16 courses over the summer?

[2017MU2017]

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I’m a non-trad student planning on taking my prereqs for med school starting next semester. I’ve mapped out what courses I need to take and when I can take them. This would include me taking 16 credits over the summer (physics 1 and bio 1 in the first term, chem 2 and bio 2 in the second) while scribing part time. Does this seem like too crazy of a work load? Any advice is appreciated!

 

[QofQuimica]

It seems like a lot less crazy of a load than 16 courses would have been (i.e., 48 hours). 😛

In all seriousness, yes, I think that is going to be too much for a summer semester if you're also working PT, volunteering, and hoping to eat and sleep.

 

[workaholic181]

I’m a non-trad student planning on taking my prereqs for med school starting next semester. I’ve mapped out what courses I need to take and when I can take them. This would include me taking 16 credits over the summer (physics 1 and bio 1 in the first term, chem 2 and bio 2 in the second) while scribing part time. Does this seem like too crazy of a work load? Any advice is appreciated!

I took physics 2 and chem 2 in seperate summer semesters and was totally swamped with the work from just being in 4 credits at a time. I do think what you're proposing is too much. I totally understand your wanting to apply to med school asap, but that will be totally nullified if you dont do well in these courses anyway. 8 credits of hard sciences in 6 week summer semester or whatever is a lot. I really cant reccomend that.

 

[Blanky]

Too much and you will not likely retain as much as you need to

 

[ancapman]

You can do it. But.... the short summer classes never seem to go as in depth as the longer ones. Now yes you can complete classes very fast if all you worry about is a good grade and passing. But I wouldn't do that with science.
example:
I had 18 credits in April 2017, I have completed 91 credits in the last 8 months and by mid January will have done the remaining 12 credits for a BA in Psych from a NJ state school. I maintained a 3.9 GPA too... But I just wanted the degree fast so I could move on fast. While most of the psych stuff I retained, the general stuff... not so much. my one B was in English 2 where I got a B+ because I took way to many writing intense classes at once (Capstone, Upper Level Ethics in Social Science, Upper level History and Systems of Psych, and English 2) I was basically having to write about 20 pages a week sometimes more. English 2 suffered more than the others because it was Literature based writing and I couldn't read all of each book.

So doable yes, but retention is going to be a problem. Why not take another year... why rush the important stuff...

 

[jamesac]

Probably manageable, especially if you were taking at a community college that might be easier than a 4-year university. I wouldn't recommend taking any of your core science requirements over the summer though, as they might not go as in depth, and you probably wouldn't retain the info.

 

[2017MU2017]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I appreciate that no one gave the "if you can't _____, then you can't handle med school" type of response. Is retention really that big of an issue? Would taking CHEM 2 over the summer impact my ability to perform in O chem and biochem in the future? I just hope admissions don't see summer courses as a red flag...

 

[popopopop]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I appreciate that no one gave the "if you can't _____, then you can't handle med school" type of response. Is retention really that big of an issue? Would taking CHEM 2 over the summer impact my ability to perform in O chem and biochem in the future? I just hope admissions don't see summer courses as a red flag...

Retention plays a bigger part when you're studying for the MCAT. You'll be fine for ochem and biochem.

 

[Blanky]

I actually found that my strong chem2 helped a ton with the first half of biochem... Others suffered but it was mostly just acid/base and Henderson-Hasselbalch. some kinetics with enzymes but nothing crazy.

 

[wholeheartedly]

I took courses every summer including some pretty insane credit loads. I would NOT recommend what you're proposing. At least for my school things weren't in less depth during the summer at all.

You could possibly do one course per summer term while working and be ok, but that's going to be a function of how strong of a student you are already and how many hours you plan on devoting to things like work and volunteering.

Burnout is a real thing. I'm very much in favor of busting your butt during the year and maybe doing just a bit to move yourself forward during the summer but still allowing a bit of a break to recuperate. Yes medical school will be way harder and you need to be ready to handle it and all that jazz, but you also only live once. No need to kill yourself before you get there.

 

[2017MU2017]

I’m taking physics 2 and chem 1 next semester (I took AP physics in HS) then I might do physics 1 and chem 2 over the summer. Does that sound more manageable?

This would mean I would take o chem 1, bio 1, and maybe psych in the fall then bio 2, o chem 2, and biochem next spring. Does any of this sound like overkill?

 

[Blanky]

This sounds perfectly fine, except you should push biochem one semester.

 

[2017MU2017]

This sounds perfectly fine, except you should push biochem one semester.

Do you recommend this because of the workload or is it just better to take o chem 2 before starting biochem?

 

[Blanky]

I think most people would recommend finishing orgo before taking biochem. I think you could get by without it.

 

[2017MU2017]

I think most people would recommend finishing orgo before taking biochem. I think you could get by without it.

Do you think I would be in good shape to take the MCAT that June if I started studying in December? Or would you recommend that I finish o chem and biochem before starting to prepare?

 

[trev5150]

If you're one of those monster rockstars that mainlines stress for fun and only sleeps 4 hours a night while retaining everything on first read then yeah you got it and we all wish we had that mojo. If not however, it sounds like you're throwing yourself under the bus needlessly.

 

[Blanky]

If you're one of those monster rockstars that mainlines stress for fun and only sleeps 4 hours a night while retaining everything on first read then yeah you got it and we all wish we had that mojo. If not however, it sounds like you're throwing yourself under the bus needlessly.

Moderately overdramatic