<p>I am a freshman in UC-Irvine. Normally I should take the Organic Chemistry sequence in three quarters plus the labs in two quorters. However, the school offers Organic Chemistry lecture and lab in summer. If I take the lecture and lab in each session, I will be able to complete most of my Organic Chemistry and Labs in summer - lecture 51A and 51B, and lab 51LA and 51LB. this way I will have more time to take other classes I like. The catch is that the summer class is intensive: three 2-hour lectures and two 4-hour labs each week. On the other hand, I will not have any other classes to worry about in summer, so I can focus on them. Considering the difficulty of Organic Chemistry and its lab, is it a good or bad idea to take them in summer? Will it be harder to get good grades? Thanks for your advise.</p>
<p>I also want to do this. </p>
<p>However, I have heard that some Med Schools may see summer classes in a bad light. Additionally, summers would be important for extracurricular activities; research, clinical, etc.</p>
<p>Another question: is the semester that you took the class marked on your transcript?</p>
<p>Organic chemistry in a regular semester is fast-paced. In a summer session? I'm guessing it will be brutal.</p>
<p>^that may be the case, but at some universities (it could also be professor/course dependent), the class could actually be easier. Taking courses out-of-sequence (especially at quarter system schools) seems to be an nice way to get an easier professor or a less competitive class (for means).
To give you an idea, the summer labs for UCLA's two lower division chemistry labs (14BL and 14CL) got filled within a day, and the biochemistry lab (153L) got filled even faster. This is a very common practice for the exact same reasons u mentioned.
*whether taking courses in the summer is good or bad, is debatable</p>
<p>2o_o7: it is VERY possible to take two courses over the summer and have PLENTY of time to do extracurricular activities. in fact, it may even put you at a slight advantage (especially if you live on campus) because you will have easier access to research and volunteering (if ur university is near a major hospital).</p>
<p>(Back in the dark ages) I took 2 semesters worth of organic and lab over the summer and found the material manageable and even pleasant. Total immersion can be an effective learning technique that benefits from the exclusion of academic distraction. However, a pace that requires mastery of several chapters a week is unforgiving of slip ups.</p>
<p>It might work for you.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the advice. I just wonder what is the difference of the students between summer session and regular session. Compared with regular sessions, are there more motivated students in the summer session who want to get ahead, or more students who retake the classes due to failure in the regular session? Will this make the summer class more competitive?</p>
<p>I've always heard that summer session was easier, just word of mouth though. I'm assuming easier curve/less competition (not with the regular pre-med crowd)/less distractions without 3-4 other classes</p>