piling on science courses

[gaki]

Hello,

I guess this is more pertinent to the specific few who do not have any science/math courses in their undergrad experiences or bac-experiences.. maybe majored in art or music prior.. are any of you going to try to pile on all of your science classes at once? 1 straight year of phys, chem, bio, etc? anyone tried it and regret it?

im tempted to do this but im not sure how wise a decision this is. .. but then again I am worried spreading it out will set me back a year.

opinions?

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[chopper]

It can be done, but I wouldn't recommend it. ESPECIALLY if you don't have a strong math background already.

I did all 4 pre-reqs in one year - but 2 classes were repeats (Phys and GChem) - because they were over 13 years old. Also, I have a degree in Elec Eng and have tons and tons of math under my belt. It was still a lot of work.

I think your biggest hurdle would be math. A supporting player in all classes to a differeng degree - but if you don't already have it 'down', you can become totally bogged down and mess up your whole plan. You don't want to be half way through the semester thinking "If I could only do vectors and trig, physics would be easy" and "If I could only do quadratics, GCHEM would be easy". Those classes don't stop - and if you don't keep up, you'll be lost.

If, however, you are real quick with Math, and think you can do it, go for it. From what I've heard on here and talking to others at my school, it's not very common.

Think of it this way: Spreading it out over 2 years means you start med school a year later. Trying to do it all in one year and failing will put you back more than that - if not derail your chances of being a doctor at all.

Good luck
chop

 

[TarHokie_08]

Arent' the first two years of med school just a bunch of science classes all piled onto each other? i would think taking several science classes at once would be a goot litmus test to determine if med school might be doable.

Then again, maybe it's better to build your way to a heavy science load.

 

[N-toxicologist]

I have to clarify: are you changing your major to a science, or just meeting basic science pre-reqs in the 90 hours the med schools require? If you are changing your major to say, bio, talk to other science majors to get an idea of what pre-req's are best to take, in what order, etc. I'm a bio major, so I have to take 3 or 4 sciences in a semester. I've lucked out that many classes cover the same concept, so studying one subject is like reviewing another. This probably doesn't help you at all...

 

[gaki]

thanks for the quick replies!

chopper - holy crap im all scared to pile on science classes now. I was going to try to get general bio, chem, and phys (plus a psychology class or two.. because I like it and I'm interested in psychiatry) in 2 semesters and stuff any other science or math in the 2 semesters after that, thinking I could be done by the end of next fall if I took summer classes.
In high school (class of '95 ) I took ap chems, ap calc, and honors physics, and regular bio, but that was a long time ago, and i never took the ap tests themselves. That all pretty much sums up my science and math experience. No such courses in college at all.

Because I'm applying as a post-bac, my undergrad school is not stressing any math requirement. Note that I have a BFA in animation which has NO math classes (I took a logic/philosophy class to fulfill this requirement).. I know some med schools require college level math classes, and some do not. but I am a little bothered by my record having a big empty space where at least one math class would be. I am planning on taking a statistics class in psychology. That would be about it. How much do I have to worry about this? I do want to get into some at least semi-competititve schools.

Also, my english/lit classes were honors level, but they are 8-10 years old.. do you think this is going to be a problem, or do they just need to know I can write (as will be demonstrated on the MCAT)?

TarHokie_08 - I was wondering the same thing. Should I just see if I can take it now? or just build up it was at least one of the things I was considering.

UNTlabrat - I have a BFA in animation, and I was planning on taking at least 1 year of chem, 1 year of bio, 1 year of phys, and 1 year of organic chem, some psychology classes if i could fit them in.. and probably another science class or two but I am not sure which yet. I'm going to be majoring in psychology on paper, but I don't think I am going to actually complete a second degree.

what do you guys think of all this? anyone?

 

[chopper]

gaki,
If you go to www.oldpremeds.org you will find tons of threads on just this topic. There are some people who have very good advice on this. And it usually boils down to: better to wait that rush and not do as well. Just think: even if you are able to just barely do it - if anything happens (get sick one week, family crisis, whatever), you might not have enough 'cushion' to keep it all together.

Unless you are sure you just have that 'math gene' from your H.S. calc class, I would recommend taking a math class with GChem and Bio. Hold phyiscs off. This is still a pretty hard schedule. But I think doable. Esp if you have had Calc before (in H.S.). You might still be able to fit into your two year plan, but by arranging your schedule a bit differently.

If, after a semester, you find you are just not being challenged, you can always pile some one (maybe taking Physics out of sequence).

my .02
chop

 

[OrthoFixation]

I needed 3 bio classes and 2 Ochem. While not working, I took Micro, Ochem1, Anatomy, and Zoology with each one having a 3 hour lab. It was brutal, but I survived. Be prepared to work your butt off.

About mid-term a classmate told me that the counselor advised only taking 2 science w/labs at one time. Good thing I didn't ask first.

Then I took OchemII while working full time. Guess I pull the band-aids off quickly. It only hurts for a little while

 

[gaki]

wow that is a lot of additional science compared to the usual requirements.. what kind of schools were you shooting for? how important are classes like micro, anatomy, and zoo? is this for a specific school?

 

[gaki]

hey chopper thanks for the suggestion.. the link and your input are really helping me to replan my strategy.

 

[gaki]

given the description of my scant sci background should i probably just assume i am not going to be fit to take the mcat this april 2005? I was going thru some wishfull thinking that I could pull it off.. and i know taking it for that second later date puts ppl in real disadvantage in application lines.. ? i guess i can also make time to do some research too..if i stretch it out like that...

 

[Baditude]

It can be done if you want to work hard! I took 1 full year of Ochem over the summer then the next fall & Spring I did Gen Chem Iand II, Physics I and II, Anat & Phys and Genetics along with Medical ethics and a few gen ed courses.

 

[gaki]

what kind of gpa did you come out with through all that? what kind of science background did you have before that? was retention for MCAT good? Context would be helpful.. maybe I can do it too, but .. ?

 

[Amy B]

given the description of my scant sci background should i probably just assume i am not going to be fit to take the mcat this april 2005?

You should never take the MCAT without all the required courses. There is no way in the world you would be aready to take the MCAT next spring. You would have had only a semester and half of science courses. You could take summer courses and MAYBE take the MCAT in August, but I would not recommend you do that, especially since you aren't a science major. I think it would be asking for trouble.

Do yourself a BIG favor and take your time and do it right. Get the best grades you can get and do the best you can on the MCAT. Plan on taking it spring 2006. Seems like a long time away now but it will give you the proper amount of time to prepare. Then you would have time to take Physiology, cell biology and genetics which would help you on the MCAT and also help show med schools that you are able to handle upper level science courses.

The only courses you "need" to apply to med school are:
1 year math
1 year general bio with labs
1 year general chem with labs
1 year physics with labs
1 year organic chem with labs
1 year english

I didn't know there were med schools that didn't require 1 year of math. But I would strongly suggest you take some math, perhaps college algebra. It will help you with the math in physics and gen chem.

My friend was a dance major. She took the required courses listed above, plus genetics, cell bio and one semester of biochem and was accepted to a number of schools.

Good luck.

 

[EvoDevo]

I wholeheartedly agree with what Amy's just posted. I cannot emphasize enough how important is is to take your time and do it right the first time!!!! If I had taken that advice, I'd probably be starting my MS4 year now instead of starting med school in 2005.

Word to the wise.....

 

[Baditude]

I had no back ground before I started except a high school biology class and I graduated in 1987 to give you an idea of how long ago that was . I had never taken a chemistry course before I took Ochem I and II that summer and I ended up with a B+. My gpa for the next fall and spring was a 3.7 so it wasn't that bad especially since I took physics with calculus and I have never had calc. I did have 1 year of college level math in high school but that was all. I did all this right before taking the MCAT I also did a Kaplan review course a night 2 days a week.
so you can do it if you really put your mind to it.

 

[OrthoFixation]

wow that is a lot of additional science compared to the usual requirements.. what kind of schools were you shooting for? how important are classes like micro, anatomy, and zoo? is this for a specific school?

Some schools require 14 hours of Bio with some labs rolled in. I had only Gen Bio in ugrad, so I picked up another 12 hours in that term. I didn't know how important these were until taking the MCAT. I would choose Physiology over Anatomy if I had the choice, now knowing the focus of the MCAT.

 

[gaki]

that is handy to know, OrthFixation..
are there any other not-always-required classes that would be good to take for helping with the mcat (like your physiology over anatomy suggestion)?

 

[N-toxicologist]

I agree with Physiology. It helps. So does Genetics. I would definitely take those two. Oh, and O-chem, definitely. That makes three. And maybe microbiology. To a lesser extent, cell biology. I lucked out in that I was almost done with pre-req's by the time I took the MCAT, so I had all those I just listed, plus two semesters of biochem, and two electives in neuro.

I wish physics and G-chem weren't so long ago, though....

 

[Amy B]

That's great I wish him luck.

 

[gaki]

Hi littleroo

I was considering doing what your husband did.. but I was thinking that if I cram in all my science classes, it would be primarily so I could apply for school and take the mcat as soon as possible. In that case though, the soonest I could apply would be the tail end of the 2005 application period, which I got the impression would limit your choice of schools.. because many of them would have already filled up their interview list or piles of applications to review..it this a wrong assumption?
So to have the best shot of range of schools to apply to, especially for popular programs, I thought it would be better to wait to apply to the beginning of the next application season, sometime around april or march 2006?
hmm..

 

[gaki]

hey littleroo thanks for the responses

I somehow picked up the impression that being a med school married couple can help your application. Like in this case, if youve got a great chance, or are already in, you would actually be helping him get in because you are married and because med schools are sensitive to married/family situations and want to keep them together. I'm not sure where I got this idea. I think I saw some chart someplace somewhere.
Handy dandy if its true.