What do you think I should do??

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Freshman year, I am taking chemistry 1 and 2. However, my fall semester is already 16 credits b/c I am in a honors research program and it eats up some credits. I do not want to overload my first semester in college though.</p>

<p>I have AP credit to exempt from a semester of biology (biology 1), which means 2nd semester of my freshman yr I will be taking it biology 2. Is this a good idea? I don't want to miss out info needed for the MCATs and Biology 2....</p>

<p>Also, do you think it's a good idea to take summer classes? Maybe knockout a pre-med course? Would a whole summer course in physics knockout one whole yr of physics?</p>

<p>Do you think it is a good idea to take physics, o-chem, chem, and bio all in two yrs?</p>

2

<p>First, 18-19 credit hours is OK. Second, it is not a good idea to skip first Bio. And it is not a good idea to take pre-med req. in a summer.</p>

3

<p>^ Agree. I would keep it short (I written it once - pretty lengthy why…)
Personally even if I have taken AP courses, I would only exempt myself from courses that are not useful or irrevealtn in my major. I am a computer engineering and physics major, so I can submit my AP US History grade, and exempt from one liberal art course.</p>

<p>I am not regret that I didn’t take any AP science / math because I actually have great professors in my school. I would not know that tax rates use calculus. I would not know a bunch of other secrets if I didn’t take calculus 1,2,3. I would not know so much about physics now (new stuff) if I did skip physics 1.</p>

<p>I didn’t take ap calculus AB/BC, but I did high school calculus. It’s pretty intense. When I have calculus one, I forgot so much. I didn’t do well in calculus 2, especially on the volume exam. It was harder than I have done. I have several AP AB/BC books with me, but they were all do-able problems. In high school our class exams are based on classwork and AB exams.</p>

<p>If only you think you remember most of the stuff, and that you are confident that your teacher has taught you enough information, then skipping introductory biology may not hurt you.</p>

<p>What I would do is contact the biology department, and asks for suggestion. </p>

<p>Usually this is how undergraduate science should go (I am not a med-prospective student as I already stated):
You would have to finish general chemistry before moving to organic chemistry. Physics is ususally divided into two semesters, and bio as well.
I think for any science / engineering major, two years of general science is expected. </p>

<p>Again, I would only skip biology 1 if you think you remember the stuff.
What I would really do is to check past final exams offer in biology 1 (usually they have it on the Internet). This is why you should contact the department and look for help. Once you have the old exam, try it, and if you can get good grades, I think you really should skip it. If you can’t even pass it with a good curve, you probably should NOT skip it.</p>

<p>MIT transfer admission states: we encourage students not to skip any introductory course even if they have 4/5 AP credits. The reason is that AP contents may not be sufficient for students to progress.</p>

4

<p>I am a nonscience major. I’ll be taking English (3), chem (4), psychology (3), calculus (4), & honors research (2 or 3). So you wouldn’t think putting bio, which is four credits, will be an overload?</p>

<p>Also I read that physics is the least important out of the pre med reqs. If I take it junior yr, how detrimental will it be for my preparation for the Mcats?</p>

5

<p>So the numbers are credits?</p>

<p>No. Definitely not overloaded.
For engineers / science major, as we progress, we have more difficult courses put together. Some of them require hours to finish just one single problem lol</p>

<p>Since you are a non-science major, skipping biology isn’t a problem at all.
I think overload is personal. Now if you are determined enough, and you think you can handle it, go for it.
Soon or later you will have to put biology down on your class registration, right?
Look at your spring schedule. Are those courses easier?</p>

<p>What I don’t get is the fact that you are posting this as a pre-med topic when you are a non-science major. I am really confused.</p>

6

<p>Pre meds can major in whatever they want, whether it is in the sciences or not :)</p>

7

<p>Another reason why I am hesitant to take bio 1 b/c the only professor available is school-renowned to be super-hard, even harder than o-chem, condensed mode. I’m pretty sure if I take it, I will overload… :frowning: I know, I am a wuss</p>

<p>So what about this idea? I exempt out bio 1 and take bio 2 spring semester of freshman, and than take biology in the summer to fill in the blanks. Since I didn’t take a yr in biology yet, I’ll take an advanced course in biology that is helpful for the MCATS later</p>

8

<p>I do not know about your Honors research project and time commitment required for it. The other classes that you have listed are easy. There is one / two semesters later on when you will have to have light schedule because of MCAT prep. </p>

<p>If you are so much questionning your schedule, I would strongly advise to talk to your pre-med advisor or at least find out what is typical to take in a first semester at your school. All schools are different. At D’s school, it was typical to take Bio 1 and 2 and Gen Chem freshman year, Orgo and advanced Bio sophomore year, physics and more advanced Bio junior year along with Kaplan MCAT prep. Most premeds are in Honors and most have minor or two, a job on campus, Med. Research internship. But only you and professionals and students at your campus are the only ones who are familiar with specific work load in classes at your school.</p>