Hi All,
a couple of questions as we are packing DD2 to be sent to the land of Pre-Med…
- She can take Baby Calc I or Real Calc I at her university in the fall. That's the only calc course required and is for Physics I, II (not the engineering sequence, of course). A lot of people have suggested pre-meds to take Calc I in a community college (our older daughter did) during summer, not only for the GPA aspect of it but for course load reasons. 1st semester Calc I, Bio I, and Chem I... hmmm. How do The Powers That Be in med school admissions look at such techniques? I mean, it's not Organic Chemistry or some such... Would that be a Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time Moment?
- The more general question, how do med schools look at taking ELECTIVES in the summer, leaving one with a 'lighter' load for fall and spring? are pre-meds expected to be taking 17-18 credits a semester? DD already has a plethora of AP/IB/placement test likely credits so between those and summer courses she's going to be going a bit on the light side fall/spring...
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
- Take whichever calc she prefers (unless,of course, real calc is required for any of her major coursework). D2's college required its bio majors to take either real calc or 2 semesters of baby calc-- be sure to check her school's requirements/expectations. She also needs to take statistics.
It’s probably best to take calc at her home college, but it’s not a huge issue.
Generally speaking, though, summers are for ECs, not taking summer classes. Summer school should be the last option if your child can’t find something more profitable to do with her time. (And yes, profitable can include working at a summer job.)
- Adcoms want to see evidence that your child is able to handle heavy courseloads and be successful. Why? Because the med school workload is extremely demanding. (Think equivalent to 24-30 credits of sciences/semester)
A light semester or two–so long as it’s full time enrollment-- won’t hurt their application, but multiple light semesters will.
Yes, adcoms really do expect to see 16-17 credits per semester in pre-meds.
Well, she’s coming in with lots of credits so I can see a minor in Yoga or Pilates :). Some summer classes are required by her honors or dorm LLC… But she’s got enough interests and is in a large liberal arts focused flagship state so there is no shortage of interesting classes to take.
Profitable not as much an issue - she’s got a very good set of merit scholarships, but if summer employment / volunteering is in the tea leaves, we will need to look into it as well.
Thank you!