<p>This is my first year in university and I am enrolled in 9 courses, they are half courses.</p>
<p>I'm doing 4 first semester and 5 second semester </p>
<p>Is it possible for me to be enrolled in less courses than this and still have a chance at medical school?</p>
<p>Because I would like to have more time to concentrate on the subjects that I need rather than have electives.</p>
<p>Thank you! P.S I am in a BSc program</p>
<p>Whats your EXACT schedule?</p>
<p>Sent from my DROIDX using CC App</p>
<p>First Semester: Chemistry 101 - Introductory to University Chemistry I, Psychology 104 - Basic Psychological Processes, Math 113 - Elementary Calculus I and then I had an anthropology course this term as well but idk much about it and it may kill my GPA its called race and racism.</p>
<p>Second Semester: Biology 107 - Introduction to Cell Biology, English 121 - Literature in Historical Perspective, Sociology 100 - Introductory Sociology, Statistics 141 - Introduction to Statistics</p>
<p>Your course load look pretty typical for a freshman pre med, but I have to ask you aren’t taking a second semester of chemistry in the spring? I would think that finishing the second half of the course immediately after completing the first half would make it easier to do well since the second half expands on ideas and concepts learned in the first half.</p>
<p>(P.S. D2 found her anthro classes were graded much easier than her science/math classes at her university which had very strict curves where only the top 15% got As.)</p>
<p>Thank you for your advice, I am going to change it to have a chemistry course next semester instead of bio and just do bio next year.</p>
<p>And so is doing 3 courses first semester and 4 courses second semester Okay? Or too little?</p>
<p>Also do you recommend taking summer courses? Because I plan to do a university physics summer course so I can just focus on that since I have only taken grade 11 physics.</p>
<p>Med schools want you to be taking a full courseload. If taking 3-4 classes per semester is considered a full/average premed courseload, then you should be fine. At my school, that came out to about 15 hours or units or whatever per semester. So if the average is 15 and you’re taking 12 in the fall and 12 in the spring, that would probably be considered “too little.”</p>
<p>Generally speaking, try to avoid taking premed prereq classes over the summer. First, you need your summers for other fabulous experiences. Second, it could reflect poorly on you–“Why couldn’t he handle it during the rest of the year like most premeds?”–unless you have an extenuating circumstance (“Oh, he’s quadruple majoring and the only way to make room for 21 hours per semester is to take this one freshman level class over the summer”). If you have to take a class over the summer, I’d go with an elective, humanities, or study abroad class rather than a core science one–but that’s just my opinion.</p>
<p>Okay and do study abroad classes look better on your application or is it basically the same?</p>
<p>3 is considered full time but I am worried that with only 3 courses which are 3 credits each I won’t finish my bachelors degree in four years… I’m looking around right now and trying to find electives so that I can have 4 courses each semester but I’m waitlisted for everything obviously because it is so late.</p>
<p>I can’t speak from an admissions perspective, but certainly the general feeling at Brown was that all study abroad classes were easier than Brown classes.</p>
<p>I should have been more specific. The study abroad program I chose was sponsored by my school, so is considered of equal rigor (or perhaps slightly more rigorous) as the art history course offered on campus. I agree with I wanna be Brown that generally speaking, study abroad classes from another institution (such as the global programs or whatever) are considered easier than typical university classes.</p>
<p>12h is considered full time at my school, but the average premed courseload is 15h (with one or two 12h semesters if you come in with a lot of credit from high school). So if your school technically considers 3 classes full time, but most premeds and your advisor recommend 4 courses, try to get to 4. If they recommend 3, stick with what you have. Good luck!</p>
<p>The rigor of study abroad just depends. The D of a good friend attended Stanford undergrad but due to scheduling issues and her double major, she had to opt for SLU’s study abroad program. (It was the only one that S would accept for her major courses.) She reported that it was brutal in comparison to S. Of course we all know of Stanford’s notorious grade inflation… :)</p>
<p>I have also read that the Australia schools are really tough graders – no grade inflation, so a C is considered ‘fine’ work.</p>
<p>Med. Schools are aware that you cannot graduate if you do not fullfill requirements of your major(s)/minor(s). You got to have Bachelor’s to enter Med. School and complete specific requirements of each Med. School on your list. So, it is basically automatic. Adcoms have thousands of applicants, too many to consider more than your stats, EC’s, social skills (thru interview). If your stats are OK, you must have had enough rigor in your schedule. MCAT is not walk in a park, got to have background to do well.</p>
<p>My statement included courses sponsored by Brown also. If it didn’t happen in Providence, it was probably easier.</p>
<p>@MiamiDAP,
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<p>Not really. Like everything else, it depends on the specific requirements of each MS. For example:</p>
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<p>I am considering applying to a few schools next year (junior year). I would probably give up senior year for the right offer. :)</p>
<p>[Admissions:</a> Entrance Requirements | Pritzker School of Medicine](<a href=“http://pritzker.uchicago.edu/admissions/requirements/]Admissions:”>http://pritzker.uchicago.edu/admissions/requirements/)</p>
<p>Schools say the 90h thing, but common knowledge is that you need to have completed your bachelor’s in the standard 4 years to have a solid chance at admission.</p>
<p>Just as one data point, out of my class of 100, none have less than a bachelor’s; only one completed his bachelor’s in less than 4 years; and about 25 have advanced degrees (some law, some PhD, many master’s).</p>
<p>General advice would be to wait until after junior year to apply, and to time it right and do it right so that you only have to apply once. Applying early “just to see” is kind of analogous to taking the MCAT early “just to see”–not only does it look bad (and is it quite challenging to be a reapplicant)–it’s also really expensive…and senior year is pretty incredible!</p>
<p>Adding to what Kristin mentioned: Certain med schools have limits to how many times an applicant can apply to their institute. You should look up the policy of each med school and then assess whether you really want to waste your chances your junior year or senior year. What if u want to take a gap year after college and then come back and realize that you used up your chances for a med school your junior and senior year–cause some only give you 2 tries? This makes sense as I can imagine a lot of med schools feel overwhelmed with receiving a lot of applications…especially from the same ppl year in and year out.</p>
<p>@kristin,Liveulife, you two make some good points, however, I’m going the MSTP route. This is a seven/eight year program and starting a year early is somewhat appealing. Much of the “common knowledge” does not seem to apply for MSTPs. I’ve been told that age is no obstacle, and when I told one director that I would be applying at the age of 19 she said that “that’s nothing special”. She said they frequently had applicants right out of some (special) high schools. This is in sharp contrast to regular MS where the first years are trending slightly older. I most certainly will check that a rejection would be without prejudice should I seek to reapply to the same program. My decision on applying will depend on my MCAT score from this coming spring. If I do well, I think I will apply early. </p>
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<p>That is the strongest argument against. I was going to be my HS val, but lost that because I left a year early. Graduation would be special. So much to consider. :(</p>
<p>Plumazul,</p>
<p>I need to spend some time looking around to confirm, but I’m pretty sure most of what you just said about MSTPs is wrong based on my personal and friends’ experiences as MSTP students.</p>
<p>Undergrad classes are probably more important to us than regular med students because the graduate school classes assume you have had a lot of biology background. My friends who took fewer bio courses in undergrad def struggled compared to those of us that took a lot. The majority of kids in my class did not come straight from undergrad, and the average amount of time off was 2 years. In addition, those that did not take time off found school to be more stressful (regardless of how well they were doing). This is probably because it’s a lot of school to be doing without significant time away from classes and tests.</p>
<p>Age is nothing special because research experience, and presenting a good case as to why neither an MD nor a PhD are enough reign supreme in admissions (I know since I interviewed applicants this year). It is harder to do that the younger you are, but all that matters is that you establish a track record when you’re applying.</p>
<p>I sincerely doubt that any high schooler could ever get in, especially since the MSTP grant requires you list the degrees earned by the students prior to enrollment. Mayyyyybe a non mstp school, but
I still doubt that.</p>
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That simply doesn’t happen. Not once. Not ever. Nope.</p>
<p>Brown-- thanks for sharing your experience. D2 [currently a college senior] is planning on taking 1-2 years off before starting a MSTP program (assuming she gets accepted). I’ve been worried that she’s hurting her chances, but your statement has eased my mind. </p>
<p>D2 will spent her ‘down time’ as a lab tech/manager for an academic research lab [she already has at least 1 job offer] and taking a few classes on the side while she clarifies her area of research interest.</p>
<p>WOWmom, my kid is an MS2 and is still toying with the idea of MSTP. She’ll decide by the end of this academic year (she says). Her MS2 classmates that are MSTP are still finding/refining their specific research areas. Certainty is not a requirement for admission to the program, at least it’s not at her school. ;)</p>