<p>i was planning to take organ chem in the summer after my freshman in my home institute, but my advisor told me that med school likes to see how we manage our time while taking organ chem and other courses together during the school yr.</p>
<p>so, is that true?</p>
<p>Yes and no. It is way easier in the summer that is true, but medical schools usually won't look down on it. But you probably will learn less in a rushed summer course than in a normal course, because there isn't time to go over every detail.</p>
<p>I have been told repeatedly by my advisors to avoid taking major premed classes, especially orgo, over the summer, because medical schools WILL look down on what appears to be a ducking of difficult coursework. Furthermore, you are almost gauranteed to learn less in a summer course than a full semester one, and as far as prepping for the MCAT is concerned, this is a bad idea.</p>
<p>better not take any major courses over summer, especially those that are supposed to supply you with information that'll last into other subjects -- things that you'll learn in o-chem will need time to digest and sink in so that you'll remember it well -- i would not agree that summer o-chem is easier, at least at my university -- it is actually harder because you're given much less time to understand and master the subject</p>
<p>lab courses fit best for summer because they take a lot of busy-time during academic year with having to attend lab and then write a lab reports -- as well as things like physics that, for example if you're a bio major, you won't probably need to remember that much of it for other courses you take</p>
<p>I was under the impression that taking classes over the summer was harder since you have to learn material in a much shorter period of time.</p>
<p>In an epistemological sense, yes, summer courses are harder.</p>
<p>In terms of grades, it's often the case that the students taking the course over the summer are not among the tougher competition that a school has to offer and the curves are frequently more generous, period. At least, this is reputation.</p>
<p>I was always told that this was a loophole that adcoms neglected to close - that is, they simply didn't pay attention to this difference, even though they should. Rumors on this board are now circulating that they do, in fact, pay attention - rumors which I find credible.</p>
<p>I was thinking of taking 1 semester of Bio and 1 semester of physics over the summer (I'm probably going to double major). So would you guys not recommend taking those pre-med reqs over the summer then if it is supposedly true that med schools look down on summer classes?</p>
<p>As I've said, my Penn advisors have told be that med schools will look down on summer classes. That said, if for scheduling reasons you must push some to the summer, I don't think taking one semester of physics over the summer will impact you too much. Bio, on the other hand, is probably the most important course in terms of relevance to med school and the MCAT, and I would seriously discourage you from taking it over the summer.</p>
<p>why are summer school courses considered easier than courses taken during the normal school year?</p>
<p>one reason could be that cause you are doing it in less time, the quizzes/tests may not be as difficult as they could be provided the instructor had more time to go in detail. </p>
<p>I've taken calculus over the summer at my home institution, and some of my friends who go to this school say the summer classes are easier but I don't think so. The usual 15 weeks class is shortened to 6 weeks, 2 hrs a day 4 days a week...that is a lot. I get A LOT of homework and my professor told me he likes his summer classes to be of the same rigor as the ones during the fall/spring. </p>
<p>So i guess maybe it depends on the professor, but I think it's actually a lot harder during the summer. And I know a friend of mine who is taking Orgo I, II over the summer and he is doing miserable cause the class is just going way to fast for him to sit and understand the material.</p>
<p>thanks for the response!cleared things up a bit.</p>
<p>thank you guys</p>
<p>so, is that better to use the summer to take other classes (like genetic/cell biology or liberal arts requirements) in home institute, or cont. to do research in the summer after freshman yr?</p>
<p>This gets at the most important reason people should not take summer school: it interferes with other things you should be doing instead.</p>
<p>I'd do the research. Adcoms have nine months a year to assess your full-time schoolwork. Give them a few months to see you do something else.</p>
<p>A few friends of mine have also said that summer is harder than the school year as well because of that same reason umardrr mentioned. I was actually worried that summer was going to be harder too but I guess it could be easier in a way as well. But I figured the curve would be just as severe because supposedly a lot of kids do take summer classes to "get ahead" or to take classes that they can't fit into their schedule rather than just failing the class. But if the people who failed the class last semester during the school year take a class during summer, I didn't think the curve would be drastically favored for the students. But I guess it does depend on which class/teacher you take. :(</p>