Coursework

<p>Officially you don't need one, but for all practical intents and purposes you do.</p>

<p>hi, I'm interested in becoming a doctor. There is no "pre-med" persay at my school (Northwestern University), where I will be an incoming freshman.</p>

<p>My question is this: placement exams are coming up. Is there a benefit to placing out of all 3 intro classes of chem (101,102,103)? Currently I plan on taking the accelerated chem courses (171,172). Which option would be better for med school?</p>

<p>Basically, I'm asking is it better to have taken orgo first year? or is it better to have taken the accelerated chem and have a better GPA? Thanks in advance guys, I know you all know a lot on this.</p>

<p>I argue in favor of genchem, usually. If your school has a special freshman-only section of orgo which is graded easier, however, that might be worth it.</p>

<p>Hey bluedevilmike, thanks for the reply. nah mike, it doesn't have a special freshman orgo class. But I think you're right with the general chem. I think it will be better to have some college chem and be up to par with my chem instead of rushing to study in the summer before tackling orgo which I hear is difficult.</p>

<p>^^ bump this post for people who need course selection advice ^^</p>

<p>oh quick question abt the MCATs; i saw this HUGE ASS box of guides from Examkrackers on preparing for the MCAT, anyone nkow if it's good? it's 175 bucks, so i'd like some reviews before i plonk down that money</p>

<p>I have the box set of EK's. They are nice high quality books printed on high quality paper. They have almost everything you need to know and their layout is pretty darn good.</p>

<p>what are the ebst courses to take for mcat prep? i know a lot of med schools ask for minimum course requirements but do those need to be done within the first 2 years of college or can they be done later on?</p>

<p>Animal physiology and genetics are both very helpful. Aside from that basic premed requirements should suffice.</p>

<p>And no, they don't need to be taken right away. It's just that some kids want the August MCAT and so try to cram everything in sooner.</p>

<p>and on that note mike, i was looking at a webpage called mdapplicants.com or something like that where pre med students voluntarily posted their stats and the med schools they applied/the results of their applications. what i found was that although some of the students had good stats, >3.75 GPA >30 MCAT, they hadn't gained admission into some of the top medical schools. they cited various reasons for this result, but what seemed like the most common reason they didn't get in to their schools of choice was simply because they applied too late. would you say that this is the most common reason why most students don't get into their med school of choice? what can we, as students, do to prevent this from happening? and on a separate note, my freshman organic chem class doesn't have a lab component, and neither does the next class in the sequence (biochemistry). is it advisable for me to go back and take general chemistry with a lab component or should i continue on the biochem track? i think physical chem at my school has a lab part as well. thanks!</p>

<p>and also, on the same site i found an applicant with a 3.97 overall gpa and a 35 med school. the applicant happened to apply to harvard, and i assumed that based on her scores+grades she would have a decent shot at getting in, but she didn't. this leads me to ask, what does harvard (or any ivy league school for that matter) look for in admissions? by the way, what does the pre and post secondary component of the application review process mean?</p>

<p>Yes, I do think applying late is a big disadvantage. The solution is simply to apply early.</p>

<p>I also want to mention to you that a 30 frankly is not good enough for admission into the "top" medical schools. Generally I advise against applying to any schools where either your GPA or your MCAT is below their average, meaning that I don't think kids should bother applying to (say) Duke unless they have a 36 or 37, or some other component of their application (URM status being basically the only one).</p>

<p>Another common reason why students with "high" MCAT scores will be denied admission is a lack of balance in their scores. A 36 for example, might be a 12-12-12 (very good) or a 15-15-6 (you won't get in anywhere).</p>

<p>I would talk to an available premedical advisor about the bizarre structure with which your chemistry classes appear to be set up. Medical schools are very specific about wanting a lab component, but this is not like biology, where you have your pick of courses; you must take genchem (or AP and biochem) and organic, and they are not interested in pchem. Find out what students at your school usually do.</p>

<p>Again I must emphasize that a 35 is really not that good a score for applying to schools like Harvard. Generally, too, Harvard and Stanford in particular heavily emphasize extracurriculars and student diversity. Generally you're advised not to bother with those two schools, as their admissions practices are kind of difficult to predict and - while they're very good - they're not quite considered the top couple clinical schools in the country. (I don't mean to suggest that you will be harmed by attending there, as you most certainly will not be. I simply mean that if clinical training is your goal, there are other schools which have reputations for emphasizing those components of their education more heavily.)</p>

<p>Medical school admissions occur in three segments: primary (one essay for all schools, extracurriculars, money, and grades), secondaries (varying numbers of essays per school, anywhere from 0-9, more money, and letters of recommendation), and interviews.</p>

<p>When you guys say apply early, how early do you relatively mean? Let's say I took the MCATS June of Junior year, when should I apply? On mdapplicants.com I see people generally applying around june and then rapidly getting their secondaries in etc; and surprising many of the applicants on that site do highly recommend to apply early.</p>

<p>My timetable is probably a little more strict than necessary:</p>

<p>MCAT grades in by June 1.
AMCAS in between June 7-10.</p>

<p>Secondaries turned around within two weeks - ideally one, I managed ten days - of receipt.</p>

<p>Interview timing is another beast altogether, and we'll ignore that on these boards.</p>

<p>The way classes are set up at my school, I won't be able to take animal physiology until junior year. I'd rather take the MCATs the august before junior year when I'm still fresh with all the other prerequisites, so that leaves me with a coupld of questions:</p>

<p>Is this a course that I could just learn on my own as I study for the MCATs? </p>

<p>Is it worth taking after I take the MCATs, or is it something I would just pick up in Med. School anyway?</p>

<p>Physiology is not officially on the MCAT - you should be able to deduce everything from basic biological principles, so it's theoretically not a part of the MCAT. I just personally find it helpful.</p>

<p>And generally, physiology is one of very few courses that will come up directly again in medical school, so I think it's a sound plan to try to take it anyway, if you can.</p>

<p>Hey BDM...Yeah for me the progress is a bit later, I didn't get AMCAS in til end of July, I spent weeks on my personal statement. I'm working on secondaries now. I think a good goal for everybody is to finish their secondaries before school starts. It really depends on your stats though. People with better stats can be more forgiving on when to apply, but still its tough.</p>

<p>I should probably have included "December 31: Personal Statement completed."</p>

<p>bump ten char</p>