Medical Is it bad to take medical school prerequisites over the summer?

[Goro]

My major is one of the ones with the most required credits. Between my major requirements and GEs, I only have enough room to take one year of bio with lab, one year of chem with lab, one year of ochem with lab, one year of writing, and one year of physics with lab. I know a lot of medical schools also require biostats, biochem, psych, socio, and calc but I have no room for these. Would it be better to take these courses over the summer at my T20 home institution or do a post bacc program?

Many medical schools frown upon it.

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[tantacles]

I would suggest taking no more than 2 of your pre-requisite courses over the summer. As long as you show that you are able to succeed in your school's normal pre-medical pre-requisites, even if you take a couple of them over the summer, it is generally ok. I took general chemistry over the summer, and no one even seemed to notice.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

As long as you take a majority of your medical school prereqs during the normal school year, a few should be okay (as long as you do well).

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I would take your time and make sure as many/all your prerequisites are in when you are able to submit an EARLY application. There may be some schools who may overlook one or two pending prerequisite courses, but in those cases, in my opinion, your GPA must be beyond criticism. If you have a GPA on the borderline with desired GPA expectations, you give screeners reason to hold your application for your other prerequisites to come in, delaying your application further and decreasing your chances. Remember you are up against thousands of other applicants who already have completed course grades in all their prerequisites so they will likely go ahead of you if you are short of the norm.