path to the white coat sometimes, unfortunately. But know that it’s much less stressful to buckle down and do well in a course the first time than to put the pressure on yourself to do well the second time.

Don’t make it a habit…

After one poor grade, you have to put extra focus and attention on all BCPM classes after that. Having a low score in one, maaaaaybe two, BCPM courses is one thing. Having Cs or worse all over your transcript is another. If you do poorly in one class, let that be the kick in the butt that pushes you to do better and not have another one.

Post-graduate courses…

I sometimes see academic records of students interested in medical school and they have multiple Ds and Fs in BCPM classes. This is tough to get past. [Not impossible, but tough.] If you don’t do well in several BCPM courses, you have to prove that you can do the work and, unfortunately, admissions committees aren’t going to just take your word for it. One way you can do this is to do a graduate or post-baccalaureate program that is science heavy and show an improvement in your grades and ability to do well in BCPM courses. The Drexel and Georgetown (GEMS) programs readily come to my mind, but there are many of them all across the country. While I 100% know and believe that God will make a way even when it looks like there is no way…if you’ve bombed multiple BCPM classes, I think God is also going to want you to do your part. Don’t cross post-bacs off of your list. Do what you’ve got to do. Yes, they will put you another year or two away from your white coat but if you can get into one and really show that you can do well in hard science classes, it’s a plus to your application.

So, the takeaway from this post is: If you bomb a BCPM course, it’s not the end of the world and it doesn’t mean you won’t ever have get your white coat. But with that, also take away the understanding that you need to do everything in your power to not bomb the class in the first place! Use the resources that are available to you and give these classes, and everything you do, everything you’ve got.