Can I take one year of orgo this summer and study for August MCAT?

[Tofurkey]

Hello,

I am a post-bacc student who will be done with all pre-reqs this May except for orgo 1 and 2. I had to withdraw from orgo I in the fall because it was interfering with getting good grades in my other classes. My science GPA is a 3.55.

Anyhow, I'm starting to wonder if I can take one year of orgo (no lab--will take that next year) AND take Kaplan to study for the August MCAT. I've been studying for the August MCAT since mid-January, but it's been slow going. I am starting to wonder if I can get A's or at least B+ in orgos plus do well on the MCAT. My school does one semester of orgo in six-week blocks over the summer. It will be over a week before the August MCAT. There is one month in-between spring semester and the summer session in which I would study a ton for the MCAT, but I'm still wondering if this is possible.

I woulnd't be working or doing anything else--just some volunteering I guess.

I found orgo I VERY difficult in the fall (which is why I dropped it--because I was getting C's but I also had a very brutal prof).

The other option would just to take part I of orgo and take the MCAT without part II. Would that be a good idea? I'll be applying this June for fall 2005.

Thanks,

Tofurkey

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[BubbleBobble]

Hi,

I did just that - took the entire organic sequence in the summer when I was also taking the MCAT. Near August, I had to study for the organic content that had not been covered in class yet. So essentially, I took the MCAT only having had 1 and 1/2 organic classes out of 2.

It's very possible to do, but it's rough. I would suggest taking both of the organic courses in the summer, since there were quite a few questions about biochemistry, NMR, IR spectroscopy, etc. where I had no idea.

Good luck!

 

[Paws]

Well, the real question is can you do both of these and do WELL.

I would say basied on my own expereince that it would be incredibly difficult to do both and somehow come out ok. OChem in the regular year is hard enough but in the summer you might find yourself in tears late at night when you are covering a chapter a day and the first test is like, tomorrow.

Same with the MCAT. Not a fun thing to study for, and again, you might find yourself freakin' when that is ALL you're studying for.

Just my 0.02 worth - chose one and do you best with it; also, the MCAT covers alot of second semester stuff in it's questions. Good luck!

Oh, and the 'brutal' professor, hmmm... I think that is part of the job description for this course. My guy was a real sweetheart outside of class but I thought he had gone on drugs he was so incredibly abusive during the semester. All part of the psychological drama known as OChem ...