Hello / advice about summer bio classes needed pls

[KellyKapowski]

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First off, this is my first post here, so hi everyone. I've been lurking quite a bit since deciding this winter that I really want to pursue medicine. I graduated in '09 with a BA in biology. In college, I never planned on being pre-med, so I didn't take all of the pre-reqs (although I took gen chem, orgo, and quite a few bio classes).

Starting this summer, I'm going to begin taking evening classes after work (I work full-time) and I need to decide which 2 classes to take. The classes I can take this summer are: Human Anatomy, Human Physiology (offered separately), and microbiology. It seems that phys and microbio are recommended a bit more than anatomy, but would I be better off taking anatomy/physiology back to back since the material goes together? Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

*I know I don't absolutely need more biology classes, but I would like to bring up my science GPA a bit and if I can do it while covering MCAT material, that'd be great. I wanted to take physics this summer, but I can't find it anywhere in NYC in the evening...

**I know this kind of question is asked quite a bit, but I could use some advice choosing between these 3 classes specifically. I'm sorry if this is new-poster bad etiquette!

 

[ejw5075]

The physio class will probably cover relevant anatomy to the point that one wouldn't need to complete anatomy first. Unless it's a prereq. My senior level physiology course did not have anatomy as a prereq and whenever histology or anatomy were relevant to what we were talking about (almost all semester) we were taught it. Check the prereqs. Micro is a fun class, I'm not sure if it's recommended for med school though I know it's a nursing prereq.

Good luck 🙂

First off, this is my first post here, so hi everyone. I've been lurking quite a bit since deciding this winter that I really want to pursue medicine. I graduated in '09 with a BA in biology. In college, I never planned on being pre-med, so I didn't take all of the pre-reqs (although I took gen chem, orgo, and quite a few bio classes).

Starting this summer, I'm going to begin taking evening classes after work (I work full-time) and I need to decide which 2 classes to take. The classes I can take this summer are: Human Anatomy, Human Physiology (offered separately), and microbiology. It seems that phys and microbio are recommended a bit more than anatomy, but would I be better off taking anatomy/physiology back to back since the material goes together? Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

*I know I don't absolutely need more biology classes, but I would like to bring up my science GPA a bit and if I can do it while covering MCAT material, that'd be great. I wanted to take physics this summer, but I can't find it anywhere in NYC in the evening...

**I know this kind of question is asked quite a bit, but I could use some advice choosing between these 3 classes specifically. I'm sorry if this is new-poster bad etiquette!

 

[KellyKapowski]

The physio class will probably cover relevant anatomy to the point that one wouldn't need to complete anatomy first. Unless it's a prereq. My senior level physiology course did not have anatomy as a prereq and whenever histology or anatomy were relevant to what we were talking about (almost all semester) we were taught it. Check the prereqs. Micro is a fun class, I'm not sure if it's recommended for med school though I know it's a nursing prereq.

Good luck 🙂

Thanks for the response! I'm going to check with the school today to see if they count anatomy as a pre-req for physiology (since I can't find this info anywhere on their damn website). Microbio (and of course biochem) was a course that my alma mater's pre-med advisor mentioned would be good to take as an upper level bio. Unfortunately I can't find a biochem class that I can take this summer, so mirco it is.

My other option would be to take 1 bio course and 1 English this summer, but I was kind of counting on taking English next summer (it'd be pending when I first submit my apps, but that should be ok, right?). Any thoughts on this?

 

[n3xa]

I lold at Saved By the Bell reference.

 

[0919mmk]

First off, this is my first post here, so hi everyone. I've been lurking quite a bit since deciding this winter that I really want to pursue medicine. I graduated in '09 with a BA in biology. In college, I never planned on being pre-med, so I didn't take all of the pre-reqs (although I took gen chem, orgo, and quite a few bio classes).

Starting this summer, I'm going to begin taking evening classes after work (I work full-time) and I need to decide which 2 classes to take. The classes I can take this summer are: Human Anatomy, Human Physiology (offered separately), and microbiology. It seems that phys and microbio are recommended a bit more than anatomy, but would I be better off taking anatomy/physiology back to back since the material goes together? Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

*I know I don't absolutely need more biology classes, but I would like to bring up my science GPA a bit and if I can do it while covering MCAT material, that'd be great. I wanted to take physics this summer, but I can't find it anywhere in NYC in the evening...

**I know this kind of question is asked quite a bit, but I could use some advice choosing between these 3 classes specifically. I'm sorry if this is new-poster bad etiquette!

You said that you haven't taken all the prereqs right? I'm confused as to why you wouldn't focus on taking those? micro/anat/physio are fun, but are not required to apply for med school. If you've taken orgo and gen chem, and you clearly have enough bio, then you should focus on physI/II, a couple english classes, and calc if you dont have it, since those (esp phys) ARE required.

 

[KellyKapowski]

Yeah, that's a good point. My original plan was to take physics asap, but it simply isn't offered at a time/location over the summer that I can make. I took calc II and one English class during undergrad, so for some schools I'll need one more English and one more math class. I guess the main reason I was planning on taking the bio courses over the summer was so I could cover that material before the MCAT. I could then take English and stats next summer, after I've taken the MCAT (although it would be while I was applying)...

The other key factor is that I'm focusing on classes that will be covered at work under tuition reimbursement. I can probably make a case for English/stats, but I know for sure that the other 3 courses will be covered. Hopefully by next summer I'll have a bit more $$ to cover classes that may not be covered by work.

Maybe I'll take 1 bio class & English or stats this summer instead of 2 bio classes...