Assess my situation

[sunnyisland]

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Hello all

Currently I am a sophomore in MCDB Major.

Already Completed, CHEM2, PHYSICS1, MCDB1, MCDB2, Stats, psycology, Organic Chem1. Have a perfect 4.0 as of now. Currently working on Ochem2, MCDB3, Physics2. May be one of the MCDB3 or physics2 could be a A- others more likely be an A. My Science Gpa from the college will be High in the range of 3.9- 4.0.

Already have about 600 Hours of research in lab facility.

Now coming to the bad part of my story.

Out of high school In the first summer I did a EMT course in a community college. I did pretty bad. Have a 3.0 gpa from a 12 credit course. For Amcas Gpa calculation all of it will be included even if it is from a community college. per my calculation I could end up with a science gpa of 3.8 to 4.0.

While in my high school took many APs for physics, biology, chemistry and CALC BC. I had 5/5s in each of them. EMT course was different for the way it was taught and the syllabus it covered. Some how I could not get a handle on it.

Have not had any clinical volunteering. Will try to do more clinical work in the summer. May be I have about 100 hours of non clinical as of now.

2 Questions.
1. Did not take CHEM1 in college as I had a 5/5 in my AP chem. As I am completing other higher level courses like CHEM2, OCHEM1, OCHEM2, BIOCHEM, is it necessary for me complete Physical chem or inorganic chem.
2. How medical schools view my non performance in an EMT class although my gpa will be in pretty good range because of my good performance in the college level courses. Kind of worried because of EMT being close to Medical school syllabus.

Thanks

 

[sunnyisland]

1. Since all the courses you mentioned above are already required by most schools, you will need an additional course to replace the AP Chem credit
2. No school will care about EMT.

Thanks for the reply.
I prefer Physical chemistry as this has more MCAT related topics. Any preference of one over the other.

 

[Moko]

1. Did not take CHEM1 in college as I had a 5/5 in my AP chem. As I am completing other higher level courses like CHEM2, OCHEM1, OCHEM2, BIOCHEM, is it necessary for me complete Physical chem or inorganic chem.
2. How medical schools view my non performance in an EMT class although my gpa will be in pretty good range because of my good performance in the college level courses. Kind of worried because of EMT being close to Medical school syllabus.

My thoughts:
- Look at the prereq requirements for schools you are interested in applying to (from a list of 'safeties', 'target', and 'reach' schools). While most schools will request an additional semester of college-level chemistry to 'make up' for the AP credit, not all schools have a rigid requirement of 1 year of inorganic chemistry, 1 year of organic chemistry, and 1 semester of biochemistry. For example, some schools only require one semester of organic chemistry, whereas others do not require biochemistry at all. Since you're doing OCHEM2 and BIOCHEM, you will have met the requirements at these types of schools. Some other schools are moving towards competency-based assessments, which your current courses may also be sufficient for. A nice reddit resource:

- However, to ensure that you are eligible for as many places as possible, it would not be unwise to take an additional semester of chemistry; however, look through your course catalog to see if there are any other intermediate-level chemistry classes that you can take, e.g analytical chemistry, that would satisfy these requirements. I would hesitate to jump to upper-level classes like PChem, which can be tough even for chemistry majors and math whizzes.
- No one will care about these EMT grades. They will also be at least 3-4 years old by the time you apply.

I prefer Physical chemistry as this has more MCAT related topics. Any preference of one over the other.

You do not need PChem to do well on the MCAT. I would advise against choosing a course based on its applicability to MCAT. Just my thoughts.

 

[LizzyM]

Check ratemyprofessor and any school specific resources before going out on a limb with P-chem unless required for your major. You appear to have sailed through O-chem which is great but P-chem is known to be a beast.

Get some clinical experience stat. If you have an EMT certificate, it should be easy to get a job or a volunteer position that provides you hands on work with patients. Don't go too much further down this road without being sure that a career as a clinician is right for you.

 

[deleted859689]

P-chem is the BANE the BANE of my existence. Went for a PhD in Chemistry (organic/analytical) still got a C in P-chem - was my only non-A class.

edit: *graduate

 

[ChymeofPassion]

Pchem was a beast that I still don't understand a year after taking it. It's only by the grace of God (and take-home tests) that I got an A- (one of two throughout all of college). It has NOTHING to do with the MCAT. The MCAT will not ask you to use complex calculus and differential equations to estimate quantum mechanics. Even the parts of the class that MAY be on the MCAT, like thermodynamics and equations of state, will be so far out of the realm of the MCAT that it would make more sense to just memorize a General Chemistry textbook. If you truly must take upper division chemistry, take a protein chemistry class. Very useful for the MCAT (memorizing amino acids to a level far more complex than you would in Biochemistry).