Trying to finish MCAT 2015 pre-reqs by the End of Sophomore Year?

[BoysWhoCry]

What is the best schedule in your opinion for getting all the new pre-reqs done for the 2015 MCAT (including biochem, psychology, and sociology) in your freshman and sophomore year?

I want to MCAT study the whole summer after sophomore year and take the test sometime in late august/ early September in order to avoid studying for the MCAT while taking classes.

My idea so far:

Summer 1:
Psychology 101 - 3 Credits

Freshmen:
sem 1:
Biology + Lab - 4 Credits
Chemistry + Lab - 4 Credits
Sociology - 3 Credits
Calculus I - 4 Credits
= 15 Credits total

sem 2:
Biology + Lab - 4 Credits
Chemistry + Lab - 4 Credits
Calculus II - 4 Credits
(Open)
= 12 Credits total

Summer 2:
Org Chemistry I + Lab - 3 Credits

Sophomore:
sem 1:
Org Chemistry II - 3 Credits
Org Chemistry Lab - 2 Credits
Physics I + Lab - 4 Credits
Calculus III - 4 Credits
= 13 Credits Total

sem 2:
Biochemistry I + Lab - 3 Credits
Physics II + Lab - 4 Credits
Intro to Diff Equations - 3 Credits
=10 Credits Total

Summer 3:
MCAT Studying + Take MCAT

I have English requirements covered with AP credits but do you recommend squeezing in my History requirements in the first 2 years or waiting until the last two? Thank you for any response you can add

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[Optimist Prime]

I recommend not taking all the pre reqs in 2 years lol. You can easily situate it to where you have mostly blow off classes your second semester of junior year which will give you plenty of time to study. Why rush it? College is one of the best experiences you can have in your life and you want to spend every second of it slaving away at difficult classes for your first two years? Do a normal schedule that allows you to get out and live life, go to some parties, get a job if needed, and make it to where you can receive good grades in your classes. Also it will allow you to get consistent volunteering, shadowing, and lab time.

 

[BoysWhoCry]

I recommend not taking all the pre reqs in 2 years lol. You can easily situate it to where you have mostly blow off classes your second semester of junior year which will give you plenty of time to study. Why rush it? College is one of the best experiences you can have in your life and you want to spend every second of it slaving away at difficult classes for your first two years? Do a normal schedule that allows you to get out and live life, go to some parties, get a job if needed, and make it to where you can receive good grades in your classes. Also it will allow you to get consistent volunteering, shadowing, and lab time.

Yeah I get what you mean. Maybe I should slow down and try to balance out work and fun better. I'll have to think about it and talk it over with my councilor later on. Thanks for your input

 

[YKZ1418]

Hi! Don't know if you still need any suggestions about yearly planning but I am a current sophomore planning to take MCAT by the end of this summer.

My course schedule for the past two years are:

Freshmen:
sem 1:
Biology I + Lab
Gen Chemistry Accelerated (I+II) + Lab
Sociology
English I
= 4.0 credits at my college

sem 2:
Biology II + Lab
Linear Algebra
Physics I (no lab but it was part of the intro sequence for phys majors at my school so my advisor said it is fine)
Psychology
= 4.0 credits

Summer 2:
Intensive Beginning Spanish (I+II) -10 credits at Berkeley
= 2.0 credits

Sophomore:
sem 1:
Org Chemistry I - Lab
(Continued Spanish and took 2 other classes to figure out my major this semester, could have taken physics II or English II)
= 4.0 credits

sem 2:
Org Chemistry II + Lab
Biochemistry I + Lab
Intro to Biostats
= 3.0 credits (started with Spanish 4 but did not work out)

Summer:
MCAT studying, Summer Research, some volunteering and MCAT

My college works on a 1.0 credit per class design and students need at least 32 credits to graduate, so each semester the standard workload is 4 credits.

After two years, I still yet need to finish my second semester of physics and second semester English. However, I didn't spend my summer session taking prereqs and I only took ochem 1 in the first semester of sophomore year for req during the time i was trying to figure out my major. Had I decided my major earlier, it wouldn't be hard to finish the rest of the prereq during that time, even though it might not be so pleasant

I am taking MCAT this summer despite not finishing my prereq because
1) I have taken 4 years of physics back in high school
2) Verbal can not be prepared by any specific English class if you don't practice passages.

Overall the academic schedule has been pretty manageable for me except for sophomore spring (this semester), when I tried to take Org Chem II, Biochem, Stats and Spanish together. Not fun/// I ended up dropping Spanish (tears) and the rest of my course load became heavy but manageable. However, I do notice that with such a schedule, it is hard to engage in EC as much as I would have wanted. I have worked as a lab technician for a research lab during freshman year and am volunteering at a local hospital for 4-5 hours every week for the past 6 months, shifting on different floors to help with nurses and interact with doctors, but besides that I am not really doing much for my EC. I am thinking about finishing MCAT early to have more time for EC later in my college year and maybe taking a gap year to get more leadership and social experiences after graduation.

So the point I'm trying to make here is that it is totally doable to finish all the pre-reqs in the first two years of your college. However, your energy is the scarce resource and you need to decide how to allocate wisely. Good luck with your planning!