Should physics be taken as a sophmore or junior for pre-med.

<p>I am going to be a sophomore in the fall and I cant make up my mind on deciding to take physics as a sophomore or junior! Some say take physics junior year but then you will not have finished physics 2 by the time you prepare to take the MCAT. Others say take physics with organic sophomore year so you have the prereqs done and can take the MCAT before junior year having the whole summer to study. It can be a bit hard to take organic chemistry and physics together. What makes it even harder is I have friends doing both! I would love some advice from those who have completed both or any advice in general. I don't want to make a decision I will regret.</p>

<p>I’ve done something similar before and I took biochem at the same time as well. Have you taken two weeder classes at the same time before? If so, have you done well? If you have done so and you don’t take too many other classes at the same time then it should be doable. Make sure you can allocate at least 3 hours a day to do problems (and piling up the hours on certain days doesn’t count. Spacing it out is better for learning).</p>

<p>I think the more important question is would you rather take the MCAT during the summer before junior year or during the spring of junior year? For example my EC load was such that taking the exam anytime other than summer was impossible but i ended up doing a gap year so i took it summer after junior year. Unless you’ve never had physics before you’ll probably be able to handle MCAT physics even if you aren’t completely done with it if you think that physics and ocher at the same time will be too much for you</p>

<p>aldfig0, I took BIO 182 (Ecology and Evolution) , CHM 116 (Titrations and etc), Statistics, ENG 102, and Gender & Society last semester (17 units) and finished with all A’s</p>

<p>My mom thought I was crazy haha but I made it through</p>

<p>This semester I was planning (not sure) on taking O chem 1 (with lab), Physics 1 (Non-calculus based) (with lab), calculus for the life sciences, public speaking, and a religions class.</p>

<p>Then next semester take O chem 2 (with lab), Physics 2 (Non-calculus based) (with lab) Genetics (no lab), with 2 other easy gen eds</p>

<p>What do you think?</p>

<p>I think I would rather take the MCAT the summer before junior year but it depends on if I hit the score I want when i study for it. Supposedly upper division material can help but idk if that goes over the benefit of having it done early.</p>

<p>Post bump…</p>

<p>I just took the MCAT right after ending Junior year (took Phys junior year). Taking it later gives you more time to study, and your semester junior year might be lighter than it is now (giving your more time to study). For example, I took Biochem 2, Physics 2, Bioethics, and did research the semester before taking the MCAT. I still have all of my requirements done and am easily going to graduate, but I had ample time to study and ended up doing relatively well on the MCAT.</p>

<p>It would be good to have this for the MCATs.
Dr Hack</p>

<p>post bump …</p>