My Schedule - A dilemma. Would appreciate your input.

[oh my god]

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Hello all,
I am a social science major who has recently decided to go for Medical school. I am a junior.

So here is how my schedule looks/will look.

Junior year (this year):
-Finish 1 year Gen Chem
-Finish 1 year Gen Bio
-some additional nonpremed classes

Senior year:
-Finish 1 year OChem
-Finish 1 year Physics
-some additional nonpremed classes

Super Senior - fall term:
-Biochemistry
-Genetics

and then I'm done.

Now my dilemma is this - I am on a quarter system and will not finish OChem or Physics until mid-June of my senior year. Ideally I'd like to apply at the end of my senior year, so I'd take the MCAT around April... but am afraid that my MCAT score will suffer as a result.

Do you guys think it's possible to do well on the MCATs without finishing OChem or Physics? Or should I take another year to study for MCATs and take some upper-divison science courses?

Also, my ECs and volunteers are rather lacking at the moment, so I do need some time to diversify that.

However, the thing I dislike about waiting an extra year to apply is after fall term of my "super senior" year, I'm done with classes. So I'll have 4-5 months to study for MCATs and do more volunteering.. which sounds fine. But after that, I'll have another whole year without any plans. Plus I'll be 24 when I enter med school. I'm 20 now, and 24 sounds so damn old... Plus the fact that I'll have to wait another 4 years from now to enter med school irritates me I guess. I'm so eager to start medical school and start my adult life.

Anyway, what would you guys do in my shoes?

 

[JJMrK]

It sounds like you have a decent amount of time to correct your lack of ECs. I think it's possible to study for and take the MCAT during your senior year in this situation. There isn't a ton of ochem on the MCAT these days, and you can probably teach yourself the physics (and whatever you need to know about second semester ochem). It wouldn't be ideal, but it'd probably be possible.

 

[oh my god]

It sounds like you have a decent amount of time to correct your lack of ECs. I think it's possible to study for and take the MCAT during your senior year in this situation. There isn't a ton of ochem on the MCAT these days, and you can probably teach yourself the physics (and whatever you need to know about second semester ochem). It wouldn't be ideal, but it'd probably be possible.

If I give myself time to study for the MCATs (since I will also have to study ahead in addition to studying for the test itself), I think I'll have a little over a year for ECs. Not sure if that's enough?

Thank you for the encouragement though! Do you know anyone who has taken the MCATs without finishing two of the pre-reqs? I'm really glad to hear there isn't a ton of OChem on the MCAT lately

 

[JJMrK]

If I give myself time to study for the MCATs (since I will also have to study ahead in addition to studying for the test itself), I think I'll have a little over a year for ECs. Not sure if that's enough?

Thank you for the encouragement though! Do you know anyone who has taken the MCATs without finishing two of the pre-reqs? I'm really glad to hear there isn't a ton of OChem on the MCAT lately

I mean, you still need to know your stuff, and it's possible you'll get an entire passage talking about a synthesis or something. In general though, it seems that the MCAT is moving toward less ochem.

Like I said, the ideal situation for you is to take an extra year, but I think you could pull it off.

 

[oh my god]

I mean, you still need to know your stuff, and it's possible you'll get an entire passage talking about a synthesis or something. In general though, it seems that the MCAT is moving toward less ochem.

Like I said, the ideal situation for you is to take an extra year, but I think you could pull it off.

Have you taken the MCAT before? Would you say Biochemistry is useful to have for the MCATs? I just read someone saying that it is really useful for the MCAT, so maybe it really is best that I take an extra year since by that point I'll also have biochemistry class under my belt.

Gah. I really wish I had gotten my **** together earlier. Oh well.

 

[JJMrK]

Have you taken the MCAT before? Would you say Biochemistry is useful to have for the MCATs? I just read someone saying that it is really useful for the MCAT, so maybe it really is best that I take an extra year since by that point I'll also have biochemistry class under my belt.

Gah. I really wish I had gotten my **** together earlier. Oh well.

Biochem can be useful, but IMO only if you happen to get a passage about something related to it, or maybe a random discrete question. Two classes I think are very useful are human physiology and genetics.

You should check out the MCAT forum for more specifics.