<p>Limabeans, I neglected to answer one of your questions… re: global policy on infectious diseases…I’d like to suggest the Bloomberg School of Public Health, at Hopkins, .I find the interface of world politics, disease, econimics,and the human response to disease to be fascinating, especially the efforts to eradicate malaria… Peter Agre, Nobel laureate is heading up the malaria research unit there, and is attempting to use molecular medicine as a novel therapy. This is such a widespread disease ,especially when you consider that sickle cell disease and thalassemia are related illnesses. Kudos to your son in showing interest in this area…it takes a lot of maturity. </p>
<p>This my humble opinion on course selection…know what is coming donw the pike before you get there…errors in judgement can be costly… and worse, irreversible…I tell my daughter it’s like writing your name in wet concrete…when it dries, there’s no taking it back ! An example…many of us at Hopkins were just high school seniors, there to learn. But we didn’t realize we were there to learn the course material, the strategy should have been prepared before, not learned on the spot there, and it cost some of us. A few were smart though, they had a goal when they came…the vilified hopkins premed…they wanted to get into the Hopkins 7 year med program…here hopkins med accepts you after your 2d year, not your 4th…this means fewer years to risk getting a B…and actually, when you apply, they only look at your first three semesters. So they knew that, and many only took the bare minimum credits, to better get A’s across the board. Now one could say that the admissions committee will see it was an easy courseload…but, all I can say is that these kids got in ! It’s hard to argue with a 3.98 gpa no matter how few credits they took. And they didn’t have to worry about not having enough credits to graduate, they were into med school, and could make up the deficit without the pressure of getting the A ( what I call “backloading” the courses) Now I’m not advocating, nor am I approving what they did, but it’s and example of strategizing, and knowing what you want BEFORE the day one. Now that program doesn’t exist anymore, but I still say, freshman year is tough enough as it is, academically and socially, why complicate it with more challenging courses? There will be time enough later on. And the med schools won’t see your entire senior year ( correct me, please if I’m wrong on that), so that’s when you can take the tough ones. With caveats , of course… Another good thing to do is, get to know the premeds, try to get wind of any rumor…Another thing to do : when I took Orgo, the “weeder”, we worked out every question in Morrison and Boyd, even the supplementals. We scoured for old exams…very important…sometimes we had them 5 years backdated. But that means you have to be friends with those who have those tests in their possession. And that means having to find out just WHO has them…this is not advertised information…sometimes the frats had them, you didn’t have to join the frat, just be good buddies with the fratboy…sometimes another student had a brother who kept his old exams,…the more friends you had the better the chance of getting old exams…and if there were three of us, that was tripling it, because in a group, we all shared our old exams, that was the price of admission… We had realized that if we saw all the questions that had been asked before, that narrowed down the number of questions that could potentially stump us. There were friendships that were lost because of old exam hoarding ( personal exp)…</p>
<p>usually one should know too that requirements for a major were more than the requirements for applying to med school…that’s why some schools have a “premed major” one with fewer credit requirements, that more closely approximated those of med schools…e.g., I took Orgo lab ( not the course, the lab, and got a B …aaargh) thinking it was a requirement for med sch…wrong ! So it’s harder to get a B.Sc. in bio or chem for example, so it’s harder to get a high GPA…so …it’s up to your son. I would strike one note of caution…a B.Sc. in chem or bio, or a B.A. with a more known major, like economics, english etc…is a good fallback option than an easy, premed major, if one doesn’t get into med school.But if you figure yuou’re definitely going to med school , then why risk the B ?That’s when you go for the easier major, the “premed” major…Natural Sciences at Hopkins. Of course, I’m not saying to sacrifice one’s education for the sake of getting in…but, be smart about things. A degree in chem or bio etc, will not help you get through med school any better . But you don’t have to declare your major that early, so you can take the minimum first, that’s the writing in wet concrete analogy, then add courses if you do decide to go for the more significant major. You have to check with the individual schools about the timing for declaration of a major. I would consider, if it’s not too compromising, taking the minimum courseload and acing it, up to the minute you have to declare your major.</p>
<p>One last caveat…and this is not directed at you, Limabeans…it’s late at night, and if I made a misstatement, please correct me. But do it nice, I have feelings too.</p>