Non-trad engineer looking for course advice

[engrtomed]

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Hi all,

First time poster, however I have been perusing these forums for almost a year now. Long story short, I am looking to begin my journey to medical school (DO), and I have a couple of questions regarding course sequence.

A little background; I am a relatively new graduate with an engineering degree from a highly ranked private school, and I'm currently working in the DC area as an engineering consultant. I graduated with a relatively low albeit reparable cGPA and sGPA of 3.2 according to AACOMAS. My missing prerequisites are the full-year sequence of Bio and Ochem with their respective labs, and I'm currently enrolled in the SIE program at Maryland to finish those part-time in two semesters. I'm looking to submit my application in June of 2013.

The question that I have is regarding coursework this Summer. I have a couple of C's in Calc and Physics II (from freshman year) that I'm thinking of retaking to boost my GPA. Would it be more beneficial to take a couple of biology or chemistry courses in lieu of repeating courses that I had already taken? Retaking these courses will have a bigger impact on my GPA than taking new courses, however I'm thinking that adcoms will look more favorably on the additional coursework in biology, not to mention the impact it could have on my MCAT performance.

I appreciate any help and advice, and I look forward to sharing my story with others as I begin this journey and hopefully help those that may find themselves in a similar situation.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

i would go with the GPA repair, seems biggest bang for the buck based on your timeline. not sure on your circumstances but speculatively, if you add a year to take the additional bio, you could probably significantly increase your application, assuming you translate it into GPA repair and MCAT performance.

 

[Esquire]

I would just limit classes to pre-reqs: unfulfilled pre-reqs & pre-reqs where grades were subpar. The goal would be to ace all of them.

Acing them will not only help your GPA, it also goes a long way in helping prep for the MCAT.

I wouldn't retake calculus... it won't help prep for the MCAT.

I think calculus may even hurt because it requires you think in a manner so different from the MCAT and bio/chem/physics.

 

[dmf2682]

I think calculus may even hurt because it requires you think in a manner so different from the MCAT and bio/chem/physics.

Are you kidding me? If you think calculus will not help with physics you clearly didn't understand one, the other, or both.

 

[Esquire]

Are you kidding me? If you think calculus will not help with physics you clearly didn't understand one, the other, or both.

I never once felt the need to use calculus during my practice MCATs or the MCAT. MCAT physics is not calculus based.

 

[Bluesun]

I never once felt the need to use calculus during my practice MCATs or the MCAT. MCAT physics is not calculus based.

From my understanding of the MCAT, this is correct. The physics portion of the MCAT is not calc-based physics, and the math is kept very simple.

That is not to say that having an understanding of calc-based physics (which I took as an engineering major) would not help substantially -- I feel like it helped me gain a much deeper understanding of the underlying principles, and allows easy-ish physics review for the MCAT.

EDIT: For clarification, my understanding of the MCAT is only from reading about it and studying for it. I have yet to take it, so I do not speak from any real authority on the matter.

 

[aerodoc]

I was an engineer also (aeronautical) before coming to med school (I just finished my first year) and my GPA and pre-req deficits were right about where yours were. I also had some C's in those early classes, but I never retook them (I applied only MD) and just did my organic chem and biology pre-reqs (get all As). I also took genetics, and I would encourage you to take it and other upper-level biology classes rather than redo your old classes. Mostly because you show that you can do well in upper-level courses but also because it can help you significantly (in my experience anyway) for the MCAT. I would recommend taking genetics and biochemistry at least.

If you have an upward trend in GPA it helps a lot and I found the schools that I interviewed at didn't care that much about those early Cs. The most important thing for you is to do well on the MCAT at this point I think.

 

[gerfan]

I echo this advice. Focus on the future and where you are going. Part of what you are crafting is a narrative about your evolution into a doctor, including an interest in biology, etc. If GPA repair is part of your strategy, I agree focus on pre-med classes (the required ones plus genetics, biochemistry, stats or psych, things that fit with your emerging interest.) I doubt very much with the story you will tell and the experiences you will gain in the coming year that a C in Calc or Physics many years ago will be make or break.

 

[rguil15]

It's much more important to take upper level Bio's and kill them than it is to go back and re-take freshman level physics/chem/math. BSME '08, just finished my first semester of pre-reqs.

 

[engrtomed]

I appreciate all of the advice. I think that I'm just going to spend the Summer preparing for my bio and ochem classes in the Fall, rather than re-take classes from Freshman year, which were from almost 6 years ago (I co-oped for an entire year at a f500 healthcare company). I agree with aerodoc in that performing well in my bio and chem courses from here on out is much more important, as well as doing well on the MCAT. I've heard similar advice from friends in med school. I plan to start studying for the MCAT over winter break this year and ramping it up as next Summer approaches.