who never bothered to take much math or science prep in high school (or who didn't have much option).
Basic, basic algebra is a mystery to many students who wait until college to get any kind of science education. More frustratingly, many students seem to believe that if they just argue enough with the instructor, their answer will magically turn out to be correct after all. The absence of detailed, technical abilitites is only about half the problem -- attitude is a big factor. "Rules" in science are not a matter of policy, as they are in so much of quotidian life. They *have* to be consistent with every experimental observation that can be thrown at them, and many students seem not only not to grasp that idea, but to resist it.
Organic and other sophomore courses are a whole different problem (there's very little math in Organic, for example), but the insistence that a wholly wrong answer which somehow includes some of the relevant words or phrases (but flawed or absent logic) should be good for major partial credit persists.
ETA: From my experience, the single greatest shortcoming of most students is that they virtually equate memorization and learning, no matter what the class. Memorization got them through high school, but they need actual problem-solving abilities in science and engineering, and they have never developed them. I don't know what guidance counselors actaully do, for the most part -- I don't remember talking to one in HS at all, though I probably did once or twice. But they should be letting students know that if they are going to try to enter medical or pharmacy school, or any scientific field, they damned well better start taking science classes ASAP, and take as many as possible before they get to college. The later you start to develop those skills, the harder it is to do so.
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