I never took a formal chemistry class in high school. I went to a very poor high school that was especially weak in the sciences. AP Chemistry, AP Physics, and classes of the sort weren’t offered. I’ll be attending USC on a full-ride in the fall and will be entering as pre-health psychology major. My lack of knowledge in the sciences, and in chemistry in particular, makes me very concerned.
I was placed in CHEM102, meaning that I’ll be starting at a lower level than most of the pre-meds. Would the fact that I’m starting at a lower class level impede my ability to take the MCAT on time? How much of a disadvantage/setback is this? Putting in the work will not be an issue for me, it just hurts to see that my knowledge in the sciences is severely lacking compared to that of my peers.
I don’t know which chemistry class in USC will qualify you for med school. but you can take a lower level class to start and work yourself into the required course and beyond to prove to the med school that you can advance yourself without AP Chemistry in HS.
Per USC website & course catalog, CHEM 102 will not fulfill pre-med requirements nor offer graduation credit for science majors. But since you have no chemistry background, it’s probably the bet place for you to start. Diving into CHEM 105 without any chemistry background would probably be academic suicide.
You will be starting chemistry a semester behind most pre-meds, and you’ll need to take 6 semesters of chem before the MCAT (Chem 102, Chem 105 A&B, Chem 322 A&B, and Chem 330/BISC330.) Fortunately all the chem classes are offer both fall & spring terms. So, assuming all goes well, you will have completed biochem in time for a late June or early July MCAT. An early summer MCAT will slightly delay your application, but not so much as to be seriously detrimental to your chances.
Depending on how much science catch up you need, you may want to consider delaying any med school application until after you finish undergrad.so you can build a stronger application. 60% of matriculating students have taken a gap year (i.e. apply to med school only after college graduation).
@WayOutWestMom Thanks for the reply! Wouldn’t it also be possible to take classes over the summer provided that I have the time? For example, I could take an additional science class during the summer before my sophomore year. Is this a good idea?
To clarify, did you not take AP Chem or you didn’t take any chem in high school? If it’s the latter, I would absolutely not try and skip ahead or accelerate. Many of your peers will have had regular and AP Chem and you can’t afford to stumble just because you were underprepared.
Summers are your prime EC windows, especially if you are interested at all in research.
Summer science courses are often quite difficult due to the compressed nature of the class. If you have difficulty understanding a concept or blow a quiz, you won’t have time to recover.
Honestly, if you haven’t taken any chem at all, I think USC is doing you a big favor by placing you into this chem class. They are trying to help you succeed, instead of throwing you into a chem course for which you may not be prepared. My advice is to take this class, catch up, and then start the regular chem series with a solid foundation. PreMed is more of a marathon than a sprint, and you don’t want to race ahead if you are being counseled to take it slow. There is no “on time” as far as taking the MCAT is concerned, and most successful applicants (around 60%) take a gap year after college anyway.
My D’s college does this a bit differently, by offering a concurrent Gen Chem course for kids who they believe aren’t prepared for the regular Gen Chem. It covers the same material from what I can tell, but meets more frequently and has a greater number of help sessions. If the placement test results had shown that my D belonged in that class she would have taken it. Extra support is rarely a bad thing.
It is good that you realize early that others have put in their efforts in the high school. You don’t have a disadvantage/setback now. You just start a bit late. But if you should perform badly in the first semester, you would put yourself at a disadvantage/setback. Since you have never taken a formal chemistry class, you might not even like it. A year from now you can decide for yourself if you really like to be a premed. USC has 290 premeds who made it into final round last year (they actually applied). I will bet the majority of them have multiple STEM APs in HS. You have to be sure you are at least among the top 30K applicants nationally to even try to apply to med schools. The majority of those 60% applicants who fail to get in any medical school should have moved on early. “Failed premed” is a disaster for one’s career. BTW, so few people major in chemistry these days, my spouse and I were joking the other days that the number is similar to the number of people who major in Archaeology in my kid’s school (this is true).