Upward Trend

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>I was doing chemical engineering now I'm thinking just chemistry, but just because engineering is nearly impossible to maintain high marks across the classes I will explain.</p>

<p>First semester fall 2009 GPA 2.98
Writing 101 B
Calc 2 C+
Literature 270 B+
Gen Chem B+</p>

<p>Pretty poor start oh well </p>

<p>Second semester spring 2010 cum GPA up to 3.39
Gen Chem II A
Bio 125 A
Antopology 102 A
Computer Engineering B+</p>

<p>I had 3 labs a week, and computer science labs take 20+ hours a week no exaggeration you sit there until you are done. As the computer majors say on their habits you do the lab and rinse wash repeat for next weeks. </p>

<p>Fall 2010 GPA cum 3.45
Organic Chemistry A (one of only two A's)
Calc based physics B+
Computer Engineering A- with lab (Final lab took 30-40 hours over 2 weeks wrote a program in html that turned all the people in a phonebook, and based on the button the user selected organized them by first, last name, or state)</p>

<p>Two one credit labs
Physics Lab B
Chemistry Lab B </p>

<p>I only took 15 credits hours but man they took a tole on me. I have been taking 3 science classes each with a lab a semester. And spring semester im taking 4 labs and 4 science classes all upper division. I'm 19 and a sophomore the thing is all my pre-med friends seem to have higher GPA's but they all took non-calc based physics and max two science classes a semester.Only up to calc 1. I am proud that I brought my gpa up and am going to try for above a 3.5 cumulative next semester. Calc 2 is holding me back but isnt even required though it is in the pre-med gpa and if I do continue chemical engineering I need linear algebra which will also be in sGPA. No not y=mx+b (though i wish) it is math in 6+ dimensions with matrixes, essentially the ochem of the math department. I am worried about the engineering part bringing down my gpa though i am almost done with it. </p>

<p>My question is are my friends being wise by "padding" their gpa's by taking the minimum required science classes then 101 level non-science classes or am I putting myself at risk by challenging myself?</p>

2

<p>If you want to change your major to Chem because you think you’ll get a better GPA then do so. Chem is not an easy major, either.</p>

<p>Your friends can’t graduate if they’re just taking the minimum Premed courses and then the rest easy 101 courses. They have to get a degree in something and take the 300/400 level req’d courses for that major. </p>

<p>But, maybe I didn’t understand your question.</p>

3

<p>After this spring I will only have one chemistry course left for the major, physical chemistry in the fall, I’ll be done with all my pre-meds, so what do I do for the last year and a half, which is why I want to do chemical engineering. I already took the required computer engineering courses but would have to take quantum mechanics and linear algebra which A’s aren’t possible in those courses at my school so my GPA will go down when I could take art 101 or something for an A with a random upper division biology class. My friends are sophomores and I guess haven’t taken the upper division credits yet mainly a year of biology and chemistry.</p>

4

<p>

Under the current medical school admission system, I would say your pre-med friends game the system better – In other word, they are wiser. (DS is very disdained about this aspect of premed life: Not all GPAs are created equal.)</p>

<p>As it is said: You can not have the cake and eat it too. You want a major that is more marketable with a BS degree only because it is a vocational degree. You choose to have the peace of mind of having a backup plan. Now you also want a good GPA that can make your medical school application job easier. What is worse (this is much worse than your somewhat lower GPA) is that you may not have as much time to do premed ECs as your other “wiser” premed friends do. You also have an extra burden of proving to medical school adcoms that you really like medicine --This is because you have chosen a vocational major meant for another career path and adcoms will see that. (DS is also very disdained about this aspect of premed life: If a premed chooses a major that would more likely be “useful” with a BS degree only (read: those more likely from a poorer family), he or she may be put into a disadvantaged position if he or she is not capable of “having the cake and eating it too.”</p>

<p>Is there any Chemical Engineering major who is also successful as a premed? Sure, there is. But only you will know whether you will or will not be one of these successful ones.</p>

5

<p>Why do you need to take all these upper-level science classes with labs in one semester? </p>

<p>I think it would be wise of you to spread them out so that you aren’t stuck with a 20h computer lab and a chemistry lab AND a physics lab all at the same time. That’s probably not a smart way to be taking classes–if you spread them out more, then you can devote more time to each one, which will likely lead to better grades and thus a higher, more competitive GPA.</p>

<p>If I were you, I would structure my semester so that it’s both challenging and possible for a sane person to complete. That might mean taking one upper level chem class (3), that class’s lab (2), one required humanities class or something (3), a challenging but not time intensive math (3) (does that even exist??), and something fun (3). The humanities and fun class balance out the more challenging classes, and you can have time to develop other areas of your application too by getting involved, volunteering, shadowing…</p>

<p>There’s so much more to college than taking classes. Generally takes people about a year to figure that out. If you can find a way to value the non-academic things too, you’ll probably end up less stressed out and a more well-rounded (and more competitive!) applicant in the future. Majors aren’t designed to be completed by sophomore year. They’re designed to take 4 years. Might as well let them!</p>

6

<p>I have countless hours of community service through my boy scout troup I am an assistant scoutmaster in and former eagle scout and I work on weekends. Though it is more community oriented opposed to medical. I have job shadowed several doctors at John Hopkins. </p>

<p>As far as the next 2 years go it seems taking business or art 101 and getting an A will seem to increase my odds as opposed to getting a B in quantum mechanics. This bothers me because it feels like taking the easy way to medical school but then again it feels like everyone does this. </p>

<p>I am also curious how my statistics are, I brought my gpa up significantly over the last year. I found organic chemistry really interesting and easy though this is the class that is supposedly the death of all pre-meds (as I have read). My professor took notice and asked me to work with him next semester on a research project. </p>

<p>I feel the non-science classes are what’s hurting my gpa and one math class. Next semester is 4 upper division chem classes, 4 labs and a research project. So I’ll be busy but have done better when I keep myself busy and the time does go by fast. First semester was slow and boring I had too much free time.</p>

7

<p>Also I feel like taking non-calc based physics to boost my science gpa and as one of the easy classes during a semester. It doesnt have lab and is the same thing as calc based physics as far as concepts go without calculus. LOL physics without calculus didn’t know it was possible.
When you get to circuits and electromagnetism magic must happen or something instead of integration. But I was helping my friends with problems and it should be no problem the teacher even gives extra credit.</p>

8

<p>

Be careful though: You may be getting too bored in that class and get a worse grade because of boredom.
At DS’s school, many high SAT scorer (we are talking about 2300+) who took cal-based physics (AP Physics C) in high school and got a 5 on the AP test, still choose to take algebra-based physics. How disdainful is that?!</p>

<p>One science professor at a flagship state university once described this phenomenon as “National campaign of wasting the smartest brain power in this country.”</p>

<p>BTW, since you appear to be familiar with the circuit stuff, have you been exposed to the s-domain (instead of just the frequency domain) stuff and get an intuitive feeling about why we need to use the s-domain (instead of just w = 2<em>pi</em>f domain) in the circuit theory yet? I used to learn that kind stuff in college many decades ago, and, in sophomore or so, I had a hard time in getting an intuitive feeling about it (the Laplace Transform stuff and its application to the circuit theory) before being rushed into the active filter design and control theory. Oh, yes, linear algebra is a required course. (still shivering when thinking about it now as the professor chose an abstract algebra approach as used in the math department, instead of matrix/calculation approach.)</p>

9

<p>Yes I have done circuits more in depth in my computer engineering courses s-domain though, my calculus based physics course only covered basics of newtons laws, forces, keplars laws, electromagnetism, optics, momentum etc… we used work = 2pi*f and integrations. </p>

<p>I don’t think it will be as boring as easy. Physics is always difficult at any level but going backwards and doing the same stuff without calculus should be straight forward. People from my school mentioned algebra-based is a ton easier and this is coming from kids who dropped calc-based and took algebra based later on. </p>

<p>I agree with the waster of brain power though. The linear algebra book is maybe 80 pages long and $20 but man the stuff in there is ridiculous. You have to know the greek alphabet to read it. Our school used the matrix approach for linear algebra and homework is 60% of the grade. There is 3 problems per lecture. My roommate who is a math major took it this semester and it is the only math class he didnt get an A in and know wants to be an econ major after that class. </p>

<p>Non-calc based physics seems to be the way to go as far as keeping the gpa safe. I’ll have the B.S. in chemistry this spring minus p-chem and am thinking about taking biochemistry, non-calc physics and maybe 2 random classes. Then maybe take p-chem my senior year. This still leaves a lot of room for classes. So I might do chemical engineering, biochemistry, or double major in chem and bio. </p>

<p>I talk to my advisor when break ends. He was for the double major saying it would make me look like a king since it is so uncommon to do in 4 years. </p>

<p>My grades are posted up top i actually had a B in gen chem but the gpa was still the same 2.98 first semester. Know I have a 3.45 gpa as above. I am curious if I am in a good situation.</p>

10

<p>I think it would be wise of you to spread them out so that you aren’t stuck with a 20h computer lab and a chemistry lab AND a physics lab all at the same time. That’s probably not a smart way to be taking classes–if you spread them out more, then you can devote more time to each one, which will likely lead to better grades and thus a higher, more competitive GPA.</p>

<p>If I were you, I would structure my semester so that it’s both challenging and possible for a sane person to complete.</p>

<p>^^^ I already have done this and I feel I did alright my grades are in the first post
A in ochem B+ physics A- in computer engineering B’s in the labs and a P.E. class that was P/F</p>

11

<p>In the end, you’re the one who gets to make up your schedule, and your advisor should be able to offer lots of valuable input. If not, find a new advisor.</p>

<p>What you’ll find, when it comes time to apply, is that there is a TON more to your application than your GPA and your MCAT score. Those numbers might open doors for you, but whether you get interviews and eventually acceptances seems to be based a lot off of the other things you’ve done. They usually fall into 4 categories: research, volunteering, medical stuff, leadership. If you can be decently strong in most of those areas, plus have good stats, you should be set for an acceptance somewhere. </p>

<p>So you’ve done lots of stuff as an assistant scout master and are a former eagle scout. Clearly that shows dedication, leadership, and service. Those are all awesome–what a great start! Have you made it a point to continue developing those things in college? If you did them in high school and plan to use them just to pad your med school resume, be careful. It’s dangerous to rely on previous or high school experience. Medical schools want to see that you can maintain top grades and be involved with your community and develop a passion for medicine.</p>

<p>Also, you’ve shadowed at Johns Hopkins. I’m sure that’s a wonderful place to shadow and has given you some real insight into the medical field–which is exactly what it’s designed to do. I think there are 2 ways to approach shadowing: a) go for quantity, shadowing lots of specialties for a short time each or b) go for quality, shadowing very few specialties but for a very long time each. For whatever reason, I chose to go for quality–no idea if it was the better option, but it’s led to some great recommendation letters, research opportunities, and has been talked about in each of my interviews. Shadowing a doctor or two for a day or two each doesn’t really do much in terms of shadowing. It seems like the current benchmark is about 100 hours–much more than that might not be useful unless you happen to fall into a great shadowing arrangement.</p>

<p>Research is a whole other side, and it’s great that you’re getting involved with your organic chemistry professor–especially if it’s tough to get on his good side. Your research project with him could open lots of doors for you, and if you’re at all interested in research, that’s awesome. Keep in mind that doing research well can take lots and lots of time, and like many other things…you’ll get out of it what you put into it. </p>

<p>If you have a knack for leadership (and I bet you do, given your boy scout involvement), finding a way to weave that into the things you do (volunteer, medical, research, etc) will probably just make you that much a stronger applicant.</p>

<p>Having time to devote to each of the things I mentioned–volunteering/leadership, medical, and research–is absolutely critical if you’re going to be a competitive applicant in the future, which is why designing your schedule so that you can do those things is important. If you’re going to continue taking lots of lab sciences and pursuing other degrees, just keep in mind that other aspects of your application may suffer as a result. In the end, the well-balanced applicant who maintains a high GPA, does decently well on the MCAT, and has a stellar resume is going to be more successful than the applicant who forgoes developing other sides of his application in favor of adding another major.</p>