Class Schedule from now till Senior Year????

[PsychhhedOut]

Hi everyone! I will be a sophomore this coming fall and I am a Psychology and Biology major. I made the conscious decision to not take biology or chemistry my first year simply because I was moving from a very small town to a very very large university and wanted the first year to get acclimated. Because of this, I have created my schedule from my fall sophomore year all the way to my spring senior year. If you have any suggestions or changes- please let me know.

Sophomore Fall
Biology 1 (4)
Precalc Part 1 (2)
Chemistry 1 (4)
Art History (3) [it's a gen ed and it's online]
Social Psychology (3)

Sophomore Spring
Biology 2 (4)
Biology Lab (2)
Intro to Experimentation (1) [this is a chem lab]
Precalc Part 2 (2)
Cognition (3)
Abnormal Psychology Lab (1)

Summer
Orgo 1 & Lab (4)
Orgo 2 & Lab (4)
Calculus 1 (4)

Junior Fall
Physics 1 for the Sciences & Lab (4)
Biochemistry & Lab (4)
Functional Human Anatomy (4)
Adult Development (3)
Physiological Psychology (3)

I plan on taking the MCATs after the fall of my JUNIOR year in January????

Junior Spring
Evolution of Infectious Diseases (3)
Neuropsychopharmacology (3)
Genetics & Lab (5)
Physics 2 for the Sciences & Lab (4)
Drugs and Human Behavior (3)

Senior Fall
Atypical Development (3)
Human Paristology & Lab (4)
Fundamentals of Neurobiology & Lab (4)
Virology (3)
Developmental Psychobiology (3)

the rest is sort of up for grabs.... What else should I be taking before the mcats??? should I move anything around?
Any advice would be great!

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[AxelLopez]

Is virology a class you can without a bachelor degree? I thought it was a postgrad training

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[PsychhhedOut]

Is virology a class you can without a bachelor degree? I thought it was a postgrad training

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They offer it with very specific professors only once every few years as an undergrad class!

 

[raiderette]

Is it common to do Orgo in the summer? That can be a tough class and even harder under the time crunch of summer at many campuses. Though if it is a normal thing, go for it.

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[AxelLopez]

Oh okay cool. It seem like you took all the requirement that you need for med school. you should do find on the MCAT. I would recommend taking a math class since physics and chemistry has a lot of math in it and could help you do well on the MCAT

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[PsychhhedOut]

Is it common to do Orgo in the summer? That can be a tough class and even harder under the time crunch of summer at many campuses. Though if it is a normal thing, go for it.

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Due to the fact that I didn't take any sciences my freshman year- I kind of have no other choice, BUT I wont have 12 other credits to focus on, either. And I'm not taking it at a community college but rather Lehigh University which is a big technical school.

 

[AttemptingScholar]

Are you taking Orgo 1 and 2 at the same time? Are you allowed to do that? Or is that two summer sessions.

 

[PsychhhedOut]

Are you taking Orgo 1 and 2 at the same time? Are you allowed to do that? Or is that two summer sessions.

Two summer sessions!

 

[AttemptingScholar]

When are you taking stats?

 

[PsychhhedOut]

When are you taking stats?

I was going to take that my senior year... I took Quantitative Methods for Research in Psychology which essentially is a just a statistics course that loosely related to psychological experiments. Should I take another one before the MCAT's?

 

[Toutie]

Wow...other than the online art history course, aren't you going to take anything for fun?

 

[PsychhhedOut]

Wow...other than the online art history course, aren't you going to take anything for fun?

I really, REALLY enjoy psychology, and I essentially took all my fun classes my freshman year. My psych classes are always my favorite. I took Neuropsychology last semester and was first in the class even though the class average was around the same as a STEM course. Guess I'm a little bit nerdy. I did take Basic Acting and Current Moral and Social Issues which were good!

I have a problem with enjoying "fun" classes because I often do poorly because I don't see the use of knowing the information. It's strange.

 

[pioneer22]

Highly recommend against orgo in summer. Take it jr year w physics.

 

[AttemptingScholar]

You need to take calc, stats, and two English courses with a lot of writing before you matriculate. It's okay if it's after the MCAT, though.

 

[PsychhhedOut]

Highly recommend against orgo in summer. Take it jr year w physics.

Because of the rigor of the course or because it is looked down upon to take summer courses?
I won't be working so I at least have that going for me.

 

[PsychhhedOut]

You need to take calc, stats, and two English courses with a lot of writing before you matriculate. It's okay if it's after the MCAT, though.

Perfect. Thank you!

 

[AttemptingScholar]

Because of the rigor of the course or because it is looked down upon to take summer courses?
I won't be working so I at least have that going for me.

Kinda both. Mostly the second.

 

[PsychhhedOut]

Kinda both. Mostly the second.

I mean... it's not a community college so wouldn't it be looked at differently? It's a very reputable school in PA.

 

[AttemptingScholar]

I mean... it's not a community college so wouldn't it be looked at differently? It's a very reputable school in PA.

Summer classes allow you to focus just on the one class. You should be able to successful take multiple hard science courses. After all, that's all you'll be taking in medical school!
If you search the forum for threads on this topic. you will also see various adcoms advising against summer orgo. Here's an example, Orgo 2 and lab in the summer while working
You may not learn it well, you aren't guaranteed a high grade, and it can (but won't necessarily) look like you are avoiding taking another class with orgo when orgo is supposed to be the ultimate weed-out. If you were planning on taking high level chem like physical chemistry afterawards it would probably look fine (and it might not even be that big a deal) but it's not going to count in your favor.

 

[PsychhhedOut]

Summer classes allow you to focus just on the one class. You should be able to successful take multiple hard science courses. After all, that's all you'll be taking in medical school!
If you search the forum for threads on this topic. you will also see various adcoms advising against summer orgo. Here's an example, Orgo 2 and lab in the summer while working
You may not learn it well, you aren't guaranteed a high grade, and it can (but won't necessarily) look like you are avoiding taking another class with orgo when orgo is supposed to be the ultimate weed-out. If you were planning on taking high level chem like physical chemistry afterawards it would probably look fine (and it might not even be that big a deal) but it's not going to count in your favor.

Thank you so much for showing me that example! This all makes a lot of sense. I might plan on taking a high level chemistry to make up for it. The only thing going for me is that the university I would be taking it from is pretty reliable and a huge technical school, so at least they wouldn't put it on the same level as a CC summer course. But It still doesn't make things better and poses a risk of me doing terribly.

 

[darmalee]

Thank you so much for showing me that example! This all makes a lot of sense. I might plan on taking a high level chemistry to make up for it. The only thing going for me is that the university I would be taking it from is pretty reliable and a huge technical school, so at least they wouldn't put it on the same level as a CC summer course. But It still doesn't make things better and poses a risk of me doing terribly.

I think that the difficulty of organic chemistry should be the bigger factor in deciding against doing it in the summer. As someone who has now graduated from medical school I can tell you that I never had to demonstrate any organic chemistry knowledge in medical school, but the previous poster is right in saying that it is often the ultimate weed out course. And I think that the reason it is used as a weed out course is not because you need these fundamentals to be successful in medical school (thank god) but because it is really difficult and also because it is totally new to most people when they take it.

Students come into medical school with varied levels of preparedness on the major topics of preclinical years, but no one has previous exposure to all of it. There is not much that you learn in medical school that is incredibly technically difficult, but there is a ton of it. So the ability to roll with the punches and learn something totally fresh and build on it as you go through new material quickly (orgo all over the place) is important.

It may be true that pre-reqs in the summer are looked down on by adcoms (this is the first I'm hearing of it, but that means not much at all), but it is definitely true that trying to get through one organic class in the condensed summer format, let alone two, is setting yourself up for badness. Take it when you're not going to class every day and your mind has a day off between classes to mull over what you've learned.

 

[sunshinefl]

Hi everyone! I will be a sophomore this coming fall and I am a Psychology and Biology major. I made the conscious decision to not take biology or chemistry my first year simply because I was moving from a very small town to a very very large university and wanted the first year to get acclimated. Because of this, I have created my schedule from my fall sophomore year all the way to my spring senior year. If you have any suggestions or changes- please let me know.

Sophomore Fall
Biology 1 (4)
Precalc Part 1 (2)
Chemistry 1 (4)
Art History (3) [it's a gen ed and it's online]
Social Psychology (3)

Sophomore Spring
Biology 2 (4)
Biology Lab (2)
Intro to Experimentation (1) [this is a chem lab]
Precalc Part 2 (2)
Cognition (3)
Abnormal Psychology Lab (1)

Summer
Orgo 1 & Lab (4)
Orgo 2 & Lab (4)
Calculus 1 (4)

Junior Fall
Physics 1 for the Sciences & Lab (4)
Biochemistry & Lab (4)
Functional Human Anatomy (4)
Adult Development (3)
Physiological Psychology (3)

I plan on taking the MCATs after the fall of my JUNIOR year in January????

Junior Spring
Evolution of Infectious Diseases (3)
Neuropsychopharmacology (3)
Genetics & Lab (5)
Physics 2 for the Sciences & Lab (4)
Drugs and Human Behavior (3)

Senior Fall
Atypical Development (3)
Human Paristology & Lab (4)
Fundamentals of Neurobiology & Lab (4)
Virology (3)
Developmental Psychobiology (3)

the rest is sort of up for grabs.... What else should I be taking before the mcats??? should I move anything around?
Any advice would be great!

Where is chemistry 2???

Also, you have many 18 credit hour semesters with science classes and labs. Make sure you can succeed with such a schedule. If you can that will be impressive. But you don't want your grades to suffer if you're over-extended.

 

[liquidsodium]

I will say that it was extremely challenging for me to take orgo 1, 2 and lab in the summer, even without the added grapple with calculus. Days were long and there was considerable independent studying since the courses were condensed. I consider myself a fairly good student and would be overloading myself with this schedule.

As another example, look at the courseload you'll be taking right before your anticipated MCAT time: 18 credits, including physics, biochemistry and anatomy. Many students aim to take fewer credits to allow themselves time to focus on MCAT study -- taking the prereq subjects is great and really important, but not adequate on its own and I have a strong feeling you'll end up wishing you had more time.

If your end goal is med school, it might be a good idea to reconsider the double major and give yourself the time to maintain your GPA and rock the MCAT. That said, you know yourself best as a student



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[AttemptingScholar]

Yeah, I came in wanting to double major and dropped that quick! If you really want to double major the safest bet would be to do more than four years. Chose your majors and minors for you and what you intend to do with them. A double major won't particularly impress ADCOMS.

 

[confidentandgood]

I have a problem with enjoying "fun" classes because I often do poorly because I don't see the use of knowing the information. It's strange.

"Fun" classes are just that -- fun. Most students take these electives because they're a way to explore new interests, take a break from more rigorous coursework, etc.

But on a more relevant note, I wouldn't recommend taking Orgo in the summer. It's much more rushed and might be viewed negatively by adcoms.

 

[AttemptingScholar]

I have a problem with enjoying "fun" classes because I often do poorly because I don't see the use of knowing the information. It's strange.

You might benefit from a more technical class. When my schedule frees up senior year I am 100% set on taking a glassblowing class my school offers. No homework, no studying. Just art and really hot fire (two of my favorite things).