Admissions Will bad grades on Chem & Bio hurt my grad school chances?

[TechieDork]

I'm a 2nd year physics student (Thailand) and in the freshman year I was goofing around the campus because I thought the freshman courses were easy resulting in a C+ and a B in Biology. (The exams were far more demanding than I thought) . However,I did quite well on the other courses.

-I'm now worrying that this will hurt my chance of getting into a physics grad school
-what would the admission officers think of this when I show them my transcripts?
-Are there anyways could I compensate for this?

 

[TechieDork]

Especially in the Biology course , I thought I understand the material well. Unaware that I need to put more works into this , I have to get nearly every technical terms right , research the unclear detail that a provided material didn't cover it well enough (and this will end up on the exam).

-I've lost 1 point for didn't know what does a logistic graph look like.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

Depends on where you apply and the total picture of your application.

 

[rwooduk]

There's no point in worrying about this, you can't change your grades. All you can do is now work hard to get better grades. I often think that an observed improvement in grades is a good measure of a person rather than someone who consistently receives high grades as it shows some adjustment / development. But this is just my opinion.

 

[WWGD]

Especially in the Biology course , I thought I understand the material well. Unaware that I need to put more works into this , I have to get nearly every technical terms right , research the unclear detail that a provided material didn't cover it well enough (and this will end up on the exam).

-I've lost 1 point for didn't know what does a logistic graph look like.

Is it possible for you to retake the class? It would look good to have a better grade and to see you sticking with the material to get it right.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I would focus on improving the future instead of fretting about the past.

 

[TechieDork]

Is it possible for you to retake the class? It would look good to have a better grade and to see you sticking with the material to get it right.

It's impossible because it will mess with the default schedule on that semester,I think I should try harder on the other courses to make upward trends.

And I realize there are things that I should really be concern about :

-Maths skills
(The next semester will be really tough , EM class with the most rigorous professor in the Department)

-Coding skills
(My undergraduate physics program didn't include this as a mandatory course, so I have to learn it by myself or taking it as a free-elective)

-Communication skills

 

[WWGD]

You're most likely right.Can you get a head start on the skills you will need for next semester?

 

[TechieDork]

You're most likely right.Can you get a head start on the skills you will need for next semester?

Well , I've planned the self-study plan ahead.

In this upcoming break (Nov-Dec)...

-I'll be working through "Ml Boas Mathematical Methods for Physical Sciences" to gain the needed maths for EM Classical Mechanics II.

-Coding : I think a month is reasonable to grasp some basic concepts in Python.

-Communication : I'll be learning about how to design an effective presentation slides.

 

[WWGD]

Well , I've planned the self-study plan ahead.

In this upcoming break (Nov-Dec)...

-I'll be working through "Ml Boas Mathematical Methods for Physical Sciences" to gain the needed maths for EM Classical Mechanics II.

-Coding : I think a month is reasonable to grasp some basic concepts in Python.

-Communication : I'll be learning about how to design an effective presentation slides.

Good luck, go for it!

 

[symbolipoint]

It's impossible because it will mess with the default schedule on that semester,I think I should try harder on the other courses to make upward trends.

And I realize there are things that I should really be concern about :

-Maths skills
(The next semester will be really tough , EM class with the most rigorous professor in the Department)

-Coding skills
(My undergraduate physics program didn't include this as a mandatory course, so I have to learn it by myself or taking it as a free-elective)

-Communication skills

My impression from so many years ago, is that E&M will put a big load on your mathematical abilities, including Trigonometry, all of whatever Calculus you have had, a little bit of Linear Algebra, and some use of complex numbers.

Maybe you should enroll in at least a beginning programming course, if you believe such skills will be beneficial for E&M.

Maybe too, you should not restrict yourself to the default schedule of semester by semester expected courses. (If your institution does not allow for any other schedule of courses for your semesters, then this is disappointing.)