Genetics

I’m already stressed about this class. The first day of class she said that getting an A in this class is almost impossible.
Here are they way she has her points allocated.
Total 500pts: HW 1~3 10pts each, Class participation 20pts, Midterm #1 and #2 125 pts each, and Final 200pts.
This is what she wrote on the syllabus-
My Philosophy on Grading:
My goal is to make this class challenging for everyone. An “A” student should go beyond the ability to memorize and regurgitate the course material. An “A” student should be also being able to apply concepts learned in class to new and unique problems. While you will be required to memorize genetic terms in order to speak the language of genetics, this class will require you to think. Midterm and Final exam questions will reflect this philosophy.

This instructor taught this class last quarter and got an awful review from the students. So she says she expected too much from the students during last quarter and going to make this quarter a little bit more manageable for students. (Only 2 students got an A out of 20)
The two students I talked to in her last class that I consider to be on the same level as me (as exam scores goes) got a C.
I cannot take the chance in getting a C when I need to increase my GPA to 3.5.
Can anyone give me an advice on how I can get through this class successfully?
I took a course where the teacher had the same philosophy where she wanted students to “think” rather than memorize the material, and I did pretty well in her class and really learned a lot. Nevertheless, she didn’t say “it’s hard to get an A in this class.”
Anyhow, I might be over reacting and this class might just be my kind of learning, so I might end up liking the class. But for now, I want to see what people have to say about this class.