Don't know what to do

[Unorthodox]

Hey all,

I'm a freshman and a journalism major at St. John's University. I'm planning on taking organic chemistry I & II in the summer at George Mason University in VA. Although I know medical schools do not like when students take pre-req's in the summer, I'm going to take a chance and hopefully get A's in both courses. The only reason I am taking it over the summer is so I can study abroad Spring 2011 and also because I really want to focus on Organic and do really well. I was thinking about taking organic and physics together sophomore year then studying abroad fall of junior year but I want to start studying for my MCAT then and I know I will suffer if I take both of them together. However, I still don't really know if it is the best decision to take Organic in the summer. What should I do?

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[jboz]

Yes

 

[GoodmanBrown]

Take 'em in the summer. I haven't heard of a universal rule that medical schools don't like people taking pre-reqs during the summer. Almost every post-bacc does that to squeeze all the pre-reqs into one year. Go for it. Where are you hoping to travel?

 

[Catalystik]

Due to terror that OChem would be as horrific as I'd found Gen Chem to be, I took ten hours of OChem I&II plus lab in the summer, loved it, aced it all, and had no questions asked about the rigor of the coursework (due to a good MCAT score, no doubt). Go for it, but stay focused, and don't plan to have any fun if you want to do well.

 

[flip26]

Hey all,

I'm a freshman and a journalism major at St. John's University. I'm planning on taking organic chemistry I & II in the summer at George Mason University in VA. Although I know medical schools do not like when students take pre-req's in the summer,

more of an SDN urban legend than an actual fact...not as if GMU is a CC or some sort of dodge...be careful - easy to get swamped in Organic in the summer...this could actually backfire on you - I would be far more worried about bombing it than what med schools think about it...I assure you that med schools will not care where you took it, but if you make a C or worse, they will sit up and take notice.

 

[Unorthodox]

Thank you all for your advice! I registered for orgo yesterday and will be taking both parts in the summer. I plan on studying abroad in Rome spring semester of 2011!
Although I won't really have a life this summer it will all be worth it when I'm done!