Insights please...

[DRAD1S]

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Hey All!

I’ve posted out here a couple of times when I was gearing up to pursue my pre-reqs but had a ‘life happens’ event so got sidetracked. Regardless, I’m back again with the old set of objectives but a new way to go about it. Short story - I’m 26 and finishing my second major at my local university while work F/T at an insurance company. At graduation I’ll have a 3.3 cGPA (not ideal but my last 5 semesters have seen 4.0’s) and still have my science courses remaining. I’m really just looking to get some advice around my schedule to see if anyone might know what I can expect. The plan is:

Anat/Phys 1 & 2 over summer 13’ (they’re offered in 5-week intensives)
Chem 1 & Physics 1 over the fall 13’
Chem 2 & Physics 2 over the spring 14’
Org Chem 1 & 2 over summer 14’ (again with the 5-week intensives)
MCAT that Fall
Apply for admission – 2015

This is perfect world scenario but I’m used to the long study hours and grinding away at work/school as I’m sure many of you are. Any insights on what I can expect? (other than exhaustion) 🙂

Thanks everyone!

 

[Juan Solo]

Well, I can relate and I can tell you that you will be busy and the time will fly really fast. All of those classes also have labs which require studying for in addition to your lectures. All in all, I think that you will find yourself busy 7 days a week if you are working full-time 5 days a week.

It can be done and you can do it. I'd recommend trying to take really good care of your body, health wise. Good luck!

 

[TriagePreMed]

You might make your life a nightmare with o.chem in 5 weeks.

 

[MedWonk]

Hey All!

I’ve posted out here a couple of times when I was gearing up to pursue my pre-reqs but had a ‘life happens’ event so got sidetracked. Regardless, I’m back again with the old set of objectives but a new way to go about it. Short story - I’m 26 and finishing my second major at my local university while work F/T at an insurance company. At graduation I’ll have a 3.3 cGPA (not ideal but my last 5 semesters have seen 4.0’s) and still have my science courses remaining. I’m really just looking to get some advice around my schedule to see if anyone might know what I can expect. The plan is:

Anat/Phys 1 & 2 over summer 13’ (they’re offered in 5-week intensives)
Chem 1 & Physics 1 over the fall 13’
Chem 2 & Physics 2 over the spring 14’
Org Chem 1 & 2 over summer 14’ (again with the 5-week intensives)
MCAT that Fall
Apply for admission – 2015

This is perfect world scenario but I’m used to the long study hours and grinding away at work/school as I’m sure many of you are. Any insights on what I can expect? (other than exhaustion) 🙂

Thanks everyone!

I would recommend you not take OChem over the summer. Gen Chem would be much more manageable over the summer than OChem. A&P might be dicey, too, depending on how intense your schools makes it. If you insist on taking classes over the summer, I would strongly recommend you take Gen Chem over the summer instead of OChem, and taking Gen Chem the first summer and A&P the second one.

Also, make sure you're truly ready for the MCAT. It looks like you're leaving yourself a relatively small amount of time to prep for the test. I assume this is to beat out the 2015 changes. I don't blame you for doing this, but be very careful that you don't take on too much. Bear in mind that A&P is not necessary for the MCAT. You can learn whatever physiology you need through review as it tends to be fairly basic. If I were in your position, I would forgo taking A&P in the summer and spend those free months preparing for the MCAT. If you feel like taking A&P, then I would save it for the fall. I would also suggest taking biochem in the fall in case you need to retake the test. Psych and Sociology should be pretty easy to review.

 

[DrMidlife]

Have you taken bio already? Anat/phys doesn't cover what's on the MCAT.

 

[wlt217]

is that a combined anatomy and physiology course? I took human physiology at my school and found it to be really helpful for covering a lot of the biology section of the MCAT, since I personally had no exposure to those topics prior to the course. But at the same time it's also the best candidate for self-study (compared to chemistry, physics, and organic), meaning you may be better off rearranging your schedule. If I understood MedWonk's suggestion, I'd agree that you should consider taking Gen Chem during Summer '13, then O Chem and Phys during Fall/Spring and use Summer '14 to study. That's roughly the schedule I had last year (plus other classes in place of work), it was manageable. Best of luck!

 

[DRAD1S]

With the exception of an intro to Biology that I took my first semester I don't have anything else so was hoping for a refresher plus meeting the requirements of the programs I'm looking to apply to. Thanks for the suggestions MedWonk, i like the idea so now I'm just hoping they offer Gen Chem over the summer in those intensive formats. This would at least give me summer 14' to study for MCAT while knocking out anat/phys in those intensive formats while, not ideal, is better than the alternative. Thanks all, very helpful!

 

[DrMidlife]

With the exception of an intro to Biology that I took my first semester I don't have anything else so was hoping for a refresher plus meeting the requirements of the programs I'm looking to apply to. Thanks for the suggestions MedWonk, i like the idea so now I'm just hoping they offer Gen Chem over the summer in those intensive formats. This would at least give me summer 14' to study for MCAT while knocking out anat/phys in those intensive formats while, not ideal, is better than the alternative. Thanks all, very helpful!

I don't understand all this about anat/phys. If you found one school that allows anat/phys instead of a regular bio sequence, weird, fine, whatever, but you can't just focus on one med school. You don't have a plan until you have bio covered.

Anat/phys is about half the bio content you need to learn. Lower level anat/phys is a nursing prereq. Upper level anat/phys is extra bio coursework after you finish the prereq year. The premed bio year plus labs covers the MCAT content. If you don't want to bomb the MCAT, you probably want to study the content on it.

Here's the list of bio & ochem topics on the MCAT, that you're expected to have seen when you start med school: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/85566/data/bstopics.pdf

Best of luck to you.

 

[theseeker4]

With the exception of an intro to Biology that I took my first semester I don't have anything else so was hoping for a refresher plus meeting the requirements of the programs I'm looking to apply to. Thanks for the suggestions MedWonk, i like the idea so now I'm just hoping they offer Gen Chem over the summer in those intensive formats. This would at least give me summer 14' to study for MCAT while knocking out anat/phys in those intensive formats while, not ideal, is better than the alternative. Thanks all, very helpful!

You will want to be applying in the summer, not the fall, of 14 to start August of 15. Applying early helps a lot, and applying late hurts, the later you apply, the more it hurts you. If you need the extra time to get ready for the MCAT while keeping your grades up, push your intended matriculation back to 2016. Planning it that way will be better than hurting your grades, getting a poor MCAT, or failing during your first application cycle and having to apply again anyway. If you are intending to apply primarily to DO schools, I believe applying later hurts less there, so if that is the case, feel free to ignore my comments.

 

[sk7]

'You might make your life a nightmare with o.chem in 5 weeks.'

I definitely agree with that statement, because that's what I did and it was horrible because I was also preparing for the MCAT, which seems like what you're leaning towards. However, if that's the only schedule that works for you, such that it can't be changed, then I would say definitely do not take the labs with the lecture for organic chemistry. The past pace of the classes make it hard for you to give attention to anything else, which would make the lab just get in the way.
Schools will understand if you only have labs left while you're applying.
All the best!