Future Post-bacc student. Which courses to take first???

[Mixed Breed]

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I graduated from ugrad in 2008. I'm seriously interested in pursuing a career in physical therapy. I am simply wondering which courses should I take first. I know I have to complete the following courses: 2 semesters of biology w/labs, 2 semesters of physics w/lab, 2 semesters of chemistry w/labs, statistics, 2 semesters of psych, and either 1 or 2 semesters of anatomy and physiology.

Which courses should I take first out of the list above? I haven't been in school since 2008 and am looking forward to taking the courses at a community college.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Mixed Breed]

I read another thread on this forum about a few other members taking the pre-rec's in the following order:

Fall semester: Bio I, Chem I, Anatomy
Spring semester: Bio II, Chem II, Physio
Summer semester: Physics I and Physics II

This may or may not be a doable schedule for me since taking those 3 courses per semester would mean that I won't be able to work or I could just live at home. Not sure. Anyhow, is this schedule feasible? I still need to incorporate 2 semesters of Psych and one semester of Stats. If I were to complete this outlined coursework above, I could possible apply before the November 1st deadline for Hunter College DPT which is the number 1 school I am interested in alongside a few other SUNY DPT programs.

 

[markelmarcel]

Fall semester: Bio I, Chem I, Anatomy
Spring semester: Bio II, Chem II, Physio
Summer semester: Physics I and Physics II

Yup, that's what I did. I also needed a higher level psychology course and a statistics course so I took those the summer before the Fall that I started. However, statistics sometimes requires calculus, so I ended up contacting the schools I was interested in and asked them if a Prob&Stats class with no prior math requirement would be ok (along with the course description) and they said ok.

It wouldn't be impossible to do the psychology during the fall/spring; I had a friend who did slightly different pre-reqs than me and she had 4 classes a semester (whereas I had 3).

The schedule is definitely doable, but I was living at home with my parents; I also had 2 part-time jobs (I instructed spinning classes 4x a week in the evenings and then I also had an on-campus job that allowed me to work in between my classes.)

I really lucked out that none of my exams were ever on the same day, other than my chemistry and anatomy exams; but I loved chemistry and would've had to have received a -40% on the exam to not pass the class, so I could focus on the anatomy.

 

[okramango]

I started my prereqs this summer, and will apply next year to start PT school in Fall 2013. Here is my plan (I have already taken General Bio 1):

Summer 2011: Statistics
Fall 2011: Chem1, Physics1, Anatomy
Spring 2012: Chem2, Physics2, Physiology
Summer 2012: Abnormal Psych, Developmental Psych, Medical Terminology
Fall 2012: Bio2, Exercise Physiology

By the time I apply to PT school next summer, I will have only two more classes to take, and these classes are not even required by a lot of the schools.

I'm taking most of these at community college, but Exercise Physiology is an upper division class, so I'm thinking of applying to a local university as a kinesiology major (2nd bacc) just to be able to take the class!

 

[kcrat21]

I read another thread on this forum about a few other members taking the pre-rec's in the following order:

Fall semester: Bio I, Chem I, Anatomy
Spring semester: Bio II, Chem II, Physio
Summer semester: Physics I and Physics II

This may or may not be a doable schedule for me since taking those 3 courses per semester would mean that I won't be able to work or I could just live at home. Not sure. Anyhow, is this schedule feasible? I still need to incorporate 2 semesters of Psych and one semester of Stats. If I were to complete this outlined coursework above, I could possible apply before the November 1st deadline for Hunter College DPT which is the number 1 school I am interested in alongside a few other SUNY DPT programs.

I was in your boat last year minus the stats and 1 psych class, but I made it work in a year and I am applying this cycle. I would wait a year to apply just because you won't have any classes under your belt by the time your application is due (maybe I'm reading your post wrong though) so the school's won't have anything to base your application decision on.

I did this:

Fall 2010 -- Human Growth and Development (psych), A&P II, Bio I
Spring 2011 -- A&P I, Bio II, Calculus (need it to take physics)
Summer I 2011 -- Physics I, Chem I
Summer II 2011 -- Physics II, Chem II

You can easily fit in the other stats and psych courses you need and get it all done. I did stop working in order to do this, but I'm also married--our finances took a hit, but its been worth it.

You can do it!!!

 

[Mixed Breed]

I really like your set up. I have a question though...how did you manage to take both Chem and Physics during each summer session? Am I right in thinking that these courses are harder during the summer because the professor requires you to know the same amount of material as if the class were taught during the fall or spring semester? In other words, you are required to know the same amount of workload in less time?

Here is what my tentative schedule will look like if all goes well:

Fall 2011:
Behavioral Psychology/General Psychology
Anatomy & Physiology I
Biology I

Spring 2011:
Biology II
Anatomy & Physiology II
Child Psychology/Developmental Psychology/Abnormal Psychology
Statistics

Summer Session I 2012:
Chemistry I
Physics I

Summer Session II 2012:
Chemistry II
Physics II

I can complete my PT related work experience during the fall and spring semesters without any problems. I also took Calculus I when I was an undergrad in 2004 (as a freshman) and received a B-. Should I re-take this course or will it not matter if I can score A's in the rest of my pre-req's?

I was in your boat last year minus the stats and 1 psych class, but I made it work in a year and I am applying this cycle. I would wait a year to apply just because you won't have any classes under your belt by the time your application is due (maybe I'm reading your post wrong though) so the school's won't have anything to base your application decision on.

I did this:

Fall 2010 -- Human Growth and Development (psych), A&P II, Bio I
Spring 2011 -- A&P I, Bio II, Calculus (need it to take physics)
Summer I 2011 -- Physics I, Chem I
Summer II 2011 -- Physics II, Chem II

You can easily fit in the other stats and psych courses you need and get it all done. I did stop working in order to do this, but I'm also married--our finances took a hit, but its been worth it.

You can do it!!!

 

[Mixed Breed]

Does it matter if you take Bio before or after Anatomy and Physio?

I started my prereqs this summer, and will apply next year to start PT school in Fall 2013. Here is my plan (I have already taken General Bio 1):

Summer 2011: Statistics
Fall 2011: Chem1, Physics1, Anatomy
Spring 2012: Chem2, Physics2, Physiology
Summer 2012: Abnormal Psych, Developmental Psych, Medical Terminology
Fall 2012: Bio2, Exercise Physiology

By the time I apply to PT school next summer, I will have only two more classes to take, and these classes are not even required by a lot of the schools.

I'm taking most of these at community college, but Exercise Physiology is an upper division class, so I'm thinking of applying to a local university as a kinesiology major (2nd bacc) just to be able to take the class!

 

[markelmarcel]

Does it matter if you take Bio before or after Anatomy and Physio?

Depends on the school, really... where I did my pre-reqs I had to take Bio before or concurrently with Chem... but there was no prior requirement for anatomy...

 

[kcrat21]

I really like your set up. I have a question though...how did you manage to take both Chem and Physics during each summer session? Am I right in thinking that these courses are harder during the summer because the professor requires you to know the same amount of material as if the class were taught during the fall or spring semester? In other words, you are required to know the same amount of workload in less time? QUOTE]

It has definitely been tough. I finished my first session of Chem I and Physics I two weeks ago, and I just started the second session of Chem II and Physics II this week. I am in class for 5 weeks, Tues/Thurs from 10 am-9pm and Wed from 4:30-6:50. It's not sooo bad, but I have definitely had some sleepless night trying to get the massive amounts of work done as well. I barely managed to get a B in Physics I because the class for me is just hard as I'm not that great at math. My professor actually cut down the material for us, so we only went over 3 concepts in those 5 weeks. And he is the same professor for my Physics II class and we're only going over 3 concepts this time as well.

Chem I was hard because there is so much material crammed into those 5 weeks so its hard to retain it all--especially if you have an exam on the 4th day of class on four whole chapters. We did 12 chapters in 5 weeks and it was tough. I did not like my professor because I don't feel like I really learned/retained anything because she just went through things so fast to get it all in. I don't think she expected us to learn anything though because she curved our exams like crazy, thus I got an A. But I have a different professor for Chem II and he doesn't curve and I think he thinks we are all dumb because we don't remember anything from Chem I already. sigh....

So I'm getting both sides of the spectrum. It's been tough and exhausting, but with a B and an A I can't complain. Hopefully I can do just as well this session...and then I'll be DONE! can't wait until July 28th....

Anyway, its definitely doable, you just have to expect to spend every waking moment studying for those few weeks. Its worth it for a chance to get into PT school! 🙂