<p>I'm a freshman at Northwestern University on pre-med track, and I was planning on taking biology over the summer. This is because, otherwise, I'd have to take a year of bio/orgo together, which are the two most notorious pre-med classes here. I was going to take it at Northwestern, but I'm realizing how much I miss home and everything, so I was thinking about taking it at Creighton University (in Omaha, Nebraska). </p>
<p>Would this be looked down upon by med schools? Either way I will be taking bio over the summer, and this way, I'd get to be at home while I do so. I know that Creighton isn't as 'prestigious' as Northwestern, but it's still very prestigious. However, I know that I shouldn't do it if it will hurt my chances later on. </p>
<p>IF you need to take the class over the summer in order to make your schedule work and/or it leads to higher level classes in that subject at NW and in which you do well, then it is probably OK. But your transcript really needs to show that it was not to do it because it was easier, but rather to lead to more science classes overall</p>
<p>Bio/chem majors here HAVE to take them simultaneously, but from what I hear a lot of kids not from those majors take bio or orgo over the summer. My sister who went here said some of her friends who got into med school took bio over the summer. I’m mainly wondering if it would hurt me if I took it at a less prestigious school so that I can be at home for the summer.</p>
<p>no one is saying you can’t get into med school if you do it, but your question was “will it impact my application in a negative way.” The only way it won’t is if you take it at NW and then take lots of upper level science classes and get As in those. Maybe you can still get away with the lower level at Creighton if you’re taking upper level at NW and getting As, but if you just take your 1 year of bio at Creighton and call it a day it will undoubtedly look bad. Depending on the rest of your application this could simply mean you don’t get into a top 5 school and end up at a top 10 school or it pushes you over the edge from borderline applicant to no admission anywhere.</p>
<p>Bottom line, if it looks like you’re doing it for the reason you stated here (because they are “the two most notorious pre-med classes here”), it WILL hurt your chances without a doubt.</p>
<p>All right. Well, as of now, my main goal for med school is UNMC so maybe they’ll be more forgiving for the Creighton thing if I decide to do that since it’s from the same area.</p>
<p>I took orgo, bio, and physics at the same time. Rough, but I made it out ok.
When applying to med schools, you want to have the least amt of question marks on your application. Taking a required premed course at a diff school is a question mark. Now, how big of an effect it has on your overall app will depend on how strong of an applicant you are.
And I miss home too. 2 more weeks till end of quarter. yayyyyyyyyyyyy</p>
<p>I really don’t see why taking Bio and Orgo together is that big of a deal. My son is currently taking Orgo with Genetics/Cell Bio and a foreign language which meets 5 days a week.</p>
<p>Idk. I’ve just heard it’s a killer at NU to take em together. Also they just changed the bio sequence so it’s completely new and I’ve read very bad reviews so far. They haven’t changed the summer bio sequence though, which has good reviews.</p>
<p>Yes, I’m currently in gen chem and calc, which is the normal process. Then biology/orgo are ‘usually’ but not always taken together sophomore year. It’s only ‘usually’ because that’s for bio/chem majors, which makes up a large percentage of pre-meds.</p>
<p>My son almost attended NU (he actually accepted and then received a better offer) and I thought most take Bio freshman year with Gen Chem. See below:</p>
<p>Students considering a major in Biological Sciences should also plan to take Biology 215 in their spring quarter. Many pre-medical/pre-health students take this course in their first year as well.</p>
<p>Taking some courses outside of your home university will have little or no impact for med school admissions. Most schools have thousands of apps to read and they usually first look at overall gpa and mcat and clinical actitivities to screen for interviews. They don’t have time to go through your transcript and analyze every single course you took</p>
<p>Each institution you took courses at is listed separately on the app and a cumulative and science gpa is calculated for each. Many of the secondaries ask you to specifically list how you satisfied the pre-med requirements. It would take that much effort to see that the year of bio, especially if it’s your only bio classes, came from a different institution.</p>
<p>If I take bio over the summer at my school, but wait to do so until after sophomore year, would that be ok? Or would I not be doing enough this summer? If I went home this summer and did no classes, I would shadow doctors, but I’m not sure I would do research simply because I wouldn’t be able to continue the next summer. Thoughts?</p>
<p>I think it’s best to leave school to the school year and do other cool stuff over the summer. I’m sure there are a million great things to do in Omaha, and shadowing docs is among them. How much do you know about UNMC? Perhaps doing something there–volunteering in someone’s lab, shadowing docs, etc etc would be a good move. That’s not to say it’ll do anything officially for your chances of admissions there, but I think you’d be more confident in your opinions about the school if you became more familiar with it and its hospital. </p>
<p>If you defer bio to soph yr, are you setting yourself up at a disadvantage in any way? Is bio a prereq class for any of the classes you’d like to take later on next year? Will the Creighton class transfer and count as the NU class? </p>
<p>Is one class something that will make or break you, regardless of what you decide? I think that’s impossible to tell. But at the same time, you can’t do everything and you can’t be perfect. I agree 100% with bigreddawgie that you should work diligently to minimize the red flags on your application, but if gen bio is something that has a red flag…so be it. Your life and how you feel is important too! If you think spending some time at home is a good idea for you, then you might choose to prioritize your mental health and comfort over the potential ding for taking the prereq at a different school. And the beauty of the situation is…you’re the one who gets to decide, and your priorities are the ones that matter :)</p>
<p>…do not take any summer classes from the list of pre-regs. Better yet, do not take ANY summer classes, rather get a bit of ECs and mostly try to enjoy your summer, spend time with friends, you will not have the chance later on, you will be sorry that you did not took advantage of your free time, free time is a luxury that will not continue forever…</p>
<p>I think you should take a look at the thread I started on the student doctor network. Very similar to yours but it was physics I was asking about and I’m applying primarily to D.O schools but I’m sure the same would be for M.Ds as well. Bottom line in my opinion and it makes sense, as long as you do well and you’re not doing it because it’s ‘‘easier’’ you should be fine. But again as Miami said it might take up a lot of time over the summer and you do need to shadow doctors, volunteer, have a social life, etc. In the end as most people tell me, you make the decision.</p>