do you LIKE pre-req classes?

[MedChic]

so i find myself ripping my hair out doing physics homework.
i literally cry over it. i would rather be writing a research paper on the most boring topic.

just wondering how many of you actually enjoyed chem/physics/orgo?

i have no problem with bio, but quite honestly, everything else makes me nauseous.

oh and i absolutely hate and despise labs. all labs. with a passion. a deep, deep passion.
is this normal?

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[Haemulon]

so i find myself ripping my hair out doing physics homework.
i literally cry over it. i would rather be writing a research paper on the most boring topic.

just wondering how many of you actually enjoyed chem/physics/orgo?

i have no problem with bio, but quite honestly, everything else makes me nauseous.

oh and i absolutely hate and despise labs. all labs. with a passion. a deep, deep passion.
is this normal?

I actually really like physics. Of course, doing the homework was a drag and I was never very enthusiastic about it (which is probably why I did not do so well on the PS section of the MCAT), but I loved the theoretical portions.

 

[MinnyGophers]

Despise engineering physics here. The subject itself is interesting, but the way we learn it is just dull and useless.

But I love chem. Love, love chem. Bio is okay too after you're done with all the evolutionnary tree and recessive/dominant alleles in fruit flies crap.

 

[HelenaP]

What always encouraged me is that my mother is a respected physician, majored in chemistry, was pretty much a straight-A student, and now she couldn't do a chemistry or physics problem if her life depended it (at least not without reading the textbook to relearn everything). Seriously, my first week in chem 1 I asked if she remembered anything about whatever problems I was trying to do and she had no clue. And physics is even worse: she knows she took it, but doesn't remember the class at all. So, you don't have to like it, you may never see it again, just get the best grade you can and move on.

 

[braluk]

i only liked physics after the mcats, cause mcats was the only real time i cared about it. go figure. evertying else i liked. gen chem is probbaly on the bottom of that same rung tho and orgo on top

 

[Captain Fantastic]

I like the courses, hate the labs. Usually they demonstrate some principle that I already understand and don't need demonstrated - OR - it demonstrates something so convoluted I'll never understand it and is a colossal waste of time.

I'm taking Physics I this summer and it's going so fast I feel like I'm just barely hanging on, hoping to make it to the end of the semester. It's white knuckles for the next two weeks: two exams, two homeworks, two labs, 9 chapters. While I think I would like this subject, I just don't have time to enjoy it!

 

[geno2568]

I liked chem and physics because I was able to stay ahead of the curve, but obviously i didnt like staying up till 3am studying for material that I will never need after the mcats.

But also i liked them cuz it fealt like there was a direct correlation between how much I studied, and how well I did (unlike labs, papers, etc), so they were fair in that regard.

I think if I was a chem or physics major I would enjoy them more....cuz then I wouldnt have to worry about the premeds as much

 

[zach1201]

Organic Chemistry synthesis problems and fifteen step mechanisms ruled (I'm dead serious).

 

[Natatiap]

no, i hated physics, still do thats why I studied the hardest for it for the mcat and somehow did the best on that subject. I actually liked bio and took a biotechniques class which was my favorite

 

[TMP-SMX]

Physics sucks... Everything else is fun.

 

[Oculus Sinistra]

So, you don't have to like it, you may never see it again, just get the best grade you can and move on.

That's what everyone says. My first question to a medical student was, "So how much Organic Chemistry do you actually USE in medical school, anyway?"

Not to get into a But-that's-not-why-they-want-you-to-take-it debate again, just to agree with your point.

 

[Looque]

I wasn't particularly fond of physics, although I loved it in high school, and general chem was kind of bland. I've loved all of my bio classes and organic chemistry, though.

 

[jackieMD2007]

Physics sucks... Everything else is fun.

Physics is just a bunch of made up numbers and equations.

 

[xanthomondo]

i lovvedd physics...im taking astrophysics next semester as nothing but a fun elective

it applies to EVERYTHING in life...in organic you sit there and say "whats the real world application of this 15 step synthesis problem"

in physics it was always obvious, whether it was with cars and motion or magnetic fields/MRI machines

 

[Oculus Sinistra]

just wondering how many of you actually enjoyed chem/physics/orgo?

English -- awesome.

Biology -- fun, always interesting to know how stuff worked and why... except the hours staring at Krebs/Photosynthesis cycles memorizing what goes in and out, where the electrons are, etc. Labs, especially with dissection and practicals, I LOVED.

General Chemistry -- fun in the beginning, boring in the end. It was definitely like a job. No passion whatsoever.

Organic Chemistry -- boring all the way through, OChem 2 is complete garbage (I just hate predicting reactions). The lab was ridiculous. I did everything right, down to the very last detail, and I was still coming up a little short in my yields.

Physics -- seemed like it was going to be a lot more interesting than it actually was. Two cars of unequal weight drive at the same speed toward each other...

 

[vincikai]

I love them

 

[Dr Durden]

Without a fondness for gen-chem, I never would have bailed from civil engineering, and thus would never have ended up a pre-med conversing with you fine folks online.

 

[Compass]

Enjoyment, while preferable, is not the point of pre-reqs. Understanding and handling are.

 

[Apparition]

Liked all the pre-reqs except some of Organic chem.

 

[hermit]

i literally cry over it.

That's pathetic.

 

[Skaterbabe74]

I wasn't big on bio I and II, but I have loved most of my upper division bio (molecular bio sucked but that's cuz of the teacher, not the subject). Physics I loved - ended up adding a physics minor cuz of it (partially the material, partially the teacher). If I had taken the physics from the prof the girl I was tutoring last spring I would have hated it. The dude taught upper division E&M to first year physics students!! Gen Chem I loved - took honors second semester (my school only offers one honors semester) - added Chem as a double major. Organic Chem I hated. I don't mind the subject, but the class itself sucked. Why do I have to figure out 15 step synthesis problems without a book??

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

Liked them all. I don't get why people hate Physics so much. Is it because you can't just memorize the answers to the problems?

And if you think that you will never use Physics after the MCAT, you must not have taken a Physiology course yet. My Physiology Professor regretted having to "dumb down" the class in terms of how much Physics was used to explain everything.

 

[Maiden]

You need to maintain a positive attitude to do well in these classes. Granted, sometimes the material may be boring, but you have to keep encouraging yourself that you can make it. I ended up liking all my pre-med classes and even tutored students in biology and organic. Just realize that you have to do well because your science GPA matters. It will all work out. Best regards!

 

[MinnyGophers]

That's what everyone says. My first question to a medical student was, "So how much Organic Chemistry do you actually USE in medical school, anyway?"

Not to get into a But-that's-not-why-they-want-you-to-take-it debate again, just to agree with your point.

You know, ochem is a bit underrated when people are saying that you will never use it again.
It does help understand how some body systems, such as metabolism, work.
Also, it helps to understand interactions betweeen different medications.

 

[MedChic]

gah im just wondering if not liking these classes is a sign of me not liking medical school....i just don't enjoy spending my days in a library all day every day with classes and mcats etc.

 

[Dr.Acula]

I'm going to DREAD going over gen chem stuff for the MCAT. I hated that class with a passion, i don't even remember most of it

 

[jackieMD2007]

Dude don't push yourself into it. When I was a junior, senior in college, I wasn't ready for med school. I wasn't ready to apply. Hell, I was considering it but was feeling (in my gut) unsure. I guess you would say I felt afraid. I was taking bio classes because I liked them. I liked biochem, loved immuno, loved virology, loved marine biology. I wasn't pre-med then, but I had a lot of pre-med friends, and even volunteered in a clinic.

After two+ years of working (non-medical) and volunteering in a hospital, I had to ask myself, "What would I do if I wasn't afraid?"

And the answer to that was, "Apply to Medical School!" I was able to register for Kaplan's LAST open class here in Chicago in January and took the April MCAT. Here goes nothing.

 

[Apparition]

gah im just wondering if not liking these classes is a sign of me not liking medical school....i just don't enjoy spending my days in a library all day every day with classes and mcats etc.

No one enjoys spending days in the library but on the whole, you should probably be at least somewhat interested in studying new things if you will go into a profession that requires lifelong learning.

 

[ParvatiP]

I enjoyed gen chem and organic, especially. Did NOT like physics, although I think that is largely because my professor sucked, not because of the material. The class was just awful- he lectured us about how physics isn't about plugging in numbers and all, but when it came to tests, he didn't really care if you knew the concepts behind the problem and just made a small mistake with the math (mostly because he was too lazy to grade and give partial credit). Glad to be done with that!
Haven't taken any bio yet, but I'm looking forward to it!

 

[45408]

I really liked physics and chemistry (except analytical), especially biochem. Hence the good score on the PS....

but I thought a number of bio courses were fairly boring, especially the plant-related ones. But I liked molecular bio and entomology.

 

[CavalierMD]

Organic Chemistry synthesis problems and fifteen step mechanisms ruled (I'm dead serious).

YES!! I wholeheartedly agree.

 

[Mr. McDuck]

I loved English. I liked Chem and Physics labs, but the lectures were horrible. Bio, I liked all of it. This is more of a co-requisite I think, but I loved Calculus. I kind of wish I majored in math. Oh, well.

 

[GoodDoctor]

O-Chem is a waste of time. It could be reduced to a 4 day class.
Day 1: Carbocation. Induction. Resonance
Day 2: Memorize the following 36 reactions (broken into 6 or 7 groups).
Day 3: Reading Day.
Day 4: Final.
I discovered this the last week of class after pulling a C up until then. I followed this little plan and got a 99.5% on the final, ending up with an A- in the class. On all of my MCAT practice tests, I was had zero confidence in my orgo because I hadn't taken time to rememorize the equations, was always positive I had missed them all, but ended up almost always getting 9/10 orgo problems right on the MCAT. Day 1 was all I've needed to fake my way through a year of orgo with A- and solid orgo perfomance on the MCAT. And happily, I'll never have to use it again.

 

[Aurora013]

physics- couldn't stand, but then again my prof was horrible, and stood w/ her back to the project just waving her hand around saying "as you can see, we plug this equation into the other one, and we get the one we want at the end"....but nobody was ever sure what it was we really wanted

gen chem- placed out (which is good, being as the prof was evidently really bad, seeing as I tutored half my friends through it with what I had learned in AP), but liked my upper level chem classes

o chem I- hated, but then again our prof told us we were *****s whenever the opportunity presented itself, and told us that to do better on his tests we needed to "find a church & start praying"
o chem II- loved it, b/c the prof would answer any and all questions, and if he didn't know the answer would either a) invite you to office hours to discuss it in further detail if it wasn't entirely relevent or b) come into the next class with the answer and references on how to find out more info on it

bio- liked some of my profs, but others were pretty dry; loved biochem though