Premed CC Students or Recent Grads?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Having just gotten accepted to CC Early Decision, I was hoping to see if any current students or recent grads can offer any advice or feedback on following a premed track. It seems that with all of the Med School and Core Curriculum requirements, I won't even get to taking any classes for my major until my Senior year... and I'll still be finishing Core requirements in my Junior year! While it's a challenge to find time for electives, I'm sure some of you out there already have experience effectively fitting everything into a 4 year/8 semester schedule and can offer some insight... what Science and Core courses did you take each year? Was it nearby impossible (or attainable) to maintain a 3.7+ GPA? Would it be okay to start taking your 4 semester Foreign Language requirement your Junior year? Etc, etc... </p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>what are you planning on majoring in? a science or humanities?</p>

3

<p>Thank you for resonding, Shraf! I plan on "majoring" (I use that term lightly since I'll most likely be doing the shortened concentration for premed students) in humanities. But, I'll of course be taking all of the med school requirements (Gen Chem, Orgo, Bio, Physics, etc). From some of your other postings, are you/were you a premed-er?</p>

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<p>Hey hoping, I was recently thinking premed as well - how would you go about majoring in humanities and also being pre-med? Wouldn't that be crazy difficult if you're not majoring in sciences?</p>

5

<p>Uh...its easy to fit everything in if you take more than four classes, which I personally find to be a ridiculously light courseload. You can definitely get the premed requirements done within two (or three) years, as well as the Core and still have room for major classes.</p>

<p>Your schedule for premed will probably be:
lithum
chem
physics
uw/fos
MAJOR CLASS/MAJOR CLASS(or language/whatever requirement)</p>

<p>which is probably enough - maybe even just four if you really want to protect the gpa or whatever.</p>

<p>sophoyear should be something like
CC
ORGO
BIO
core/core
major/major</p>

<p>or whatever. there's plenty of room for other classes besides requirements.</p>

6

<p>i was BME/premed in SEAS....</p>

<p>premed with a humanities concentration is doable...I don't think you'd be able to take four classes per semester and finish on time...maybe you'd be able to pull it off ONE semester, but you should put that off as long as you can if u figure its possible. I've never actually heard of anyone in CC take 6 classes per semester....i'm sure it happens but its very rare....on the other hand it is quite common in SEAS to take 6 or even 7 classes in one semester.</p>

<p>Though GPA is important you shouldn't let it own you....</p>

<p>ECs are crucial when you are premed....med schools do not want to see someone who didn't do anything but study for four years. that shows absolutely no interest in medicine or science....doing well in science classes and having a high GPA are only two pieces of a much bigger puzzle.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the feedback, Shraf! lvilleslacker - I'm completely amazed that you were able to double up on science classes both years... gives me hope that the courses may not be too brutal :-)</p>

<p>I wasn't thinking that I would only take 4 classes a semester, but between the sciences and the Core (not to mention 4 semesters of Foreign Language and 2 semesters of Calc), it seems like the only way to finish all the requirements by Junior year would be to take 17+ credits a semester. And, not that GPA is the end-all, but maintaining a 3.7 seems to be a common denominator for getting into a decent med school. At this point, the courseload makes me wary as to whether that would be possible!</p>

<p>Is there anyway to consolidate classes without having to get 5s on AP exams and taking the intensive versions? Also, what is the average number of credits most CC students take a semester (premed or otherwise)?</p>

8

<p>
[quote]
t seems like the only way to finish all the requirements by Junior year would be to take 17+ credits a semester

[/quote]
</p>

<p>thats not a big deal....if you aren't able to handle at least 17 credits a semester, u should probably reconsider med school</p>

<p>
[quote]
maintaining a 3.7 seems to be a common denominator for getting into a decent med school

[/quote]
</p>

<p>that is a myth and a completely arbitrary number....there are so many things that are looked at other than GPA</p>

<p>
[quote]
Is there anyway to consolidate classes without having to get 5s on AP exams and taking the intensive versions?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>no ....for some u can take the intensive class without getting a 5 in the AP, but of course you r less likely to get a good grade in the harder class</p>

<p>
[quote]
Also, what is the average number of credits most CC students take a semester (premed or otherwise)?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>on average people take anywhere from 12 to 18 credits in CC...in SEAS its usually anywhere from 16 to 22....and given that SEAS classes are harder, you should see that you really shouldn't be complaining</p>

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<p>If you are interested the Pre-medical handbook from the office of pre-professional advising gives some ideas of the schedules during the freshman and soph year. It can be found here:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/preprofessional/health/forms/PremedicalHandbook2007_08.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/preprofessional/health/forms/PremedicalHandbook2007_08.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>i'd like to point that while intensive is good, if you're pre-med and not a god, stay the **** out of 2801 physics next year and stick with the lower classes. it's just not worth it, trust me.</p>

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<p>Yes, stay the hell out of accelerated physics 2800. The seppuku rate in that class is practically at Cornell levels. (kidding)</p>

<p>But I often drop the advice to take Intensive G-Chem rather than the regular version. For one thing, it's about the same amount of work, but it's 1 semester instead of a 2-semester sequence. Plus the professor is awesome and spends a ton of time with his students, of whom there are about a third as many as in regular G-Chem. Doing orgo first semester is too extreme though, don't put yourself through that, it's not necessar.</p>

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<p>Denzera, I hope you're not talking about Berne.</p>

<p>Hopingforivy, I'm a first-year pre-med student at CC. I'm thinking about majoring in English. There was a pre-med Q&A session awhile ago, and one of the students there was an English major. What he told me was that it was definitely doable but that you'll probably end up taking six classes some semesters. </p>

<p>Also, you can place out of the foreign language requirement. If you're taking any AP foreign language test, you'll probably be able to place out of it. You can also place out of Music Humanities, but you have to take the placement test at the beginning of freshman year. </p>

<p>I just finished my first semester, and I took Denzera's advice to take Intensive Gen Chem. I took the final yesterday, so I don't know what my final grade is, but the class honestly wasn't that bad. It was my toughest course, but the textbook was incredibly helpful. The professor also drops the lowest midterm grade (three midterms, one final that counts as two midterms). A lot of people dropped out in the first couple of weeks, and the material was really hard and unfamiliar at first (the lectures contain a lot of derivations), but then you realize that half that stuff isn't going to be on the tests, and it's more of a for-your-own-edification-here's-how-to-get-Schrodinger's-equation type of thing.</p>

<p>Oh yeah, and like Denzera said, the big plus is that it's only one semester, so you're free to take the lab second semester, which is what I'm doing. I'd hate to take intensive gen chem and the intensive lab at the same time. </p>

<p>My friend is currently taking freshman orgo, and unsurprisingly, it takes up a huge chunk of her time. She's constantly stressing out about it. You don't necessarily have to place into it. I know someone who only placed into intensive but talked to the professor who let him take orgo instead.</p>

<p>Frontiers is sort of a joke. There's nothing to worry about. Depending on who you have for LitHum, you could breeze through that too. I mean, the reading can get heavy, but how many papers you write depends on the professor. I've also heard that MusicHum is relatively easy.</p>

<p>This semester, I took five classes, but with the exception of chem, they were all pretty easy. I found that I had a lot of free time on my hands.</p>

<p>I'm registered for six classes next semester, and one of them is the intro class for the English major. I'm also going to help with research at a lab when I get back from break, so we'll see how that goes.</p>

<p>Sophomore year, I'm planning on taking CC (Core), physics, bio, physics lab, bio lab, and maybe an English elective. Not a lot of wiggle room mainly due to the labs. I'll take orgo and biochem junior year. The pre-med students I talked to said that unless you're a chem or bio god, you shouldn't really take orgo and bio in the same year. From what I hear about both classes, I think this is good advice.</p>

<p>And yes, you have time for other stuff too like hanging out with friends, going clubbing/partying, exploring the city, ECs, etc. You just have to manage your time well and keep up with everything.</p>

13

<p>i second the not taking orgo and bio at the same time if you can help it. The problem is that they are both very intensive and time consuming. If i remember correctly, orgo has four midterms and a final and bio has three midterms and a final and both have quizzes during recitation.</p>

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<p>I was talking about George Flynn. If someone else is teaching it now, I apologize.</p>

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<p>When are placement exams given?</p>

<p>I wonder if I may not have enough time to, independently, prepare for the A.P. Chemistry exam - and since I do want to study this anyway, maybe I can just take the exam next year and use the summer to my advantage?</p>

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<p>exams are given during orientation week. you can place out without ap credit if you do well (or probably could just talk your way in anyways).</p>