I got an a in organic chemistry because of the pandemic
This semester I earned an A in both the survey of organic chemistry lecture and lab classes at my university. I know that this is mainly if not solely due to the classes being completed online due to the pandemic. In the lecture class before the pandemic, I was earning good grades on the homework because I was using Chegg and course hero for answer keys. I did this because homework is not treated like a test. I wanted to earn as many points as possible and I was mostly trying to learn the information. I earned a 56% on the first test, the lowest D for my professor's grading scale. I wanted to do much better than this. it turns out that this was the only test taken on campus without online help or notes.
Once the class went online, i decided to "bullshit" the class because the information was becoming too hard for me to understand. This means that I used Chegg and their question and answer section to find all the answers. I'm sure that 90% of the class was doing the same thing. During the live video lectures that were given, only 2 people consistently asked questions and actually seemed to be trying to learn the information. On test days, we had most of the day to take the timed online test. When I went to Chegg, most of the questions from the test had already been uploaded. I knew this because the images had the class, section number, and date on them. For the last three tests, including the final, I relied solely on the Chegg experts and their answers. Me trying to look up and answer the questions for myself would have taken over the allotted time. Doing it this way took most of the time because I looked and multiple sources from Chegg and picked one. Sometimes the questions were uploaded more than once. Somehow, I earned a 60% on the final, which was my last rotten surprise from this class. Thankfully, since 86% was the lowest A, even with one bad grade, I was able to get the grade I wanted. My first test was replaced by in class and out of class quizzes which I did well in.
Since my grade was probably no more than 86%, if i hadn't bullshitted the class, i would have not gotten an A. My professor did not say not to do this because online proctoring was too expensive and he knew that it would happen anyway. Therefore, due to all the circumstances, this was not cheating by any means. Still, I probably don't know anywhere near what the grade shows from this class.
For the chemistry lab, I did terribly on the midterm, which was right before the pandemic, but did well on the lab reports. My professor gave 3 online lab reports and a final exam. We had less grades than expected. My professor gave bare minimum communication, if that. I asked him some questions about the final and never got a response. When I looked on my transcript, and A appeared. I must have done well on the final since I had a "B+" before it.
I feel that I would not have even got a C in the lecture if there had not been the pandemic. I probably would have gotten a B in the lab. Thanks to COVID_19, I got my first A in a college chemistry class and it was one of the harder ones. I was only taking these 2 classes this semester. I don't know how people can do well in organic chemistry unless the only take those classes that semester and devote their whole life to it while taking it. I am so glad that I chose this semester to take these classes!