What were/are your pre-req grades?

In general people tend do worse on physics and orgo. You probably don't want worse than a B in any of them though.

isupsych253 said:

Just trying to see which classes most people ace, and which classes tend to be the more difficult ones...(just starting pre-reqs this semster, so far have a 95% in biology I w/ lab, but is bio the easiest of the pre-reqs?)

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Bio is pretty much the easiest. Others I am sure will disagree, but for me, in order from easiest to hardest, I would say Bio, Physics, gen chem and orgo (even though I got better grades in orgo I and II than gen chem I). Physics may well have been the professor I had (same prof for I and II), but many people in my class had a hard time in it, so maybe not. Definitely take non-calc based physics if you are able to. Definitely plan on Organic being challenging, until you get into the material and find out if you are one of the students who "get it" or not.

So far, I have found Biology to be the most frustating. I just perform so badly on Bio tests relative to tests in other pre-reqs.
I have taken gen chem, physics, and am in the process of taking orgo. In increasing difficulty: gen chem = physics -> Orgo -> Bio

My favorite pre-reqs are definitely gen chem and orgo.

Person0715 said:

So far, I have found Biology to be the most frustating. I just perform so badly on Bio tests relative to tests in other pre-reqs.
I have taken gen chem, physics, and am in the process of taking orgo. In increasing difficulty: gen chem = physics -> Orgo -> Bio

My favorite pre-reqs are definitely gen chem and orgo.

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I'm with you. My Chemistry professor is probably the greatest teacher I have this semester, and is currently influencing me more and more to switch into the Biochemistry major at our school (we don't have to take PChem...traditional chem majors do though...lol). I've found Bio incredibly frustrating, especially when dealing with non-human aspects of it (i.e. Cladograms. Seriously...why would I need them?). Pulling a B in that class atm.

I got an A in all the pre-reqs except for a B+ in physics I & II

Take it with a professor you like if that is remotely possible. I know a professor that does physics...I took another class with him and I hated him at the beginning. Once I got to know him a bit more he became one of my favorite professors EVER because he really brings out the best in his students and cares. He makes physics "fun" for his students, he tries to make everything real world experience and not just book material.

I say bio is easy because I LOVE biology classes, I keep taking more If you like something, you will do better at it.

I got all A's in Bio and Physics, both the lectures and labs

Got a B in gen chem I, A in gen chem II, B in orgo I, A in orgo II (hoping that will demonstrate an upward trend for chemistry, though tbh I just got easier professors second time around for both subjects).

B in gen chem lab (my school only has one gen chem lab that counts for both lab requirements)
I am working on organic lab now (again, my school only has one), 99% confident that I will get an A in it.

I am doing pretty well in my pre-reqs. i have an A so far in chem and bio. In fact, I am tearing it up in bio, but that is because i know I need a good foundation for my mcat.

Cs in gen bio and gen chem, Bs in physics and orgo (I got As in a ton of advanced classes later on to make up for this)

But, it's worth mentioning that this is less to do with difficulty than maturity.

A's in all biology, organic chemistry, physics II, and general chemistry.

B+ in physics I.
B in inorganic chemistry.

A in calc 1
A in calc 2
A in diffeq (not sure if prereq?)
B+ in gen chem 1
B+ in gen chem 2 (yay for trends..)
A- in Bio1
A in cell and molecular bio
C in ochem 1 (retaking it, getting an A)
Haven't taken ochem 2 yet
A in physics 1
A in physics 2

Haven't taken any english classes yet... life of a BME student.

JoshuaGuit said:

A in calc 1
A in calc 2
A in diffeq (not sure if prereq?)
B+ in gen chem 1
B+ in gen chem 2 (yay for trends..)
A- in Bio1
A in cell and molecular bio
C in ochem 1 (retaking it, getting an A)
Haven't taken ochem 2 yet
A in physics 1
A in physics 2

Haven't taken any english classes yet... life of a BME student.

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Only for Harvard HST.

A in Chem I
A+ in Chem II
A Bio I
A- Bio II
A+ Cell Biology I
A+ Cell Biology II
A+ Physics I
A+ Physics II
A+ Organic I
A+ Organic II
A+ Biochemistry
B Calc I
A+ Calc II
B+ Eng II
B+ Eng I

Damn you, English....

Lunasly said:

A in Chem I
A+ in Chem II
A Bio I
A- Bio II
A+ Cell Biology I
A+ Cell Biology II
A+ Physics I
A+ Physics II
A+ Organic I
A+ Organic II
A+ Biochemistry
B Calc I
A+ Calc II
B+ Eng II
B+ Eng I

Damn you, English....

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Is this a joke? Most proffesors I know don't even give A+

If those actually are deserved grades I suppose you got >40 MCAT

Eng I - A
Eng II - A
Bio I - B+
Bio II - A
Physics I - A
Physics II - A
Gen Chem I - A
Gen Chem II - A
Orgo I - A
Orgo II - A-
Calc I - A-

msquaredb said:

Is this a joke? Most proffesors I know don't even give A+

If those actually are deserved grades I suppose you got >40 MCAT

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I go to a small university in Canada where all the class sizes are maxed out at 36 people (not including those who drop during the first few weeks) so learning, asking questions, and visiting office hours becomes easier for students. Those are honestly the grades I have earned. I do not, however, have a 40+ MCAT. I haven't even written the MCAT yet.

JoshuaGuit said:

A in calc 1
A in calc 2
A in diffeq (not sure if prereq?)
B+ in gen chem 1
B+ in gen chem 2 (yay for trends..)
A- in Bio1
A in cell and molecular bio
C in ochem 1 (retaking it, getting an A)
Haven't taken ochem 2 yet
A in physics 1
A in physics 2

Haven't taken any english classes yet... life of a BME student.

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You're retaking OChem because of a C when the rest of your grades are A's? ... I don't get it.

English I - A
English II - A
Biology I - B
Biology II - C
General Chemistry I - C
General Chemistry II - B+
Organic Chemistry I - B
Organic Chemistry II - B
Orgo Lab - B
Biochemistry - A
Physics I - A
Physics I Lab - A-
Physics II -A
Physics II Lab - IP

Upward trend in biology classes, after freshman year. Wish I didn't have those 2 C's though.

A healthy mix of A's and A-'s

I've gotten A's in every pre-req, except a B in calc 1. I definitely found Bio to be the easiest, but found it to be the hardest section on the MCAT.

Gen Chem I-A+
Gen Chem II-A
Gen Chem I Lab-A+
Gen Chem II Lab-A+
Bio I-A+
Bio I Lab-A
Bio II Lab-A
Calc I-A
Calc II-A
English I-A

Taking orgo I this semester. I hate orgo lab. And I'm pretty bad at physics, so... yeah, I probably won't do too well.

A's in Bio I and II
A's in English I and II
A - College Algebra
A - Stats
B - Precal (Curse you 88!)
Currently taking Physics I w/ lab, Chem I w/ lab.
Physics is definitely the toughest pre-req I've taken so far.

General Chemistry 1 B
General Chemistry 2 B+
General Biology 1 B
General Biology 2 A
English 1 & 2 B
Organic chemistry 1&2 A
Organic chemistry Lab 1&2 B+
Physics 1 A-
Physics 2 A+
Physics Lab 1 & 2 B+
Calculus 1 B
Calculus 2 A

Easiest to hardest I would say is Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and then Physics

DinoSaysRawr said:

A's in Bio I and II
A's in English I and II
A - College Algebra
A - Stats
B - Precal (Curse you 88!)
Currently taking Physics I w/ lab, Chem I w/ lab.
Physics is definitely the toughest pre-req I've taken so far.

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Dino - I thought calculus and only calculus was a pre-requisite for medical school...

Looks like calculus can be a killer. I am still not sure whether I am glad I got AP credit for it or not. It can really limit the schools I apply to, but I am glad it is not breaking my GPA.

I'm pretty sure most schools don't REQUIRE calculus. But some recommend it.
I could be wrong however.

So I'll just post my midterm grades since those grades actually count at our school:

Bio I + lab (lecture and lab are graded together) - B
Bio (1-credit course required for majors) - A
Chem I - A
Chem I Lab - A
English - A
Math - A

Hopefully I can get that B up to an A by semesters end.

EDIT: For those wondering about schools that require any sort of Maths:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~nss/nav/pages/advice/MedSchlMathReq08rev.pdf

Calculus I and II- P
Calculus 3 - A*
Biology I and Lab - A
Biology II and Lab - A
General Chemistry I and Lab - A*
English I and II - P
General Physics I and Lab - A

* Projected grades for classes currently taking
P- IB/AP Credit
Half down, Orgo and Biochem to go.

Next few semester planning to take
General Physics II
Orgo I and II
Gen Chem II
Biochemistry
Genetics
and P Chem

A's in everything so far. Haven't done Orgo yet, so I still have an easy chance to mess it all up.

Mostly As except for Organic II and Intermediate Inorganic, Biochem and a Lit Class which were all ABs. When I first started I thought I would hate the A-AB-B-BC...etc system because it devalues A-'s, but I ended up loving it because it disguised B+'s better.

AP Calc I
didnt take Calc II
A in Statistics
B+ in anatomy and physiology
B- in genetics
B+ in Gen Chem lecture I
B- in Gen Chem lecture II
B+ in Gen Chem Lab I
C+ in Gen Chem Lab II
A in orgo I
A- in orgo II
A in orgo lab I
A in orgo lab II
B in physics I
A- in physics II
A in Biochem
As in upper level bios like embryology


For me it was more about time. Freshman year gpa = ~3.0
2nd and 3rd year gpa =~3.85 (graduated a year early)