Whats wrong with taking organic chemistry in the summer??!!

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>Since most freshmen do not have the adept knowledge to get a good research position after freshman year, instead of putting that summer to waste at an ordinary job, I personally am going to take organic chem during the summer.</p>

<p>2.) Although I am not going to be a science major, (most likely a Classical Languages major), is there anything not preferable about my premed plan..:</p>

<p>General Chem and General Bio - Freshman Year
Organic Chem - Fresh/Soph Summer
Physics, Molecular Bio/Genetics (2 semsester course) - Sophmore year</p>

<p>3.) I know I might have posted a similar thread before, but I guess my question is, have any of you premeds undertaken such a hefty load before and do you think it is manageable? I mean, my college (Notre Dame), is not so grade deflating with harsh curves, so assuming if I get a good GPA, does this open doors to many research positions at the end of my sophmore year?</p>

<p>4.) Do mosy premeds tend to do research beginning from sophmore summer (after soph year) until senior year?? If you are doing research with the professor at your college during school days, how many nights a week do you typically work (although I understand it varies)..?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>nothings wrong with taking it over the summer...at your HOME institution...however its not that good of an idea to take it at a local community college or something</p>

3

<p>I've said it before, I'll say it again. It's better to take OChem in summer at a community college and get a top grade than it is to take it in your home institution and get a bad grade. In short, for the purposes of med-school admissions, it's better to go to an easy school and get top grades than it is to go to a difficult school and get poor grades.</p>

4

<p>Hey what are you? How do you know so much about everything? You give advice for all sorts of people: engineering, law, business, and now Ochem? Give me a break! What do you do? A student? Which school or what program?</p>

5

<p>he's guru of everything...Xiggi of the past? </p>

<p>Sakky, look how everyone is asking who you are. You do have the right to remain anonymous.</p>

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<p>...And it's even better to get top grades at a top school!</p>

7

<p>sakky is right for his premise (better to get an A at a CC than a C at home inst.), but that doesn't imply that people should go to CC's and take classes.</p>

<p>First, there is a disadvantage to going to a CC - med schools definitely will notice.</p>

<p>Second, there's no way to guarantee you'll get a C at your home institution.</p>

<p>Third, things that are too easy tend not to teach you as well. This may come back to haunt you on the MCAT. Granted, Ochem on the MCAT is pretty easy anyway, but every point matters.</p>

8

<p>
[quote]
Sakky, look how everyone is asking who you are. You do have the right to remain anonymous.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Ecnerwalc3321, considering the hyper-excitedness of certain posters here, I am better off remaining anonymous. </p>

<p>
[quote]
And it's even better to get top grades at a top school!

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</p>

<p>And also a heck of a lot harder. </p>

<p>
[quote]
sakky is right for his premise (better to get an A at a CC than a C at home inst.), but that doesn't imply that people should go to CC's and take classes.</p>

<p>First, there is a disadvantage to going to a CC - med schools definitely will notice.</p>

<p>Second, there's no way to guarantee you'll get a C at your home institution.</p>

<p>Third, things that are too easy tend not to teach you as well. This may come back to haunt you on the MCAT. Granted, Ochem on the MCAT is pretty easy anyway, but every point matter

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Personally, I think this should be up to the individual to figure out. While it is obviously true that nobody really knows whether he will get a C or worse in his home institution Ochem class, people can usually tell approximately where they stack up relative to the other students in his/her school. It doesn't take you all that long to learn about the grading philosophy of your school and of how strong you are relative to the average student at your school. Some students find themselves in schools in which they can clearly tell that they are one of the worst students at that school and/or where the curve is brutal, and hence they know that they are unlikely to get high grades in any of the premed courses they take at their home school. Hence, these students are almost certainly better off doing OChem and lots of other premed coursework at a community college. </p>

<p>Furthermore, there are plenty of schools that simply don't offer OChem over the summer. I know MIT doesn't. I doubt Caltech does. So if a guy from MIT wants to take OChem over the summer (and can't afford Harvard Summer School), then he has little choice but to do it at a CC. </p>

<p>However, my main point is that every single premed student has to assess what his individual situation is. If he honestly feels that he won't do well in his home institution OChem class, then a CC may be a better option. It's better to get an A in a CC than to get a C or worse in your home institution. There are a LOT of people who get C's or worse in Ochem at the top schools. I know that Berkeley gave out a LOT of bad grades in its OChem classes. All of those Berkeley premeds who wound up with bad OChem grades would have frankly been better off not taking the class at Berkeley at all.</p>

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<p>For what it's worth, I will also point out that while certainly harmful, a C in ochem does not kill your chances for medical school - I can attest to this personally.</p>

10

<p>Yeah, but how about a D or an F? I've known people who have gotten F's in OChem in their home institution.</p>

11

<p><em>concedes that D's or F's will really kill you</em></p>

12

<p>local chemistry department set 2.7-2.9 average as a rule for undergraduate chemistry classes -- this means that 3/4ths of people will receive a B or below in class -- it was kinda scary to look at a class of 200-300 people and realize that every third person I was seeing was going to score no more than a C+</p>

13

<p>eh for what its worth the class isn't too hard you just need to study and understand rather than memorize</p>

14

<p>easier said than done...but you are right, if you can push electrons rather than memorize reactions, you'll likely do better. </p>

<p>I also went B/C in my two semesters of Ochem. class was on a standard bell curve, so only 4 or 5 people out of a class of 220some got an A.</p>