200-level organic vs. 300-level organic

[xpinchx]

I'm just finishing up at my current school and in the process of transferring to MSU. I need to take Organic II this fall and when I tried to sign up at MSU I noticed something a little strange. My organic class I already took transfered as CEM 351, and the one I had to sign up for according to my little pre-med sheet is CEM 252 (as opposed to 352.) I looked in the schedule and asked an advisor and she basically said that the 300-level is almost exclusively for chemistry majors.

This is a little bit of a bummer considering how much time and effort I put into getting an A in that 351 organic when I could've just taken a 200-level. I'm currently registered for the 200-level organic II and my advisor said it should be a piece of cake considering what I've accomplished, but I'm worried it might not fully prepare me for the MCAT. Does anyone else's school offer two different levels of organic? Which one did you take and why? If you took the lower-level course do you feel it prepared you enough for the MCAT?

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[rpm]

I think the 200 level one will prepare you better. The one for the chem majors often go into more detail that you will not need to know for the mcat. It also sounds as if it may be more difficult so you are better of getting an easy A rather than risking a lower grade by taking a more difficult version with a bunch of chem majors.

 

[ryandote]

Maybe 200 and 300 level courses from the different universities actually correspond pretty well. Who knows? It sucks to do more than you have to, but hopefully it makes you a better person/applicant.

 

[mshheaddoc]

I actually had an advisor try to tell me that because I was going to retake ochem at a county college and it was a 2000 level class that it wouldn't be accepted at a local medical school because it wasn't the same class since their's was a 3000. She was trying to tell me that taking this class would not prepare me for the MCAT. What a load of crap. The admissions officer at a local medical school confirmed it was crap and then she asked me who was spreading this misinformation. Numbers don't always equate but can be the same class. If they have a separate class for majors, its most likely just harder. The lower level class should be fine for your purposes.

All the colleges I've ever attended have had the same ochem class for all majors/non-majors (except for honors). That would be a grand total of 5 different colleges. I wouldn't worry too much!

 

[xpinchx]

I actually had an advisor try to tell me that because I was going to retake ochem at a county college and it was a 2000 level class that it wouldn't be accepted at a local medical school because it wasn't the same class since their's was a 3000. She was trying to tell me that taking this class would not prepare me for the MCAT. What a load of crap. The admissions officer at a local medical school confirmed it was crap and then she asked me who was spreading this misinformation. Numbers don't always equate but can be the same class. If they have a separate class for majors, its most likely just harder. The lower level class should be fine for your purposes.

All the colleges I've ever attended have had the same ochem class for all majors/non-majors (except for honors). That would be a grand total of 5 different colleges. I wouldn't worry too much!

I looked in the class description booklet and they're entirely different classes. I almost want to stick around for the second semester of 300-level just because organic interests me quite a bit. I wonder how much less detail the 200-level classes go into. I'm all excited about making sure my chair-conformation drawings have the leaving group and adjacent hydrogens in axial positions in order to react.

And yeah, this will be my third college.

 

[mshheaddoc]

I looked in the class description booklet and they're entirely different classes. I almost want to stick around for the second semester of 300-level just because organic interests me quite a bit. I wonder how much less detail the 200-level classes go into. I'm all excited about making sure my chair-conformation drawings have the leaving group and adjacent hydrogens in axial positions in order to react.

And yeah, this will be my third college.

Actually I take that back. My memory fails me now as approaching 30. Apparently there was an organic for majors in my undergrad university. I was a chemistry major and chose NOT to take it as it was only for chem engineers and hardcore chemites. No issues. Most pre-meds aren't going to be taking it either and my class went into PLENTY of detail. The other class just moved EXTREMELY fast and was taking like ACS level chem tests. I was happy I chose the latter.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

If you can easily get an A in the harder class, take it.

If it's a choice between a B in the harder class and an A in the easier class, take the easier class. ADCOMs won't care which one you took, and will just look at the grade you got.

Think of it this way: we are expected to learn a lot about many aspects of science, not to focus on just one area. Like in medical school, the material isn't difficult...it's just a lot of information about a lot of subjects.