Deciding which pre-req to take

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Pandaeac

Pandaeac

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Hi all,

I need to take one more pre-req for a school to fulfill an upper division bio credit. I have the option of taking cell bio, immunology, or general human anatomy. In terms of what will be the most helpful preparing me for med school, anyone have advice for which to take?

Thank you!
 
Pandaeac said:
Hi all,

I need to take one more pre-req for a school to fulfill an upper division bio credit. I have the option of taking cell bio, immunology, or general human anatomy. In terms of what will be the most helpful preparing me for med school, anyone have advice for which to take?

Thank you!
Click to expand...
How good is your understanding of cell bio to begin with? That might make the transition into med school smoother if you are deficient in that area. If you are have a good grasp of it, anatomy would probably give you the most "edge" going into first year. Immunology is a lot more interesting IMO, but depending on what school you go to, you might not see much of it until second year.

The above comments aside, you will not gain much of an advantage at all by taking a single undergraduate class when it comes to your med school courses, so pick what you are most interested in.

If you don't have microbiology, genetics, or biochem, and you still have to take the MCAT, I would take one of those as they will prepare you for the MCAT better than the three above (unless you are deficient in your understanding of cell bio, that is.) Of those three, Biochem is probably the best to take.
 
Pandaeac said:
Hi all,

I need to take one more pre-req for a school to fulfill an upper division bio credit. I have the option of taking cell bio, immunology, or general human anatomy. In terms of what will be the most helpful preparing me for med school, anyone have advice for which to take?

Thank you!
Click to expand...
It doesn't really matter for medical school. Take whatever interests you most, or perhaps the better choice is, take whatever is easier. Look up the instructors who will be teaching each of the courses on ratemyprofessor, and pick the course with the instructor that has the highest "easy" rating on ratemyprof.
 
streampaw said:
It doesn't really matter for medical school. Take whatever interests you most, or perhaps the better choice is, take whatever is easier. Look up the instructors who will be teaching each of the courses on ratemyprofessor, and pick the course with the instructor that has the highest "easy" rating on ratemyprof.
Click to expand...

An 18-year-old giving advice about what will matter for med school... lol
 
sinombre said:
No, but you sure think you do. Which is actually pretty entertaining.
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Have you given advice to the OP? Why don't you do that instead of making fun of me on this thread. I have given good advice to the OP.
 
OP, I'd recommend cell bio.

streampaw said:
It doesn't really matter for medical school. Take whatever interests you most, or perhaps the better choice is, take whatever is easier. Look up the instructors who will be teaching each of the courses on ratemyprofessor, and pick the course with the instructor that has the highest "easy" rating on ratemyprof.
Click to expand...

sinombre said:
An 18-year-old giving advice about what will matter for med school... lol
Click to expand...

streampaw said:
be quiet, sinombre. I know my stuff.
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Damn son. An 18 y/o being pushy with a medical student. That's a first. Be careful sinombre! Her lawyer boyfriend will come after your tail (no pun intended) if you don't listen to her!
 
streampaw said:
Have you given advice to the OP? Why don't you do that instead of making fun of me on this thread. I have given good advice to the OP.
Click to expand...

You don't know whether or not you've given good advice because you're a long way from medical school. I've contributed by informing the OP of how old you are so he can disregard what you say, or enjoy the comedic value of it like a lot of us have been doing.
 
sinombre said:
You don't know whether or not you've given good advice because you're a long way from medical school. I've contributed by informing the OP of how old you are so he can disregard what you say, or enjoy the comedic value of it like a lot of us have been doing.
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I have actually given legitimate advice to the OP, and you didn't even try. What year are you in medical school?
 
sinombre said:
Year 5. I had to repeat a year because I took advice from know-it-all 18-year-olds on SDN.
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Yeah right. No, but really. Are you going to reapply to residency to match to the one you wanted to?
 
streampaw said:
I know my stuff.
Click to expand...

Oh, this is too good. You must be trollin'.

OP, what would be most helpful will be whatever you would enjoy the most. Personally, I love anatomy and immuno, so it would be a tough call. Does your school have a "shop" period where you can attend the first week or so of classes and see which course jives better with your mojo?
 
Agent B said:
Yup. Sinombre just outed you. +1 for sinombre!
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Do I sound like I care? I was just trying to make friends with sinombre, but he is too mean 🙁 lol jk.

DrCharlemagne said:
Oh, this is too good. You must be trollin'.

OP, what would be most helpful will be whatever you would enjoy the most. Personally, I love anatomy and immuno, so it would be a tough call. Does your school have a "shop" period where you can attend the first week or so of classes and see which course jives better with your mojo?
Click to expand...

I am not trollin'.
 
streampaw said:
It doesn't really matter for medical school. Take whatever interests you most, or perhaps the better choice is, take whatever is easier. Look up the instructors who will be teaching each of the courses on ratemyprofessor, and pick the course with the instructor that has the highest "easy" rating on ratemyprof.
Click to expand...

This is in fact terrible advice, particularly for someone already into medical school who doesn't need to guard their GPA as much. I found that profs with a reputation for being 'easier' generally had the reputation because of whiners who didn't have the patience or persistence to actually learn the material. Profs with 'harder' reputations were more likely to teach a useful class.

But go ahead, take the easiest classes wherever you can find them. You'll bomb the MCAT and never get into medical school, or scrape into med school and fall flat on your face the first real exam you get. Not exactly a recipe for matching derm.

(I still think you're a troll. post is primarily for other people reading this).
 
streampaw said:
Do I sound like I care? I was just trying to make friends with sinombre, but he is too mean 🙁 lol jk.



I am not trollin'.
Click to expand...

Sadly, no one likes to be friends with trolls... so I'm afraid you're lonely for now. 🙁
 
SN12357 said:
This is in fact terrible advice, particularly for someone already into medical school who doesn't need to guard their GPA as much. I found that profs with a reputation for being 'easier' generally had the reputation because of whiners who didn't have the patience or persistence to actually learn the material. Profs with 'harder' reputations were more likely to teach a useful class.

But go ahead, take the easiest classes wherever you can find them. You'll bomb the MCAT and never get into medical school, or scrape into med school and fall flat on your face the first real exam you get. Not exactly a recipe for matching derm.

(I still think you're a troll. post is primarily for other people reading this).
Click to expand...

To be fair, OP has already been accepted to medical school for the upcoming year.

And to give actual advice, OP, it's not particularly important. Take whichever course interests you most and will thus keep you most motivated to pass. One course you take in undergrad will likely not have a broad enough scope to help you in medical school.
 
tantacles said:
To be fair, OP has already been accepted to medical school for the upcoming year.

And to give actual advice, OP, it's not particularly important. Take whichever course interests you most and will thus keep you most motivated to pass. One course you take in undergrad will likely not have a broad enough scope to help you in medical school.
Click to expand...

Which I noted, and the bulk of my post wasn't directed at the op, it was directed at streampaw, who is either a masterful troll or one of the most ignorantly annoying posters ever to grace sdn. Read their other threads for some great laughs.

The OP should indeed take whatever they are most interested in.
 
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