<p>At Georgetown this fall, I'll be an international health major and also doing premed coursework. So far, my schedule looks like:</p>
<p>Human Bio (with lab)-4 cr.
General Chem (with lab)-3/2 cr.
Intro to International Health-3 cr.
First Year Seminar-1 cr.
Problem of God-3 cr.</p>
<p>So, I have 16 credits. Is this good...or should I consider taking Calc first semester? I just don't want to overload myself.</p>
<p>Calc isn’t on the MCAT and it isn’t required for your major, so really, take it whenever it is convenient.</p>
<p>Well, you need physics for the MCAT and for premed. You also should take biochem before you take the MCAT (this is debatable, and seems to vary by year) . You will need calc I for a pre-req for physics and calc II for biochem (at least we do at every school in MN). So I would suggest taking calc now, than you won’t have to worry about it when you take organic chem, which is a demanding course. Take stats that semester.</p>
<p>The physics on the MCAT isn’t calc-based, so the OP won’t need to take a physics class with a calc requirement.</p>
<p>Calculus required for biochemistry? Umm…what?
I agree that you shouldn’t put off calculus until say, senior year, but you don’t have to take it as soon as possible.</p>
<p>Many on this board will add that taking physics isn’t even really necessary before the MCAT, as it is basic and one can easily study for it, and take it later.</p>
<p>Calc is a prereq, as in you need to take it before you can take the other class. Like gen chem I is a prereq for gen chem II. This may not be the case everywhere, but it certainly is in MN. Physics is needed for med school. Here you need calc I before taking general physics. You need chemical thermodynamics before taking biochem, and you need calc II as a co or preqes for chemical thermodynamics.</p>
<p>"You will need calc I for a pre-req for physics and calc II for biochem (at least we do at every school in MN). "</p>
<p>-I suppose not at every school. D. never took college Calc., used AP credit. She also took non-calc physics as all pre-meds at her UG, no Calc was required. According to her Calc is pretty useless for pre-meds. D. did not have Calc II at all. Stats was much more uselful as all Med. Research procedures are based on Stats. Besides, it is very easy A. Also Biochem is not even required by most Med. Schools. D. took it in her last UG semester and only because one Med. School has added it actually after D. has applied. All of it was enough to take MCAT successfully right after junior spring finals and get accepted to couple top 20’s (D. was not the only one at her UG either, they all apply to almost the same schools, close by).</p>
<p>I just looked up the pre-reqs for all introductory biochemistry courses for UIlinois, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.</p>
<p>At the very most they required Organic Chemistry, at the least they required an intro Bio or intro Chem. None had a calc requirement.</p>
<p>Perhaps the course you are thinking of is biochemistry for engineers or chem majors.</p>
<p>^ The University of Minnesota? They require Calc II (1296) to take biochem. My school requires chem thermodynamics which requires calc II. Gen physics I at the U also requires calc II. At georgetown specifically, you need calc I for physics.
[PHYS-101</a> Principles of Physics I | 2011-2012 Course Catalog | Georgetown University](<a href=“http://courses.georgetown.edu/index.cfm?Action=View&CourseID=PHYS-101]PHYS-101”>http://courses.georgetown.edu/index.cfm?Action=View&CourseID=PHYS-101)
You should take that your sophomore year or start the beginning of junior. But you don’t want to take calc next year as I said earlier.</p>
<p>It seems as if the test vary each year with how much biochem and physics content they have on them. Some say it helped a lot, others say it didn’t. You want to be prepared so I would take physics and biochem. I haven’t seen one med school that did not at least recommend biochem and physics. Plus, most I looked at require you to take upper level courses in either math or science.</p>
<p>I wasn’t referring to elementary biochem, I was referring to biochem biochem lol. There is no point in taking elementary classes as a premed. Thats for like psychology majors who want some science. Either way its required for physics.</p>
<p>If anything, I plan on taking Calculus as soon as possible. My advisor just told me that I should focus on Chem and Bio first semester, so that I don’t kill my science/math gpa if the three classes were overwhelming. I plan on taking Calculus absolutely before Junior Year, either as a summer course or during sophomore year otherwise.</p>
<p>^Thats good. I took calc II my first semester with bio, chem, and psych, because calc is easy lol. But I would say, and this would be the best schedule, take Calc I next semester. When you take organic Chem II at the end of your sophomore year take statistics because that IS an easy class. Your junior year, take physics I and II. Take two upper level math or science courses your junior and/or senior year. Of course you have to take bio and such, but I think that schedule would put you in good shoes. You will have prereqs and courses for MCAT, without stressing yourself.
Leave calc II and biochem as options.</p>
<p>As far as I know “Organic Chemistry” is required by ALL Med. Schools. I have never heard of singel one that does not require Organic Chemistry.
D. did not take Calc II for exactly the same reason that you, Dwalker took it. It is too easy and she is bored with math in general. Stats were very easy A, but at least Stats are used widely in medicine. She much rather spend time taking upper Bio.<br>
“Leave calc II and biochem as options.” - very good advice! Also, Biochem was very easy at D’s school, but I heard it varies from school to school. She was bored in class and learned nothing new.</p>
<p>^Really? biochem was easy? I expected it to be hard lol. It’ll probably be easy here too. I kinda wondered what ‘new’ info UG biochem could offer. Guess it just points out topics already went over. Yeah I had to take the year of math, and I couldn’t go str8 into calc III cause I was a freshman (math dept policy). I figured an easy A since I already took it as AP. Stats is a piece of cake and I wish I would’ve waited until I had a tough schedule to take it. O well. It could’ve seemed easier than others because I was being taught by the top psych professor in Minnesota lol. Maybe. Either way most med schools recommend it.</p>
<p>My school has 2 physics tracks–one’s calc based, one’s algebra based. Only physics and engineering majors take calc based, and there’s no point in taking calc based for the MCAT because the MCAT’s physics is algebra based. Furthermore, don’t forget there are no formula sheets, no formulas given (except obscure formulas in passages occasionally), and no calculators on the MCAT. All in all, the most difficult part about MCAT physics is that it’s the first section and it’s probably when you’re freaking out the most. </p>
<p>As for biochem, at my school it’s a tough class that’s senior/graduate level (dually listed). Can’t imagine why you’d need calculus and thermo (unless your course places a lot of emphasis on kinetics, enzymes, reactions, energy, etc–but that wasn’t my experience). Our prereqs are orgo and bio, both of which were necessary to understand biochem at the pace it was taught. I’d say it’s a tough class, but the concepts aren’t too challenging (you’ve probably encountered the basics of them in other classes already), and it’s pretty interesting. I’m glad I took biochem before the MCAT.</p>
<p>I’m tempted to say don’t waste your time with calculus beyond what’s required for your major or your prereqs (ie, need calc 1 for physics? Take it. But don’t bother with calc 2)</p>
<p>Now, this international health major might be a bigger concern than when to take calculus (assuming it’s a health professions-type major, which in general is frowned upon by med school admissions committees).</p>
<p>Who said Organic Chemistry wasn’t a med-school requirement?</p>
<p>Here are Georgetown’s physics courses:</p>
<p>[Physics</a> | 2010-2011 Course Catalog | Georgetown University](<a href=“ExploreGeorgetown”>ExploreGeorgetown)</p>
<p>It appears that “pre-med physics” is Physics 101/102, which does require calculus.</p>
<p>^Huh…
Isn’t Math 035 Calculus I
[MATH-035</a> Calculus I | 2010-2011 Course Catalog | Georgetown University](<a href=“ExploreGeorgetown”>ExploreGeorgetown)</p>
<p>S1 has the same course load as OP. He plans to take AP credits for Cal 1 & 2. He is probably done with Cal unless he wants a BS degree in Chem.</p>
<p>@ace550…you know that AP credit does not count towards medical school, and most if not all schools require a year of math.</p>
<p>Dwalker,</p>
<p>S1 will actually get credits for Calc 1 & 2 on college transcript based upon AP scores. It is perhaps one of the benefits going to a state school. My search shows that most mid-tier med schools are OK with that. HMS maintains the guidelines of accepting AP Calc credits for 2015/2016 entering classes. I hope that other med schools will follow if they have not done so already. Realistically, they have to soften some of the requirements considering the higher expectations towards biochemistry, integration of biology/chemistry/physics, and humanity/social sciences.</p>