<p>So I'm deciding courses for next semester and I will be taking English. Do medical schools care whether the 2 semesters of english are literature or writing? I ask because I am much better at literature, reading and analyzing texts than I am at writing and creative writing and so would much rather take 2 semesters of literature (intro to lit than another lit course) than lit and a creative writing class. When I take the MCAT, there won't be a required essay, so would 2 literature be more beneficial for me for the verbal section anyway?</p>
<p>Also when approaching the MCAT (I know, it's a bit early to think about it) do you prepare and take classes as if you are only going to take it ONCE? I ask because I'm on track to take the MCAT in 2014 either in the spring or fall, while it is still the old MCAT. So I'm not sure if I should fit in a Intro to Psychology or Sociology course, in case I need to take the MCAT a second time in 2015. Although I guess i can still take psych my junior year.</p>
<p>You need to check the schools you are interested in as it varies. I would say intensive writing is more common for the schools that require English. For example, here is Johns Hopkins requirement:</p>
<p>Required course work will include at least two writing-intensive courses, which can be in the humanities or the social/behavioral sciences and may be counted as part of the 24 semester hour requirement for the humanities and social sciences. It is expected that the student will have demonstrated precise and fluent communication in spoken and written English.</p>
<p>Also, from Harvard:</p>
<ol>
<li>Expository Writing</li>
</ol>
<p>Writing skills are important for the study and practice of medicine. This requirement may be met with any nonscience courses that involve substantial experience in expository writing. Advanced placement credits cannot be used to satisfy this requirement.</p>
<p>Most school require 2 semesters of “writing intensive” classes. You will need to check with the academic advising office at your college to see if Lit classes fall into that category. (I’d imagine they will, but it’s always prudent to ask.)</p>
<p>FWIW, D2’s second and third “writing intensive” classes were in math and bio depts. respectively.</p>
<p>As for English lit being relevant to the verbal section… As I understand it, the verbal section tests your reading and analytic reasoning skills as applied to science and possibly medically-related social science passages. I doubt being able to apply the dialectic principles of deconstructionism to a passage about population statistics is going to help you much. I’ve heard that philosophy classes are more useful for the verbal than Lit classes.</p>
<p>~~~</p>
<p>RE: MCAT prepping. The MCAT is grueling exam. I think it’s foolish to go into thinking you’re going to take it multiple times. (Besides, do you really want the med schools you apply to to see you have multiple not-so-hot scores?) Absent a horrible outcome (unexpectedly low score), I can’t imagine wanting to take it more than once.</p>
<p>Ah thank you. What would be defined as an “intensive writing” course? At RPI the two writing courses I can take are “Rhetoric and Writing” which states that a substantial amount of writing is required but that it is communication intensive and also “Creative Writing” which involves a lot of writing but is stated as communication intensive. Would those two courses be viewed by medical schools as ‘writing-intensive’ still.</p>
<p>EDIT: thanks WOWM i’ll definitely check and see if literature is definied as writing intensive here and also look into writing courses in other non-science areas</p>
<p>cortana-- some schools require a upper level humanities. I know USC does. Maybe JHU? There are probably a few others with atypical humanities/social science requirements. It doesn’t hurt to check the requirements at a few school that you’re most interested in.</p>