Non-Science Majors/ Getting off track sophmore year

[Irish_Rain33]

I am an english major trying to get to medical school. Unfortunatly, I have had to take off from school on medical leave due to symptoms of mono and lymphoma (i have neither, I just have the symptoms--which means I'm dead tired and have glands the sizes of baseballs--so attractive). I have had to drop out of organic chemistry and General Biology. I have only completed Gen Chem I & II--so far. Unfortunaly next semester I could only fit in General Biology and not Organic I (as I am an english major and I MUST finish my freshmen requirements for the english major--they let me go a whole two semesters over). So what now? Any suggestions on how to get back on track without stressing myself out and taking five classes a semester? I plan on catching up a lit class and a general requirement class this summer--but I do not want to take organic this summer as I have been told by both organic professors it goes at a QUICK pace and I am already not the best with chemistry!

Any suggestions would be greatly appericated. Also, any comments about being a non-science major and how you cope with the "lock-down" on majors (bio/chem) only science classes?

--Irish

 

[SharpieMarker]

A couple of options, just off the top of my head:
1) Take five classes during a semester. Your school seems to work a bit differently than mine because we don't get locked out of science classes, so I don't know what that means, but you could up the course load. I've been taking five classes a semester since sophomore year, and it's definitely challenging at times, but definitely do-able. Again, I don't know how that works out if you're feeling tired and have large baseball glands.

2) Take a year off, so that you have up until senior year to finish pre-med requirements. I'm a non-science major, and even though I could technically have applied straight off, I think my application will be stronger if I take a year off and plus, I get a break from crazy schoolness.

3) Go meet with an advisor and plan out what classes you have to take in order to graduate on time and finish all your pre-med reqs. It's sometimes easier to take on a challenging courseload and push yourself when you have no other choice.


Ah, the life of a non-science major. People think it's easier. How naive... Good luck!

 

[Irish_Rain33]

First off, Thank you for your reply.

I can not take five classes a semester as at my school that's like asking to eat hot coals--it's highly unlikely anyone is going to let you do it.
My main advisor is a liguistics specialist--while he knows what lit classes I need to take and a lot about the evolution of the english language, he can not help me with arranging medical school classes. The Pre-Med advisors at my school want nothing to do with me as I am a non-science major. And my online class registration usually ends up in a large game of I got kicked out of the classes and going around begging--being rejected/ignored/flat out lied to. So I have realized I have to do this all on my own. I would leave the school but i LOVE the english department with my WHOLE heart and my school has a reputation for getting students into medical school--now if only I could prove my worthiness or could figure out how to cut off my arm with the minimal of blood loss...

-Irish

 

[SharpieMarker]

Mm.. that's a pretty vicious situation. I would still then recommend figuring out what classes you have to take in order to graduate. That way, you know whether you have choices in what you take or whether it's predetermined for you.

And as
4) Take post-bacc classes. Life doesn't end after college.

 

[chaeymaey]

Wow, this is exactly my life. I'm also an English major applying to med school who had mono (first diagnosed as strep, read about it in my blog) this term and is now dealing with a Biochem final and a 15 page seminar paper on literary theories of Pride and Prejudice both due next Monday along with a 5 page paper on Dante's Purgatory.

My soph year I too had a lot on my plate and dropped O Chem 2. I took it in the summer at my local state school instead of my university. That is an option that I would encourage you to take. Check out the schools near by and since you're not a science major you don't need to worry about transferring. Another option is to take Bio over the summer and O Chem in the school year. I hope you've already taken Physics. I see you're from NJ, so you don't need to worry about a 2nd year of bio like us Texans. Let me know if you have any more questions from a fellow English major. We so rock hard!

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Another option is to take Bio over the summer and O Chem in the school year. I hope you've already taken Physics. I see you're from NJ, so you don't need to worry about a 2nd year of bio like us Texans.

my thoughts exactly. since o-chem is harder than bio (and has a harder lab), condensing it in one summer would suck. taking o-chem your junior year will still leave you on track. use summer school to finish up the general bio stuff, take o-chem next year, and maybe do physics the next summer. if you could do physics next year, it'd be great, but that might be too much. then, take two higher level bio classes (check your individual schools to see what's required -- genetics is usually a good bet) your senior year. you can apply before you've taken everything, but realistically, i think you need to have o-chem, gen bio, gen chem and physics done by fall of your applying year.

the big downside of all this is that you might have to take the august mcat if you really can't take physics until the summer after your junior year. hmm, maybe do physics this summer and the rest of gen bio next summer (or next year if you can swing it). that one semester of bio that you're taking this spring should get you through most of the mcat material. for the rest, you really can study extra and learn on your own because it's really just memorization.

 

[FictionalGirl]

Hey, here's a few suggestions. I know how you feel, stressed out and sick and not sure what to do. I came down with something undiagnosable at the end of my freshman year - every muscle in my body ached, my glands hurt, i couldn't walk more than a few paces at a time and i was just ridiculously tired. I was stubborn though and studied like crazy, even taking summer school and refusing to come home even though i was sick.
and I got to the mcats and i started to study for them and i just burned out.
So i took them and then I decided to wait a year before applying. Schedules have been crazy. My biochem degree was just finished and i'm doing the bulk of an English degree in a year. but i'm doing it in 5, and i've decided that if i had the chance I would have just chosen that and accepted it earlier. 5 years is good, there is NO POINT in making yourself ill. NONE. I was SUPER STUPID TO DO WHAT I DID. I'm better now, but I probably could have been much earlier and not dealt with so much. Give yourself extra time. I heard it from everyone and didn't believe it, but I do now. Just take the extra year to graduate. If a medical school needs to ask why just tell them, no one can argue with your reasons. Just feel better and don't kill yourself with stress, there is no need. Taking longer to graduate will give you more time and a lighter class load. Take it from someone who took six classes a semester. Its not worth it. You'll still get in. the world will not crash down. You will not feel like its taking forever and in the grand scheme of things, its just better for your mental health and your physical health. So don't stress about taking so many classes in one chunk. An extra year fixes it all. I finally chose to do it and my feelings about the future are just fine. I got med school interviews and all that fun stuff. Feel better.


p.s. did you find out what's wrong? and why you feel badly? no one ever did. I got a clean bill of health from all the docs! ha!