Applying without Organic Chem 2

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Only 1 professor at my university teaches organic, took him for orgo 1, and got a B-. I then took biochem at USF over the summer and earned an A-. Currently at a 3.800 GPA, and would like to apply with a 3.800. Will it be okay for me to check "planning to take," and then take it during summer or the spring before matriculation (if accepted)?
 
3.800 vs 3.7xx isn't going to make a difference.

If you're just starting your Jr. year, having a year w/o Orgo 2 when you clearly have time/course space might raise a few eyebrows though. Assuming B- is by far your lowest pre-req grade the #1 thought, at least to me, is "why hasn't he taken Orgo 2?"
 
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werunthis said:
Only 1 professor at my university teaches organic, took him for orgo 1, and got a B-. I then took biochem at USF over the summer and earned an A-. Currently at a 3.800 GPA, and would like to apply with a 3.800. Will it be okay for me to check "planning to take," and then take it during summer or the spring before matriculation (if accepted)?
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md-2020 said:
3.800 vs 3.7xx isn't going to make a difference.

If you're just starting your Jr. year having a year w/o Orgo 2 when you clearly have time/course space might raise a few eyebrows though. Assuming B- is by far your lowest pre-req grade the #1 thought, at least to me, is "why hasn't he taken Orgo 2?"
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I don't know why you feel the need to add 3 decimal places in a GPA, especially given that they are zeros. As md-2020 said, you should be trying to get as high a GPA as you can, but delaying a course because of the GPA hit is a little silly. If you are worried about not doing well in a class, develop a game plan ahead and keep on top of the class. That having been said, nobody is going to care when you take it. If it is a requirement for a medical school it simply needs to be completed before matriculation.
 
Cyberdyne 101 said:
Orgo 2 is like the best class ever. You'd miss out on loads of fun if you choose to skip it.
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ImageUploadedBySDN Mobile1440635860.976601.jpg
 
gyngyn said:
Seriously?
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You mean applying with orgo 2 or having taken orgo 2 by the time you graduate? From what I've done digging into it there definitely seem to be schools where you can't get out of taking ochem 2 by simply taking another class like biochem?

As for those where you have to apply with having already taken ochem 2, I think Temple falls under that category.
 
Glazedonutlove said:
yup (hopefully I am not confusing it with another school, but on their secondary I think it had 8 semester hours of orgo)
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You are correct. I just checked the MSAR. And I always thought of them as progressive...
 
GrapesofRath said:
You mean applying with orgo 2 or having taken orgo 2 by the time you graduate? From what I've done digging into it there definitely seem to be schools where you can't get out of taking ochem 2 by simply taking another class like biochem?

As for those where you have to apply with having already taken ochem 2, I think Temple falls under that category.
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Temple!
 
jb94mg said:
I'd say that it would still be imprudent to not take OChem II, given the volatility of the material tested on any given MCAT examination.
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If you are applying without OCHEM 2 that means you have already taken the MCAT.
 
werunthis said:
Only 1 professor at my university teaches organic, took him for orgo 1, and got a B-. I then took biochem at USF over the summer and earned an A-. Currently at a 3.800 GPA, and would like to apply with a 3.800. Will it be okay for me to check "planning to take," and then take it during summer or the spring before matriculation (if accepted)?
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Antilla? Bisht? They both suck.

If you had biochem with Merkler you're good to go!
 
gyngyn said:
Temple!
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My spreadsheet has Pitt, Pritzker, Columbia, Baylor, Cornell, Emory, Michigan, Northwestern, Sinai, and Kansas all requiring 8 units of OChem.
These are from a few months ago, and I don't remember how carefully I checked, but it's a thing!
 
p0gono said:
My spreadsheet has Pitt, Pritzker, Columbia, Baylor, Cornell, Emory, Michigan, Northwestern, Sinai, and Kansas all requiring 8 units of OChem.
These are from a few months ago, and I don't remember how carefully I checked, but it's a thing!
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Horrible.
 
p0gono said:
My spreadsheet has Pitt, Pritzker, Columbia, Baylor, Cornell, Emory, Michigan, Northwestern, Sinai, and Kansas all requiring 8 units of OChem.
These are from a few months ago, and I don't remember how carefully I checked, but it's a thing!
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There has to be more than just 8.
 
gyngyn said:
I'm going to take them all to task at the boards.
I'll bet they haven't reviewed their requirements in years.
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I'm confused. Is Orgo2 not second semester OChem? I thought it was common for schools to require 1 year of it. Pretty much all the CA schools do.
 
p0gono said:
My spreadsheet has Pitt, Pritzker, Columbia, Baylor, Cornell, Emory, Michigan, Northwestern, Sinai, and Kansas all requiring 8 units of OChem.
These are from a few months ago, and I don't remember how carefully I checked, but it's a thing!
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Pritzker, Cornell, Michigan, Sinai, and Kansas require only a semester of OChem (in Michigan's case, they just have core competencies).
 
gyngyn said:
I'm going to take them all to task at the boards.
I'll bet they haven't reviewed their requirements in years.
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Out of curiosity what is your opposition to schools requiring OCHEM 2? I'm also skeptical that schools not requiring ochem 2 would really reduce the number of people who take it; a ton of the most common pre-med majors(be it bio, neuro, BioE, chem etc) require ochem. Undergraduate schools also have every interest in making people still take it; its the biggest weed out class you'll find for the pre-med types.
 
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GrapesofRath said:
Out of curiosity what is your opposition to schools requiring OCHEM 2? I'm also skeptical that schools not requiring ochem 2 would really reduce the number of people who take it; a ton of the most common pre-med majors(be it bio, neuro, BioE, chem etc) require ochem. Undergraduate schools also have every interest in making people still take it; its the biggest weed out class you'll find for the pre-med types.
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Mostly for opportunity cost. There are only so many classes that can be taken in undergrad and pre-med eats up many of them for so little reason. If it's useful for one's major, it's fine.
 
Verbatim Disk said:
I'm confused. Is Orgo2 not second semester OChem? I thought it was common for schools to require 1 year of it. Pretty much all the CA schools do.
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Most of the CA medical schools have no pre-req's at all, only competencies!
 
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gyngyn said:
Most of the CA medical schools have no pre-req's at all, only competencies!
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Really?!

On their websites, UCLA, UCI, UCD, and UCSF all have pretty strict verbiage regarding prereqs.

Hopefully these are just out of date... UCSF even says you need a minimum of 2 quarters of OChem 2! For most people, that will make for a full year.
 
p0gono said:
Really?!

On their websites, UCLA, UCI, UCD, and UCSF all have pretty strict verbiage regarding prereqs.

Hopefully these are just out of date... UCSF even says you need a minimum of 2 quarters of OChem 2! For most people, that will make for a full year.
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Ok, half the CA schools..
 
I thought, you have to finish all the requirements (which includes, for example, biochem/orgo 2) before matriculating to that medical school?!
And, you can apply before completing the course?!
 
This conversation makes me happy. Unfortunately Emory is my dream school,and they require organic chemistry 2, don't they?
 
The 2 semester requirement for pre-reqs is dumb. My school requires taking p-chem to meet the second semester requirement of general chemistry (our gen chem is condensed to 1 semester). How does that make sense?
 
While I understand that Orgo sucks and I definitely did not enjoy it one second....

Why limit your options so severely--socially justified or no--by refusing to take one darn class?
 
md-2020 said:
While I understand that Orgo sucks and I definitely did not enjoy it one second....

Why limit your options so severely--socially justified or no--by refusing to take one darn class?
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For some people, Orgo 2 is like running through a majestic field of razor wire... buttnaked.
 
gyngyn said:
Who requires Orgo 2?!
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My school for a B.S. Biology degree :rage:😢 (or else I'd skip it since I am taking biochem this semester!!)

I could get a B.A... but then I would have to take 4 semesters of foreign language... at least they teach organic 2 in english at my school 🙂
 
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