late staters

[akalino]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Guys,

I'm a junior in college and I've gotten into this pre-med thing kind of late (relative to most people at my school at least.) I'm taking chem and physics now, and I'd like to take orgo in the summer and bio over my senior year.

Here's the thing: I go to GWU in DC, and am wondering whether I should take the orgo there or if I could take it at City College of NY (the poor mans Harvard.) CCNY is way cheaper and I could live at home and not pay rent. On the other hand, I wouldnt want to do something that'll hurt me in the admissions process later on.

Also...should I plan to take the MCAT's in April of my senior year (before my BIO requirement is totally finished,) or should I wait and take them later?

Thanks guys,

-Artemy

 

[NYCheartlMD]

Why don't you stay in your current institution over the summer. Take Orgo 1 and bio 1 in the summer. The second sections in the fall and that way you will be ready to take the mcat in april. I will rather not be done with orgo before taking the mcat than not be done with bio.

I would recommend staying at GW for your classes. I don't think that the CUNY system will particularly hurt you (i started school there and took g. chem and physics there), but I think that staying at GW will be less confusing, more challenging and a better prep for the mcat. but, that is just my opinion.

 

[divinemsm]

I say go to City College....NY residents pay $300 per course, or something similarly low( I'm from NYC )....I know lots of people who took this route, and are at med schools such as Case, Einstein, and Cornell. SAVE MONEY !!! It's not worth it to pay AT LEAST ten times the cost at GW. Believe me.

 

[Megalofyia]

I would go with what is cheaper. Just make sure you do well. I did my organic chem at a jr college. (So did many people I know that are now in med school.) The med schools seem to have cared less that I took a couple of classes at a jr college.

 

[Amy B]

Take it at the cheaper of the two schools. It won't matter. Just do great. Make sure you are able to absorb enough in the summer class so you can do well on the MCAT. Sometimes summer courses go so quickly you can't absorb as much as you should, and that you can remember after summer is over.

 

[exmike]

Actually, I would say if your grades at GW are good, take the CC courses, if they're bad, take the GW courses. Think of it this way, let say you have a 3.0 at GW, but you get all A's in your CC classes, I would imagine an adcom might frown upon that. just MHO

 

[divinemsm]

I'll have to disagree here....hindsight being 20/20, I should've taken this route when I was an undergrad, instead of busting my a!# to get B's at Penn. It wasn't worth it in the end. SOOOOOO many of my friends who didn't go to ivy league schools had easier classes, got better grades, and got into top 20 med schools. It's not worth it, nor do ad-coms care. I want someone to learn from my mistakes.

 

[skypilot]

The admissions committees do not generally have time to analyze your transcript with a magnifying glass.

Just take the course at a reputable university and get an A and you will be golden.

 

[jlee9531]

well since it sounds like you are gonna take a year off...

and by april you should have learned most of the things you would need to know for the mcat. just as long as you supplement that with some specific mcat studying like examkracker books and stuff....i think you will be ok.

go the cheaper route since the money you save will go into applications for med school....

 

[Rendar5]

I became pre-med at the middle of my Jr. year. I was a chem major, so I didn't have to deal with orgo and gchem.

took my bio over the next year, took the MCAT over the summer (it's better if you take orgo before the MCAT if you can.), volunteered at a hospital, switched from chem research to bio research.

Then senior year I tried to take it easy, started my application this past summer, am taking a year off working as a lab technician and will hopefully get into a school next year.