First Semester Back = Done!

My first post-bac semester is done. I took cell bio, anatomy & physiology, and general chemistry. At first, it seemed like taking three labs at once could be a result of wishful thinking and/or possibly wearing Bad Idea Jeans­™. Honestly, when you take a lab, it really is like taking two classes instead of one, but most of the lab sciences I have heard of, the lab is only worth 20-33% of a course's grade. The problem is that even though it's only worth that relatively small percentage, it frequently takes up just as much time to prepare for the lab and study, as it does for the lecture portion.

I have two grades in, which I did well in - cell bio, and anatomy & physiology. I took the cell bio and a&p exams last Wednesday, December 10th. The grade for a&p was posted by last Friday, and the cell bio grade was posted by this morning. Tonight, I had my last exam, a nationally standardized general chemistry exam provided by the American Chemical Society. It was 70 questions, and from what I understand, statistics are applied in determining the exam grade. My professor had mentioned that in the twelve years he's been teaching, he's rarely seen people score in the 60s (out of 70), including people like me who had come back to school, even some people who had taught chemistry in community college or high school. I divided up my studying since it was a comprehensive exam for first term genchem, and felt like I was well-prepared. Out of the 70 questions, I'm pretty confident I was right on 45ish questions, like dead certain I was right. Some of the other questions, I was able to eliminate an answer or two and improve my odds in making my educated and not-so-educated guesses. The jury's out on the chemistry exam. I'm sure the grades will be posted within a day or two, but it will probably be my lowest grade of this fall, and I'm signed up for general chemistry II for the spring semester.

My take-home lesson: I really need to go above and beyond in studying for chemistry and getting help if I need it. It doesn't come as easy to me as the biology stuff does. On a brighter note, remember the A&P muscle practical I was mentioning a few entries back? I got the sheet/score back at the A&P final last Wednesday. Just like I thought - 38/40 right, and she just gave me 48/50 possible points for it. Hooray. :)