Does it matter the order in which you take premed courses?

[wblack]

does it matter and do med schools care as long as you take them? Because i could not take chemistry in fall of my freshman year so i will take it in the spring and because my college does not offer 2nd chemistry in fall, is it okay if i take it in spring of my sophomore year?

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[nonesuchgirl]

The only problem is that it will take you longer to finish the chem sequence and you may not be ready for the MCAT. Does the school offer gchem2 in the summer? You could take that and then go into ochem in the fall- that's what I have to do.

 

[Kthanksbye]

It doesn't matter at all to med schools. It might matter to you, though. You won't be able to take orgo until you finish gen chem, so you will be pushing back when you will be able to take orgo, and hence, you will be delaying the MCAT, which could set you back on your applications. Also, if you want to take biochem, the requirements are crazy (at least at my school). You have to have had orgo II and genetics (for which you need to have gen bio I and II and cell). So depending on when you want to be done with all of these, you need to plan on getting the basics done early.

 

[futuredrcrawfor]

You should be fine if your school offers Organic Chem Soph Spring and O-Chem 2 Junior Fall...

You want to make sure you have everything (Physics, Bio, Genchem, Organic) before MCAT- other than that its not too big a deal- I took Organic 1 Soph Fall and Organic 2 Junior Fall... I did fine- just do a quick review of old material if you feel at all shaky on it after a break

 

[Law2Doc]

does it matter and do med schools care as long as you take them? Because i could not take chemistry in fall of my freshman year so i will take it in the spring and because my college does not offer 2nd chemistry in fall, is it okay if i take it in spring of my sophomore year?

Lots of us took all the prereqs long after college, so no (as kthanksbye suggested), it doesn't matter to med schools if you take something in freshman year or sophomore. There is no rule as to when you have to apply for med school, and thus no real rules as to when you complete things. Many people in undergrad time it so that they can sit for an MCAT in Junior year, apply in senior year and attend med school without a glide year the immediate year after graduation. Pushing stuff back makes it harder to do this, particularly if the orgo schedule is going to be as inflexible as the inorganic. But worst case scenario, you spend a year building up your experiences or stats, if you can't get everything done in time to apply for the year immediately following college.