Need help choosing classes!!!!

[Gmw1386]

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So I'm trying to decide what classes to take next semester. So far I only have the very basic finished:

General Bio I+II (B-, B+)
General Chem I+II (C, probably B/B-)
Immunology (probably B-/B)
Physics w/ Calc I+II (doing this summer)

Here's the situation:
- I'm going to be taking Orgo 1+2 next year
- I'm taking the MCATs in the spring next year

Should I take: microbiology or vertebrate physiology in the fall?
- which is more usefull on the MCATs
- as you can see I need a some good grades. which is easier from your experience?

Also, I'm thinking about taking a science major level Human Nutrition class. I would think that would help the GPA issue. Has anyone taken that? How is it?

 

[noshie]

I just took the April MCAT and I used microbiology ALOT. Take that one. I have never taken Vertebrate physiology so I dont know how useful that will be. I love micro tho 😍 Never taken nutrition either sorry. Also what alot of my friends found useful for the mcat was Biochem and genetics. Genetics shows up in at least 3 questions and can be easy points if you know what you are doing.

 

[Amy B]

Cell biology and Physiology was a life saver for me on the MCAT.
There was a bunch of biochem in the nutrition class we had in med school, but i do not know about teh undergrad class.

 

[Gmw1386]

I just took the April MCAT and I used microbiology ALOT. Take that one. I have never taken Vertebrate physiology so I dont know how useful that will be. I love micro tho 😍 Never taken nutrition either sorry. Also what alot of my friends found useful for the mcat was Biochem and genetics. Genetics shows up in at least 3 questions and can be easy points if you know what you are doing.

Yeah I'll be taking Genetics Spring '07, so I'll get some of the benefits of it for the MCAT. Not going to be able to fit Biochem in time. What a shame... Might take it Fall '07 if I feel like being miserable senior year.

 

[Gmw1386]

Cell biology and Physiology was a life saver for me on the MCAT.
There was a bunch of biochem in the nutrition class we had in med school, but i do not know about teh undergrad class.

Only Chem and Bio are prereq. for Human Nutrition. For a better idea of what the class is about here's its course description:

Functions and sources of nutrients, dietary adequacy, factors (including health, disease, aging, pregnancy, and exercise) that govern nutrient requirements, energy balance, and weight control. This course is intended for students majoring in biology, biochemistry, athletic training, and other health-related areas.

Athletic Training majors aren't required to take orgo, so how bad could it be?

 

[JasonUD]

Micro helped me on the MCAT last year so I would suggest that over vert.

 

[packitinstan]

genetics, micro, biochem, a&p would be some good options considering they were tested quite heavily on my mcat last august.

 

[Gmw1386]

genetics, micro, biochem, a&p would be some good options considering they were tested quite heavily on my mcat last august.

So would you choose micro or vert. phys?

 

[packitinstan]

hmm that's a tough one. I would say vert. anatomy since it's harder to learn on your. For me microbio is easier, and can be done on your own.

 

[Gmw1386]

hmm that's a tough one. I would say vert. anatomy since it's harder to learn on your. For me microbio is easier, and can be done on your own.

It's not Vert. Anatomy. It's Vert. Physiology. And should I have to know all of those for the MCATs?

 

[HunterGatherer]

you should be able to cover microbiology in about 1 week when studying for the MCAT and vert physiology can be covered in 2-3 weeks. This is considering you are studying 3 other sciences and verbal and dedicating about 6 hours weekly on bio. You can't go wrong with either one. Human physiology has more topics on the MCAT but you should be somewhat familiar with most topics. Microbiology is a smaller percentage of material on the AAMC topic list but can be more intimidating since you will see only a portion of it in biology 101/102 for the first time.

looking at the 30+ thread you will see that many people did well with just basic sciences. if you want to improve your grade you may want to see how your professors grade in those classes at your college by word of mouth or:

ratemyprofessors.com

all things being equal i would say microbiology because I was seeing it for the first time in bio 101/102 and it seemed so foreign compared to vert physiology which you start seeing by 8th grade.

 

[Gmw1386]

you should be able to cover microbiology in about 1 week when studying for the MCAT and vert physiology can be covered in 2-3 weeks. This is considering you are studying 3 other sciences and verbal and dedicating about 6 hours weekly on bio. You can't go wrong with either one. Human physiology has more topics on the MCAT but you should be somewhat familiar with most topics. Microbiology is a smaller percentage of material on the AAMC topic list but can be more intimidating since you will see only a portion of it in biology 101/102 for the first time.

looking at the 30+ thread you will see that many people did well with just basic sciences. if you want to improve your grade you may want to see how your professors grade in those classes at your college by word of mouth or:

ratemyprofessors.com

all things being equal i would say microbiology because I was seeing it for the first time in bio 101/102 and it seemed so foreign compared to vert physiology which you start seeing by 8th grade.

Oh, I'm all over ratemyprofessor.com, but for some reason they didn't feel like writing any reviews about their micro and phys. class 😡

 

[HunterGatherer]

Oh, I'm all over ratemyprofessor.com, but for some reason they didn't feel like writing any reviews about their micro and phys. class 😡

Myspace.com has something similar to this. You might be able to send messages to people who took courses that you plan to take. pre-med clubs at your school may help out with this as well.

 

[dtrain5]

I had to take a 300 level nutrition class for my major, and it sounds a lot like the class that you are looking in too; from the prerequisites. It was a great class, and very interesting. You do have to know a lot about metabolism (not quite as much detail as Biochem, but still in pretty maticulous detail). I think that O-chem was also a prereq for the class I took, but it was only very basic stuff (ie)epimers of different sugars, and chemical comp. of the various type of fats). All in all, I would definitely recommend you take the Nutrition class, but keep in mind it might not be quite as "easy" as you might hope. I took the MCAT a week and a half ago, and I don't want to get in trouble by discussing any details about it, but I would highly, highly, highly, recommend GENETICS!

 

[OSUdoc08]

So I'm trying to decide what classes to take next semester. So far I only have the very basic finished:

General Bio I+II (B-, B+)
General Chem I+II (C, probably B/B-)
Immunology (probably B-/B)
Physics w/ Calc I+II (doing this summer)

Here's the situation:
- I'm going to be taking Orgo 1+2 next year
- I'm taking the MCATs in the spring next year

Should I take: microbiology or vertebrate physiology in the fall?
- which is more usefull on the MCATs
- as you can see I need a some good grades. which is easier from your experience?

Also, I'm thinking about taking a science major level Human Nutrition class. I would think that would help the GPA issue. Has anyone taken that? How is it?

Microbiology, Anatomy, and Nutrition are LESS USEFUL for medical school.

Physiology and Biochemistry are MORE USEFUL for medical school.

 

[Gmw1386]

Hmmm maybe i should have made this a poll.

Just so everyone knows the choice is between Microbiology and Vertebrate Phys. I can't take biochem until senior year, i'm taking genetics spring '07, nutrition was for purely helping the GPA.

 

[noshie]

Has anyone ever heard of Pick a Prof. The website is www.pickaprof.com. It is like $5 a semester but so worth it. They have stats from the semester befores grades. They get the grades directly from the school, and they also have a place for each teacher at your school to get reviews from students. It may just be a Texas thing, but I like to know how many people got A's and how many dropped the class just to see if it is a high percentage. 🙄