<p>I am going to apply here this year and I would really appreciate it if you guys could tell me something about ND's pre-med program and components that make it possible:</p>
<p>-Professors
-Research
-Grading curve
-DAILY homework
-Classes per semester (average)
-Difficulty of Tests & classes in general</p>
<p>I know this is a lot but I feel the list covers up all my concerns and almost accurately describes the setting, so please place your input for any of the categories surmised above. :) :) :)</p>
<p>This depends on what you want to do. I’d contend the better Professors are more accessable in hard science rather than ALPP and SCPP. (Same goes for research)</p>
<p>Your Arts and Letters courses are graded on a generous scale for the most part. Science courses are graded much harder. (In Orgo about 14% get As each semester, and about 40%-50% drop in Orgo I). In Bio or Chem or Physics the curve in majors classes will be worse than SCPP.</p>
<p>Science is not like high school. You don’t get “daily homework” in most classes. Gen Chem and Physics have required problem sets, Orgo has suggested problems second semester and required problems first (not graded but they randomly pick people to come up to the board and solve in tutorial) Grades are for the most part test based.</p>
<p>Freshman year I had 18 credits a semester, soph I had 16, Junior 15. So, depending on labs 4-5 classes at a time.</p>
<p>More than half of those who start premed will drop. Some because it’s too hard and some realize they don’t want to be a doc.</p>
<p>I thought gen chem/Physics was easy. Others nearly failed. I struggled in Orgo. Some were naturally good at it. Long story short it’s hard. Some classes will come easy and some will kill you.</p>
<p>Here is a perspective from somebody who graduated SCPP.</p>
<p>First of all keep in mind that SCPP is a program and not a rigid major so different SCPP students do different things. Some do the bare minimum and others take extra science classes and pile on the credits. I went that route and I do not regret it. I am currently in med school and the extra classes I took (from Physics, Chem, and Bio) have been very beneficial. The physics research I did for two and a half years has also come in handy.</p>
<p>Profs: I never had a problem approaching any of my profs, regardless of the class size. They are all very accessible in office and are pretty good about returning e-mail. Profs do not really care what major you are in. If you show them a genuine passion and interest in their class they often open up to you. </p>
<p>Research: Once again, it’s all about passion and interest. I did obscure Physics research for a while and I honestly had no prior background. If you come to a prof and demonstrate that you want to be there and have a willingness to learn you will have no problem. Research is almost a must in this day and age for med school.</p>
<p>Curves: For the “premed” classes the curves were frankly hit or miss. Some were generous while others were pretty nasty. My first year I was a Bio major and the curves were not terribly bad in the intro course and labs. I left because I knew I did not want to pursue Bio research and I wanted to free up time to pursue a second major and figure out if medicine was for me.</p>
<p>Daily Homework: I took a Tuesday Thursday physics class where we had daily homework but that was sort of an anomaly.</p>
<p>Classes Per Semester: I pretty much carried 19 credit hours each semester but that was in order to accomplish my two majors.</p>
<p>Difficulty: I personally found the premed core science classes fairly easy. It really depends upon how much time you are willing to invest in these core classes. I think Orgo is tricky for some because it really does require hours of careful study and attention to get the full picture.</p>