Computer Science Pre-Med?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>So basically I don't know what I want to do with my life. I do know that I want to finish with a B.S. in Computer Science, and possible become a Software Engineer. But at the same time I've always had an interest in going to medical school. After talking with a few pre-med friends, I've decided that even as a sophomore in college it might not be too late to give up on this interest. I'd like to show you guys my planned schedule and see what you think. I'm sure if you look through it you can see the progression from BME, CompE, CompSci, and now finally (I hope) CompSci w/ pre-med.</p>

<p>---What I've Taken---</p>

<p>High School (21 credit hours, received AP credit)<br>
CHEM 105 Principles of Chemistry I
CHEM 106 Principles of Chemistry II
CHEM 113 Principles of Chemistry Lab
MATH 121 Calculus for Sci. & Eng. I
ENGL 200 Literature in English
HSTY 256 American Political History
POSC 109 The American Political System</p>

<p>Freshman Fall (16 credit hours)
ENGR 145 Chemistry of Materials
MATH 124 Honors Calculus II
PHYS 121 Physics I: Mechanics (w/ lab)
FSSO 108 English/writing class</p>

<p>Freshman Spring (17 credit hours)
ENGR 131 Elementary Computer Programming
ENGR 225 Thermo and Fluid Dynamics
MATH 223 Calculus for Sci. & Eng. III
PHYS 122 Physics II: Electricity & Mag. (w/ lab)
USSY 246 English/writing class</p>

<p>Sophomore Fall (17 credit hours)
EECS 233 Intro to Data Structures
ENGR 210 Intro to Cicruits and Instrumentation
MATH 224 Elementary Differential Equations
STAT 312 Basic Statistics for Sci. & Eng.
PSCL 101 General Psychology I (best class ever)</p>

<p>---What I'll be taking---</p>

<p>Sophomore Spring (17 credit hours)
BIOL 214 Genes and Evolution
BIOL 214L Genes and Evolution Lab
EECS 281 Logic Design & Computer Org.
EECS 290 Intro to Game Design
MATH 304 Discrete Mathematics
USNA 255 English/writing class</p>

<p>Junior Fall (16 credit hours)
CHEM 223 Organic Chemisty I
CHEM 223L Organic Chemistry I Lab
BIOL 215 Cells and Proteins
BIOL 215L Cells and Proteins Lab<br>
BIOL 326 Genetics*
EECS 337 Compiler Design</p>

<p>Junior Spring (15 credits hours, 3 of which is an easy English class + MCAT studying)<br>
CHEM 224 Organic Chemisty II
CHEM 224L Organic Chemisty II Lab
BIOL 216 Organisms & Ecosystems
BIOL 216L Organisms & Ecosystems Lab
EECS 343 Theoretical Computer Science
ENGL 398 Professional Communication for Engr.</p>

<p><em>take the MCAT in late May / early June</em></p>

<p>Senior Fall (15 credit hours)
EECS 393 Software Engineering / Senior Capstone
EECS 325 Computer Networks I
EECS 340 Algorithms & Data Structures
EECS 341 Intro to Database Systems
PHIL 304 Science and Engineering Ethics</p>

<p>Senior Spring (13 credit hours)
EECS 395 Senior Project in Computer Science
EECS 314 Computer Architecture
EECS 338 Intro to Operating Systems
EECS 391 Intro to Articifical Intelligence</p>

<hr>

<p>So that's 2 years of Bio with 1.5 years of lab, 1 year of OChem with lab, 1 year of Physics with lab, 2 unnecessarily difficult years of Math, and 2 years of English (I go to Case Western and they have this "SAGES" program to replace traditional English class, but I'd have taken 2 years of that). From what I hear, that meets the "pre-reqs" of pretty much any medical school.</p>

<p>Now, my questions are, do you think that what I have will be enough to adequately prepare me for the MCAT? I'm basically taking Genetics next fall in order to supplement my biological sciences knowledge, is that a good choice? Or would you recommend something that would be more useful on the MCAT, such as Microbio or Anatomy? (I can't take Physiology b/c 216 is a pre-req). From what I've researched, it seemed that a good genetics course was most helpful to students, but I'd like to hear other feedback.</p>

<p>Also, I'll be taking the MCAT a tad late, should I be fine with just taking it once during the summer after my junior year? I feel sort of nervous about only getting one shot, but then again I know that it's much better to put a "1" next to the "number of times taken" line.</p>

<p>And just so you know more about me - like I said I'm in the middle of my sophomore year and I currently have a 3.8 GPA (I'll admit it should be higher and I haven't really tried my hardest; that should change now that I'm pre-med). I've never really done research or volunteered in a hospital, although I intend to do at least one this summer now that I'm serious about going to medical school. Also, I'm a peer tutor at Case starting this semester, so that will hopefully keep me fresh on my gen chem and physics knowledge.</p>

<p>I would greatly greatly greatly appreciate a response to my question. The advisors at Case are impossible to get a hold of, and when you finally do, they generally don't know what they're doing.</p>

<ul>
<li>Ray</li>
</ul>

2

<p>Anatomy will be useless on the MCAT. It makes up .1% of the knowledge base. Genetics and cell bio are probably the two most valuable MCAT courses for biological sciences. Biochem is up there too, but a lot more detailed than necessary. Otherwise, I think you are fine in terms of coursework for the MCAT. </p>

<p>Try to take the MCAT by May, so that you can apply early. Otherwise, consider waiting a year. Ideally, once is enough on the MCAT. At the very worst, you would just have to wait another cycle or apply late if you had to take the MCAT more than once.</p>

3

<p>Is the general chem credit just what you got from AP credit? Some medical schools are picky about that and want you to actually take a year of general chemistry in college or higher-level chem courses instead (in which case since orgo is another pre-req it might not count as higher level)…but you’d be better off asking some other people this too. That was just my understanding of what my pre-medical adviser told me.</p>

4

<p>First off I’d like to thank both of you for responding and giving good input.</p>

<p>Sarah - Yeah, I’ve heard that before but the fact of the matter is I simply don’t have time to re-take gen chem, my semester is already incredibly tight as it is (every single EECS class I have listed satisfies either a core requirement or technical elective requirement for my CompSci degree). Whenever the pre-health advisor gets back to me hopefully she’ll know the answer to that. Either way I hope it’s just an issue at a small minority of med schools, not the majority.</p>

<p>Mmmmcdowe - Yeah I’ve heard Kaplan does a good job of reviewing what you need to know about A&P, which as you said isn’t much anyway. How valuable would “Microbiology” be as opposed to “Cell Biology”? Because at my school Cell Bio is only offered in the fall, and 215 is a pre-req and also only offered in the fall, meaning I wouldn’t be able to take it in time for the MCAT.</p>

<p>Thanks again guys and if anybody else has something valuable to say I would really appreciate it - like I said, I’m trying to do this by myself with only a loose idea of what med schools are looking for.</p>

5

<p>The difference really would depend on the school. If by microbiology the school intends to review a large number of species of microorganisms I would say that the usefulness would be less. If it is essential a general look at how microorganisms function and exist, the usefulness would be similar to cell bio.</p>