<p>The search function didn't show anything for "summer school" so I apologize if this topic has already been covered ad nauseam.</p>
<p>I am considering taking organic chemistry in summer school and I am wondering how medical schools view students that take premed prereqs in the summer. I figure it will help me lighten the load when I have to take physics, pchem, etc, but I wonder if schools view it as inadequate? I am also going to be doing research this summer, so I will be on campus anyway. Why not knock out a class while I'm at it?</p>
<p>You are doing Ochem at your own school this summer? From what I've seen on the boards that's a lot better than taking it at another (possibly lesser) school. Are you sure it'll even matter when they look at AMCAS? Summer just goes to the next year, right? Everything gets converted to fresh,soph, junior,senior if I read the handbook correctly. I have no personal experience (I went to law school when the law was written on stone tablets). So wait for the pro's to answer but I think you'll be O.K.</p>
<p>It does matter on AMCAS, and it probably is not a good thing. You should pour the extra time into your labwork. Penn's very capable premed advising team has started telling students that medical schools believe, correctly or not, that summer courses are less rigorous. In any case, your research needs to be your top priority, not organic chemistry.</p>
<p>Yeah, sounds about what I was thinking. A kid in my research group who is a year older than me said he did it and landed a 99% or so in the class. I would still have all the time for research, I would just have class early in the morning. My friend also said that the professor is the same between this class (ochem II) and the lab portion that I will take next semester. This means that it might be able to form some sort of relationship with prof., and possibly be more comfortable/perform better in the lab portion.</p>
<p>Curmudgeon must have been in law school when I was in med school (the stone tablets), but I took physics and its labs over the summer and managed to get in. But I know -- times have changed.</p>
<p>But my question to the OP -- are you some type of chem major or is pchem required for your major? I checked the requirements a few med schools, and pchem is not a pre-req. If you're going to be on campus and get dissuaded from a pre-req, why not take something a little more "fun".</p>
<p>Oh, definitely summer courses aren't going to single-handedly keep you out. Not even in these changed times. (If I made any grammar mistakes, blame the punchcard.)</p>
<p>I am a biochem major, although I don't know if pchem is required for my major. I think our school might offer pchem for biomolecules or something. I am rounding up my freshman year, so that is in the future anyway.</p>
<p>I asked this similar question before whether i should take ochem or physics for summer, from my friend, he has told me that they prefer ochem to be taken in during the regular year. Im pretty sure ochem is very important to med schools, so probably you should continue on with research over the summer or some other science course over the summer. however this is just word of mouth.</p>
<p>If you want to do something else, along side research, for the summer why not do some volunteering? Or shadowing? I would listen to BDM about the summer courses...take it during the regular semester.</p>
<p>Will it really make that much of a difference? I spoke with my research professor and he said that is relatively negligible in the grand scheme of things. I also feel that if I can get an A in Ochem I I will have more reason for them to believe that I can get an A in Ochem II. Like I said before, the reason I am doing this is to take some pressure of the next year's schedule. That being said, I do value the advice given on this forum.</p>