Change of Heart, What to do?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am currently a freshman in college, and I have decided to head toward a career in medicine. The problem is that I have taken no science courses yet. I am aware of the classes I need to take, but I am not sure how my schedule should look. Assuming that I want to follow the normal timeline of a premed, how should I approach this?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for your help, John</p>

2

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/214382-coursework.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/214382-coursework.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Hi John,</p>

<p>What courses have you taken so far? Calculus? Frosh Comp? </p>

<p>What is your major?</p>

4

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>First Semester- Calc I, English Reading/Composition, Microeconomics, Intro to Philosophy, US History(up to 1877)(I actually enjoy history…weird, I know).</p>

<p>Second Semester- Calc II, Honors Composition/Literature, Honors Public Speaking, Honors Art History, US History(1877 to current). </p>

<p>My major is Economics.</p>

<p>Thanks, John</p>

5

<p>I think you should switch to a major that incorporates all of the reqs if you want to finish on time and maybe do some classes over the summer.</p>

6

<p>Well, it doesn’t look like you’ve taken any unnecessary classes. Looks like many of these will fulfill Gen Ed req’ts. you will be behind in the sciences, but that’s not fatal. You may have to do your med school apps the summer after graduation. </p>

<p>You can take some classes over the summer towards whatever you decide to major in, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for any of those classes to be premed req’ts.</p>

<p>I don’t think you need to change majors unless you want to do Math as a major (which I don’t advise). I think that changing to a science major would only further complicate things at this point.</p>

<p>If you can, take some econ courses over the summer and/or any other “non pre med” courses that might be needed…do you need another history class for general ed?</p>

<p>For fall semester, you’ll probably need to take Bio and Gen Chem…and then take other courses for your major. For spring, you’ll take the Bio II and Gen Chem II. For junior fall, you’ll likely take Orgo and Physics…and for spring Orgo II and Physics II. </p>

<p>What do you think?</p>

7

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>Yes, I intend to take Bio and Gen Chem throughout next year. Would it be a good idea for me to take Physics at the same time, or am I being overly ambitious? That would leave only organic chem for junior year. </p>

<p>Thank you for helping, John</p>

8

<p>

</p>

<p>You may want to count up the number of courses or credits in the following categories:</p>

<p>A. Courses for the Economics major.
B. Pre-med courses.
C. Breadth requirement courses not satisfied by A or B.
D. Courses that you have taken already that do not satisfy A, B, or C.</p>

<p>If all of these add up to the number of courses or credits for a normal four year course load, or less, then you should be able to make it work without needing to change majors.</p>

<p>Note that if you end up not going to medical school, Economics majors tend to have better job and career prospects at the bachelor’s degree level than Biology majors.</p>

9

<p>*Yes, I intend to take Bio and Gen Chem throughout next year. **Would it be a good idea for me to take Physics at the same time, or am I being overly ambitious? **That would leave only organic chem for junior year.
*</p>

<p>Yes…toooo much. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself and end up with some lower than expected grades. Keep in mind that these classes also have lab time, so it can also be hard to fit in that many labs into your schedule anyway.</p>

<p>Keep your focus on the ultimate goal. Don’t mess your plan by trying to do too much in one year because any damage is almost un-fixable. </p>

<p>It’s not the end of the world (and some are big proponents) if you do a glide year and apply after your senior year. It can make the interview process much easier if you don’t have to manage classes at the same time.</p>

<p>Maybe you can take one of the physics courses junior year and one senior year if you’re concerned about doing too much your junior year. That said, my son did his OChem classes during the same semesters as his Physics classes and he did fine. He did carefully select his profs though to make sure he got profs that were excellent instructors.</p>

<p>I would strongly advise using Ratemyprof to determine which profs are the best at these subjects.</p>