Gen Chem / O Chem in summer session

[businessmd06]

Hey All,

I just wanted to get people opinion on if they felt taking Gen Chem in the 1st summer and possibly Ochem or Bio 2 or Phy 2 in the following summer was adequete prep for MCAT and Med School? Obviously you are shrinking 15 weeks of material into 6, so I just want to make sure if I go the one year post bac route that I will be sufficiently prepared....

I just got in to NYU beginning in May, so now the career change starts

The other option on Columbia, but they make you only do 2 classes per semester with no summer session (takes 2 yrs)

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[moranwoods]

If you're on a semester schedule and hope to take the August 2007 MCAT:
1. Take Gen Chem I, , Bio I, and Phys I Fall 2006
2. Take Chen ChemII, BioII and Phys II (if necessary) Spring 2007
3. O-Chem I summer 2007, right before MCAT
4. Take MCAT August 2007.

It had been nearly 10 years between my last general chem class and when I started my post-bac work. I followed this schedule and it worked well (BS-9, VR-9, PS-10, Writing-T) because everything was still relatively fresh in my mind.

As for summer courses, I like the high intensity, short duration. You can't take too many classes, though. 6-8 credit hours is a lot depending on lab work.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[businessmd06]

Thanks for the input

I am planning on doing summer - Gen Chem 1 / 2
Fall - Bio 1 / Phy 1 / Ochem 1
Spring Bio 2 / Phy 2 /Ochem 2

Summer - Lab for some of the other clases

Or

Summer - Gen Chem 1 / 2
Fall - Bio 1 / Phy 1
Spring - Bio 2 / Phy 2
Summer - Ochem 1 / 2

Option 1 is probably better so I can take the MCAT earlier... remember it will be computer based with more testing options in 2007 than just April and August

Supposidly it is 33% fewer questions and also only takes 5.5 hours too

 

[FrkyBgStok]

i haven't taken o-chem yet, but i understand that you need to understand gen chem. also from what i have heard from most people, there isn't a lot of ochem on most MCAT forms. I would say if you were going to cram something into six weeks, you probably won't retain everything so go with cramming only ochem. IMO.

 

[Zerosixjt]

i haven't taken o-chem yet, but i understand that you need to understand gen chem. also from what i have heard from most people, there isn't a lot of ochem on most MCAT forms. I would say if you were going to cram something into six weeks, you probably won't retain everything so go with cramming only ochem. IMO.

I took the whole year of OCHEM and Gen Physics the same summer session that I took the MCAT. I was a lot of work, and a lot of info to process at one time. I think that it was better to take it so condensed because it forced me to study, if you fell behind even one day, you would be lost for the rest of the course. If you have a hard time processing a lot of info, this is not the best way to do it, but you will get a feel for it during the first summer session of Gen Chem.

My MCAT was pretty heavy on the OCHEM, so it all depends on what year and what version of the test, but I felt prepared. And since I took it so close to my MCAT (the final was the day before my MCAT) it was all very fresh in my mind.

 

[relentless11]

My MCAT was pretty heavy on the OCHEM, so it all depends on what year and what version of the test, but I felt prepared. And since I took it so close to my MCAT (the final was the day before my MCAT) it was all very fresh in my mind.

Yea definately depends on the test version. I had minimal OChem reactions, but my friend in another room had tons of OChem stuff. Might as well meet all the pre-reqs for the MCAT, not to mention the suggested courses. I'm sure there's some Murphy's Law for the MCAT, where the section/class you skipped on the subject that appears on your MCAT exam..lol.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

I took the whole year of OCHEM and Gen Physics the same summer session that I took the MCAT. I was a lot of work, and a lot of info to process at one time. I think that it was better to take it so condensed because it forced me to study, if you fell behind even one day, you would be lost for the rest of the course. If you have a hard time processing a lot of info, this is not the best way to do it, but you will get a feel for it during the first summer session of Gen Chem.

My MCAT was pretty heavy on the OCHEM, so it all depends on what year and what version of the test, but I felt prepared. And since I took it so close to my MCAT (the final was the day before my MCAT) it was all very fresh in my mind.

wow, thats a lot. but my point is take the ochem condensed so it is still fresh as opposed to the gen chem which you need to learn.

 

[JamieMac]

As for summer courses, I like the high intensity, short duration. You can't take too many classes, though. 6-8 credit hours is a lot depending on lab work.

Any thoughts on what would be best in the summer: OChem or Gen Physics? Sounds like everyone here is tossing around Ochem like its a joke. I've heard its pretty tough from most that I've talked with. I like the constant push of material myself, but I'm concerned about taking a class like that in a 6 week session. Comments please.

 

[Lanced]

General reply to this thread:

After talking to a lot of people I did this:

Fall 1: Gchem 1, Zoology
Spring 1: Gchem 2, Cell Bio, Physics 1
Summer 1: Ochem 1 (6 weeks)

Fall 2: Ochem 2, Physics 2, Ochem lab, Genetics
Spring 2: Study for MCAT, NO classes, some work/volunteer

I think this has been essentially ideal. It allowed me to ease back into school, get adjusted to taking science classes again. Then I turned up the volume once I was ready, got Ochem 1 taken care of (I loved taking it in the summer, I only worked 10-15 hours/week during that time). I also have no classes to worry about during the very important MCAT prep time.

I think it has worked well, I averaged a 3.9 over my post-bac classes (all my pre-reqs) and I've gotten 34, 36, 33 on my latest AAMC practice tests.

The only thing I would try to do is pick up Phsyiology before the MCAT if possible (not a big deal if you can't), and maybe get Anatomy and Biochem done before matriculating (though all the med students I talk to tell me to just relax after the MCAT and stop taking science classes).

Hope this helps someone, PM me if you have any questions.

 

[moranwoods]

Lanced's schedule looks like a winner.

My philosophy was to get all pre-reqs and MCAT studying done as fast as possible without sacrificing the knowledge necessary to do well on the MCAT.
The applicaiton process is long, painful and stressful. If you can bust a$$ and do it in a year and a summer versus two full academic years, then go for it.

Remember, the MCAT is very important, but it is one piece of the puzzle ADCOMs look at in determining candidates.

 

[moranwoods]

Any thoughts on what would be best in the summer: OChem or Gen Physics? Sounds like everyone here is tossing around Ochem like its a joke. I've heard its pretty tough from most that I've talked with. I like the constant push of material myself, but I'm concerned about taking a class like that in a 6 week session. Comments please.

OChem is definitely not a joke. At least not for me. The lab is also not like general chem where you're doing titrations and acid-base reactions. We're talking 2-3 hours of work during each session.

The tests usually come once a week. So, during summer school, if you stay on top of the homework, then you really don't need to do any additional studying for exams.

Any science class taken during the summer will be like this.

 

[blee]

Physics would be a better class to take over the summer, in my opinion. Orgo is a difficult class and benefits from constant study over time. It's certainly possible to do well in orgo over the summer, but you'd probably feel like you were cramming every day. Plus, physics labs are usually quick and painless. Orgo labs are longer and require more concentration, and your days will probably be longer overall.

 

[businessmd06]

Blee, do you feel the same way about Gen Chem, I know a lot of people take that in the Summer?

 

[youthman]

I'm on a quarter system and am doing/planning the following:
Fall 05 - Spring 06: Gen Chem, all 3 quarters
Summer 06: O-Chem, first 2 quarters
Fall 06: O-Chem lab

 

[Zerosixjt]

Any thoughts on what would be best in the summer: OChem or Gen Physics? Sounds like everyone here is tossing around Ochem like its a joke. I've heard its pretty tough from most that I've talked with. I like the constant push of material myself, but I'm concerned about taking a class like that in a 6 week session. Comments please.

OCHEM is tough, and it is important to have a pretty good grasp on Gen Chem, especially if you are taking an "accelerated" course (this sounds better than condensed, you are still resonsible for all the info of the full length course). For me OCHEM conflicted with other required courses and they brough in guest profs for the summer session that were better than the regular prof.

I would talk to other people that took the summer session and see if they thought it was worth it. Also, make sure that you can keep your grade up, or it will hurt you more on the application.

 

[RKNY]

heres the plan that I was thinking of doing. Although looking the schedule for Lanced, that looks like a pretty good one and I may revise mine. I haven't taken any pre-reqs yet as Ill be finishing my 4-year:

Summer - General Chem I and II

Fall - Organic Chem / Evo. Biology / Physics I

Spring - Organic Chem II / Evo. Biology II / Physics II

Summer - 1 class that a med school might require (Genetics/BioChem/Physiology) MCAT PREP

August - MCAT

Anybody going to take some Calculus? or you all think its not needed as much as far as taking it for a class?

 

[businessmd06]

I think it is important to be ready to take the MCAT before Aug... remember in 2007 you will have extra test dates... my hope is that even if I finish my classes in Spring (may) that I can prep and take the MCAT in June / July... ofcourse the web does not list the testing dates yet???? Anyone know how they are going to do it?

The other option is to take the 2 yr approach but be done all you clases by spring... so do summer Gen Chem 1+2/ fall Orgo 1 Bio 1 / spring Orgo 2 Bio 2 / summer intern and Phy 1 / fall Phy 2 maybe one other course to help u and then have spring to ace MCAT

 

[silkworm]

I did the General Chem and Orgo sequences in two different summer sessions of two different institutions.

General Chem was pretty easy.

Orgo was a hellish amount of cramming, night and day. You go to classes 8 to 3, one midterm a week for two months. My roommate's comment at the time: "I've never seen you study this hard before." Perhaps that says more of my lack of efforts in other times

But overall, I think taking orgo over the summer was worth it. You get to concentrate on one subject intensively, and I found I actually enjoyed learning the material and did well in the class.