bio, chem, and physics together in sophmore year

[raksudum]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I have recently decided that I wanted to pursue going to medical school. At first I was undecided between business and medicine. But I have decided on premed and a biology major.

I am currently a freshman and have taken mostly University general requirements. My plan is to take the MCAT by junior year in the normal 4 year undergrad plan. This is what I am considering for my plan:

Sophmore Year 1st semester: Biology 1 (took lab 1st semester freshman year), Chemistry 1 with lab, Physics 1 with lab. (totals 11 credit plus maybe an easy elective to reach full time status)
Sophmore Year 2nd semester: Biology 2 with Lab, Chemistry 2 with lab, Physics 2 with lab. (totals 12 credits)

Summer: Organic Chemistry 1 with lab (totals 5 credits)

Junior Year 1st semester: Organic Chemistry 2 with lab plus major requirements (I want to total around 15 credits)
Junior Year 2nd semester: take a 15 credit course load, prepare for MCAT

What do you guys think?
My main question is if I take bio, chem, and physics with their labs and nothing else. Will it be doable? Some people tell me that it's work but not as bad as if i had 15 credits. Others tell me that it will be crazy. My reasoning behind taking these classes is that they will get me on track for the MCAT, and allow me to take upperlevel classes.

Thanks

 

[Kangaroo Paw]

Hey! So I was going through the same question while I was deciding courses for my sophomore year and it seems that the (correct) answer is pretty much always the same: when in doubt, take that pre-med requirement first. When I was going into freshman fall, I had a huge internal debate as to whether I should take Bio 1 or Bio 1 with Chem 1, and ultimately decided to do both together, which ended up well. Then, for sophomore fall, I was between taking Orgo II and Neuroscience, or Orgo II, Neuroscience, AND Physics 1, and chose the latter. While the three sciences together turned out to be challenging, it was by no means not doable, and I ended up making the same grades as when I had only taken two sciences at the same time.
I would personally say just go ahead and do the bio/chem/physics together IF you've had a relatively comfortable experience with science your freshman year. If you haven't taken any college science at all, I would recommend taking Bio 1 and Chem 1, and leaving Physics for junior year.

Hope that helped!

 

[getdown]

It's doable but you're going to hate your life that year. The better question will be how you'll do. Any idiot can sign up for classes but will you be disciplined enough to study that much every day for a whole year? I feel you can't and you're going to get burned out and eventually you'll start doing bad in your classes thereby making your efforts all for naught. I really don't see why you're rushing to do them all so soon. You might want to spread them out some. Slow and steady and making sure you do well in all your classes is by far more important than rushing everything to try to apply early.

 

[Maeby Funke]

That actually looks like a pretty nice schedule to me. Can you take both terms of organic chemistry over the summer? I did that with gen chem and it was so nice having a year long series over with in 2 short months.

 

[Lil Mick]

It's doable. I had 20 credits of science classes one semester, and, although it was a lot of work sometimes, it wasn't too bad. Just make sure you have something with which to balance your studying.

 

[kaleidoscopic]

That's pretty much what I did in the past year: gen chem over the summer, physics, bio, and orgo in fall and spring, and the MCAT in April. I put myself through this madness because I decided to switch from social sciences to medicine my senior year in college.
Having 3 labs is not fun but doable, and it's probably not as bad for someone who likes basic sciences and is good at it. Also, taking gen chem over the year and summer orgo seems like a better combination than what I did. The former has more weight on the MCAT.

 

[boko]

i def doable..but i would not take OChem in the summer...unless you will put everything you have into it..that means not taking anyother classes that summer..and not working. I would suggest taking it in a long/regular semester. But other than that...looks good. hope this helps

 

[bucks2010]

I've done it (not OChem in the summer though). It's doable

 

[pourlepeuple]

Im in the same position also. My next semester (Sophomore year) Ill be taking Biology (Lecture and lab), Organic Chem (Lecture and Lab), Physics -calc based (lecture and lab), Anatomy I (lecture and lab), Calculus I, and World Lit. Good luck to the both of us.

 

[docelh]

serious props to those of you who did this and excelled.

I don't find the pre-reqs to be hard, but they require 1) a lot of work (mostly lab), 2) ride on three tests and a final (pressure), 3) and are "curved" to disappoint the vast majority of pre-medders.

OP, I'm going to do O-chem, physics, and Genetics next fall, so... it's doable. It better be for me.

The thing is... you haven't fully acclimated yourself to pre-med classes yet, so you may or may not be in for a rough adjustment period depending on how smart, driven, and mature you are. Good luck.

 

[apumic]

Very doable. Of course, it all depends on who you are and what you're actually capable of. When the rest of us comment, we're commenting from our own individual experiences. I took ochem, physio, physics, and molecular bio together (with labs). It made for a tough semester working full time but it was still doable.

 

[raksudum]

I had taken biology 1st semester freshman year, but dropped it because i realized i wasn't learning anything with my professor. So that was my only experience with science classes in college. Besides that I loved my Bio 1 lab which i took without taking bio lecture at all.

Thanks for the responses guys. Everyone I talk to keep telling me to take two classes, bio and chem. then take physics and orgo junior or senior years.

My friend at Vanderbilt tells me that for the MCAT even if you don't take/finish physics or orgo, then the prep book will teach you the concepts you need to do well.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[meithelion]

I was thinking the same thing, but ppl have told me that 3 sciences are too much to do all at one time. I mean, we want to have a good experience just being in college too, right? Not just premed stuff? 🙂

 

[apumic]

I had taken biology 1st semester freshman year, but dropped it because i realized i wasn't learning anything with my professor. So that was my only experience with science classes in college. Besides that I loved my Bio 1 lab which i took without taking bio lecture at all.

Thanks for the responses guys. Everyone I talk to keep telling me to take two classes, bio and chem. then take physics and orgo junior or senior years.

My friend at Vanderbilt tells me that for the MCAT even if you don't take/finish physics or orgo, then the prep book will teach you the concepts you need to do well.

Any thoughts on this?

Your friend at Vandy should probably keep his/her mouth shut from now on.

Yes, you could learn from the prep book, but it's not generally a good idea and puts you at a much higher risk for failure.

 

[YoungSon]

I messed up my schedule freshmen year in college so I'm going to have to take orgo chem, bio, calc, and chem lab first semester of my sophomore year and physics, calc 2, bio 2, and orgo chem 2 my second semester. Your not alone in this crazy schedule and I have no idea how I'll do, but I'll give it my best.

 

[raksudum]

Yeah I am just trying to make sure I do it right. Will staying on an extra year for undergrad look bad when i apply for med school? So basically i am asking if i being a 5th year will affect my chances of admission?

 

[meithelion]

I don't think 5 years will necessarily look bad, from what ppl tell me these days med school admissions care more about what you did outside classes and what kind of clinical exposure you've had. 🙄

 

[PressPforPi]

Yeah I am just trying to make sure I do it right. Will staying on an extra year for undergrad look bad when i apply for med school? So basically i am asking if i being a 5th year will affect my chances of admission?

Nah brah.

 

[raksudum]

Your friend at Vandy should probably keep his/her mouth shut from now on.

Yes, you could learn from the prep book, but it's not generally a good idea and puts you at a much higher risk for failure.

Haha yeah that's what I was telling him. Thanks though

 

[raksudum]

Also can someone who has taken bio, chem, phys or 3 science classes of the same difficulty kind of give me an example of what their weekly or daily schedule looked like? Thanks ahead of time.

 

[YouNeverKnow22]

i took orgo 1 + physics 1 last spring, it was hell

 

[apumic]

Also can someone who has taken bio, chem, phys or 3 science classes of the same difficulty kind of give me an example of what their weekly or daily schedule looked like? Thanks ahead of time.

Mon/Wed/Fri
9-1030 OChem 2
1030-12 Physics 2
Mon 12-2 Ochem 2 Lab
Wed 12-2 Physics 2 Lab
Fri 12-2 Physio Lab

Tues/Thurs
1000-12 Physio
12-2 Molecular Bio

Mon-Fri 3-11 Work

I basically don't study, but if I had, it would have been b/w 2 and 3 or during work (e.g., when pts were doing ok and I was caught up on charting, orders, etc.)

 

[raksudum]

Mon/Wed/Fri
9-1030 OChem 2
1030-12 Physics 2
Mon 12-2 Ochem 2 Lab
Wed 12-2 Physics 2 Lab
Fri 12-2 Physio Lab

Tues/Thurs
1000-12 Physio
12-2 Molecular Bio

Mon-Fri 3-11 Work

I basically don't study, but if I had, it would have been b/w 2 and 3 or during work (e.g., when pts were doing ok and I was caught up on charting, orders, etc.)

I meant like the study schedule, extracurricular, research, etc built in

 

[apumic]

I meant like the study schedule, extracurricular, research, etc built in

That includes my work/study schedule. I worked full time and basically didn't study outside class. Those classes really aren't that tough. If you go to class and integrate what the prof says with what you already know and understand, no course is particularly difficult.

My additional ECs included about 10 hours/wk volunteering, 8 hrs/wk teaching, 3-5 hrs/wk research, and 2-4 hrs/wk helping manage our school's pre-health/pre-med program.

The only time I ever cracked a book outside class was a day or two before an exam. I would usually take a day off work the day before each exam and spend a couple of hours on practice problems.

The caveat here is that most students probably would not be pulling As doing what I do. I've noticed a lot of students aren't good at integrating their knowledge, so they end up learning everything over and over again. If you aren't able to connect the dots between subjects and really form a strong integrated understanding of the sciences, you probably need more study time.

 

[kaleidoscopic]

M/W/F
10-12 bio, orgo
1-4 physics/orgo/bio lab
7-8 gym

T/Th
8-9:30 physics
10-11 therapy (optional)
1-? study/volunteer/research

S/Su
10-? study/volunteer/research

I tried to frontload and stay very organized. The lab reports and assignments alone take up a sizeable amount of time regardless of how easy your classes are or how little you need to study. You just have to prioritize a LOT, be flexible, and not wait to ask for help.

 

[apumic]

M/W/F
10-12 bio, orgo
1-4 physics/orgo/bio lab
7-8 gym

T/Th
8-9:30 physics
10-11 therapy (optional)
1-? study/volunteer/research

S/Su
10-? study/volunteer/research

I hadn't taken any basic sciences before, much less in this concentration, so I tried to frontload and stay very organized. The lab reports and assignments alone take up a sizeable amount of time regardless of how easy your classes are or how little you need to study. You just have to prioritize a LOT, be flexible, and not wait to ask for help.

True, although at least in some of my labs, I could get the report done while the lecturer droned on about the next lab we were going to do. Nevertheless, I'd say I spent ~2 hrs/wk/lab outside class. I forgot about that, haha....

 

[getdown]

Also can someone who has taken bio, chem, phys or 3 science classes of the same difficulty kind of give me an example of what their weekly or daily schedule looked like? Thanks ahead of time.

This really depends on the school that you go to. Some schools can be killer... others can be more chill so people's experiences are gonna vary on that. What's the culture of your school and general impression of the people that took these classes there? That should give you a more accurate description of the workload than a bunch of random shmoes online.

 

[apumic]

This really depends on the school that you go to. Some schools can be killer... others can be more chill so people's experiences are gonna vary on that. What's the culture of your school and general impression of the people that took these classes there? That should give you a more accurate description of the workload than a bunch of random shmoes online.

I think it really depends more on the individual than the course. The courses between colleges are largely the same. Sure, there are going to be differences, but the differences here are probably smaller than the differences between students. Case in point, I personally found ochem to be a very easy A and had no problem scoring in the 90s on the exams. On the other hand, I've heard many chem students claim ochem here is extremely difficult and our lab exam averages were generally around 50%. Why that is I'll never quite get, because I found the coursework fairly easy.