Is my course work too challenging for Pre-med?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hi, i am going to be Pre-Med.</p>

<p>Major: Biophysics
Minor: Chemistry, and Art History</p>

<p>Is it too hard?</p>

<p>Freshman Year: </p>

<p>Fall:</p>

<p>University Writing
Calculus 1
General Chemistry w/ Lab
Intro Biology w/ Lab
Survey of Western Art I
= 18 credits</p>

<p>Spring:</p>

<p>Drawing I (3)
Calculus II
General Chemistry II w/ Lab
Intro Biology II w/ Lab
Survey of Western Art II
= 18 credits</p>

<p>SUMMER:
Political Science!
Logic!</p>

<p>@ Hunter College!!!!!!!</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:</p>

<p>Fall:
University Physics I w/ lab (4)
Multi-Variable Calculus (3)
Organic Chemistry I w/ Lab (4)
Molecular Biology (4)
Ancient Art of the Bronze Age and Greece (AH 101) (3)
= 18 credits</p>

<p>Spring:
University Physics II w/ lab (4)
Statistics for the biological sciences (3)
Organic Chemistry II w/ Lab (4)
Cell Biology (3)
Early Northern Renaissance Art and Architecture (3)
= 17 credits </p>

<p>SUMMER:</p>

<p>Human Physiology!
Genetics!
@ NYU</p>

<p>Junior Year:</p>

<p>Fall:</p>

<p>University Physics III (3)
Biophysics: Macroscopic Physics in the Life Sciences (3)
Intermediate Laboratory I: Techniques and Methods (3)
Biochemistry (4)
Physical Chemistry I (3)</p>

<p>= 16 credits</p>

<p>Spring:</p>

<p>Biophysics: Microscopic Physics in the Life Sciences (3)
Mechanics (3)
Thermal and Statistical Physics (3)
Physical Chemistry II (3)
European Art of the Twentieth Century (AH 143) (3)</p>

<p>= 15 credits</p>

<p>Senior Year:</p>

<p>Fall:</p>

<p>Russian I (4)
Undergraduate Research (3)
Principles of Quantum Physics (3)
Seminar in Medieval Art and Architecture (AH 119) (3)
Engineering Analysis I (ApSc 113) (3)
= 16 credits</p>

<p>Spring:</p>

<p>Russian II (4)
Undergraduate Research (3)
Engineering Analysis II (ApSc 114) (3)
Electromagnetic Theory I (3)
Introduction to Biomedical Computing (3)
= 16 credits</p>

<p>Its just a planning out. i was hoping for someone to help me change things around. </p>

<p>Human Physiology, Genetics, and cell Biology, as well as Physical Chemistry aren't part of my major but, they will help me get a better understanding on the MCAT</p>

2

<p>wow if u feel that u can do all that, then good for you. however, you’ll probably be miserable throughout college, especially in your sophomore & junior years lol.</p>

<p>honestly, the only ones in addition to the normal pre-med requirements that i would suggest in that they would be helpful would probably be physical chemistry and cell bio. though genetics is suggested, the most in-depth genetics question i had was a punnett square (but then again, every mcat exam is different). i would just take courses for your major and maybe drop a minor. enjoy college!!!</p>

3

<p>^ good advice…i’d add to it:</p>

<p>drop the Chemistry minor, you aren’t impressing anyone
forget about taking the summer courses and instead do something useful with your summer </p>

<p>taking a stats course is a great idea</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>do NOT take classes thinking they will help you on the MCAT…they won’t</p>

4

<p>well my chemistry minor only needed Physical Chem 1 and 2 in order to become a minor, so i thought, might as well do it because Physical chemistry is going to help me with the Physical Sciences section of the MCAT. Human Physiology and Genetics are no bother to be at all. I dont mind doing them in the summer. If anything, which of these two courses are more present and important for the MCAT, Human Physiology or Genetics.</p>

<p>Thank you for your answers!</p>

5

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<p>Haven taken both p-chem and the MCAT, I can tell you that p-chem is not going to be helpful.</p>

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</p>

<p>It’s not an issue of you minding. It’s an issue of that time being better spent on the ECs that are so important to getting into medical school.</p>

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</p>

<p>Neither is important for the MCAT, so you could probably take either of them and get the same benefit.</p>

6

<p>^I agree. From everyone I have talked to on SDN, P-Chem doesn’t help you at all. I would drop the Chem minor.</p>

7

<p>

Exactly, being committed to academics is great… but there are so many other things you should accomplish during college. Shadowing, volunteering, research, or (heaven forbid), some non-pre-med related things that you enjoy.</p>

<p>Unless something happens that makes you fall behind (you withdraw from a course, you take a semester off, or you’re a rising senior and need to raise a GPA, blah blah), why take summer classes? Just do well during the school year. If you end up needing to take summer classes, fine, but it’s not something you really need to plan on doing for kicks.</p>

<p>Planning out your entire 4 years is kind of pointless… I mean, go for it if you feel like, I did it too as a freshman, when I hit my peak pre-med neurosis. Then I got sick and had to take a semester off, and that plan went to hell. Those hours of planning would have been better spent drinking cheap beer in my dorm. In general, you don’t know what’s going to happen down the road, or how you’ll feel in 2 years, so a 4 year schedule is pretty tentative, at best.</p>

8

<p>Also after reading tons of posts on courses i’ve heard p-chem is generally one of the hardest chem classes along with a-chem, and would thus be a gpa killer with a bunch of unnecessary work, especially along with the other courses you have listed during your junior year (unless, of course, you are actually genuinely interested in the subject). I would definitely not do it if you just want to be able to say you minored in chemistry.</p>

9

<p>In my experience, p-chem is like orgo - you either get it and like it, or you don’t get it and hate it. Orgo did a number on my GPA. P-chem helped improve it. So YMMV.</p>

10

<p>well im going to be a biophysics major and P-chem is for people, from which i heard, that understand physics and chemistry very well.</p>

11

<p>I don’t know if you necessarily have to have a great grasp of physics (I never understood optics, for example) but you absolutely must have a solid background in calculus. I had people in my class who couldn’t integrate simple things like log(x) and it was a real disaster for them.</p>

12

<p>YMMV? and thts interesting. I always heard pchem was like even harder then ochem. guess it depends on the person</p>

13

<p>Am I mistaken that you would need more math than just a solid background in calculus before you can comfortably tackle pchem (esp. the quantum part)?</p>

<p>When I was in college, I believed that I had had a good background in the first year calculus and physics, but it was still a disaster for me to take the second level of physics which contains quantum stuff. It was so painful that I still remember the textbook we used then (sophomore year) – Actually I now believe that we suffered so much because the professor was very bad. It was rumored that only two students among 100 students got it at that time (one of them later got a Ph. D from Caltech in two and a half year. And the other became a professor at my home school.)</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Quantum Mechanics (2 Volumes in 1): Albert Messiah: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Mechanics-2-Volumes-1/dp/0486409244/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246156669&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Mechanics-2-Volumes-1/dp/0486409244/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246156669&sr=1-1)</p>

<p>I always thought it would require vector calculus and linear algebra (and possibly some classical mechanics) in addition to the first year calculus. Am I wrong here?</p>

14

<p>Physics rules. However, if you are only doing this major in hopes that it will prepare you for medical school, then it’s overkill. You really don’t have to know much science to do well on the MCAT and get into med school.</p>

<p>and lol at the people pointing out about how hard pchem will be. the guy’s planning on taking courses in quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics.</p>

15

<p>no im doing Physics cause its awesome and i love the subject better than the other 2 sciences! </p>

<p>and yeah, i believe quantum physics, mechanics and statistical mechanics is killer compared to physical chemistryl</p>

16

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<p>Agreed. Planning your first two years seems like a decent idea.</p>

<p>Planning 4 years is pointless. Circumstances change; classes might not be offered, or might be offered with bad professors, or you might realize you don’t want to take certain classes after all. You might think you want to now; it’s easy to think that before having set foot in a college course. In fact, $100 says your junior/senior year schedules will look nothing like what you’ve planned out.</p>

<p>That said, I agree with what everyone else has said.</p>

17

<p>well i’m not planning anything out. Those are all requirements for my major in Biophysics and my minor for Art History. Those are just courses im required to take and are given to me from the website as (taken in junior year) and (taken usually in sophomore year)</p>

<p>Just Human Physiology, Genetics, and Physical Chemistry aren’t part of my major and minor. My Uncle, who just finished his residency, told me he remembers Human Physiology and P-Chem helped him ALOT on the MCAT. </p>

<p>Well if anything (i do not like a professor in that class) ill just switch that class around with another required class and take the other class with the bad professor during another semester.</p>

18

<p>

My point exactly.</p>

<p>Anyway, you’ll probably see what I mean when you get to college. There’s a chance that what you’ve got planned here will be what you end up doing, but there’s a bigger chance it’ll change. I’d hedge my bets on you dropping one or both minors and changing your major.</p>

<p>Besides, your schedule doesn’t have two semesters of English so there’s a problem right there.</p>

19

<p>yeah but, im getting one semester of english covered due to my credit for AP English. so thats why there is only one course in english in my schedule.</p>

20

<p>^ do med schools allow you to AP out of a semesteR?, idts</p>