3 week organic chemistry course? Good idea?

[funnycolby]

My school offers an intensive 3 week course of organic chemistry 1, which is followed by organic chemistry 2 (12 week course). This would allow me to finish the organic chemistry requirement in one semester. I feel like medical schools will think this is a bit odd. Should I take the 3 week when the time comes or stick to the regular length classes?

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[Cynaic]

This sounds horrific

 

[907914]

My school offers an intensive 3 week course of organic chemistry 1, which is followed by organic chemistry 2 (12 week course). This would allow me to finish the organic chemistry requirement in one semester. I feel like medical schools will think this is a bit odd. Should I take the 3 week when the time comes or stick to the regular length classes?

Would you have any other classes and how many hours a day would it be? Organic 1 is honestly not that bad in comparison to 2....If you have no other classes, it would def be highly doable with the right personal drive and stamina.

HOWEVER, your goal as a premed is not to do it fast. It is to do it right, do it well, and to do it once. If you know you can get an A/A- then do t. If you are not 100% confident in your abilities, just take regular.

 

[Isoval]

This sounds horrific

Got As in both and agree that this sounds mortifying.

 

[Engrailed]

My school offers an intensive 3 week course of organic chemistry 1, which is followed by organic chemistry 2 (12 week course). This would allow me to finish the organic chemistry requirement in one semester. I feel like medical schools will think this is a bit odd. Should I take the 3 week when the time comes or stick to the regular length classes?

 

[electropartyogram]

My school offers an intensive 3 week course of organic chemistry 1, which is followed by organic chemistry 2 (12 week course). This would allow me to finish the organic chemistry requirement in one semester. I feel like medical schools will think this is a bit odd. Should I take the 3 week when the time comes or stick to the regular length classes?

If you have not taken the MCAT yet (probably not) I wouldn't do the course. Did you get As in other classes? Organic I is fast-paced, and much of the info carries over into Organic I and some into the MCAT. The possibility of not getting an A is not worth the benefit of taking a fast Organic class like that.

 

[Orangekiwi]

How is this even possible? I have a friend who took orgo 1 and 2 over the same summer, but it was 12 weeks total, 6 hours a day lecture and lab twice a week on top of that. It was all she did that summer, and it was a full time job pretty much. I just don’t know how you could possibly teach all of orgo 1 in three weeks it seems impossible, and the concepts you’re supposed to learn in orgo one are important for biochem as well as orgo 2.

 

[jamaica jan sun princess]

If you're not taking any other classes in those 3 weeks, I say go for it. Whether I or II is more difficult is very subjective.

 

[Kardio]

Got As in both and agree that this sounds mortifying.

Bombed both and this plan seems fantastic.

 

[Cornfed101]

I took an accelerated Orgo 1 & 2 in my post-bacc, but it was evenly split between 1 and 2. I think it depends on the professor. My professor taught us what we needed to know for the MCAT (with a little more depth) and it was definitely doable given that it was 8 credits. Check with other people who have taken the condensed course. That will be your best gauge to see if it is possible.

 

[funnycolby]

How is this even possible? I have a friend who took orgo 1 and 2 over the same summer, but it was 12 weeks total, 6 hours a day lecture and lab twice a week on top of that. It was all she did that summer, and it was a full time job pretty much. I just don’t know how you could possibly teach all of orgo 1 in three weeks it seems impossible, and the concepts you’re supposed to learn in orgo one are important for biochem as well as orgo 2.

I was also wondering how it was possible. The department chair assured me that it is possible, and that it is a nice course to take. My school requires a 3 week intensive course, which is one course for 3 weeks every day, followed by the normal 12 week semester.

 

[kenykj49]

I did a four week Organic I this summer. It wasn’t bad, just be ready to study every day. Get the Organic Chem as a Second Language pdf. If you have any questions let me know.

 

[chemphysicsinstructor]

My school offers an intensive 3 week course of organic chemistry 1, which is followed by organic chemistry 2 (12 week course). This would allow me to finish the organic chemistry requirement in one semester. I feel like medical schools will think this is a bit odd. Should I take the 3 week when the time comes or stick to the regular length classes?

Three weeks does sound a bit condensed, but it can be done as long as you have the time to dedicate to the course. To put things in perspective, at the institution I teach at, a student can complete organic chemistry 1 during a 4 week summer session (summer first session) and then complete organic chemistry 2 during the next 4 week summer session (summer second session). Thus the student can complete an entire year's worth of organic chemistry in 8 weeks. Additionally, there are a few big state schools on the West Coast that have a similar schedule.

 

[DNAJB6]

Take the safe route and avoid unnecessary risks.

 

[jamaica jan sun princess]

For what it's worth, I took chemistry I & II over the Summer, each took 4 weeks. I went to class 4 hours a day, 4 days a week and had to study twice that many hours every week. Since you are tested every week, the information remains fresh.

 

[Dr panda]

Is there a competition among school – who will cram more information in a shortest possible period of time? Waiting for accelerated 1 week class...

 

[jamaica jan sun princess]

Is there a competition among school – who will cram more information in a shortest possible period of time? Waiting for accelerated 1 week class...

They exist. At my undergraduate university, they offered a 3 credit hour marketing or management course in one week for students who were spending the Summer abroad. I'm pretty sure the business college offered other classes like that too.

 

[rdyotz]

The key is to actually retain the pre-req material to aid in MCAT studying. I took a 6-week summer course for Organic chem 2, and I remember a hell of a lot more from taking the 16-week OCHM1 course. I got As in both if that matters. The summer session was not crazy hard, 5 days a week for ~3 hours at a time, with a test every Friday. The labs sucked though, met Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday with a 4-5 page paper due at each lab. I still do not know why they didn't make it Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to give us some time.

 

[deleted947265]

You will not survive.

 

[aldol16]

Is that the only course you'd be taking? Orgo is a lot of information already and the main concern is are you able to thoroughly learn and absorb all the information in that time? Orgo is important because you will see orgo on the MCAT. Getting an A is great but more importantly is doing very well on the MCAT.

 

[u_raptor]

Would you have any other classes and how many hours a day would it be? Organic 1 is honestly not that bad in comparison to 2....If you have no other classes, it would def be highly doable with the right personal drive and stamina.

HOWEVER, your goal as a premed is not to do it fast. It is to do it right, do it well, and to do it once. If you know you can get an A/A- then do t. If you are not 100% confident in your abilities, just take regular.

Interesting, Orgo 1 was alot harder than Orgo 2 imo. Orgo 2 was just rote memorizing reactions, Orgo 1 was a lot of concept.

But OP, please don't do this, for your own sanity.

 

[chemphysicsinstructor]

You can always email the instructor and ask for the materials/syllabus, etc. ahead of time so that the course is less stressful.

 

[la flame]

I took Orgo 1 as a 4 week course in the summer and I dropped it within 4 days (deadline before it shows up as a W in your transcript) because it was just too fast paced for me. Although I was also taking gen chem 2 lab 2x a week and commuting 1+ hour everyday for class, I still felt like the class was a monster. We had class 5 days a week for 1 hour & 40 minutes.

So unless you have studied about 2-3 weeks of ochem in advance, a straight up GENIUS, or you are re-taking ochem again, I would strongly suggest against it because you just won't "learn" the material. I'm currently taking Ochem again this semester and its such at a slower pace and soooo much understandable (i can't stress this enough).