Need your advice

[Treese]

I need some advice. You guys have been great in the pass, so I thought you would be the best people to ask. I plan to take the MCAT next April, so I?m taking my science classes now, so they can be fresh in my mind. I took Physics 1 during the summer. This Fall I?m taking Physics 2 (taken at a local school). This is where I need the advice. I wanted to take 3 more science classes: Biology 1 & 2, and take Chemistry (these classes will be done online), I will take the labs, at a local school. So when winter comes I can take Chemistry 2(done online) and Organic Chemistry (not sure if they have this class on line), if they do, is this a class that you feel should be taken online? Do you think it will be wise to take these classes at one time?

Little background information about me. I?m taking a lot of classes on line, because I?m a single mom and I work full time. I?m not sure if my GPA is the good I have a 3.83. I?ve been working very hard at trying to make sure I make good grades. I will take the labs at a local school, but I just want to get the classes out of the way. I feel they will help me more on the MCAT then the labs would.

Thanks for any help or advice you can offer.

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[sanford_w/o_son]

you're right that labs aren't the best use of time (for me, a waste of time) when it comes to studying for the mcat (or even learning the class material).

a 3.83 gpa (science or all courses combined?) sounds pretty solid to me.

i'm not so sure that 1/2 semester o-chem, 3/4 chem, and 3/4 bio are really enough to tackle the mcat. maybe take the august mcat, or spread the courses over 2 years?

i can only imagine (my guesss) that an adcom wouldn't mind you taking one course at a time (two would probably be admirable), while you work full time and are a single mother.

good luck!

 

[mledonne]

If you are concerned with how many classes you take in regards to getting into med school, you should contact the school you want to go to and ask what they look at. I went on an informational interview with U of Ill in Chicago and they informed me it does not matter how many you take at the same time or where you take the classes, they only look at the cumulative GPA. The admissions person I spoke with said to take my time, get great grades and do WELL on the MCAT...this from one of the largest med schools in the US.

My bkgnd, married father of two with a full time job and a SAHW, taking post bacc at the comm college.

 

[evescadeceus]

Don't start ochem online if you've never taken it before. Okay, let me rephrase that. Ochem tends to start out easy, but if you're on a semester system, it will be far more complicated by the end of the semester. You push lots of electrons around on various chemical reaction pathways, and this stuff may be easier to do if you can watch someone else do it on a board, do it with peers, etc. Of course, there may be software out there that can help you do it all by keyboard, but you've gotta learn the software too.

On a qtr system, your third qtr is all IR and UV Vis - interpreting the blessed graphs is an art, and more easily learned if you have direct access to the teacher.

But do check out chemfinder.com - I haven't used it since that class, and am not sure its totally free anymore, but I bet much of it will be. It will be invaluable for generating all kinds of structures for a given formula, so you can POE and hazard a reasonable guess at a dang blasted "unknown".

 

[twester]

I second evescadeceus. I didn't see anything in your plan that wouldn't work for me, except for o-chem online. Personally, I wouldn't take it online. I found that since it was such an oddly conceptual class, lecture was vital. The text didn't make any sense to me until AFTER lecture.

And I had really positive experiences with chemistry labs. I felt like they really added to an understanding of the material. But, I think the quality of a chemistry lab really depends on the instructor. I got really lucky and had instructors (especially for organic) that put a great deal of effort into the experiments we did and set aside substantial time for a recitation/post-mortem.

I haven't taken the MCAT (and don't plan to - I'm a pharmacy pre-req), so I can't really speak to that. But I felt really strongly about ochem online. Good luck.

Troy

 

[Wahoowa]

I have to agree--I would not take ochem online. For me when I went through, that was one class where lecture was crucial, expecially since ochem is 3-D and the spatial relationships are so important in the reactions.

Just another bit of information, I would highly recommend an anatomy course with lab before starting medical school. Not to pad your application, but to prepare you for what is coming. I did not have such advice and wished during medical anatomy that I had. While I did very well in anatomy in med school, it killed me! Best to have some familiarity with it.