<p>Hi I am currently a freshman BS: Computer science major at the university of north carolina at charlotte. I have recently decided that I wanted to take a shot at getting into medical school. Last semester I took:
Calculus I
Intro to computer science I (C++)
English 1
Introduction to geography
American politics
Computing professionals(freshman, CS seminar)</p>
<p>I finished that semester with a 3.81 GPA and this semester I am taking:
Calculus II
Intro to computer science II(Java)
English 2
Logic and algorithms (discreet math for computer science students)
some liberal studies class</p>
<p>I fully expect myself to do at the very least, a 3.8 again. I am a good student but i recently decided that I dont enjoy computer science and I just got talked into it by my parents. That on top of being a hardly average high school student made me think Med school wasn't an option. Too bad because I was always interested in Medicine.</p>
<p>I spent a few hours looking at each major and I have decided to major in Biology. I'm not sure if i want to do BA or BS. I picked biology because I think it would be a challenging major and it has plenty of overlap with the premed track. I also have a very genuine interest in biology. Computer science was just not my major, I was able to tough it through and get good grades but it was so uninteresting to me.</p>
<p>Oh and I was planning on transferring to UNC chapel hill my junior year (fall 2014). </p>
<p>Ok now for the questions, well i have a few of them:
Can I expect a significantly higher workload from biology? I know med schools require a very high GPA
Is my transfer a good idea?
And most importantly, I know the MCAT is changing in 2015 and I guess that is when I would have to take it since that would be the later half of my junior year. What classes should i be sure to take now? I heard some classes are more important to have for the MCAT. Or should i just scrunch all of my premed requirements in my next two years of school before i take the MCAT</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any answers and feedback</p>
<p>1) it depends of how many bio credits you’ll need for your degree and the subfield of bio you plan to major in. Having done my share of programming, I doubt that bio will be more time-consuming, but you will have the weekly time-sinks of required labs for bio/chem/phys courses. (3-5 additional hours of weekly in-classroom time per lab)</p>
<p>2) transferring has some issues you’ll need to be aware of. You will need strong LORs from profs and you won’t be at UNC-CH long enough to cultivate those personal contacts UNLESS you postpone applying until after graduation. UNC-CH does not use a committee letter so finding recommenders will be entirely up to you. Also when one transfers, it’s reasonably common to lose some credits in the process–which could set your anticipated graduation date back by a semester or more.</p>
<p>RE: 2015 MCAT It will include material from all of these courses: intro biology; general chem 1 & 2; Ochem 1 & 2: biochem; gen physics 1 & 2; stats; psychology; sociology.</p>
<p>You will need to have completed (or be close to completing) these before you sit for the exam. </p>
<p>Successful med school applicants also frequently recommend genetics and anatomy & physiology before the MCAT also.</p>
<p>My advice: given all the changes you’re anticipating–change of major and a transfer to a different college–I would suggest postponing your MCAT until spring of senior year and applying after you’ve graduated. This will give you time to complete your pre-reqs and major requirements without bunching 4-5 science classes into a single semester during your junior year. The additional year (plus glide year) will give you a chance to get your medical ECs and LORs in order too.</p>
<p>A second unsolicited piece fo advice, before you commit yourself to this course, spend some time this summer doing medical volunteering (hospital, nursing home, group home, free clinic, etc) and see if you can shadow a couple of doctors so you can see what this career is really like. Many students frequently have an “idealized” vision of what medicine as a profession is like–largely based on TV and hearsay. The reality of the profession is much different.</p>
<p>Just so you can kinda see what im up against
BA track
<a href=“http://academics.uncc.edu/sites/academics.uncc.edu/files/media/Biology-BA-APS-Feb-2013.pdf[/url]”>http://academics.uncc.edu/sites/academics.uncc.edu/files/media/Biology-BA-APS-Feb-2013.pdf</a></p>
<p>Im thinking of taking physics, chem and bio all in one year with a super easy GE class. Also i am not really liking the idea of 5 years of undergrad. I mean, I guess I dont have to transfer since from what I heard, med schools dont care much about prestige so much. Also all my credits would transfer fairly easily since im transferring between university of north carolina school systems.</p>
<p>Note that it is not required to major in biology to do pre-med; you can do the pre-med courses alongside any major (although majoring in biology would automatically include most of them in your major).</p>
<p>Note also that majoring in biology is basically medical school or bust, as the job and career options at the bachelor’s degree level are not very good.</p>
<p>Yeah I realize I could major in anything but biology just sounds very interesting to me. Also I really do think I’m fully capable of getting into medical school.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You wouldn’t need 5 years of undergrad; you’d need 4. </p>
<p>You just wouldn’t be applying to medical school at the end of your junior year. Instead you’d be applying after graduation and using your application year (glide year) to work, earn some money (to help defray med school application costs which can easily run in the $5-8K range or to start paying down your undergrad loans) and strengthen your ECs. </p>
<p>It would also give you a chance to spread out some of your science/major requirements so you don’t end up overloading.</p>
<p>The glide year is not really the year that beefs up your app since you will be submitting the app in June after graduation. Taking a guide year is really about including the summer after junior year and your senior year on your app. Sure, you will be judged on what you’re doing in your glide year but don’t think “I’ll just put off x,y, and z until then”</p>
<p>Honestly I do not like the idea of having a year between my med school and UG. I would rather tough it through since if i cant handle an extra science class then I am probably not med school material. So next year, I plan on taking physics, bio, and chem with labs but ill throw in an easy class. It works out better since I cant move forward in my major until i get general bio</p>
<p>
Many students take one or more years off between undergrad and med school. If you plan to do something productive in that post-baccalaureate period, it may even bolster the strength of your med school app.</p>
<p>Speak to your pre-med college adviser about your course-planning issues. He/she should be able to help you through this “major” transition.</p>
<p>yeah ill definitely have to do that. Also 3 sciences with labs and an easy GE is still a 15 credit semester. I realize it will be a lot harder than what it looks but I do think i should be able to handle that. Im lucky enough to have parents that allow me not to have to worry about anything but school and i have a good work ethic. On top of that, i dont drink or party. anyways a triple threat science semester should be good preparation for med school</p>
<p>@Afujiwa3: I’ve only heard the term “triple threat” used in basketball. :-)</p>
<p>Work hard. Enjoy school. Have fun. Make a lot of friends. Live a balanced life.
Feel free to take the courses you want to take in college. If you can’t fit in all of the pre-med course requirements, then you can certainly take them as post-baccalaureate courses. After all, what’s the rush?</p>
<p>I train in mixed martial arts and i think the term triple threat is more appropriate to describe athletes in my sport. You’re a triple threat if you are able to threaten with good strikes from your feet, takedowns and submissions.</p>
<p>Anyways that off topic. I enjoy school and I am by no means socially deprived. I just know where my priorities are. My rush is that I am already going to be in school until Im 25. I just dont want a year between schools. I would enjoy the challenges of 3 science classes eitherway</p>
<p>FWIW, this book: [Amazon.com:</a> The Complete Guide to the MD/PhD Degree: The Art and Science of “Doing it Twice” (9781888308167): Ben Rosner, Jayakar Nayak, Brandon Minnery: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Guide-PhD-Degree/dp/1888308168/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1360605757&sr=8-3&keywords=guide+to+the+md%2Fphd]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Guide-PhD-Degree/dp/1888308168/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1360605757&sr=8-3&keywords=guide+to+the+md%2Fphd) actually uses the term “sextuple threat” for describing the ideal MD/PhD applicant.</p>
<p>Your call OP, you can enjoy the challenge and shoot yourself in the foot when it comes to your MD admissions choices, something that can impact the next 40+ years of your life, or you can take one extra year and improve your chances at gaining admission to a top school. Let alone the 4 year MD, many 7-9 year MD/PhDs take up to 3 years between undergrad and starting.</p>
<p>i think it is unfair to compare this to shooting myself in the foot. most people take bio and chem with labs their first year. all i am adding is physics and those 3 are all i need to focus on.</p>
<p>Well sure, you’re “only” adding one more class and lab to an already difficult semester, but you’re also not giving yourself any room for mistakes. If you do poorly (in my mind, B- or worse) in any of those three subjects, you’re definitely going to be on the defensive about your application from here on out. Spreading the classes out gives you more time to focus on each one of them and decreases the impact a poor semester would have on your overall application. You can’t predict what will happen next year–could be anywhere from having the misfortune of every major exam falling on the same day to a personal tragedy or crisis to an injury or illness. Or it could be awesome. But regardless, if you put all your big premed prereqs into one semester just purely because you want to, you are increasing the likelihood that your application will suffer if some “life” happens during that semester. Spreading them out increases the likelihood that no one semester will make or break your application in terms of “life” events that are largely outside your control.</p>
<p>From my experience and observations of my friends, it seems like you can “get away with” having precisely one deficiency in your application and still be accepted: low (<3.6) GPA, low (<30) MCAT, weak involvement in one or two of the major ECs, etc. After one semester, your GPA looks great, and it’s wonderful that you’re working hard and anticipating another strong semester this time. The thing is, it’s only going to get harder from here–and there’s just no reason to potentially sabotage yourself/your application when it comes to classes, as they’re one of the very few things about this process that you alone have complete control over. Should something happen to your GPA (and I’m not saying it will!), you’ll have to be nearly perfect in all other categories to pick up an acceptance straight out of undergrad on your first try.</p>
<p>I think the smarter choice would be to defer one of those science with lab classes to a future semester, and add something else relevant to the upcoming one. But that’s just me.</p>