Good Idea?

[Jmoh]

Hey guys, I've been reading the forum a lot even before I became a member, and some of the topics here have an incredible amount of insight and knowledge one could never get from anywhere else. Anyways, I'm going to be a Biology/Biochem freshman at A&M next fall, and I was planning on going to San Antonio college, and maybe taking calc 2 and 3, plus physics and regular chem over the summer just to prepare myself to do well and be ahead when next year comes around. I was just wondering if Medical schools care if I take these classes? I'm planning on repeating them once I go to A&M. My fear is that Medical schools won't like this plan of mine, so should I audit them instead? Responses appreciated, thanks.

-J

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[PainKiller69]

The short answer is: bad idea.

 

[sully677]

Bad Idea. Chill out. Enjoy one of your last free summers and work.

 

[LikeClockWork]

Seriously. You've got a marathon ahead of you, why run the first mile in 4:30?

 

[Jmoh]

Thanks for the responses! You guys do have a good point, you see I've done well up till now in highschool, I've taken 7 AP's in one of the best private schools in texas, and so far I have worked my butt off. But I have this lingering fear that I'm going to go to college and just blow it. I can't pinpoint why, I guess I just don't believe I have what it takes right now to do perform up to par.

edit: It might sound ridiculous, but a part of me is telling myself to start studying for the MCAT now >.<

 

[Wylde]

really bad idea

You may feel motivated right now, but you have THREE YEARS of getting competitive grades to go. You will get burnt out if you go full blast, chill out. Taking a class twice just to get ahead is not worth it, the classes are not impossible and you will be able to get As without taking them twice.

Your GPA will be hurt if you get burnt out.

On the MCAT: first of all, you probably only have AP classes of knowledge for the MCAT atm. Sure, you can study that material, but are you going to remember it 3 years from now? Do you remember the information you studied freshmen year? That would be a complete waste of time, if you want to have a direct impact on your chance at admission, join a research lab, hospital volunteer, non-medicine volunteering, leadership/student govt. etc. These things go onto your application, forgetting the stuff you learned while studying for the MCAT freshmen year will not.

 

[The Doctor]

I think it's great that you are looking ahead but do yourself a favor and chill. This summer before college is a great time for you to relax and enjoy yourself before college. There will be plenty of time to learn these subjects later. Focus your mind, get in shape, find yourself - do whatever, but save your energy for college when the grades matter. Also, do not take these courses in advance. If they are on a transcript they will have to be reported to med schools later and you might mess up your grades in this attempt to get ahead. Just follow the normal route of courses at college, do well in them, and yes, if you feel so inclined, start studying for the MCAT during your freshman year with a review book as you go along taking the pre-requisite premed courses. That's not a bad idea. You have plenty of time ahead of you and the studying and tests never end. No sense rushing it now.

 

[Margaux1985]

Thanks for the responses! You guys do have a good point, you see I've done well up till now in highschool, I've taken 7 AP's in one of the best private schools in texas, and so far I have worked my butt off. But I have this lingering fear that I'm going to go to college and just blow it. I can't pinpoint why, I guess I just don't believe I have what it takes right now to do perform up to par.

edit: It might sound ridiculous, but a part of me is telling myself to start studying for the MCAT now >.<

I'm repeating what everyone else is saying. Don't take all those advanced classes in your first year and don't worry about the MCAT right now. You're most important goal should be to make sure that medicine is right for you and that you'll excel in the intro classes.

A lot of people at my school started off their first year with the same mentality that you have, only to discover by the end of their freshmen or sophmore year that medicine isn't the right career for them (this is especially true for those who are in it for the money or because their parents pressured them into it).

The senior member on the board who have already applied knows that the attrition rate for pre-meds is very high and that large percentage drop out either because they were unable to keep up with the demand of the courses or because they realized that there were more lucrative careers out there (i.e. banking, law, investiment consulting). The most important thing to do right now is to take the pre-requisite classes (physics, gen chem) and making sure that you can handle these before rushing headlong into the advanced science classes.

As for studying for the MCAT. You're right, it's almost unheard off to do so before you've taken any of the classes or decide on when to apply. You probably haven't even learned 60% of the stuff on the exam and you won't be able to retain any of the information for more than a few months. Your time is much better spent taking the summer off to travel and unwind before school starts.

 

[CubaLibre]

Seriously. You've got a marathon ahead of you, why run the first mile in 4:30?

excellent advice. I foolishly sprinted the first leg of a race during my first cross country meet in high school and ended up hunched over, and throwing up by the middle of the course. In all seriousness though, this is great advice. Try and do everything consistently well, but don't let yourself burn out. good luck

 

[ChubbyChaser]

you should skip calc 2 and 3...and go straight to linear algebra